There’s a phrase that says you can get almost anywhere in Los Angeles in thirty minutes.
I don’t know who came up with that, but they clearly didn’t mean it on any weekday or day during rush hour. I was harping on this idea – get anywhere in LA in 30 minutes – as I sat in what was turning into an hour and ten minutes of traffic. A drive from Culver City to Manhattan Beach should normally take 40 minutes, but at 4pm on a Tuesday it certainly would not. I was on my way to Love and Salt in Manhattan Beach and the goal, if I could ever make it there, was to photograph the food and interview the chef who would be participating in The Taste by the Los Angeles Times. Thankfully, the Lord placed his grace on me and as thirty more minutes passed I was sitting in the restaurant.
It was easy to relax away the long drive once I was seated. The lively bar, the visible kitchen, and the menu of plates that read as delicious as they looked on the tables nearby made me feel happy to have made it. The smile and greeting from the assistant general manager, Jennifer, not only made me feel welcome but that I should stay a while. In a matter of moments, the waitress arrived with the menu. Glancing up and down it was hard to make a choice, but with impeccable timing executive chef Christopher Feldmeier arrived to make my decision easier.
With an amicable energy sprinkled with the perfect amount of sarcasm, chef Christopher was my type of person. He let me know that he would send out a few dishes and with that we got to talking. Leading into the interview, he told about his childhood. As one of three children, chef Christopher lived in a home with a mother who was a bit of a renegade against gender norms and didn’t cook. Instead, it was his grandmother who taught him about cooking. Born in the early 1900s and from the south, he shadowed her as she maneuvered pots and pans to create delicious dishes. Knowing he had a strong female who impacted him so immensely in the culinary world brought a smile to my face. It didn’t take long for me to want to learn more about what made him smile as a chef, what he loved about cooking, and what he would be doing while at the Taste.
With little to no effort, he was an open book.
The Interview
Follow My Gut (FMG): What is it about cooking that makes you happy?
Christopher Feldmeier (CF): That every day is a new day when you cook. No matter how challenging the previous one was, it’s a whole new experience good or bad.
FMG: How can a chef maintain his/her own culinary creativity despite some of the social pressures of the LA culinary scene?
CF: Be true to who you are.
FMG: What made you want to be a participant at The Taste?
CF: We are very excited with the direction the LA Times has taken. Bringing back the stand alone food section was very important to the food scene in LA.
FMG: Which dishes will you serve during the event?
CF: We will be serving beautiful Organic Sungold tomatoes with olive oil and burrata.
FMG: What should someone order when visiting Love & Salt for the first time?
CF: I am a big believer that there is something for everyone on the menu. However, right now I am in love with our stone fruit and burrata dish as well as the Amatriciana Pizza.
The Dishes
Stepping away to get into the kitchen I sat with three dishes in front of me ready to be photographed. The Stonefruit & Burrata ($18) took Murray Family Farms peaches and dressed them with pistachios, grenade pluots, and Peoria granola to create an incredibly flavorful dish with a fruit as the star. It was crispy, acidic, and rich in each bite making it easy to enjoy to the fullest. Second to the peaches came the Prosciutto & Baby Summer Squash ($21). It plated a 16 month aged Galloni prosciutto alongside a large bufala mozzarella ($6) topped with black and white sesame, brown butter, and sumac. It was delicious. Each ingredient was prominent on its own, but when they were aligned side-by-side along my fork they became something I couldn’t put down, nor did I want to. Finally, the Amatriciana ($23) was the pizza of your dreams. La Quercia guanciale, cherry tomatoes, red onions, and pecorino it was the perfect balance of all the things you didn’t know you wanted in a pizza. My suggestion, eat as much of it as possible and save a slice for a friend so they can get hooked on it too. Then hopefully, they’ll drive you to Manhattan Beach.
As the dinner came to an end, I was so happy to have made it into Love and Salt. To meet chef Christopher, be surrounded by his lovely team, and to taste items from his menu made the drive through traffic well worth it. While I can’t say that it only took thirty minutes, I can say that everything I experienced in the restaurant was delightful. Now if I could manage to get teleportation down I could be there more often. Until then, I’ll plan my next visit outside of rush hour and hopefully I’ll make it there in a timely fashion.
To see the full lineup of participating restaurants and to get your tickets to The Taste, click here!
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Address: 317 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Phone: (310) 545-5252
Hours: Monday through Thursday – 5:30pm to 10:00pm, Friday – 5:30pm to 11:00pm, Saturday – 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm, and Sunday – 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm to 9:30 pm.
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