Roots
At Du-par’s, everything changes but stays the same
By Richard Foss
If you have a style that has been successful for over 70 years and is still doing well, you don’t want to change it – if you’re smart, that is. There are plenty of examples of businesses that engaged in disastrous re-brandings and spiraled into irrelevance or bankruptcy.
Du-par’s restaurant at Farmers Market was faced with the need to upgrade its kitchen two years ago, and they decided to remodel the restaurant while they were at it. Architectural purists groaned at the prospect of another landmark rebuilt as an imitation of itself, but most have admitted that it was well handled. The renovation brought the restaurant closer to its original roots, with the restoration of a big community table that was replaced by a lunch counter in the 1950s.
The question then became whether the menu would return to the simple items our grandparents enjoyed at that table. Here management went in both directions at once – they ended the use of frozen juices and hash browns that had been adopted in recent years, and they brought in a chef who had worked with Wolfgang Puck to add items like an Asian chicken salad and sauteed scallops. The fresh products were welcomed, most of the new items weren’t, and wags dubbed the place Sub-Pars. Witty, but harsh. Lesson learned, the restaurant went back to the comfort food that people liked in the first place.
Which was why I was so happy as I sat at the table on the patio and watched my onion rings and fried zucchini arriving. When I was a kid, Du-par’s had been the final stop when my grandparents took me to Farmers Market, and I remembered the soup and chicken and fresh pies. I don’t remember onion rings or zucchini, and doubt that back then they cost $7.25 each, but you can only ask for so much turning back the clock. These did taste homemade and handmade, the rings crisp, the zucchini with a thick coating of breading and a sprinkling of grated parmesan. The dipping sauces were even retro – no remoulade in sight, but that was real Thousand Island dressing next to the ketchup and ranch.
We continued with the soups that are included with all entrees – chicken noodle for my wife, yellow split pea with ham for me. The chicken was disappointing at first, flat and tasteless, but the addition of a little salt vastly improved it. The pea soup was rich, thick, and fine just as it was served.
My wife had ordered fish and chips ($12), a benchmark for her, and I picked a chicken pot pie ($11) because I had to see if it still tasted like I remembered. It did – no seasoning needed, a rich chicken and vegetable stew with a homemade-tasting pie crust on top. I went through it like a buzz saw, finishing the last of it while it was still almost too hot to eat, which I probably also did as a kid. My wife ate daintily, pausing in consumption of her fish only to snag some of mine before it disappeared. The cod had been tempura battered, which I’m sure they didn’t do in the ’60s, but it passed with flying colors – no greasy taste and the fish was hot and moist, the batter crisp, and the homemade tartar sauce had a nice vinegary sharpness. With the big portion of fries, it was a substantial meal, and she took some fish home for the next day’s lunch.
I had saved room for my favorite treat – a slice of the gooseberry pie ($4.75) that had always been my favorite dessert. Alas, the berries were raisin-like and mildly sour, while I had remembered them as firm, grapelike, and refreshingly tart. Du-par’s owner Bill Naylor confirmed my suspicions – the loss of farmland in California has made fresh gooseberries impossible to find now. To keep gooseberry pie on the menu he has switched to frozen berries, which have a similar flavor but a more mushy texture. On the plus side, the pie that used to be available only infrequently is now offered year-round.
That slice of pie excepted (and I can’t complain that the restaurant doesn’t serve what they can no longer get), it had been a tasty trip down memory lane. My wife grew up on the East Coast and hadn’t had my experiences, and she enjoyed it just as much. I’ll be returning to Du-par’s again soon, but first I have to spend some time with this seed catalog – I want fresh gooseberries, I have a back yard and a trellis, and I’m going to use them.
Du-par’s is at the corner of 3rd and Fairfax, (323) 933-8446. Validated parking in lot, open 24/7, no alcohol served.
Published: 10/01/2008
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