Sunday, January 11, 2009

Cupcakes and Muffalettas: The Deli at Little Dom's

I don't get to Silverlake/Los Feliz all that much, but when Eating LA mentioned the deli at Little Dom's had a chocolate cake in a mason jar, well I just had to get myself over there.

Little Dom's is the relatively new restaurant on the north end of Hillhurst where La Belle Epoque used to be. The deli has various sandwiches and other food. Now, if I was going to go, I was going to eat more than cake in a jar, so I got some sandwiches as well.

Most of the sandwiches were pretty standard, but I was very impressed by the Muffaletta. It's very hard to find a good Muffaletta outside of New Orleans. There is a temptation to use big, puffy rolls, when you really should use a more dense, Italian bread, and that's what Little Dom's does. It's got a nice olive salad with good deli meat (though it could use a bit more); the sandwich is also liberally sprinkled with olive oil (a Muffa-must).

Is it odd that you'd find a great Muffaletta at a place that doesn't really serve New Orleans food? Not really. In LA, you rarely find Muffalettas outside of Cajun/New Orleans themed restaurants. In New Orleans, though, you get Muffaletta's at Italian delis like the Central Grocery in the French Quarter, not at places that serve crawfish etouffe and jambalaya. So, it actually makes some sense that a deli that doesn't really do traditional New Orleans food would have really good Muffalettas. Dom's Muff should make the place a destination for homesick New Orlenians.

I also really liked the mocha cupcake which had a rich, chocolate/coffee cake with a wonderful, very light buttercream frosting. A plain chocolate cupcake with a cream cheese frosting wasn't as good.

The famous mason jar chocolate cake was, as advertised, cake in a mason jar, covered with a caramel sauce and pecans. It was fine cake but nothing special. I'd say it's mostly about the presentation.

My advice: Skip the mason jar cake and grab a Muffaletta and a mocha cupcake.


The Deli at Little Dom's
2128 Hillhurst Avenue
Los Angeles, 90027
(323) 661-0055

2 comments:

Pat Saperstein said...

I think the girl behind the counter said the owner is from New Orleans -- at least his name, Brandon Boudet, certainly sounds like it! Thanks for the mocha cupcake tip, that sounds good.

sku said...

Well, that explains it.

Thanks for your review that got me there in the first place Pat. Now I've got to go back for the focaccia.