While Sushi Nozawa was the culinary highlight not just of my trip to LA, but perhaps of my entire gustatory existence, there was more food fun to be had during my visit to LA.

On Wednesday I went over to Brentwood to have dinner with my oldest college friend and his wife and year-old baby. They were hosting a couple, also with a little munchkin, who were visiting from France and they took over the cooking duties. Now my old friend Matt grew up to be kind of a big deal studio executive, and so people bring him really really nice bottles of wine when they come over. Matt doesn’t really drink, but since we were having a Francophile home dinner, Matt opened a bottle of wine. It was a Margaux — It was delicious. I love Bordeaux, and this one was, as one might expect, quite yummy. Sam and Ali were roasting a chicken over some vegetables, they made a lovely little endive, blue cheese and dried cranberry salad, and toasted some croutons to soak up the lovely chicken juices. Ali also made a lovely tarte tatin with phyllo dough for a crust — simple, easy, and absolutely wonderful. We drank most of the fabulous Margaux with cheese while watching the babies and waiting for the chicken to roast. Then Matt and Sam went off to see what else Matt had squirreled away in his cellar — they came back with a lovely lovely Stag’s Leap Pinot which we also enjoyed.

We’ve been talking endlessly about how people don’t cook, and Matt and Paige don’t cook much — he’s got a huge job, and she’s starting this very fabulous eco baby store called The Little Seed, and baby Jackson isn’t eating real food yet, so I think like so many people I know, they’ve just gotten out of the habit. It was such a pleasure not to eat takeout — to hang out in a kitchen full of the lovely smell of roasted chicken and to catch up with my old old friend, and to meet his new friends who were beyond lovely, and then to all sit down at the table together.