Quick Supper at AIA Design Award Winning Bottega Louie

Bottega Louie
700 S Grand Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(866) 418-9162

www.bottegalouie.com

Catching up with some yumminesses prior to the Vegas food-extravaganza...a couple weeks ago after errand running we slid our gas guzzling behemoth (his) into the loading zone only parking spot along the west facing wall of Bottega Louie and had ourselves an early dinner.

D started with the Louie salad: iceberg lettuce, jumbo shrimp, hearts of palm, avocado, sweet onions, bell pepper & an ever so slightly creamy Dijon vinaigrette. This could have been a meal on its own, it was sized pretty generously. I admit to stealing hearts of palm when he wasn't looking.

I started my meal off with an arugula salad...I have said it before and I will say it again. I love that the entrees here are small sized. I knew my fish course wasn't going to be overwhelmingly large so I did order the arugula salad, something that I adore. With red onions, Reggiano-Parm, EVOO, lemon juice and cracked pepper, it's not like I cannot make this at home. But I find arugula irresistible and the simplicity of this salad delicious. And if I wanted to prep this at home you'd have nothing to read right now.

For an entree, D ate the penne pomodoro, which is spectacularly unfun to photograph. For a main, I requested the Branzino. I love Branzino. But what is Branzino? It is a Mediterranean seabass, found mostly in lagoons, estuaries and coastal waters. Branzino is nothing texturally at all similar to Chilean seabass. Probably due to a lesser fat content. Branzino has a much leaner mouth-feel. This is good. I ate way too much Chilean sea bass in the late 90's and no longer love it, thanks partially to Suzanne Tracht and the wonderful sea bass she used to cook at Jozu.

Bottega Louie simply stuffs their Branzino with micro-herbs and a scarpa sauce. What the hades is scarpa sauce? I can find no non-Bottega Louie recipe or reference to it on the Internets. And honestly, this fish tasted and felt like there was no sauce whatsoever. It was fantastically delicious. Light, moist but because of the prep of the fish not any detectable sauce. Mysterious. Maybe even slightly evil. In a way that made me take the leftovers home.

Look! Bottega Louie sends leftovers home in aluminum foil swans! No, no they do not. That was all me. I ate the leftover Brazino for b'fast.

Kudos to Bottega Louie for winning an award in the American Institute of Architects/LA design awards. Louie, along with Chaya Downtown, KAA and Houston's all won in the restaurant category in Los Angeles. Commenters on Eater LA, have chided Bottega Louie for being too minimalistic, too bare with huge expanses of white walls. I wonder if all these critics have been to Louie. I believe that it is not only the expansiveness of the white walls and marble floors that won the award, but this in combination with the open kitchen, breakfast/cafe/bar area, massive picture windows and beautiful gourmet deli. All of this on one space would seem crowded and competitive. However, within the giant expanse of floor space within Louie it feels generous and spacious. I am a fan. Congratulations, Bottega Louie. The people who actually know things about architecture and restaurant design are fans too.

Las Vegas Getaway: Downtown Cocktail Room...or, Don't Lose Your Debit Card in Sin City

Downtown Cocktail Room
111 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89101
(702) 300-6268
www.downtownlv.net


Located in downtown Las Vegas near the auspicious Glitter Gulch, Binion's (where someone at the cash cage allowed a nefarious criminal to get cash from my debit card without an ID & the cops are coming for you, BTW, so start job hunting), adjacent to all the old school Vegas signs and beneath the new school obnoxious (IMO) light and music show overhead, you will find the Downtown Cocktail Room.

Right there at the corner of Las Vegas Blvd and Fremont Street, close to the corner of sleazy and shady, is this beautiful cocktail lounge where they make the best drinks in town. Hands down, this is my favorite bar in the city.

Their cocktails are made with large format cubes cube-master Michel Dozois of Church & State would be proud to call his own. A handsome loquacious bartender hand chipped from a giant cube ice to make my cocktail Achille's heel, a lychee martini. It was beautiful. Although they do kinda gotta fix the A/C at the Downtown. My friends were immediately impatient in the slightly balmy temperature and left sans moi to hang close by at the Vegas outpost of Atwater Village's The Griffin. They left there almost immediately as well, but sometimes in life one is a passenger. I enjoyed my damn lychee martini, despite it all.

I love the lights of downtown, reminding us of Las Vegas pre-super casino. Downtown used to hold a definite romance for me. There's a strong chance that the theft of my money at cash window without my ID has marred some of that. But I have to give credit where credit is due. I dropped my debit card. A dishonest person picked it up. Someone not doing their job gave that dishonest person my cash without checking to make sure that dishonest person was not me.


And it could have happened anywhere in Vegas. Criminals are everywhere. I should have been more careful with my debit card. I don't even have being drunk as an excuse. I was dead sober. Kinda.

Brunch at Dusty's Silverlake; No Wonder It's Slammed

Dusty's Bistro
3200 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 906-1018
www.dustysbistro.com

The morning after a girls' evening on the porch drinking copious amounts of wine and watching the twinkling lights of downtown Los Angeles below us, we piled in the car and headed down the hill to Dusty's for some brunch. It was packed. I haven't been in ages because I am not a breakfast eater, and it never occurs to me to eat there for dinner. This experience is going to change that.

I'll start with what we drank because I know JH loves when I do this. Priorities and all, don't you know? Dusty's house mimosa is strawberry/OJ and champers. Um...delicious. Dee-lish-ouse. Don't have one. Have two. They are only $5. FIVE DOLLARS EACH!

Dusty's also offers a pomegranate mimosa, as well as OJ and a couple other juices. The pomegranate was great until I tasted the strawberry/OJ. Don't test it, do the house special to begin with.

Lovely and generous little bread basket with soft butter (thank you), marmalade and raspberry jam. This basket and a couple mimosas would make a beautiful Sunday breakfast on its own, but no.

They have to offer eggs benedict served over potato latkes with heaps of fresh fruit. Spetziel.

Latke eggs benedict comes with several meat choices including Canadian bacon, regular bacon (this is clearly not kosher), spinach or with smoked salmon (geshmak). I caved on the smoked salmon which made for a crazy delicious oy vey! kind of entree. My kishkas were gliklech.

The lovely K tried something a little different, but equally decadent. Stuffed French Toast with ricotta, strawberries and bananas. Again, with the generous fruit. Loves.

