I Heart Eating :)

2007-01-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

3 Thirty 3
333 Bayside Dr
Newport Beach, CA 92660
949.673.8464
http://www.3thirty3nb.com/home.htm

Happy New Year everyone!

What's the best way to start a fabulous 2007? A yummy brekkie!

Soooo, a group of us (post-NYE celebrations) met up at 3-Thirty-3 in Newport for some pretty freakin awesome breakfast burritos.

It's a pretty amazing concept...you get a little sheet of paper with a list of all sorts of goodies you can throw in your burrito, including but not limited to sausages, bacon, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, the list goes on & on...but you get the gist. You can also get it "wet" or dry with yummy red enchilada sauce. Holy crap, my tummy just got really excited writing that! Hehe :) AND best part...they have a pretty amazing bloody mary bar!!!! You can add all your own garnishes...spicy green beans, celery, olives, salt, salt & more salt :) I should probably also mention that the view here isn't too shabby either..it's right on the water...gotta love that ;)

Needless to say, HAPPY TUMMY & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2006-10-25T23:57:00.000-07:00

Pearl Oyster Bar
18 Cornelia Street
New York, NY 10014
212.691.8211
www.pearloysterbar.com

Pearl was by far my favorite eating adventure during my visit in NY. Small little joint in the West Village (but then again, isn't everything small in NYC?) that had some amazing seafood!! We had to wait awhile for our table, but it was well worth it! We ordered a bottle of Vouvray Chenin Blanc (as suggested by the host) and plopped ourselves onto a bench t to patiently wait for our table :)

Um...may I first comment on the wine...it was really good! It's a white wine that's a tad sweeter than Savignon Blanc but not quite as fruity as a Pinot Grigio. It was a lovely wine...light & fresh...compliments to the host for suggesting a good one!

Now to the food...after we waited for about 45 minutes for our miniscule table, we ordered a pletheora of yummy eats! We started with the pot of steamers, YUM!!! These clams still had their sock on, so they were served with a bowl of warm water to clean the sand out before popping them in your mouth :) Very exciting stuff lemme tell you :) Alongside the clams was a big ole bowl of yummy melted butter to dip the clams in. I prefer a dash of tabasco on them as well :) SOOOO good!!!! After the clams we got a round of oysters! tasty. fresh. meaty. delicious. I love oysters :) Then we moved on to our main courses...the thing to get at Pearl is their lobster roll (apparently, it's one of the few places where you can supposedly get an authentic lobster roll outside of New England). Yum & yummier! Fresh baked toasted white roll, with a huge mound of a mayonaisey lobster concoction on top, sooooo good!!! I'm not even a big mayonaise fan and I thought this roll was a little bite of heaven! The lobster roll was served with a humungalo heap of shoestring fries...quite tasty in and of itself, but I tried not to fill up too much on them :) We also had the whole fish (seabass) grilled. It was served with fennel, bell peppers, asapragus & haircot verts. Super good and great dish to share...b/c one person eating this might get sick of it :) Fish was very fresh! Yummy again! Last main dish we had was the pan-seared scallops served with roasted potatoes...I heart scallops and even if you mess 'em up, I'd still eat all of them...so good. Just buttery and tender and melts in your mouth :) Finally dessert...we kept it simple and ordered the apple crumble dessert served with vanilla ice cream to share...served warm...need I say more?

Awesome dining experience :) oh...and there were four of us eating, so don't think that Viv and I just packed it away ourselves...though we probably could have :)

2006-10-24T22:55:00.000-07:00

Naka Naka
458 West 17th Street (10th Avenue)
New York, NY 10011
(212) 929-8544

My next eating adventure with Viv took me to Naka Naka in Chelsea! This place is just about the cutest Japanese joint ever!! First of all, it's tiny, but in a good way :) There's little wooden stools around a stage with eating trays for every guest. Placed on each tray was a little origami crane that served as a chopstick rest for your chopsticks, which were wrapped in Japanese pattern-printed paper in the shape of an airplane (pictured above). The stools were a little uncomfortable, but they were all part of the experience :) EVERYTHING was sooooo good here!!!

Sooo, don't laugh but Viv and I ordered alotta food :) It's just more fun, really ;)

We started with cold soba and sauteed lotus root. Yum & Yummier! Both dishes were served cold and complimented each other quite nicely. Lotus root has the same texture as a cucumber, but with holes. It's sauteed in what I think was soy sauce and a rice wine vinegar...definately different, but quite tasty :) Next we had some shrimp shu mai, which are basically shrimp dumplings. I very much liked the dumpling wrap they used here...it's much thinner than what you might find in Chinese restaurants so you can taste the flavors of the shrimp better :) No Japanese meal is complete without some sushi, so we ordered some of that too...we tried the uni (sea urchin) which was very fresh! I'm not the biggest uni fan, and I've been waiting to fall in love with it...but I think it's just one of those things that you either love or hate...and for me, I don't love nor do I hate...it's just whatever. But the uni here was probably some of the freshest I've had...other than straight from the ocean, but that's another story ;) Then we basically played it safe and ordered some basic rolls.

