Dine LA: Short Order - More Than Just Burgers
During this recent DineLA restaurant week period, I availed of 3 participating locations all starting with the letter "S".Short Order, located at the Original Farmers Market, is the collaboration of Nancy Silverton and Amy Pressman, who met almost 30 years ago at Spago and stayed friends ever since. Pressman's passing during fall of last year shortly before this special project of hers came together really encouraged me to support her efforts.
My group and I arrived just before the dinner rush since they do not take reservations, and we were seated upstairs at the communal table immediately.
The communal table definitely served as fun people watching since it contained a couple of Top Chef former contestants. I didn't really stare at the whole group, who were circulating quite a bit, but fairly quickly recognized Marcel Vigneron and Alex Reznik. Both chefs whose food I've loved.
Among quite a few menus the beverage choices stood out, especially the "adult milkshakes". Most notable is the Charlie Brown - a vanilla custard shake with chocolate ganache and roasted Spanish peanut infused bourbon (infused in-house in an immersion circulator).
They serve custard shakes which are more popular in the east coast and midwest. An interview I read of Amy Pressman just before her passing mentioned that they were inspired by Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack in Manhattan, making custard ice cream and hand-spinning shakes into four flavors.
The daily special vanilla custard shake with crushed graham cracker and caramel and the chocolate shake with Guinness practically overflowed from their jars. Each of us ordered different flavors.
Being a big fan of malt flavors, I decided on the Coffee Malt shake. The jar size is just right with a creamy yet not too heavy consistency. One doesn't have to wait to get the shake through the straw. I loved the frothy texture, especially on the top, which reminded me of the foam you'd find on a cappuccino.
The menu contains regular, classic fries or these Spuds, torn pieces of baked potatoes fried to a crispy golden color. The dipping sauce of baked potato fixins such as sour cream with chives and bacon bits cling to all the rivulets on the spuds to add punches of flavor.
I didn't know if Chef Christian Page, formerly Chef de Cuisine at Eva, would remember me, especially with all the chef buddies around. But he did and spent a fair amount of time chatting with us (and posing for a couple of fun pictures with a colleague).
He gave some good tips on the menu and I have to say, between the hat, button down shirt and cool apron, definitely one of the chic chefs I've seen around town. I've tried his food and loved it, which is another reason for wanting to come to Short Order.
Let me reiterate that his constant relaxed state and grace under pressure really really impressed me yet again. We had a lot of hiccups in our service, to put it mildly, between their recent opening and a new server who was nice but was not familiar with DineLA!
Many components of our meal were forgotten and we had to remind the staff repeatedly. It was hard to stay positive, but the chef definitely helped me to roll with the punches.
The shake won as the best thing to order but unexpectedly, this Bean Salad won for me as a close second. The mixture of green and yellow wax beans, gigante beans, garbanzo beans, red onion, oregano, parsley, and lemon vinaigrette melded perfectly.
It's always good to try a well seasoned salad as well as a high protein salad, since I'm always looking for sandwich (low carb) lunch alternatives. Chef Christian mentioned that many of the staff eat this salad daily and I can see why. I took most of mine home and it might have even tasted better the next day, still crispy.
The salad of market greens, persian cucumber, celery, dill, champagne vinaigrette also provided a light, crispy side for the entrees.
For the DineLA menu we were given a choice of 3 burgers for the entree. Nancy's, Ida's or Amy's. I had read that these burgers were meant to be the simpler flavors that chefs enjoy when they are not working. They are named after the people who inspired them, which is true to eating what the chefs actually make at ahome.
As much as a I love high quality beef burgers, and heard Ida's burger was inspired by In N' Out Burger, I opted for Amy's Turkey Burger, based on the recommendation of food critic Jonathan Gold.
It contained organic turkey, sage cheddar, melted celery, leeks, mustardy mayo. Very clean and light, I particularly enjoyed the all green condiments and the notion of melted celery, which was probably braised or sauteed. I loved the seeded mustard, choice of lettuce, juicy turkey and general lightness of it all. Even the bun, which I usually do not eat, was delicious and light enough to eat.
Was it a burger I'd crave? Probably not. In fact I've enjoyed other burgers more. It was solid though, and a burger you don't feel guilty about eating afterward.
They offer burgers made with various meats, including lamb, so I'd definitely be willing to give others a try.
I'd gone to a brunch earlier that day at friends' house and did not have a huge appetite to begin with, so had packed half of everything to go. At this point Chef Christian kindly came out with a tray of more items to try - Pretzel Dogs and Pretzel Pups.
I'd been eyeing this dish of mini pretzel dogs at a neighbor's table. Even though I didn't eat it until the next day, it heated up well. I loved the La Brea Bakery pretzel bun, well seasoned dog and lightly pickled cabbage kraut, along with mustard. My third favorite dish on the menu so far.
My friends took home the Corn Dogs with Anson Mills corn batter, mustard. If they were the same dogs with batter instead of the bun, they were probably also tasty.
These cute little decorative touches, like the banana peel doorstop, add a great whimsy to the open air setting upstairs.
The staircase lies next to the original clock tour, which looked charming at dusk.
This charming table upstairs contains one of a couple of beautiful in-table fireplaces.
Upon walking out, I saw this sign outside the kitchen, explaining the story behind Short Order.
My group walked over to Bob's Coffee & Donuts, one of my favorite vendors in the market and an L.A. institution. They had run out of most of their items since it was near closing time.
I decided to do a quick visit to Short Cake and Single Origin, around the corner from Short Order and utilize the $5 certificate they'd given us as part of the DineLA menu.
The decor exuded a very happy, energetic vibe. Even 5 minutes to closing there was no lack of customers in line.
Items in the case included uniquely intriguing flavors such as: chocolate cardamom cream cake, double baked croissants, curry raisin/buttermilk blueberry/sesame date/feta scallion scones, brown butter cranberry muffins. I picked up a sesame date scone for breakfast and a cookie for late night snack. It is indeed a delightful bakery.
I'd only tried one of Amy Pressman's creations, an extremely elaborate Peruvian-inspired dessert, at Test Kitchen during a Ricardo Zarate dinner.
Despite not having a huge sweet tooth and being insanely full, almost everything appealed to me from the cases. I'm sure her spirit is extremely proud of this swan song.
So... the best thing (beyond the pastries) @SO was the daily specials salad -- totally agree! -- and the adult shakes (which I didn't have, would've been way too full).
SO is beyond cute, there's no doubt, but there's no way I'm making another visit back for a regular burger. Just brunch. Definitely brunch.
SinoSoul, YES. My ranking was 1. three bean salad. 2. coffee malt shake. 3. pretzel pup.
I would totally find myself back for brunch or snacks and drinks, especially since they are open all day. I do like the environment.
Short Order is divine though and I'd try much more from them. Am curious about the coffee.