This was too sweet for me to eat as an entire meal, but I admit it was maykholim.

Despite the fact that we sat at the bar because the restaurant was gaping at the seams, coffee service was a little slow. 150% pleasant, however, and I plan to do this again immediately.

Las Vegas Getaway: Raku Izakaya

Raku
Japanese Charcoal Grill
5030 Spring Mountain Rd #2
Las Vegas, NV 89146
(702) 367-3511
www.raku-grill.com



Located a short but beautiful cab ride away from the strip, through what I think of as Little Asia, sits Raku at the back of a strip mall. It can be difficult to see Raku from the street, where it is tucked away. In my mind I am calling the neighborhood Little Asia because the retail and dining options of China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and more all merge together in shiny brightly lit strip malls merging as one long neon streak as your taxi zooms toward its destination.

We originally made a reservation for Wednesday, then thought how fun it would be to bring a group of friends in town the following night so canceled and made a different one for Thursday. About an hour later we changed our minds (typical), called back and they had already booked our table. We came out anyway and ate at the small but lovely bar.

Our server's husband was sitting at the bar with us, and it turns out he is a sake rep. It was a bit like sitting with our own personal sake sommelier. He works for World Sake Imports, and kindly and deftly guided us through a couple of beautiful sakes. I really have never met a sake I didn't like, so I am an easy and willing victim. We started with a 10 oz bottle of 出羽桜“ミニ大吟醸” Dewazakura "Sakura Boy". Light and lovely, without any of the distinguishing melon flavors I sometimes love in a cold sake. This was slightly dry and linear and it was great.

Over our shoulder, we spied someone eating a beautiful giant squid dish that was not on the regular menu. The main body of the squid was served as sashimi, while the upper tentacles were marinated and grilled.

I love a little squid sashimi, and this was not a little. It can be hard to chew, so be careful how much you put in your mouth at once.

The tentacles were marvelous however, and we had no problem gobbling these down.

Another item not on the regular menu you will find online, is a Kurobuta pork belly in a dark sauce. Delicious and incredibly fatty. In most western restaurants I find the pork belly to be cooked so that the fat is served more solid. The flavors here are delicious, but the meat fell from the flesh readily making it easy to separate the muscle from fat. Please, don't hate me. Each bite was still thoroughly embedded in silky fatty flavorful tissue. However, the amount of fat in the dish altogether was a little overwhelming. Bitter greens on the side were psychotically and deliciously infused with fat and sauce. My mouth waters for them.

Hands down my favorite dish of the evening was the agedashi tofu. ZOMG. What? How have I never had this before? Where can I get a Los Angeleno equivalent? The soft tofu here is homemade, served in a hot savory/sweet broth with green onions, ginger and ikura on top. I want a vat of this. I want to roll around in it like a dog. Want.

The second bottle our new friend suggested was 山形出羽桜出羽燦々Dewasansan Junmai Ginjo. This bottle exhibited more of the fruitlike flavors I love. It is so beautiful I treated myself to a glass a couple nights later at Restaurant Charlie, despite the fact that Trotter's booze mark up is ass-rapingly ridiculous. $40 for a glass of Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label. Really? I understand a healthy booze mark-up to cover costs, but Trotter may have lost his mind a little. I digress. This is a fantastic sake, anytime, anywhere at any price (kinda).

The last item we nommed on was suggested by our friend the sake rep. A chicken breast wrapped in skin, from the robata.

This was outstanding. The most succulent, tantalizing piece of chicken I have ever put in my mouth. It needed no sauce and no formal introduction.

Such a beautiful little breast of chicken, protected from the hot fires of the grill by an insulating piece of chicken skin.

I was sent to Raku by Tony of Sinosoul, as a sort-of challenge. He has deep disdain for The Open Door Izakaya in Monterey Park, and I liked it quite a bit. My answer to this challenge is that one cannot compare The Open Door to Raku, it is apples to oranges. The Open Door is a lovely little spot for fairly white-washed but yummy Japanese pub food. Raku is excellent, much more authentic food of the same genre but perhaps not always to the tastes of people who enjoy their food less exotic. Please view these menu shots provided kindly by John Curtas of Eating Las Vegas.

courtesy of Eating Las Vegas

I don't know many people who would order something simply called meat guts. I just don't. Call it something fancy like foie gras, or add it to a tray with other meat parts and call it charcuterie.

courtesy of Eating Las Vegas

Same basic premise goes for bonito guts, and I even know one person who actually fears the ghost-like movement of bonito flakes in a breeze from an air conditioner or an open door. Although I am sure most people would indulge in Meltin' & Creamy Chocolate Cake. In terms of a competition for flavor, experience and authenticity, Raku wins. It also wins in my mind as my best food experience in Las Vegas to date. But I stand firm in my stance that the two, The Open Door and Raku, cannot be compared. So, suck it Tony. I kid, I kid. You know I love ya.

A wonderful piece of trivia for anyone slightly inclined or slightly dubious of heading off the strip for maybe the best izakaya I have ever had. Dining at the bar at Bartolotta (do you sense a trend in preferred restaurant geography, there's a trend) our wonderful bartender shared with us the fact that Raku is Chef Bartolotta's favorite Japanese in Vegas. He speaks of its culinary wonders frequently, and often takes guests there to dine when service in his own establishment is done for the evening. Raku, open til 3am. When in Vegas, go eat.

East LA Meets Napa Friday July 10th Union Station

A press release for this upcoming event:

AltaMed Health Services will host the Fourth Annual East LA Meets Napa celebration, featuring the diversity of Latin cuisine from Los Angeles area restaurants coupled with fine wine from Latino-owned or –operated Napa wineries. Attended by more than 1,000 wine and culinary enthusiasts,East LA Meets Napa speaks to the ongoing preference among aficionados to pair wine with Latin food instead of beer or margaritas. Attendees will also enjoy entertainment and wonderful conversation in one of Los Angeles’ most historic venues – Union Station. The first official event to celebrate the pairing of wine with Latin cuisine, East LA Meets Napa has historically been a showcase for emerging wineries and culinary talents. Many of the participating business owners share an immigrant experience, with some of the winemakers working their way up from the fields. The event provides these entrepreneurs with the opportunity to come together to support AltaMed’s mission – providing quality, culturally relevant health care to underserved populations throughout Southern California. This event will sell out.

