California Witches,
"where you can taste California" is the brainchild of two
Korean born California transplants who happen to like witches--not the
Wiccans who practice ritual observances of seasonal and life cycles or
the repulsive old women credited with usually malignant supernatural
powers. They assured us they don't practice the arcane arts, but
like "white" magic as practiced by television characters such
as Sabrina. Our hope was that they were practitioners of culinary
magic. Chef Rachel Park owns three other California Witches
restaurants in Los Angeles so she and her owner cousin must be doing
something right.
A great start to a meal
at Witches is one of the 20 boba teas and slushes. The bottom of
each glass is lined with tapioca globules you suck up through an
oversized straw. Those globules have the consistency of gummy
bears that have been soaking in liquid (which they have). Both the
green apple and mango slushes were refreshing, delicious and will make
for a great summer drink.
Witches' menu is
unconventional--not quite Asian, not quite American, but as eclectic as
the state of California. That menu includes salads, curries,
cutlets, pastas, pesto, snow cones and parfait. A surprisingly
good pasta dish is the carbonara with rich heavy cream and bacon.
If you are a curry
connoisseur, the curried hot pot seafood cheese with rice dish is an
interesting option. It's a hodgepodge of ingredients--two types of
cheese, potatoes, carrots, green beans, rice, green lip mussels,
scallops and shrimp--served with a Japanese curry (not as sweet as Thai
curry or as pungent as Indian curry). I expressed such an
admiration for that curry that the owner brought me a gravy bowlful with
which to finish off the remaining rice.
Complementary palate
cleansing pickled ginger, pearlescent onions and bean sprouts
accompanied our meals and were reminiscent of the small vegetable dishes
often served with Korean meals. California Witches has begun to
cast its spell on Albuquerque diners and should ensnare many of them
with meals that have delicious, if not magical properties.
