RECON: NOOK

West Los Angeles, CA


My best Canadian and I kept hearing about this new place called Nook.  We heard it was on the corner of Bundy and Santa Monica, so we set out on foot, but when we reached the intersection and saw nothing called Nook, we hit up the iphone for better directions and found we had several blocks to go. The IHOP was tempting due to laziness, however we continued on, and it was definitely worth the walk. Its buried in the corner of a mini mall, with nothing but a bright orange door indicating there's something back there. The inside had a crowded but pleasant ambiance, with a few small tables and a couple big, tall bar tables that were family style seating. We climbed into our high chairs and tried to wriggle them up to the table. The menu was small but everything seemed tantalizing.  

We both chose the Nook Burger, made with gruyere cheese, red wine-onion jam and baby arugula on grilled rustic bread. We opted for fries of course and then the waiter offered us something that I didn't quite hear, but I never say no to free food, so I responded 'yes, please!' He then placed a little dish of boiled peanuts in front of us. I had never heard of such a thing but according to the Canuck its very common in the south. I was absolutely fascinated by them and wanted to make my own version immediately by boiling them with garlic or some such thing.  

The burger had rich flavors that complimented the perfectly cooked meat well.  The lower bun definitely got a little soggy, but overall, tasty. During all this recon I've seen a  redefining of "the restaurant burger:" it always has caramelized onions and arugula, and the cheese is usually gruyere or stilton. Every up and coming restaurant puts this "gourmet" burger on their menu, regardless of cuisine. The Nook is a relatively new restaurant, and while the quality of ingredients upped the flavor, it seemed like it was on the menu simply because of this unspoken rule that you must offer a gourmet burg. 

The fries I enjoyed, though they were similar to the Library fries the Canuck is not so into, and they came with a lemon aioli that was quite original. Once the Canuck realized there was a wasabi aioli, that drowned out the disappointment he felt over the crispy fries.  I haven't been back to Nook yet, but I have a feeling the other items on the menu are going to be much more interesting- I want the shrimp and grits. The Canuck suggests making reservations if you want a private table, all conversations are open to eavesdropping at the family style seating!

Recon: 25 DEGREES @ THE ROOSEVELT

Hollywood, CA


One of my best friends from high school, Laura, came up to LA last weekend for a quick last hurrah before she ducks off to grad school in DC.  A dedicated burger fan, she’s kept up with Burger Recon and wanted to hit up a joint with me.  We settled on 25 Degrees at the Roosevelt Hotel- which I never tire of visiting- and made the trek from the Westside to this LA hot spot.

The décor is all red/maroon from the painted tin ceiling to the bouncy booths and brocade wallpaper. They have a full bar, and then booths and tables surrounding it, looking out on to Hollywood Boulevard. I opted for the ‘Number One,’ which consists of caramelized onion, prelibato gorgonzola, crescenza, bacon, arugula, and thousand island.  Laura opted for the ‘Number Two,’ with burrata, roasted tomato, crisp prosciutto, and pesto.  The burgs come with your choice of a side so she went with fries, while I got rings, and we chose a garlic aioli and a parmesan aioli to dip them in. 

Fries and rings came out first, on long platters, with more food than could ever be necessary.  The rings were sliced thin, with a non-greasy breading that had a powerful kick.  There is honest to god SPICE in that breading- you’ll want a creamy aioli to dip them in.  Laura is not a huge fan of onion rings, but she was digging these.  The fries were extra crispy- almost burnt, the way I like them- lightly salted and tossed in a tiny bit of chopped dill.  We loved them.  As we marveled at the size of the sides, our burgers came out, and there was barely enough room on the table.

These burgers are 5-6 inches in diameter, with huge, fluffy, sweet brioche buns. I was afraid to pick it up.  They come loosely tucked in paper, with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle on the side.  We didn’t even try to stuff these toppings into our already jam-packed burgers.  We picked them up to take our first bites and it took a few bites before I finally tasted everything at once.  It was fantastic- the arugula balanced out the cheeses and the caramelized onions, while delicious, were not overpowering.  Laura’s burger had a great combo in the pesto and cheese but it was very rich.  Decadent even.  The gorgonzola on mine was strong, but if you like gorgonzola, then you’re all set.  I pretty much deconstructed mine and ended up eating it with a fork- which is something I normally would not approve of- but it was so enormous and rich that it felt like a refined meal, and honestly I just couldn’t keep it together.

Having already consumed a bottle of wine before heading out, we opted for diet coke with our burgs. Our generous waiter- who clearly recognized the signs of caffeine addiction- brought out a milk jug full of diet coke for us.  We were debating ordering a ‘spiked’ milkshake.  Yes, they have alcoholic milkshakes for the booze hound in all of us, but we already had to box up half our meal in doggy bags so there was just no way.

Service was great the whole time: attentive, honest and helpful.  I’m embarrassed to say I think we went a little too early in the evening for my taste.  We were hungry for sure, but the crowd felt touristy and the place wasn’t packed.  It’s open 24 hours a day and I got the impression that if we had come at 10pm or after 2am we would have met a distinctly more raucous and local crowd.  The quality of food to price ratio is phenomenal.  We paid less than $25 each for perfectly prepared, enormous portions of food.  If anything I would say the most ‘expensive’ thing we ordered was the diet coke- at $4 each. 

Come starving or share everything, because as Laura summed it up, “This is like an event, it takes time and you’ll be stuffed after.”  And by stuffed she means we were in food comas for hours.  I want to go back and try other things on the menu- and by try other things I mean move into the Roosevelt indefinitely until I’ve sampled the whole menu. They have a grilled cheese and an extensive breakfast menu that can’t be anything but delicious…