Los Angeles 03.03.2009

Fashionable Food

Eating becomes en vogue at Food + Lab

Like the Latin libertine we brought home last night, trendy cafés in Los Angeles tend to come and go.

But instantly we could tell that Food + Lab would be different.

The paint barely dry on the thriving catering company’s new brick and mortar, Food + Lab is the brainchild of mother and son team, Esther and Nino Linsmayer. (We’ll pause to allow for the momma’s boys inside us all to take a moment and coo.)

Considering the affordable price of the company’s organic, nitrate- and hormone-free foodstuffs, Food + Lab is going against the grain here in lavishly-priced La-la-land. But then again, co-owner Esther is used to going against the grain: as a young fashion model in Paris, Linsmayer had the audacity to enjoy food.

Eating? Simply unheard of! Luckily for us, her passion for culinary arts won out.

The love affair is evident immediately upon entering the café. Carefully selected ingredients compliment each other in sandwiches like the organic turkey breast with brie, pear, honey, and fig compote ($9). But it’s the smoked salmon with crème fraiche, cucumber and lime zest on wheat ($11) that sends us into a heavenly shock so encompassing that we could care less if we’re out of Lactaid.

Aside from the menu, the market sells carefully selected products like cheeses and meats, as well as fashionable (and mostly biodegradable) kitchenware.

We’ve found Esther’s previous incarnation as a fashion model our justification for getting’ giddy with it over Food + Lab’s exquisite menu. Second guessing the Austrian meatloaf with dried tomato aioli, fried onions and Dijon on ciabatta ($9.50)? Go ahead. The ingredients are clean, and besides, it’s part of a model’s diet.

Food + Lab
7253 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood
(323) 851-7120
www.foodlabcatering.com

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