Starting at $125, Tickets can be purchased through this link at Social Domain Los Angeles.

Participating restaurants include:
Atilla The Flan
Birrieria Chalio
Casa de Moles "LaTia"
Cook's Tortas
Dorados
El Portal
El Tepeyac Café
Frida Restaurant
Guelaguetza
Hacienda de San Ysidro
Homegirl Cafe
La Casita Mexicana
La Parrilla Restaurant
Palate Food & Wine
Phlight Restaurant
Porto's Bakery & Cafe
Rivera Restaurant
Tamayo Restaurant
Teresitas
Tila's Kitchen

Wineries:
Alex Sotelo Cellars
Cobblestone Vineyards
El Centauro del Norte
El Encanto Winery
Elements of Sonoma
FoustGustavo
Thrace Wines
Illumination
J Lohr Vineyards & Wine
Karl Lawrence
Lucio Perez Family Vineyards
Maritas Vineyards
Mi SueñoNevarez Vineyard
Renteria Wines
Rios Wine Cellars
Robledo Vineyards
San Antonio Winery
Sequoia Grove Vineyards
Summers Estate Wines
Quintessa

Next week Rivera will be hosting a press preview of the event, which I plan to attend and report on. Stay tuned, eaters.

Moules Frites Truck Coming Soon

My Twittering friend Squashblossom, professor and editor of LAist, and I tweeted endlessly last week about creating a moules frites taco truck. My dreams can now come to fruition on an imaginary scale. This scale is similar to my childhood fantasy life living in a beach van parked at the edge of Malibu Beach and sleeping in a plastic sleeping bag. Malibu Barbie was my surrogate self and the edge of my best friend's swimming pool stood in for Malibu Beach.

Here is the mock up of our moules frites truck (found at Goopymart), prior to customization:

We will paint it with our French/Belgian inspired logo, and name it something like "Moules for les Masses', or "Frites pour les Gens Fous", or something along those lines, to be sure. We also plan to use these plates for our food:
However, instead of hors d'ouvres on the plate we will set styrofoam bowls of steamed moules on the large flat area. And instead of a wine glass in the hole, we will hand the plate through the window with a small newspaper cone (a la a London chip shop) filled with frites avec herbes! One side of saffron aoili for free, but several flavors to choose from for an extra $.50 per flavor.

Doesn't that sound like a sublime addition to the gastrotruck offerings here in the Southland?

I know Southern California is waiting for mobile Japanese food. Someone dreaming of this needs to print the following truck out and put it together to inspire them into seeking investors.


And because I adore all things Dia de los Meurtos, I added this to the post for the fun of it. I may drive this one around my house all October.

There is nothing more fun than dreaming big and playing with toys.

Love Ya Blog Award

While the "Love Ya Blog Award" does appear to be the blogger equivalent of a chain letter, I am nevertheless pleased as punch at being on the receiving end. My Twittering friend Marmie blogging from Pamplemousse! awarded it to me this week. The gist of the award is as follows:

"Apparently this award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I am not going to say I am above self-aggrandizement. The act of blogging itself is about the most self-aggrandizing event that occurs in my life on a regular basis and I somewhat revel in my ability and willingness to participate in such an endeavor, never having been self-aggrandizing previously in life. It sure can be fun.

Now, onto the forwarding of my eight "Love Ya Blog Award"s.

1. Tony of Sinosoul

2. H.C. from LA-OC-Foodventures

3. Matt of mattatouille

4. Vervets from the woolly monkey

5. E from Reykjavik Harbor Watch (and who I miss dearly)

6. EKD from Blog of Me (even though she already got one :-p)

7. T from dClutterfly

8. Kevin from KevinEats

8. Aaron from FoodDestination

8. M (?) from Street Gourmet LA (who I hope to stir up trouble with sometime soon)

8. Cristine from Folie a Choisauce (last but not least)

Sunday at Tavern.

Tavern
11648 San Vicente Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(310) 806-6464
tavernla.com/

Sunday afternoon, still recovering from a brutal work week while simultaneously prepping for the next one, I found myself at Tavern wanting to be fed. I say this like we came about the decision casually, just meandered over. It is impossible to be casual when you live 17 miles away through the thick insanity of Los Angeles traffic and another world away from Brentwood face lifts and Chanel handbags.

Tavern is another spin on the now familiar MO of restaurant/gourmet shops like Bottega Louie, and Cube. One can dine stylishly and deliciously, then bring home some noms to enjoy for the next couple days. The "larder" at Tavern includes lots of pastries, some savory items, and for the eater on the go, a nice coffee and drinks menu.

Pecan pie, cinnamon rolls, a berry crumble.

The requisite cupcakes. Three or four different lovingly but very professionally decorated kinds of cupcakes. Cupcakes. Cakes in a cup. Genius.

Love the smattering of brass roosters everywhere. I want to steal a couple of these, a few gophers from the Golden Goph, and start a brass menagerie in my backyard.

Despite the fact that we are not in Lucques anymore, Dorothy, there are definite traces of Lucques here. The interior is by Jeffrey Alan Marks, or Jam Designs and it is definitely reminiscent of the interior patio of Lucques. It has that same interior/exterior feel to it, with skylit ceilings, and ever-so-slightly garden-esque touches.

In the daytime the atmosphere is both stimulating and relaxingly luxurious.

I am sure at night time it is the epitome of hushed yet busy sophistication. Much like Lucques. A pub this is not.

They start us off with a basket of simply crusty white bread and ice cold butter. I miss the sea salt, olives and almonds from Lucques, but I get over this.

I am obsessed by Hitachino Nest. Not the drinking, the picture taking. There has just never been a cuter beer. Luckily the DH really loves this one so I have had lots of opportunities. 10%.

I drank a beautiful Rousanne-Marsanne blend, one of my favorite wines. It slightly echoes some of the richness of a Chardonnay with none of the oak or butter. My one OCD flaw is wanting to drink out of a clean wine glass at all times. Tavern brings your wine in a mini-carafe each time you order a new glass, so you will be using the same wine glass throughout the meal. This engenders a lot of glass wiping for me, so I request some bar naps. I do not like Chapstick of gloss on my glass. I even attempt to continually drink out of the same spot so as not to mess up the entire rim. If you saw my office/closet/car interior you would know this is my only OCD area.

