Slim to swim
Sate your calorie-craving appetite with some healthful beach-fitness fare
By Dan O'Heron 08/06/2009
Trying to look respectable in a Speedo at Malibu this month, exercise and diet have been the order of the day for me. My exercise instructor has pledged that in no time at all, I’ll be a new man. But he didn’t say it would be a man I wouldn’t like: sweaty, sore and — after long naps — hungry as a tiger. Exercise alone hasn’t done much for the cause, although I’m now able to bend over 20 times and touch my knees.
The only way to go is on a diet. But grazing on limp greens, with only a fork tip bedewed with dressing, is hard to swallow and would never satisfy. Nor would stalking health food stores or restaurant fare reminiscent of that hospital tray taste.
Foraging around for a place where a diet regimen could be delightful — a place where there was pleasant company, interesting surroundings and at which the food would be delicious, though light — I remembered Robin’s and its flavorful artichoke and mushroom dishes.
Could this be the same Robin’s Woodfire BBQ & Grill (395 N. Rosemead Blvd., Pasadena, 626/351-8885, robinsbbq.com), where delicious aroma, wafting from its hickory and mesquite smoker lures moviegoers in line at a nearby theater to break ranks and pig out on ribs instead? Yes. But even at a rib-fest, intrepid dieters won’t be made to feel alone, only embattled if they have haven’t learned the art of eating a whole artichoke.
The artichoke, encased in a prickly armor of leaves — none of which are “winter-kissed” (a euphemism for frost-damaged) — is boiled and blessed with salt and butter before being grilled over a wood fire. Spiky leaf-tips are snipped off and it’s cut in half before serving. To enjoy, pull off one leaf at a time, dip in mayo and scrape the meat from the leaf with your teeth.
There’s more to do, scooping out and discarding the fibrous “choke,” before getting to the luscious heart of the matter. Artichoke eating is definitely an acquired taste, but one that is well worth the trouble. I’ve had them wine-soaked and leaf-shaved, but none better than those served at Robin’s.
The “sizzlin’ shrooms” are indeed “magic,” almost as good as the kind that would have me denounced by neighborhood councils or removed from Robin’s by law.
Pan-fried, oozing with garlic butter and secret seasonings, then served on a sizzling fajitas skillet, they taste like they may have been earthy, smoky, nutty morel mushrooms or full-bodied shiitakes — surely not buttons, which hint at a life in tins or jars.
Wrong on each count. These were big, white bosky-flavored babies, fresh from the Salinas Valley. Golden brown, rich and meaty, the meal deserves the rarest porcelain as a frame, not just a cast-iron skillet.
How charming this combination of artichoke and mushroom. But charm through constant usage may be speedily exhausted. So I sought out other congenial destinations for light, tasty specialties that would get me swimsuit-trim and into a bay club, places like Café Linda’s and Kabuki Japanese Restaurant.
Café Linda’s (34 W. Holly St., Old Pasadena, 626/584-0712), an upscale Thai restaurant, made a big splash with its $14.95 orange roughy seafood salad: It’s big enough for two to share, without getting fat or going hungry. Not tossed, the salad is composed, and the pleasure yielded in its eating rises in proportion to the pains taken to put it together.
The orange roughy filet looked flawless, fresh as the morning tide: It had a shimmering surface (no pink spots that indicate bruising), and its texture was firm, yet melt-in-the-mouth tender. Cooked evenly, every bite was just right.
Not isolated in a trough of plain greenery, the fish is bedded with fresh cilantro leaves, red bell pepper, shiitake mushroom, ginger and spinach. And it swims in a light but tangy brown sauce made from soy, oysters, cracked pepper and a secret ingredient.
For a more picturesque meal, one not usually associated with strict diet regime, I’ve made several trips to Kabuki Japanese Restaurant (88 W. Colorado Blvd., Old Pasadena, 626/568-9310) and matched sakes — light, medium and full-bodied — with various sashimi, sushi and seafood specialties.
There’s nothing quite as pretty and tasty as a giant platter of sashimi set jewel-like on a bed of sparkling ice, strewn with edible purple orchids. In destroying such beauty with my chopsticks, I felt like a vandal and had to seek atonement with several glasses of premium medium-body Ginjo sake. A match made in King Neptune’s garden, the mating is delicious.
In two weeks, I’ve lost four pounds. At this rate I’ll skip Malibu and head straight to Rio in my Michael Phelps LZR Racer Speedo. I’ll even feel respectable sitting right down beside a woman from Ipanema in her fila dental (dental floss).
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