In Tune With Taste

Greetings, Readers!

You know, sometimes a true gem of an eatery can be so close to home that we end up missing it, or seeing it all together.

Take for example the Tuning Fork in Studio City. There are literally less than three blocks between my desk and their front door, but somehow a visit to this gastropub has evaded me for quite some time.

That all changed this past Friday.

For starters, I highly recommend making reservations for dinner. The Tuning Fork is not a big space at all, and so it fills up quickly, especially on a Friday night for dinner. The size of the restaurant provides a lot of the charm though. It's definitely a space that many other restaurants in the city would have tried to pack another row of tables into, instead there are wide open aisles allowing the place to not feel cramped when at full capacity.

Along with the low light and partially mirrored walls, the space is an inviting and comfortable place to wind down after a week of work.

The exceptional beer list will help with the relaxing while you try to decide which sandwich to get. For me that included a bottle of Aprihop by Dogfish Head as I eventually settled on the Capo Loco burger.

A thick beef patty topped with mozzarella, slices of prosciutto, citrus balsamic glaze, tomato, red leaf, crispy basil and goddess ailio between two slices of a ciabatta bun.

I am a big fan of ciabatta bread, and thoroughly enjoy it when used for burgers, but in this instance it didn't hold together that well until the end. The aioli, the balsamic glaze and the deliciously juicy beef patty conspired to break the bun apart by the end. Aside from that though, the bread was delicious and a good choice.

The beef was cooked to medium and had a fantastic flavor that kept pace with the strong co-ingredients. The prosciutto added a little saltiness to an otherwise mildly sweet burger from the balsamic glaze. The tomato, red leaf and basil worked together to bring a fresh contrast to the overly meaty sandwich.

A bit of sweet, a little salt, and a lot of savory. That's the Capo Loco, and it's delicious.

If you happen to be near Studio City, The Tuning Fork is a great place to meet up with friends for dinner, or to have date night with your significant other. The atmosphere is conducive to whichever way your night is headed, and the food is top notch.

Until next week, Readers...


The Tuning Fork
**** 1/2 Stars
12051 Ventura Place
Studio City, CA 91604
http://tuningforkgastropub.com/

The Chevre Challenge

Greetings, Readers!

This past week I decided to finally do something that I haven't done in awhile.

Eat a meatless sandwich.

I know, I know, with the sandwiches I review, you're probably thinking that you've ended up at the wrong blog this morning, but fear not.

Looking to make a quick stop after work one day, I did a bit of research on Toluca Lake on Yelp.

The search results for that are becoming slimmer as I have hit up so many of the restaurants in that area already. This time though, Studio Cafe Magazzino popped out to me. The only problem was that I would have to rush there after work as it closed at 4pm and was not open on weekends.

Studio City Magazzino sits right across from Warner Bros. Studios on Pass Avenue (which is why this place is really only open during normal office hours). A small cafe with a rustic Italian feel, this place offers a wide variety of sandwiches, soups and salads.

The one sandwich to catch my eye though was the Chevre sandwich. A fancy name for goat cheese, Chevre may be one of my favorite cheeses and is joined in this sandwich by sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, house vinaigrette and lettuce on a ciabatta roll.

The sandwich is simple, and the Chevre provides a solid punch of smooth, yet pungent, flavor. I also thoroughly enjoyed the ciabatta, which was a bit thick and rustic, providing a tougher texture than the ingredients inside of the sandwich. If you're looking for a simple, fresh and easy sandwich to enjoy, this should definitely be your go to lunch time destination.

My only disappointment with the sandwich is not that there was no meat to be found, but that the other ingredients didn't add much to the sandwich. I didn't even realize there were roasted red peppers until the end of the sandwich, and of course lettuce doesn't add much in terms of flavor. The sun dried tomatoes were present, but it's hard to keep up with as powerful a flavor as goat cheese.

Regardless, still an enjoyable journey into a less heart attack inducing sandwich realm.

Until next week, readers!



Chevre Sandwich
*** 1/2 Stars
Studio Cafe Magazzino
109 N. Pass Avenue
Burbank, CA 91505

Finally...Something Mildly Healthy

Greetings, Readers!

You know, sometimes sandwich places are hiding right under your nose, ad you may not even know it.

This past week I was scanning Yelp looking for more ideas for my upcoming trek with writer Bryan Mahoney when I decided to look for more sandwich shops on the main strip of the Noho Arts District.

When I happened upon Healthyca, I was surprised to find that it was one block away from my front door. Looking over the menu on their website, not only did everything sound amazing, it seemed to fit my latest need to find a sandwich that wasn't clogging my arteries.

While they do have completely vegan/vegetarian sandwiches, I was drawn to the Albacore sandwich.

Made with fresh local white tuna, tomatoes, lettuce, sprouts and purple onions. The tuna was also made using a vegan mayo.

The tune was excellent. Not too fishy, not to mayo-y, it had a very smooth flavor backed up with the earthy sprouts and fresh vegetables.


You are also able to decide which bread you would like your sandwich made with from a wheat wrap, ciabatta, wheat ciabatta or multi-grain wheat. All are excellent choices, but for this time I went with the regular ciabatta.

The bread was fresh, fluffy and did an excellent job at holding the sandwich together. While I will want to try another option next time, this was an excellent choice for my first sandwich at Healthyca.

Also, with each sandwich you are given the option to pick a side from quinoa salad, mixed greens, wild rice salad, herbed rice, and fresh fruit. I sampled both the quinoa salad and wild rice salad. Both had fresh flavors from the cucumbers mixed in, but the wild rice salad was also packed with dried cranberries which gave the salad a nice contrast of tartness.

It's great to know that this healthier option sandwich shop is so close by. Now when I've been on a deli binge (like my upcoming blog excursion), I will have a place close by enough to satisfy my sandwich needs and the need to still have a working circulatory system in 5 years.

Until next week, Readers...


P.S. - while I don't normally talk sports on this blog at all, I would like to wish the Flyers best in defeating the Penguins tonight.

Albacore Sandwich
**** Stars
Healthyca
4724 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91602
http://www.healthyca.us/