I adore the way they serve their catsup in a small medicinal bottle. It doesn't taste homemade. And the top of the bottle and the cap are really messy. I wipe this down well with a bar nap, because yuck.

For my main dish, I order the Niman burger with fontina cheese, a huge tomato slice and not a lot of lettuce. As a matter of fact, my lettuce is a little sad. It's kinda wilty and there wasn't enough of it. I am an unfortunate product of In n' Out protein style burgers, so I like a lot of lettuce.

The burger is served with a choice of fries or an arugula salad, and I clearly go for the arugula choice. Arugula is the best green in existence. Bitter, sharp, small enough to fit quite a few leaves in one's mouth at once. Tastes good with red onions, olives, cherry tomatoes and as a foil against lots of different kinds of fruit. Yet another small hitch in the meal was the salt. Both the meat in my burger and the arugula were a little oversalted. My burger was oversalted to the extent that I wondered briefly if they had erred and sent me the pork burger which is made with pork shoulder, prosciutto and chorizo. But no, this is clearly beef by sight and flavor, just a hair over salted. Nevertheless the meat is delicious and it is cooked perfectly medium rare. I can handle some salt. When working in the field, I bring my lunch and often carry one of my little tubs of sea salt or truffle salt in my purse for almost everything in my lunch bag. This Sunday, salt does not ruin my burger.


C orders the special fish of the day. IIRC (if I recall correctly) she ate barramundi. I believe it was barramundi because that is one of my favorite fish types and I almost ordered this dish. Grilled, it was served atop a hash of fresh corn, zucchini, green beans, shaved red onion and cherry tomatoes.

I love the way these sauteed cherry tomatoes look with the caramelized onions. I can taste it just by looking at the deliciousness of this dish. And C cleared her entire plate. I think she licked it when I was looking the other way at the West Side bridal shower in the corner.

D ordered a sandwich called "The Pilgrim". Chunks of turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing on wheat bread. That was one thick and beautiful sandwich. He is still talking about it. On his plate was a side of sweet potato chips, and they were sweet potato perfection.


Despite a couple extremely minor flaws, our experience at Tavern was wonderful. One of the hostesses was incredibly gracious, finding a great table for us despite a canceled reservation, our slightly high maintenance attitude, and a completely empty bar area. Our server was nothing short of charming. Knowledgeable and pampering without being obsequious, he provided very smooth and easy service, knew the answers to all our questions and took great care of us.

Now, I just have to get across town to hit Tavern for dinner.

When Old People Rock & Roll

Bob Gannon, D's long time friend and drummer from back in the Swing Set days, and his wife are hosting a series of musical evenings this summer. They are called "Stay Positive" parties, and they are brilliant.

They invite a variety of friends and musicians of various genres to a pot luck at their lovely home in Venice to eat, drink and find something to be happy about on this fair planet.

Old people rock. We roll, too. Bob's band was making some nice sounds when we first arrived.

Bob's bass player was laying down some great sounds...I was digging his phat bass lines.

This woman is folk-ish singer songwritery type, her music was lovely. Nice lyrics and good guitar playing.

There are some differences when the 40+ crowd rocks out, different compared to how this all looked 20 years ago.

There are koi ponds.

A stunning Venice Beach cottage with open walls and an outdoor living space with lounge chairs and long chaises instead of a grimy concrete patio with pigeon shit and cigarette butts.

The hot chick singing a few songs solo is pregnant and she keeps her boobs covered.

There are children present, and lots of them, even if the language is not always PG. There is an open bar, and people indulge in alcoholic beverages with a designated driver. No one is doing blow or shooting heroin in the bathroom.

There is a well developed sense of irony. A purposeful sense of irony, I might add. Watch this. It is worth the 1 minutes 9 seconds.

Grand Master Flash on the hurdy gurdy. Watch it, you know you want to.

The sound system is actually better than the sound system at most Hollywood clubs (including Cinespace) because someone who cares deeply about music has spent the time and money to make it so. And fans are more than appreciative.

Meaningful music about a long hard year can make you cry, tears unrelated to a guy who dumped you and you don't have to shed them in the bathroom with your girlfriends.

Rock and roll is not age specific. It is not the sole domain of the youthful, and one doesn't need to be particularly angry at the world to make amazing music.

But a little anger certainly doesn't squelch creativity either. Fortunately those of us past 40 can still muster up a little world hating.

This is No Time for a Parade

Newspapers in Southern California and beyond are reporting and criticizing a potential celebratory parade for the victorious NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers this coming Wednesday.

The Daily Breeze
LA Times
Huffington Post
Reuters

I am as thrilled as any Laker fan that our Lakes took home the trophy. I watched literally every minute of the play-offs from start to finish. However, this is not a time, within our city and around the world, to throw a multi-million dollar public celebration for our beloved giants, whether they deserve it or not.

The city of Los Angeles is in the middle of making decisions about lay-offs and work furloughs, and 3,000 LAUSD teachers have been laid off for the 2009-2010 school year.

Lakers fans behaved abominably in downtown Los Angeles around the Staples center after game five. Property was destroyed, lives endangered and precious police and fire department man hours were wasted due to looting and lighting bon fires throughout the area.

The people of Iran are suffering violence at the hands of the state police during otherwise peaceful protests. Following the tweets of several residents of Tehran, I have learned first hand hair curling information about shootings, power outages and beatings of people either peacefully protesting or going about their daily business.

Once might argue that in times like these, we must celebrate the things that are positive in our lives, things that make us smile, fill us with pride and elevate us from our troubles. I wonder, however, if there are not outlets to express this celebration in a manner less pricey for our troubled city economy. In a way that feels less gauche, less flashy. Can we celebrate the athletic achievement of some of our favorite citizens without further highlighting the disparity between the haves and the have-nots, simultaneously making an overt attempt to limit opportunities for the needless shenanigans of foolish revelers which tax our city services.

It is Governor Villaraigosa's responsibility as the leader of our city to put the kabosh on this inappropriate and untimely parade. It would simply be unseemly.

