Week in Reviews: LA Mill Doubles, Father's Office Onslaught, Samurai Sam's, Dodgers Stadium, MORE

Alen Lin, 1/14/08

S. Irene Virbila will follow "the extraordinary" Michael Cimarusti anywhere, and this week she takes in the Silver Lake coffee experiment known as LA Mill. Sure, she's wowed by the ceremony of the siphon, the Chemex, or the one-cup Clover wonder, but it's Cimarusti's, and pastry chef Adrian Vasquez's, menu that really gets her:

In fact, there's nothing usual about the place. As an adjunct to its coffee and teas, LA Mill serves food that outclasses any other cafe in town.

Sandwiches? We're not talking tuna fish or egg salad. Michael Cimarusti, the extraordinary chef behind Providence in L.A., devised the menu for LA Mill owner Craig Min. The deceptively casual food he's come up with makes LA Mill a destination not just for the exceptional coffee...The prosciutto panino is made with Reblochon, a cheese that takes well to warming in the panini press. And although $12 or $14 for a sandwich may sound outlandish for this once-funky neighborhood, the fact is, for what you're getting, it's a great value. The quality is there, and that sandwich is large enough to share.

She highlights soups, the frisee salad with coffee vinaigrette, the new dinner menu, Vasquez's passionfruit gelee with basil seeds, and doles out two stars. The Rubbish design, the presentation, the clientele with their MacBook Airs and designer baby carriages are just the things to make any non-local feel comfortable in "scruffy" Silver Lake. Today the "S." stands for "so boho." [LAT]

ELSEWHERE: The bloggers hit Father's Office 2.0: here, here, here, and of course, here; The Waffle is the Brite Spot, with booze; Santouka Ramen is "a revelation"; second chances at Homegirl Cafe; new Samurai Sam's is basic fast-cas food; corned beef, waffle fries, tiramisu, and other new food choices at Dodgers Stadium.