Destination Dining: Farm Stand

I was in Los Angeles this week on business and had the happy chance to reunite with some former colleagues from a couple of lifetimes ago.  You know those kinds of friendships, where even though you haven't seen or talked to each other in 14 years, you pick up in the middle of the sentence you last left off with like there was no time lapse in between.  We caught up, we reminisced, we laughed until tears came to our eyes, and we marveled at the passage of time and how little it had affected our outward appearances.  (You can probably guess that last part was after we had donned some wine goggles.)

After first gathering at my hotel we ventured over to a restaurant in El Segundo. El Segundo is a little

It Doesn't Smell That Bad

prosaic community just south of LAX which, though right on the water, is still affordable due to its airport sound pollution and ever present aromas from the water treatment plant and factories that the city's founding fathers had brilliantly built smack dab in the middle of the beach.  It is fondly referred to as Smell Segundo, and if you do venture to the beach it is advisable to wear close-toed shoes and a hazmat suit. But other than that it is lovely. There is a Back to the Future 1950's Main Street complete with barber poles, a Fix It Plus and a Repair Square strip mall, and several yarn shops.  It also has a few quaint little eateries, diners, and donut palaces along with a handful of really great restaurants.  One of these is the Farm Stand and that is where we went.

Farm Stand is like so totally LA.  Start with your basic Farm to Table concept, add vegan, organic, local, seasonal, non GMO ingredients, toss in a reduced carbon footprint, then stir.  Sprinkle with salty ocean air, spritz with a little smog and serve.  Our server looked just like American Idol runner up David Archuleta wearing white disc earrings the size of Kennedy half dollars.  His name was Edgar and he was good at pretending not to be annoyed every time he approached our table to take our order and we had still not looked at the menu due to everyone talking all at once punctuated with shrill laughter.  Several hours elapsed until we finally ordered a bunch of plates to share, and I must say his enthusiasm to be still serving us seemed genuine.  No doubt he is actually an actor. All waiters in LA are, you know.  Big secret revealed!

Farm Stand's menu is dotted with handy symbols so you can tell at a glance if the dish is consistent with your Southern California sophisticated palate and dietary needs.  A green V means it is vegetarian, while NO means non-dairy.  A black squiggle denotes vegan optional and a wheat stalk crossed out diagonally in red means gluten free.  A star indicates that Sandra Bullock ate it one time and ##@$! means a drunken Mel Gibson went into an anti-Semitic rage and yelled obscenities at passersby while eating it. So handy!  The restaurant is very committed to reducing its carbon footprint so its bussers and dishwashers double down as migrant workers. You can see them through the windows to the outside, their backs laden down under heaps of fresh produce harvested from nearby gardens in California's virtually endless summer sunshine.  Awesomeness.

Being the urban sophisticates we are, we ordered seven or eights plates to share and I grandly instructed Edgar to just sequence them as he saw fit.  He interpreted this to mean that he would wait until everything was ready, and brought every dish to the table all at once.  What with water and wine and plates and cutlery already in place, he had to use the adjacent table to put some of the food on.  The two diners seated there seemed a bit startled but not the least bit disturbed by it. SoCals are so chill.

The coarse hummus with pita was garlicky and delicious, as was the diced cucumber, minted yogurt dip topped with walnuts.  Pumpkin ravioli with basil cream was a standout, as were the all natural meatballs in ancho chili cream sauce.  (I wondered what an unnatural meatball would taste like but my inner moderator thankfully squashed it before it spilled out of my mouth, which anyway was full of Superfood Soup--a healthy yet slightly underwhelming concoction of herbs, barley, organic chick peas, organic lentils, organic pintos, caramelized onions, garlic, turmeric, yogurt, and sauteed mint.) After a couple of spoonfuls I was so jacked up on vitamins and greenery I did a little Muscle Beach flexing, showing off my taut, well defined and undefiled body until Edgar's boss came over and kindly asked me to stop it.  I meekly obliged, but not before twerking just a little bit because I am such a fan of Miley.  (He lies!)  At least I didn't set myself on fire, Jimmy Kimmel prank video style.

The meal was really delicious, but not so more than the company.  My old friends are definitely non GMO, totally organic, and their carbon footprints smell like chocolate.  Smiles!