I may be spending a few days in L.A., and would love some input.

I'd mostly be in the West L.A. area - Brentwood, Westwood, Beverly Hills. So, roughly, Bundy to Fairfax, maybe? And this would be with public transit, so particularly interested in something not too far from buses.

1. Looking for cheap pleasant places, especially ones that are quiet, since one of the people I'm visiting is hard of hearing. American, Italian, Chinese - just not Mexican. Doesn't have to be hot or trendy.

2. How about hamburgers these days? I gather Hamburger Hamlet has pretty much disappeared?

3. Classic old-timey places? I see The Apple Pan still exists. I have vague memories of gong to Canter's, but can't remember it it's any good.

4. And brunch?

5. And while we're at it, any suggestions for rock-bottom motels? I mean, like under $80. I know there used to be some little places along Santa Monica Boulevard in Westwood.

I posted this idea a long time ago, but although it didn't go anywhere at the time, I thought I'd float it again.

I had this great fantasy, apropos of jury duty...

Since there are so many chowhounds in Manhattan...

And since there are periodic postings asking where to go for lunch during jury duty...

I had a fantasy of a Chowhound consensus designating one or two appropriately located restaurants as an evolving a sort of Chowhound lunch-room. Maybe a Chowhound table, maybe a big round table in the back, where Chow-jurors could come by, head for the table, and end up with others of us. Just the typical shared table in a Chinese restaurant, but we'd all be asking for it. We could be as anonymous as we like - provide a name, or not; provide a chow-handle, or not. But there'd be a possibility of interesting company and food tips.

I was thinking of some place like Nha Trang (87 Baxter), which has a good reputation, is near the courts, and very affordable. We could have a "Leff Table."

Of course, it might get to be so enjoyable that it would interfere with being a good juror, as we'd all be thinking ahead to lunch instead of focusing on the trial...

There was an article in the New York Times on the best chocolate bars, and although I admit I turn up my nose if I'm offered a standard Hershey milk chocolate bar, I can't imagine spending that kind of money. I wouldn't exactly say, to use the authors' phrase, that "anyone paying more than $2.00 for a candy bar is a pretentious sucker," but I'm perfectly happy if I find Lindt or Ghirardelli on sale for $1.50.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/...

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/20...

I was just reading a biography of Clementine Paddleford, who was one of the first food writers in America to collect a large following (mostly 1930s-1950s, I guess). It's interspersed with recipes, and my attention was caught by this for lamb stew (condensed by me):

Generously season with salt/pepper 2 pounds of lamb shoulder cut into chunks, toss with flour and brown in hot oil. Pour on 3/4 cup of boiling water to nearly cover, and simmer for an hour and a half. Add a turnip, carrot, and onion, all died, and cook for 3-4 minutes, Ad a largely diced potato and cook for 6 more minutes.

Since I'm not a particularly skilled cook, my initial reaction was, Hey, I could do this. But then I thought, Hm, it's really a different approach than I'd expect, even someone unskilled like me. I'd have expected to brown the lamb, then add the onion, then a splash of wine, then probably stock instead of water, plus herbs/spices. Then I'd cut the vegetables in larger chunks and add them earlier, so that they'd cook for about a half-hour.

I guess that we expect more complexity now? Or what do you think?

This is the book, if you're curious:
http://www.penguin.com/book/hometown-...

I just dug out a little instruction book, by Josephine Morris, a century old, for explaining things to proper young ladies. It's mostly cooking, but also explains the difference between coal, oil, and gas stoves, and how to sweep a carpet in the days before vacuum cleaners (in case you're wondering, you scatter little torn pieces of damp newspaper across the carpet, then broom-sweep).

All kinds of interesting bits - like how often they were using double-boilers, that there are no herbs/spices mentioned at all, except parsley. Fascinating that most things are cooked longer (boiling rice for 30 minutes, pasta for 25 minutes, asparagus for 20 minutes). Mutton, we're told, is more nutritious than lamb. There are exactly two recipes for chicken, roast and fricassee. There are six recipes for potatoes, but no recipes for green vegetables, with the assumption that they will all be boiled.

And here are two breakfast menus:

Oranges
Cereal
Lamb chops
Fried potatoes
Rolls

or

Cereal
Hamburg
Corncake
Butter

Bon appetit!