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August 2008

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Sgt. Recruiter
Enlists Wine Fans
By Pat Saperstein, Ledger Restaurant Critic

   Sgt. Recruiter may sound like an odd name, but it’s actually inspired by an atmosphere-soaked historic tavern, the Ile St. Louis, in Paris. Joined at the hip to the popular Cobras and Matadors, it’s not a full-scale restaurant but an intimate wine bar, perfect for a glass of wine before a meal at Cobras or for a light dinner. With just 14 stools, it’s likely to fill up on busy nights, but the bar is fairly calm earlier on weeknights.
   Sgt. Recruiter is only eight months old but the cozy bar looks like it’s been there forever, with walls lined in white subway tiles, flickering light bulbs in artistically industrial fixtures and a long copper-topped bar.
   While Cobras goes for a Spanish tapas theme, Sgt. Recruiter is thoroughly French, with mostly French wines and a short bistro menu painted on the mirror over the bar. Beers include Belgians Chimay Red and Duvel and of course French Stella Artois. A spicy Qupe Syrah, ($12) one of the only California reds available by the glass, is a good match with the steak frites.
   If you’re with a group, try a bottle of Domaine Tempier du Bandol on a warm summer evening for a real taste of Provence. Continue the Provencal theme with the socca cakes appetizer ($6), a street snack from Nice made from garbanzo flour. While the street food version is as big as a pizza, here they’re served three to an order as small savory pancakes with a cilantro sauce, and are ideal for sharing.
   This is one of the only places east of the Hungry Cat and west of the Water Grill to order an iced platter of raw oysters, with Kumamoto and several East Coast varieties available most days. A glass of champagne and a half dozen oysters makes a luxurious snack, but watch the price on the oysters—a half dozen can run $18 depending on the market price.
   There’s always steak frites ($22) and moules frites ($13) on the menu; the steak a good-sized piece topped with roquefort herb butter and paired with irresistible steak-cut fries with a slightly sweet taste, perhaps from Yukon Gold potatoes. The mussels don’t seem quite up to French bistro standards, with an under-seasoned, lukewarm broth, but that crock of fries makes up for a lot.
   Each night, a few specials round out the petite menu: bouillabaisse, pork rillettes or trout on a baguette. It’s also possible to order from the Cobras and Matadors tapas menu, which includes the popular green lentils and grilled asparagus with Manchego cheese. Desserts are also shared with Cobras—there’s the famous churros with chocolate dipping sauce, marmalade creme brulee, chocolate cake and dessert French toast.
   Restaurateur Steven Arroyo’s restaurants are always fun gathering spots with solid, if not memorable food, and Sgt. Recruiter is just that—a lively, sweet space for a little nibble and a nice glass of wine.
Sgt. Recruiter
4655 Hollywood Blvd.
(323) 669-3922

Pat Saperstein blogs about L.A. restaurants at EatingLA.com

A Meteor
Shower & More
By Anthony Cook
Griffith Observatory Astronomer

   Venus, the brightest planet, emerges from the sun’s glare early this month, and is briefly visible close to the western horizon starting half an hour after sunset. On the 12th, binoculars may help to see Saturn only one moon-diameter (half a degree) to the right of Venus, while Mercury is twice as far away (one degree) to the lower left of Venus.
   The giant Jupiter, now in Sagittarius the Archer, dominates the southern sky during the night and early morning hours, moving from the southeast during evening twilight and setting in the southwest before dawn. Binoculars are sufficient to see its four largest moons and a small telescope will enable you to see its parallel cloud belts. The waxing gibbous moon is near Jupiter on the 12th.
   The Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak on the night and early morning hours of Aug. 11th and 12th. After the moon sets at 1:57 p.m., you may see as many as one or two meteors per minute until dawn begins to interfere at 4:45 a.m. The meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, and seem to stream from the direction of the constellation Perseus the Hero, high in the northeast before dawn. They are best watched by traveling to a location free of artificial lights and reclining on a lounge with your gaze tilted high overhead.
   The moon is new during the pre-dawn hours of the 1st and coincides with a total eclipse of the sun that is visible from a narrow path that cuts though the Arctic, Russia and China. The full moon on the afternoon of Aug. 16th passes through Earth’s shadow, producing a total lunar eclipse visible from a hemisphere centered on Madagascar. Neither eclipse is visible from Los Angeles.
   On the 28th, from 4:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., California observers using binoculars can see the sender waning crescent moon approaching the beautiful “Beehive” star cluster of Cancer the Crab.