V-Day in LA

For someone who’s single, I sure love Valentine’s Day. On the first of February I fill my whiteboard calendar with hearts next to the name of the month, paint my nails a festive combination of red, pink, and purple. And though I’m single, there’s an abundance of love in my life, and that deserves to be celebrated.

This year, Valentine’s Day falls on the Friday of a long weekend. I’ve been trying to find time to visit Teja — my long-distance bestie — in LA for a while now, and since it’s a long weekend, New York is freezing cold, Teja’s boyfriend is on tour with his band, and mine is — well — non-existent, I decide this is the weekend to go see her.

Teja is at the airport to pick me up late Thursday night — the ultimate act of love. Once I’m in the car, she begins the playlist she’s made of all our favorite, stupid songs from our earlier days of friendship: Sugar by Flo Rida, Tonight Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae, Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo. Driving down the highway with the windows down listening to this nostalgic music with my dear friend is the perfect start to my trip.

We begin our next day at Honey Hi for breakfast. My dish is a nourishing bowl of sweet potato hash; poached egg; an avocado so fresh and green like it’d just been picked from the tree; thick and crispy bacon; a lush, leafy salad; bright sumac; and a perfectly spicy hot sauce to top it all off. Teja orders the same, but what she’s really here for is the chocolate chip cookie, which arrives to our table before the mains.

“It’s 10 am,” I say in response to her demanding I try a piece.

“So?”

It doesn’t take much to convince me. The cookie is bittersweet, buttery, and salty. An indulgent little morning appetizer.

After our meal, I grab a coffee to go and we stroll leisurely through Echo Park. The hot sun feels glorious on my skin that’s been hidden beneath heavy winter coats for the last few months. Here and there we stumble upon Teja’s favorite local spots: a bookstore, a flea market. We lose ourselves in these places and in conversation for a long time, enjoying the easy lifestyle of the city.

In the afternoon we go for a ride to Trader Joe’s where we will pick up some cheap and easy frozen meal to make for lunch before our swanky dinner reservation later on. Also while we’re there, Teja buys me a bouquet of flowers as a Valentine’s Day gift, and I get us a bottle of rosé to enjoy before our night out.

Another reason why I’m here during this particular weekend is because our favorite shows are finally back on tv, and we must watch them together. First up today we have the new episode of Severance, which we savor along with our chicken tenders and hash browns from Trader Joe’s, a most beloved struggle meal of ours. After plenty of obsessing over online Severance theories and resting on the couch, it’s time to get ourselves all cute for dinner and enjoy our rosé.

Our reservation is at Bestia, an acclaimed restaurant that Teja’s friend who works at managed to get us into on such a busy night. Not only is the menu enticing, but the name of the restaurant itself is perfectly fitting for us besties.

Though we have familiarized ourselves with the menu already (and have been dreaming about this meal for weeks now), we still haven’t reached any conclusions on what we’ll be ordering by the time we’re seated. Every single item sounds truly delectable, and we want it all.

The beef tartare crostino is a top contender for our appetizer, but one word in its description renders Teja anxious and afraid.

“What is tonnato…?” she asks ominously. The word sounds eerily similar to tomato, Teja’s arch-nemesis and greatest fear. I can’t help but laugh at her — she is genuinely disturbed as she awaits my response.

“I think it’s just a condiment or something,” I answer tentatively.

“A tomato condiment?”

A quick Google search confirms that it’s a sauce typically made with a base of tuna, anchovies, capers, lemon juice, and mayo, resulting in a savory, creamy concoction. Teja is relieved to hear this news, and I’m glad I could alleviate her from such horror.

In the beef tartare the tonnato accompanies an egg yolk jam, pickled spring onion, parmigiano reggiano, and shiso, and it is paired with four slices of beautiful crusty bread. We spread the pink meat on top of our crostino, content with this first decision.

For our next course we each pick out a pasta to share. Teja’s selection arrives first: sweet potato tortellini. It’s not my first choice — I’m not the biggest fan of sweet potatoes, and I’ve already had enough of them for the day. But it’s the menu item she’s most excited about, so I oblige. The tortellini arrive with a silky, nutty filling of brown butter and rosemary bourbon and are dressed with a rich wild boar bolognese. The sweetness of the potatoes round the hearty dish out perfectly. After today, I realize that maybe I do love yams!

Neither of us want the food on this plate ever to be gone, but soon enough we’re greeted by another round of pasta. The one I choose for us is an earthy squid ink spaghetti swimming in a sauce of bright lemon and spicy serrano, and topped with decadent lobster chunks. This is the exact kind of bold, celebratory dish I want to be eating on a special occasion.

Finally it is time for dessert, the course I’m most eager to get to because of what the restaurant has to offer. When our server greeted us upon sitting down at the table earlier in the evening, the first thing I asked her was to please make sure she reserves one particular sweet treat for us, anxious that by the time we’re ready for it it will have sold out. It’s a dessert that I’ve found is rare to come by, but an absolute favorite of mine and a must-have whenever I stumble upon it: a chocolate budino tart with salted caramel. It’s like chocolate pudding, but thicker, richer, and just the right balance of bitter and sweet. I’ve never had it in the form of a tart until now; the cacao crust that shelters the budino provides a lovely crunchy component, and with the freshness of the olive oil and the saltiness from the caramel, I am in absolute heaven.

After our long, bountiful feast, we’re ready for a relaxing night at home, where the first two episodes of our favorite show Yellowjackets await us. I’m perfectly at peace with my bestie doing all the things we love the most. This is my kind of Valentine’s Day.