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Entries in argentinian (1)

Saturday
Apr022011

Brushing Up On My Arhhhhentinian

Last year at the Getty, I saw an exhibition of photographer Catherine Opie’s work, which poignantly captured that noble architectural marvel: the strip mall, amalgams of low-rent stores with bland signage, places you’d go to get a pack of smokes, dodgy burritos, or mugged.  Finding the hidden gems within these palaces of mediocrity is tricky business, but we do the heavy lifting for you, 'cause that’s how we roll.

Lala’s Argentine Grill took root on Melrose in the nineties, and a few years ago they expanded to a mini-mall in Studio City.  I leaned back on their street-side terrace and filled up on bread and chimichurri so addicting I’d freebase it (why yes, they do sell it by the jar!)

Buzzing off a pitcher of sangria, I was primed and ready for their molito sandwich: stuffed with grilled, juicy strip steak, the bread sponging up a generous serving of that chim-chim-cheroo.  I probably shouldn’t have stuffed my face with fries and bread before tucking into that wonderful meat, but that’s a mistake I will almost certainly repeat.

Once you’ve polished off their main courses, your breath will be so loaded with garlic to be considered a war crime against vampires.  Then it’s time for their desserts (a panoply of dulce de leche confections, including something called a “panqueque”), assuming there’s still space in your engorged belly. It's cool, though, they deliver.  I may call them later, but not now...I need a siesta.

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