Tavern Denied: Sunday Brunch at The Jar

Jar
8225 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 655-6566
www.thejar.com



Last Sunday we high-tailed it out of Echo Park on two wheels headed for a 12:30 reservation at Goins' new Tavern in Brentwood. Ambitious, yes. However, we were convinced we would make our reservation barring mishap. Naturally, mishap occurs. One cyclist was alerted by a automobile driver that s/he had dropped her ID out of her pocket a couple miles back, and had to backtrack, searching the pavement all the way. After retrieving said ID, we carried on with the ride and at 12:30 on the nose found ourselves riding past the valet parker sitting outside of Jar. I love Tracht's food, and have a long history of following her from restaurant to restaurant. We locked up the bikes and sat our sweaty selves down in her elegant restaurant and had us some brunch.


Brunch started with this delicious cinnamony breakfast roll. We all picked at it (after washing our hands), pulling it apart to reveal itself as a nutty, sticky, slightly sweet breakfast pastry.

Pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon. Good.

I ordered from the specials selections. Open face prosciutto sandwich with pesto, arugula, Parmesan-Reggiano and a fried egg on ciabbata.

This was gobstoppingly delicious. Generous with the slightly bitter arugula, one of my favorite greens. This pesto was made with basil and olive oil, but arugula makes an amazing pesto also, as does cilantro FYI.

The egg was cooked so the yolk would perfectly drizzle down onto the prosciutto. It was a little rich, and I could only eat half. The other half went into my back pack, making it home safely and tastily to nibble at after the 22 mile round trip.

C ordered lox and a bagel For some reason she was a little unhappy with the lox. I think it is fair to call her a picky eater. I tasted the lox and it was of great quality. It was light in flavor and texture, not thick and oily like lox can sometimes be. I guessed that this was house smoked, but I would love confirmation on that. I thought it was really tasty.

D ordered Jar's Cobb salad. Tracht definitely has a way with veggies, which is one of the reasons I adore her food. This Cobb came in a huge wide bowl, with butter lettuce, red onions, bleu cheese, toothsome chunks of ham, cherry tomatoes, almost hard boiled eggs and a quarter of a ripe avocado, all sprinkled with chives and lightly dressed.

Brunch at Jar was a huge success, even if it was a stop-gap. Because we were cycling, we passed on alcoholic beverages *gasp*, which made our bill extremely reasonable, almost forgettable. Forgettable in terms of the weekly finances anyway. Amazing how much money one can spend on liquid self-medication. We have not been frequenting Jar much recently, as there has been a rash of new and interesting food offerings in LA on the past couple years. This brunch reminded me what I have been missing.

Rowdy Red Wine & Burger Bar

Rowdy Red Burger & Wine Bar
515 S Flower St
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 627-5511


June 3rd, 2009 a couple dozen bloggers and media folk descended (literally) upon Rowdy Red, a newish downtown burger and wine bar in the subterranean mall underneath the high rise at 505 S. Flower Street. This hosted event was organized through Vanessa Krystal of JS² Communications.

Rowdy Red is named after an heirloom tomato with "an intense flavor, deep-red color, robust 'not for sissies', bold tomatoey flavors, with a firm, juicy flesh that invites snacking in the garden, cooking and canning". In homage to this heirloom tomato hangs a painting on one of the rear walls of Rowdy Red, its color also echoed in the red booths and red touches throughout the restaurant.

Despite the fact that Rowdy Red is only open for breakfast and lunch, and partially because of it, they did some special things with the wine list. First, they offer a house label Cabernet Sauvignon made from Rutherford area grapes. This reasonable house wine is actually very good, with burgers and anything else you might be eating. They also offer a big brand name selection of California wines in the half bottle. Perfect for sharing with a friend during a weekly burger lunch. Protein and a little pampering although not so much you will nap under your desk a la George Castanza. Some of the labels include Patz & Hall, Rombauer, Fiddlehead, Duckhorn and Hitching Post.


Part of the shtick at Rowdy Red is that they serve humane grass fed all natural beef burgers. As part of this angle, the menu proudly displays a list of their vendor partners. Included among their partners are Zacky Farms for poultry, Santa Monica Seafood, LA Specialty Produce, and Peet's Coffee.

I like that their menu offers quite a few healthy options as well as the requisite decadent burgers. And the price point is luncheon friendly.

The burger list was mouth wateringly tempting. I like the idea of a "burger salad", as I tend to love my burgers protein style. The ahi burger would even tempt my so-called vegetarian friend.


Just a nod at a couple of entrees. Rowdy Red is open til 7, so they may get an early dinner crowd some nights. Easy to include an Angus skirt steak and some fish and chips in case of a non-burger lover in the house (is there such a thing?).

Rowdy Red straddles the line between cute and kitsch rather nicely. I love the zebra bar stools, and think they stopped short of overdoing it. Onto the food.

Regular fries. Just plain dope. Not too thin, not too fat, lightly salted. Didn't even need catsup. Or ketchup. You decide. A solid rendition of the American style French fry.


Sweet potato fries. I thought these were a hair overfried, but love the small wedgie shape. I don't think I have ever met a sweet potato fry I don't like, even if one was a touch too crunchy.

Turkey burger. Unsure why any self respecting carnivore would order a turkey burger at a meal hosted by a BURGER bar, for the love of all things heart attack inducing. It's not like D doesn't get enough exercise, is watching his figure or wasn't going to nom all over my sliders anyway. It weren't bad though. It wasn't dry, the great fear of anything made with ground turkey. Juicy and delicious, just something I make at home when making up for all the naughty eating we do when on the prowl.

My sliders. MY sliders. Beautiful little mini cheese burgers on excellent buns.

Served with cheddar and onions deliciously grilled.

The buns on these are great because they are not sweet. Just good, soft bread, similar to White Castle buns.

Giant onion rings, a hair overbattered. I was about to type that they are otherwise good, but overbattering the onion is kind of the death knell for an onion ring.

The piece de resistance...the Peet's Coffee milkshake. This was delicious. HC and his dining companion were super generous about letting everyone have a sip. They really made good use of their partnership here. This giant ice-creamgasm libation was perfect.

I would definitely hit Rowdy Red again, unhosted. Problem is, I drive away from downtown daily for work, hitting all kinds of glamorous places in the Inland Empire, places without good food. By the time I am ready for some dinner, Rowdy Red is starting to close up shop. They are located almost directly beneath Drago Centro and Chaya Downtown, and I am hoping this proximity will bring some business their way, leading them to extend their hours. All they need is some signage above ground so people know there is something less pricey downstairs, but still casually elegant and pretty tasty.

