ComicCon 06--Eats

Convention center food is not only expensive, but entirely inedible. L.A. is no exception. I've often been caught at the L.A. Convention Center during E3 around lunchtime with a million choices--including recognizable and reputable franchise names--still, I see video game execs eating only the most horrendous-looking entrees.

Last year in San Diego, I recall paying $7 for a pretzel and a lemonade. Later in the day paying $5 for a Mrs. Field's cookie and a bottle of water. Never again.

This year I brought my own food. [I'm not sure this is even allowed--anyone else should check the rules before trying to bring anything next year.] Just a little mediocre leftover pizza from Barney's Beanery (Promenade) the night before. I caved and bought a very small bottle of water for $2.50. After a day of schlepping 25 lbs of swag and purchases, crisscrossing the convention center several times over, I felt faint and purchased a watered-down strawberry lemonade for $3.75. Touted as "fresh lemonade" but you never saw any Hot Dog on a Stick-type juicing of lemons. "Fresh" here, means made fresh from syrupy concentrate. I saw boxes of the stuff everywhere.

We would have liked to pick up dinner at a nice restaurant near the station, but being in the downtown business district, nothing stays open past lunchtime on a Saturday. We realized this too late to return to the livelier nightlife closer to Petco Stadium. Last year, I recall the Padres playing and parking and dining accommodations being quite the challenge. But at least it's open.

Our only option was the Caliterra Bar & Grille in the Wyndham Hotel. Not recommended. While passable, it's basically a dressed up coffee shop, which means they can charge $10 for a bland turkey club w/generic frozen fries. I took the sandwich apart and ate the parts of it I thought were still fresh. The gumbo, I was told, was only ok. No word on the wild mushroom ravioli; it looked better than most. All the bread seemed a bit old. [See the photos at Inland Empirical's new flickr account.]

I split a bottle of Rodney Strong Chard with one of my dining companions. At $28/bottle (probably retails for half that amount), it was pricey but worth the investment. It didn't have the cloying oakiness that I feared. Aged in oak, it was crisp and acidic, citrusy, with a strong pineapple note, pear. My favorite chards are usually ones that are very un-chardlike. This was the best thing on the table and did the trick on a near empty stomach; I was flying.

The next morning we ate at Ugo in Culver City. I had the tacchino balsamico, which is a fancy and somewhat pretentious way of saying i ordered another turkey sandwich. With roasted red peppers, greens and balsamic on a ciabatta-like bread. Served with more greens tossed lightly with balsamic dressing. It was not bad at all. The restaurant is not too inviting, but the food was a nice step up from the disappointing fare I'd had earlier.