The 99 Cent Chef: Hollywood Bowl

Friday, August 13, 2010

Pink's, Gustavo Dudamel, The Hollywood Bowl & The Dude Dog - Video #3

The 99 Cent Chef may have bitten off more than he can chew this time! How do you make a video that combines dynamic Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, a "Dude" hot dog (created by Pink's for our new Philharmonic conductor), and Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue?" Only one chef would have the cojones to do it -- I'll let you decide if I've succeeded.

I've been looking forward to seeing Gustavo Dudamel since he became music director of the L.A. Philharmonic in 2009. The young conductor from "The System" in Venezuela (which teaches young kids the joys and hard work of symphonic music) has charisma and is camera ready for seen-it-all L.A. audiences. With his curly locks flying and his baton teasing, punching and slashing, he delivered a great night of Gershwin (and Leonard Bernstein) at the Hollywood Bowl on the third of this month.

Pink's, L.A.'s most popular hot dog stand (the place can't put up all its celebrity headshots), was started in 1939 with just a pushcart, and has the longest lines of any diner, and deservedly so. It has been filmed and reviewed by every media outlet in L.A. so I won't repeat it all here. However, I did notice one special hot dog that has not been covered, and that is the "Dude."

Created by manager Gloria Pink's husband Richard for Gustavo Dudamel, this is the most whimsical hot dog in L.A. With tortilla chips propped up on a 10-inch stretch dog, you would not be mistaken in thinking you are looking at a sailboat. That's what Richard Pink had in mind -- Gustavo Dudamel carried from Venezuela to Los Angeles on a Pink's hot dog schooner at full mast!

The Dude is made with Latin flavors. A grilled fajita mix of onions and bell peppers and a creamy guacamole sauce, topped with jalapenos and tortilla chips. You also get American and Swiss cheese under a steamed 10-inch stretch dog. At $7.25, it's the equivalent of two hot dogs in one bun.

Like the wailing clarinet glissando that opens Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," swirling a tortilla chip in cool guacamole and spicy jalapeno slices makes your head and taste buds swim - not many hots dogs double as a bowl of guacamole dip! The guacamole is not the fresh hand-mashed type (there's a slight vinegar under-taste), but it is welcome when you are cymbal-hit with a spicy jalapeno slice. Try to resist eating off all the guac; the zenith is taking a big bite of this heady medley and letting all of the kaleidoscopic flavors envelope you.

The grilled onions are cello-smooth, and the red and green bell peppers violin-sweet. The "stretch hot dog" is steamed just right, and when bitten, has the harp-string "snap" that all hot dog devotees pray for. Between bun and wiener are slices of American and Swiss cheese, adding a melting creamy crescendo.

To enjoy my special video concerto, you can leave your suit, tie and jewelry behind --just pull up a chair, turn up the volume, and allow The 99 Cent Virtuoso to conduct the next few delectable minutes.

Pink's, Gustavo Dudamel, The Hollywood Bowl & The Dude Dog - Video

Play it here. The video runs 3 minutes, 32 seconds.

Pink's

709 N. La Brea Ave

Los Angeles, Calif. 90038

Phone: 323) 931-4223

Website: www.pinkshollywood.com

Sunday - Thursday: 9:30am - 2am

Friday - Saturday: 9:30am - 3am

99 thanks to Pink's and The Hollywood Bowl!

To see my two Hollywood Bowl Videos from last summer, click here.

Upcoming videos include: Earlez Grille for hot dogs in South L.A.; a debauched Hot Dog Happy Hour at Carney's on the Sunset Strip; and a search for (and video recipe of) the L.A. Street Dog.

To embed, or to just link from Youtube, click here.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Zankou Chicken & The Hollywood Bowl - 2 Videos

Sorry ladies, but The 99 Cent Chef is one cheap date -- just ask his wife! A favorite thrifty accompaniment to a beautiful sunset over the Hollywood Bowl is tender and succulent roasted bird from local legendary Lebanese poultry purveyor, Zankou Chicken. It's just shy of $10 dollars for a whole chicken -- that includes two pitas and two addictive and decadent garlic dips. I don't know the exact ingredients, but their garlic spread is so "crack" good you'll want to order a couple of extras (recipe here).

Make sure to ask to have the chicken cut for easier eating. Usually I get a couple extra pitas for 25 cents each. Bring some sliced tomato, onion and avocado and you can assemble your own delicious roast chicken pitas (a large plastic container for the chicken keeps things less messy when dining on Hollywood Bowl benches).

While satellite restaurants (really, just mini-mall formica settings) are popping up all over town, The Chef makes it a point to hit the Hollywood location, on Sunset and Normandie, a couple of times each summer during jaunts to Hollywood's musical mecca.

This bargain night out is the best summer deal in town. And you can bring your own picnic (some lease event nights exempted); just notice all the various spreads on the walk to your cheap seats -- everything from crusty baguette sandwiches from Patina and salads from Whole Foods to bottles of Trader Joe's "Two Buck Chuck" Chardonnay. Were else can you wine and dine enveloped in beautiful sunsets, listening to a full orchestra playing to a star-studded Broadway-quality performance of "Guys and Dolls" for 10 bucks! What a relief not having to budget in $9 watery draft beer or $8 soggy-bun hot dogs.

As for the "V,W, Z" cheap seats, yeah, it's a long way off, and your ears may "pop" on the way up. There are large projection screens, but I go to listen to the music, not to watch the show! The Hollywood Bowl acoustics are excellent anywhere you plant yourself.

Now parking is not cheap, upwards of $15-$30 bucks for "stacked parking", but you can take a "park & ride" bus or park at Hollywood/Highland and take a shuttle for a few bucks.

The Hollywood Bowl's website gives you excellent parking tips. The Chef used to live in off Franklin Ave. in Hollywood, so he knows a few side streets that are not restricted for free parking -- although it can be a long trek when loaded down with ice-packed chilled bottles of wine and other provisions.

During these mild warm nights, August is the best month for a Hollywood Bowl picnic. So come along for a date with The 99 Cent Chef. His new video shepherds you down L.A. thoroughfares into Hollywood's Zankou Chicken Restaurant, then speeds through Hollywood backstreets for a quick scenic walk into The Hollywood Bowl. You will feel like you are there, and you should be! You have a couple of months left to enjoy this festive L.A. summer destination that comes highly recommended by The 99 Cent Chef.

Zankou Chicken & The Hollywood Bowl - Video

Play it here. The video runs 4 minutes, 21 seconds.

It's all about the music at The Hollywood Bowl as my video featurette below will attest. It would be 2 hours long if I put in a 15 second clip of every concert I've enjoyed there. Everyone from New Waver's ABC (favorite lyric: "I've seen the future, I can't afford it") to Rufus Wainwright drag-channeling Judy Garland singing "Come on Get Happy" (nice gams Rufus)! The programmers for The Bowl come up with great theme nights all summer long, like the recent movie showing of Koyaanisqatsi with a soundtrack performed live by the Philip Glass Ensemble with the L.A. Philharmonic. So check out The Chef's own video musical medley featuring half a dozen 15-second favorites!