Guest Blogger Kristine G. Hits Craft, Century City

Craft
10100 Constellation Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90067
310.279.4180
http://www.craftrestaurant.com/craft_losangeles_style.html


As avid Top Chef junkies, my sister H and I were eager to check out Colicchio's Craft for a celebratory birthday dinner. Amongst the sleek cool greyness of the surrounding buildings (Craft is situated in the heart of Century City's business district) I started wondering about how the restaurant's ambiance would compare.

I like places that are polished and uncluttered, yet warm and inviting.

And Craft is one of those places that fits the description.

The simple hanging pendants, warm woods, angular tables and chairs gives Craft a very urban Zen feel. No fluff, no frou-frou stuff going on here. The kind of place that emanates a sense of peace...

Originally the plan was to order the Tasting Menu ($100) but my sister was craving a steak and is not too fond of duck or lamb. And since it was her birthday she got to call the shots and I gladly obliged.

Their wine list is pretty extensive and they offer many by the glass.

Amuse Bouche: big eye tuna tartare on the cutest quarter-sized crisp and a whisper of cilantro. Normally I am not a cilantro fan (and in fact, pick it out of my food because it tastes like soap). However, this must've been some really good tasting soap because I could have had a dozen of these!

For starters we ordered a half dozen oysters, two of each kind. Kushi, Kumomoto, and Malpeque. H loved the Malpeques but I loved the meatiness of the Kushi. Or maybe I just like the name because it reminds me of Domo. ;)

The goat cheese tart with tomato compote and greens was all right. Probably my least favorite course of the evening. Surprising because I am a goat cheese whore, but the curry flavors did not make me swoon.

H's flatiron steak with carmelized shallots. Perfectly roasted. Perfectly seasoned. And totally adorable! I had never dined at a Craft before and didn't know about these miniature cast iron serving pieces. Now I want to start my own mini cast iron collection at home.

My Berkshire Pork Loin & Pork Belly. Off the hook delish ... the buttery-ness of the fat, the sweetness of the roasted peach ... a rich and flavorful dish, perfectly portioned.

Squash flowers. A highlight of the evening. The kind of vegetable kids would stand in line to eat.

White summer corn. H mentioned she didn't care for the texture, too much. (There were some kernals that were cooked more than others), but I liked the rustic feel.

Surprise! I loved all the little desserts they brought to the table. Mini lemon meringue cups: two bites of sweet, tangy, citrus-sy goodness. I can haz more?

Beignets with chocolate ganache and honey. Okay. What's up with the cinnamon-sugar beignets. I wanted a simple one without the Churro flavoring. Because of the Churro-ness the chocolate did not pair very well. A thin ribbon of honey was a pleasant compliment, though.

Mexican Vanilla, Chocolate-Hazelnut, Lavendar ice-cream. At this point you probably think we are gluttons for dessert (and rightfully so) ... If we knew they were bringing out surprise desserts we would have passed with this trio of ice-cream. Although the flavors were lively and danced on our tastebuds, we were getting full. This rarely happens. We are the kind of girls who ALWAYS have room for ice-cream.

We barely touched this almond cake with grilled peaches and more Mexican Vanilla ice-cream, though. A shame because it was so beautiful.

Strawberry Gelee candies, chocolate bark (with bits of sea salt), and cookies that looked like a pair of perky breasts (can't remember the flavor, maybe peanut butter?).

Craft: you were good to us. We shall be back. And we'll make sure to eat all the ice-cream next time, m'kay? 4/5

One Evening in Skid Row: Yxta & The Association

Yxta Cucina Mexicana
601 S. Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90021
(213) 596-5579

www.yxta.net

Craving albondigas de pescado, we returned to Skid Row again Saturday night to eat and drink. Sadly, the fish albondigas is served only on Friday, and the kitchen was out of the Flores de Calabazas Rellenos con Queso Oaxaca (stuffed squash blossoms) I was longing for. But there we were, and last time I was there I was convinced that this place is not getting the attention it deserves for the quality of its food and drink. I took this as an opportunity to sample something different from the menu.

C and I started with a "trust me" cocktail, made from agua fresca de sandia. Jesse mixed the watermelon agua fresca with sparkling wine, and it was delicious. Light and refreshing.

Last time there, some humans were sitting in the corner, making it difficult to get good room shots. Family style tables are a great choice for a dinner party without being banished to a private room. Both the food and the prices at Yxta make this a perfect destination for a birthday party. We saw several parties larger than 6 getting started before we ended our meal. Love the light quality, the industrial yet polished feel of the room.

Los Banos...

We started out sharing some apps. D ordered practically before we got in the door. Sometimes I wish he would eat before we go out to dinner because he acts like a starving child when someone puts menus in front of us. Sometimes a leisurely pace is a nice thing. At any rate, Jesse recommended the Empanadas. These are offered with beef, chicken or cheese, and we sprung for cheese because the only meat C eats is fish. It was pretty delicious. Nice fluffy little pillows of dough with just the right amount of cheese in the middle. Not over or under filled.

We also shared the Taquitos de Camaron. The kitchen was generous with the guacamole on the plate, which really made the dish. This was universally loved, the shell was very crispy and the shrimp inside was large and satisfying.

After noshing on such hearty antojitos, C and I decided to share an entree. Salmon en Salsa de Mango. Solidly great tasting, I would have preferred this dish to be less rich. It seems to be swimming in butter or oil, as you can see on the bottom of the plate. More mango salsa, and salmon in my mind does not need extra fat to make it flavorful. However, the filet was generous and we certainly didn't leave the table hungry even for people sharing a dish.

Chipotle mashed potatoes were the hit of the evening. Psychotically delicious. Irish/Mexican mash. Cabbage, large chunks of chipotle mashed with potato and "just a little butter". Crazy good.

Jesse rec'd the Enchiladas de Salmon for D. The spiciness of this grew to be too much for him, but luckily it didn't creep to that level til he was nearly done eating. I didn't find them spicy at all, but I can take some heat. I am hard core like that. I would have liked to have seen more avocado and onions on top, so I could have a little in every bite.

Rice and beans, like last time, solidly great. Simple but cooked well.

One drink never really being enough, but two perhaps being one too many, C and I shared the Pina Real. Pineapple with tequila and jalapeno. This could have used more heat from the jalapeno, but it was beautifully pinappley. Crave worthy during the coming hot summer months.

