A-Frame

*Post by Angela.

Roy Choi is a name that is inextricably linked to the Los Angeles food scene in our memories. Arguably the granddaddy of the food truck craze, Choi is the genius behind the ubitquitous Kogi BBQ trucks, out of which we were served our very first taste of city on our very first trip to LA together. Choi's food isn't all mobile, though. He's also responsible for serving up delicious fusion dishes at Chego in West LA, and now A-Frame in Culver City. We recently grabbed dinner at the latter, open since last fall, with Nick from TreasureLA.  

It turns out when you strip down an old IHOP, keeping its recognizable a-frame structure, the results are sleek, modern and surprisingly chic, yet cozy. As we wait for Nick, we sip a couple of brews from A-Frame's small but impressive craft beer list and enjoy the soundtrack of Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. The music selection is intentional, helping to create a calculated lack of pretension. The theme - as Choi likes to call it - is 'modern picnic'. Silverware and napkins are stowed in free-for-all containers in the center of long, communal picnic tables. Servers are constantly smiling, and the restaurants boasts pit-fire-heated patio seating for those wanting to enjoy the beautiful SoCal weather while munching. 

The best thing about Choi's food is how seamlessly he fuses different cuisines, twisting familar concepts to give diners something new and exciting. We start our cuisine hop with the Hawaiian-style  Blazin’ J's kettle corn, a buttery treat that brings together spice, sweetness and a hint of the ocean (from the furikake, a Japanese condiment made up of dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt and other seasonings). As part of the presentation, the server literally dumps half of the bowl in front of us. The sweet kernels are unlike any kettle corn we've ever tasted. The furikake evokes an ocean quality without overpowering the appetizer with fishiness - greatly appreciated as we lick the buttery residue from our fingers. 

We continue with an item well-known to me, a hearty five-grain pan de sal (a yeast-raised bread from the Philippines), served with Plugra (high butter fat) butter sprinkled with sea salt. The bread is served piping hot, with the crust protecting the fantastic spongy doughy-ness inside.

The warm cornbread and chicken salad with Italian sausage ragoût, salsa verde and pickled red onion (below, left) feels appropriately picnic-y. The real magic of this dish happens once your fork slices through to the bottom of the moist cornbread. There, a forkful of chicken and cornbread is coated with the thick salsa verde resulting in a crumbly, sweet, creamy bite that is entirely unexpected - the perfect mess. 

The knuckle "sandwich," features a braised bowl of oxtail, tendons, knuckles and other odds and ends, and is served with toasted bread (below, right). The tender meat tastes great devoured on top of a piece of crusty bread soaked in the unctuous broth. The knuckle is more of a soup than a sandwich, but I don't mind. If any dish is out of place it may be this one. Its some-assembly-required presentation isn't quite as easy to dive into as some of the other hands-on options. 

We're blown away by Choi's version of clam chowder with green curry, lemongrass, pancetta, coconut milk and toasted sourdough (below). Far from the gut bombs that most cream-based chowders tend to be, this is a delicate and nuanced broth, loaded with meaty morsels of clams and pork and brightened by the hints of lemongrass. It takes all my will power not to upend the contents of the bowl into my mouth.

We move on to slightly more substantial fare, though our stomachs are quickly running out of space. The A-Frame burger comes with tomato confit, pickled red onions, butter lettuce, hot sauce sharp cheddar, and sesame mayo on a buttered brioche bun (below) - a solidly good burger that is literally dripping with flavor. A mess, maybe, but there isn't an inch of this burger that isn't bursting with intense flavors. Those flavors just may find themselves on your fingers, your chin, perhaps even staining the front of your shirt. This is a small price to pay for such juicy, medium rare-cooked beef, tomatoes oozing with olive oil and assertive sauces. 

Then comes another savory course to get our fingers messy. The cracklin' beer can chicken with kimchi, century egg, salsa roja and salsa verde is quite the tasty version of roast chicken. Slow-roasted for several hours, this juicy half order gets its crispy exterior from a quick final dip in the flash fryer before it hits the table. A splash of the sweet, green salsa verde really hits the spot, cutting through the thick, crusty skin.  

Finally, finally, we finish off our feast with the pound cake cinnamon churros, served with a glass of malted chocolate milk and vanilla ice cream (below). The churros are enjoyable, if not a little dense. The chocolate milk helps wash them down. At first we attack the drink with our spoons, but it's not long before we're tilting the glass back like a shooter. By this point in the meal, any inhabitations have been wiped away with the mounds of dirty napkins we've cast aside. 

Nothing is quite as it seems at A-Frame, and that's a good thing. A variety of Asian flavors come together in a strange sort of American picnic. It's an east-meets-west mash-up that works considerably better than it should. Prices and portions are beyond reasonable. Part of the reason we ordered so much food was because we expected portions to be tiny considering the modest prices. And if there is any carryover from the previous tenants, this is it. Affordable food and an atmosphere where the attitude gets checked at the door. But the comparisons should stop there. A-Frame has since been transformed into the wonderful stage upon which Choi presents his unique style of food. By far the best meal I've ever eaten in an IHOP.