The Other Critics

Rodell Savors the Moment at Black Hogg

Black Hogg's chicken livers,
Black Hogg’s chicken livers, “piled up on toast like bruschetta” Photo: Kevin Eats

No sooner did we squeal in anticipation over Besha Rodell’s first L.A. restaurant analysis than a review drops on Squid Ink. Well, a review isn’t really the right word. It’s more like one of those “looks” that don’t really take much of a position on the food so much as sum up the scene (dare we say, a tendency that recalls one of Gold’s own?), this time a peek into a very specific hour at Silver Lake’s Black Hogg using various breakdowns of people’s head and facial hair (dare we say, reminding us of Brad A. Johnson?).

Rodell’s debut column is called “Restaurant Timestamp” and along with a view of the Hogg’s menu last Friday, popcorn bacon, uni toast, and all, she offers that the restaurant “comes across like the tiny cafeteria at hipster middle school” and predicts that the “place will take shape once the booze arrives,” having previously stated that “this is boozy food.” Somehow, despite the lack of hootch, Rodell’s observation that suddenly “the customers and the cooks and the relatives of the cooks are hard to distinguish” makes us think somebody must have snuck some fire-water in here either way. [LAW]

Rodell Savors the Moment at Black Hogg