D sipped at Tequila Ocho, among other tequilas, all evening long.

We shared a cinnamon flan. After all that food, I could barely eat one bite. But the cinnamon with the custard is a genius pairing.

The Association
110 E 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 627-7385

With our bellies full and nothing to do, daylight still in our favor, we hoofed it through Skid Row to The Association. The walk was colorful.

First visit to The Association, my new most favorite bar in Los Angeles. Wisely but not purposefully, we were among the first customers. We earned the pleasure of securing the attention of Larry, the world's most charming bartender ever since the discovery of fermentation. Adorable in that "28 year old Hollywood musician" kind of way. Reminds me of when Flick was just a boy/puppy. Both defy that stereotype by being great conversationalists, smart and interesting. And just a little frisky.

Larry definitely promote their specialty cocktails. For some reason this spring I have really been going off the reservation with regard to my adult beverages. Instead of sticking to wine or vodka & soda, I have been trying all kinds of fancy drinks everywhere we go. I don't know what has gotten into me.

C started with the Pisco Sour, which appears to be making the scene in trendy bars all over the place. Reminds me of Ana, my Peruvian roommate when I lived in the Fairfax 'hood. She used to make me Pisco Sours on the weekends. Ana's tasted remarkably like Larry's. Good. Fresh. Sweet. Foamy.

I let Larry talk me into a French 75. T has been drinking these for awhile. She served them at a birthday party awhile back, and I refrained because gin scares me. I imagine myself falling into a life of gin soaked alcoholism, hiding a fifth of Bombay in my coat pocket and wearing newspapers for shoes. The French 75 was gorgeous. Gin, champagne, lemon juice and a little simple syrup. Luscious fizz. I don't know why I resisted.

Some loquacious lad next to us ordered himself a birthday Hemingway. I always think of daiquiris when I think of Hemingway. This was a little like what I would make as my version of a daiquiri. Rum, lime, sugar, sans blender. It was simple and delicious. A cocktail made in a coupe is always fun to drink. One instantly transforms into Daisy Buchanan, in a white dress with pearls and an innocent (kinda) smile, leaning too far to the left while holding the coupe precariously close to spilling it...yet...never...quite....losing a drop.

Wow. I have no recollection what C was drinking as her last of the night. And I have no hangover. I just have a really bad memory. It fizzed. It dripped. She drank.

Just when the crowd really began to press in at our backs, we settled our tab and said our goodbyes. Skid Row at midnight is a bad bet at best, so we hopped on the bus that fortuitously arrived right as we poured ourselves up with stairs and onto the 6th Street sidewalk. It dropped us off back right in front of Yxta.

Chaya in DTLA

Chaya
525 S Flower St
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 236-9577
http://www.thechaya.com/downtownLosAngeles/

I love Chaya. I have loved Chaya since the first time I my husband, then date, took me to the Beverly Hills location for a dinner date back in 1998. The food is delicious, the service is always top notch and the atmosphere is elegant and ever so slightly celebratory. The new downtown location hits all the same marks of excellence.

The bar area is actually an improvement on the crowded and small bar area in Beverly Hills. There is more space at the actual bar, and lots of different seating options in an airier and more open space. This bodes well for happy hour business, of which our bartender said they get plenty.

Above, please view the happy hour options. Lots of tasty looking small plates at low price points. And some tempting looking cocktails.

Monday nights they offer a bento box special. For $35 with one free glass of cold sake I am thinking this is really not that much of a bargain necessarily. It does tempt me a little though. I'd like to try it to see exactly what the chef is offering.

Some lovely cupcakes at the end of the bar. I saw someone add several more a couple different times, but didn't ask what flavor they are. This is a nice dessert option, and they certainly looked beautiful, if a hair thematically incongruous.

D and I started our meal with hama hama oysters on the half shell. Large and very briny, lots of juice.

It's easier to tell from this shot how wet they truly were. Some people really love all the liquid..my favorite part of the middle meaty part. Heavenly.

Vodka martinis on a Friday night. Cold, wet and dry.

For our second course we shared the pan seared Hokkaido scallops. This was hands down the best dish of the night. Given the generous size (these were whole, not half scallops), I could have eaten this as an entree.

Plated over melted leeks, creme frâiche pureed gold Yukon potatoes, a drizzle of olive oil and a truffle sherry vinaigrette, the flavor was bold and rich, but still elegant. I used to have a habit of ordering the same thing every time I visited a restaurant, if I fell in love with it. When Los Feliz restaurant was still in business *wipes away a tear*, we returned time and again for the beautiful steak with balsamic reduction. D would take me out for a special weeknight dinners to Los Feliz in my early years of teaching to make me feel pampered after a long and stressful day. Because of these scallops, Chaya downtown could become just such a habit.

D ordered the sea bass for his main. The Beverly Hills location serves something similar, but not exactly the same. We always order seafood when at Chaya, they have such a special way with so many different varieties.

Downtown Chaya serves their sea bass marinated in white miso with a wasabi soy broth, bok choy, eggplant and a white rice gallette. The Japanese flavors in this dish do a sea bass justice.

I rarely order whole fish unless sharing with someone else, but I was super pleased I ordered this to share only with myself. This is orata, which is a euphemism for sea bream. Personally, its original moniker doesn't bother me, but people are weird. Alert the press.

Roasted Tuscan style stuffed with spinach, tons of fennel and tomato to keep the inside nice and moist. The outside was topped with lots of roast sticky garlic, served with grilled lemon.

The beautiful broccolini was served as part of the orata dish. This dish as a whole was rustically delicious.

I am beyond thrilled that Chaya has placed a branch downtown. Situated next door to Drago Centro at 5th and Flower, it is located well for public transportation and easy to find for taxi'ing. My patronage of Chaya BH waned when we moved this far east. Something tells me they will be getting plenty of my dining money in the upcoming months. Everything about their food and atmosphere makes me happy.

