Jessica Koslow Guest Chefs Tomorrow Night for Friends Cook at Canelé

Can too many friends spoil the broth? Canelé, the beloved Atwater Village restaurant, invites a guest chef into their kitchen once a month for the popular Friends Cook at Canelé. Tomorrow Jessica Koslow, of the artsy food blog eatsipchew.com, will be curating a meal. The three-course menu is $35 prix fixe, and pays close attention to local ingredients: lamb from Neiman Ranch, mushrooms from the wild mushroom grower Lili Bih Shan (from the Cerritos and Long Beach Farmer's Markets), eggs from Silverlake urban farmers John Whitton and Erin Burrell, and preserved Meyer lemons from San Pedro urban farmers Steve and Melissa Griswald. Even the beer used for the ragu is Blue Marlin Porter, says Jessica.

E.Z. Wrightson

Friends cook too!

Here's the menu:
First Course
Cavolo nero salad with preserved Meyer lemons and fingerling potatoes Provençal.

Second Course
Handmade poppy seed pappardelle with lamb and wild mushrooms in a porter ragu.

Third Course
Valrhona 66% caribe torino made with free range eggs and vanilla bean homemade ice cream with pumpkin seed brittle.

Koslow, who recently moved to L.A. from Atlanta, where she worked in pastry at Bacchanalia admits she's been hand-making and hand-cutting poppy seed pappardelle for the past two days in preparation for her Canelé debut. Koslow works as a producer now, and says she misses working in a commercial kitchen. "In some ways, I find the art of production similar to the craft that goes into to getting a meal from product to your plate," says Koslow.  "However, it's just not the same and the Friends Cook Night at Canelé was the chance I've been looking for to return to the kitchen.  I feel like a kid on my first day of school!  I hope they like me!" 

Canelé: 3219 Glendale Blvd, Atwater Village, (323) 666-7133.