Névé Luxury Ice Demos at Church & State

Névé Luxury Ice
Church & State
1850 Industrial St
Los Angeles, CA 90021
(213) 405-1434

Monday evening Michel Dozois of Church & State and Névé Luxury Ice with San Francisco's Jon Santer brought together a large group of media personnel, bartenders and food bloggers to introduce and demonstrate the large format ice being popularized first in NYC, and now in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The bistro tables at Church & State were organized into four tops, each set with the following: Bacardi Anejo, Czadores Reposado, and 42 Below Vodka, Boston shakers, bar spoons, stainless steel jiggers, rocks, martini and highball glasses, fresh lime, creme de cassis and ginger beer. Strolling in at 7, I couldn't wait to get my paws in the goodies. I love to mix drinks.


Employing the rules of physical science, bartenders who expound on the wonders of large cubes know that one larger cube creates a lower liquid to ice surface ratio than with many smaller cubes. This causes the heat from the liquid to transfer at a slower rate, melting the cube more slowly and causing less dilution in the cocktail. The goal, as Dozois says, "is to have the last taste of your cocktail taste as good as your first".



After we settled in at tables (I took a seat at the front because I am just that kind of a student), our short glasses were immediately filled with a large ice cube from Névé intended to be used in rocks glasses. Note the large size and beautiful structure.


Everyone poured a generous shot of Bacardi Anejo over their cube, I sipped deeply. I am in love with that spirit. It is definitely a sipping rum, it would be a crime to mix it with anything. This would be delicious sipped outside with a sweet Padron 26.

Next we made Vodka Martinis. The table I sat at was shared with the two Travises, bartenders from Wurstkuche, along with Rachel new at Wurstkuche and also tending at Malo. They were all fun, sweet and so friendly. The two Travises kept me entertained the entire time, irreverant and adorable hipsters that they are. The Travis I was sharing a table with was getting a lesson from Rachel in how to use the Boston shaker, something he will have to perfect when Wurstkuche gets their full bar licensing. First Travis was instructed to make a martini with small, standard machine made cubes. He stirred, we drank. Fine, a simple vodka martini.



Next, we were supplied with a larger sized Névé ice cube. Travis hand cut the ice using the spoon to make slightly smaller (not much smaller) chunks for the shaker. The process was repeated. This time, the taste of the vodka was stronger, the initial pop was more concentrated. Success. Definitely worthy of a Friday evening, or as LA-OC Foodie, says, a Monday evening.




The next cocktail constructed is called a Diablo. Cazadorez Reposado and creme de cassis topped with ginger beer, first over the smaller cubes. Delicious, sizzling in that way ginger beer has tempered by the sweet fruitiness of the cassis. Again, process repeated with the larger longer Collins cube. Initially, the flavor was very close to the same, but as the next 30 minutes wore on, the second drink truly retained that initial spark and sweetness. The flavor in the first drink fizzled over the same time period.

Travis 1 guides Travis 2 with the stainless steel jigger.

Third drink? OG daquiri. I remember making these for my mom in the 1970's during the long hot Sacramento summertime, but she liked hers made with limeade and blended. This is more similar to the Hemingway style daquiri, just dark rum, lime and simple syrup made from cane sugar. Loving rum, this pleased me. Again, as with the martini, the second version was more richly flavorful from the very beginning of the drink. We noticed that the second drinks did not fill the glass as high, and Jon was about to demonstrate why.

We gathered around the bar to watch Jon work his magic. He shook two ounces of spirit with smaller cubes and poured the fluid back out into not two or even three, but four one ounce containers. Using the smaller cubes with the high liquid to ice surface ratio doubles the fluid in the drink by adding 100% as much water to the spirit. The temperature of the fluid is cold as heck, as measured by Jon's laser thermometer. However, that's a lot of ice water.


Second, he demonstrated the exact same amount of spirit with a large format Névé cube. When Jon poured out, the shaking yielded three ounces instead of four. So, while there is still some meltage, your drink should retain a higher level of the structural integrity originally suggested in the recipe. Better flavor initially, and as evidenced by the life of the Diablo, throughout the lifetime of the drink.


Manzke's kitchen would not let us go hungry! Fluffy piles of gougeres...


Potted pork rillette with prune confiture. Anyone dining with me regularly knows my adoration of charcuterie.

Cachat Provencal, a soft jarred goat's cheese flavored with lavendar and honey.

The entire spread, which also included and eggplant caviar, or caviar d'aubergine, if you will. Flatbread pizzas were also to be had, but the crew descended on these in a tsunamic herd.

Drinks with large format ice cubes can be found in NYC at East Side Company Bar, and Angel's Share as well as Milk & Honey. Newer to the West Coast, the cubes can be found in drinks at Heaven's Dog and Slanted Door in San Francisco. Drinkers in Los Angeles can find them at Rivera, Comme Ca and Church & State as well as at Silver Lake retail store BarKeeper.

Thank you, Michel, Névé, Jon and Church & State for an intoxicatingly informative evening.

Celebrity Home Organizer Visits Gilligan's Island, Seduces Professor

Occupation/Career Path:
Professional/Small Business Owner dClutterfly Livable Organization

Hobby:
surfing, eating, napping and wine-ing.

courtesy of Physics of Surfing


Last meal you ate:
turkey taco lettuce wraps.

courtesy of Eating Well


Ice cream treat preference:
Anything vanilla and everything from Scoops.

courtesy of quarrygirl.com


Obama is coming to dinner! What would you serve for a 5 course meal?

1. Amazing cheeses from Cheese Store of Silverlake.
2. Simple green salad from Hollywood Farmer's market.
3. CJ's amazing with leg of lamb with mint onion reduction, again with as much from
Hollywood Farmer's Market as possible.
4. Ice Cream from Scoops.
5. Wine from Silverlake Wine. Wine is a course, right?

courtesy of Good Stuff NW



Desert island 3:
Shrimp with cocktail sauce
Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa
Coconut Sorbet

Clearly my island is Gilligan's Island and the Professor has built me a freezer out of coconuts
and found me ketchup.

courtesy of My Looking Glass


Cooking mishap:
I once made my dad tapioca pudding and instead of a teaspoon salt I put a cup of salt
in. And bless his heart, he ate a big bowl and told me the salt helped his sour throat.

Ethnic/culinary heritage? Do you cook anything traditional to this heritage?

Celtic mutt/California native means I can make a mean enchilada casserole with a steamed artichoke and a whiskey back.

courtesy of Lost Angeles


How did you learn to cook?
Watching my grandmother then a whole bunch of trial and error.


One thing you will never eat:
Dog.

courtesy of Dog Breed Info Center



Website/blog:
www.dclutterfly.com