Dessert! Dessert was probably my favorite part of this delicious meal...we ordered the black sesame ice cream rather than the more popular & more well known green tea ice cream and it was sooooooo yummy!!! It was nutty and light and refreshing after all that food! Definately glad we decided to try some the new flavor :)

2006-10-23T23:47:00.000-07:00

Bao
111 Ave. C,
New York, NY 10009
between 7th and 8th Sts.
212-254-7773

So, work's brought me to lovely New York!!! I swear the past couple of times I've been here it's been butt freezing cold...ick! This is why I don't live back east and why my heart and home will always be where the sun shines the majority of the year :)

Um, New York basically goes hand in hand with eating adventures with Viv!!!!! I heart Viv, and I really wish she'd move back to California, and back to SoCal especially :) So Viv, I know you're reading this...move home already!

My first evening in New York brought me to this charming little Vietnamese restaurant by the name of Bao in the East Village where I dined with the lovely Vivian, her man Mark, his sis Trixie (short for Patricia) and her colleague from work Stefano (I think that's what his name is). Lovely company and a lovely meal!

We wll know how I adore Vietnamese food...so where shall I begin?!?!? First of all, I was thoroughly impressed with how authentic all the food was! It's not often you come to a big fancy city and experience authentic Vietnamese food, so props!!! We ate family style and started with the summer shrimp rolls...they were quite plump and delicious! Shrimp, noodles, lettuce, asian herbs wrapped in rice paper and served with peanut sauce, YUMM!!!! For the main course, we had pork belly, braised seabass with noodles & strip steak. All were very tasty and flavorful! I can't say that I had a favorite of the three however...they all brought something different to the palate...pork was sweet, fish was light & fresh, and the steak was tender & salty :)

For dessert we all shared the red bean plate with peanut butter ice cream. It's basically a spin on che dau do without all the coconut milk and jellies. It wasn't what I'd chosen off the menu (I tend to lean towards anything with chocolate), but I was pleasantly surprised! Sweet, not heavy and definately satiated the sweet craving I get after a hearty meal :)

Can't wait for my next eating adventure tomorrow :)

2006-10-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Tyler Florence!

Earlier today I met Tyler Florence! WOOT WOOT! He was having a book signing at Williams Sonoma in South Coast Plaza :) YAY! I heart him :)

Super fun :)

2006-10-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

Katsuya
11777 San Vicente Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
310.207.8744
www.sbent.com/katsuya

Happy Birthday Erica! For the lovely Erica's birthday we dined at the uber-shee shee Katsuya in B-wood last night. Located where Armadillo's and El Dorado used to, this new restaurant is quite the posh and swanky place to be. Think Viceroy meets sushi joint. Please note: there's nothing wrong with swanky...I love swanky :) Food was alright too...not the best sushi, but really...do you go to posh places to enjoy their mastery of the culinary arts? um, no.

Soooo...the food...I had dined on a couple things here...ordered some hand rolls, which were just fine...oooh, but the best handroll I had all night was the blue crab handroll...YUM! Lots of crab meat...can't ever go wrong with that! Also had some yellowtail sashimi served with very thinly sliced jalpeno that was quite lovely. A lot of the girls at my table really liked the crispy rice with spicy tuna, I tried it and it was nice...though I'm not a huge spicy tuna fan, so I'm a bit biased. The creamy rock shrimp tempura was really good...interesting combination, but it worked :)

For the record...they make a lovely dirty martini and have a nice selection of sakes :) Definately a fun place to go out to for some drinks and appetizers! They have cool lounge-y tables in the back with sofas and stuff...not so great for eating, but definately good to hang out :)

Happy Birthday Erica!! XOXO

2006-10-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

Jack Sprat's Grille
10668 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310.837.6662
www.jackspratsgrille.com

My roomie and I lunched here earlier today, one of our favorite lunch places in LA :)

They have a pretty tasty breakfast, and in my opinion a better lunch :) Really great salads here...I always get the cobb salad and my roomie gets grilled veggies :) It never disappoints :) When you eat at the restaurant, rather than having bread & butter with your meal, you get pretzels and mustard :) Their mustards are amazing, I gotta find where I can buy them :) They also have really great air fries and some pasta dishes :)

Parking is kind of a bitch around here, so just a heads up on that :)

Glad to have reintroduced Jack's to my eating circuit :)

2006-10-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

Melting Pot
2646 Dupont Dr., Ste. C70
Irvine, CA 92612
949.955.3242
www.meltingpot.com

Last night was Ikumi's Birthday and we celebrated it fondue style at the Melting Pot in Irvine! Super fun & super yummy!

Bring your appetite, as in fast for lunch so you can gorge on dinner, because portions are plentiful here :) YAY! Well, not so fun when you feel like you gotta unbutton your pants after the second course.

So there were four courses...first was bread/ chips in a delicious cheese blend. Um, very good & quite filling. The first cheese sauce was a blend of cheese, beer and garlic, YUMM!!!! The other cheese sauce was cheese & salsa. Next course was salad, light, refreshing, and much needed to help break down those carbs we just consumed :) No fondue found here ;) The third course was the main course...plenty of meat, chicken, salmon & shrimp for cooking in two types of broth: the first was a broth seasoned with wine, scallions & mushrooms, the second broth was seasoned with orange, lime & cilantro...both were awesome!!! The last course was my FAVORITE course, dessert (pictured above)! SOOO yummy, and when I come back to this place, it will be all that I'm eating :) Strawberries, bananas, chocolate cake, cheesecake all for your dipping pleasure in a smores-y chocolate concotion or a chocolate peanut butter sauce. Now, I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter, but the chocolate peanut butter dip was my favorite of the two, SOOOOOO AMAZING!

So awesome meal, went to bed pretty happy and Ikumi had a great birthday! Happy Birthday Kumi & job well done everyone ;)

2006-10-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

Gen Kai
3344 East Coast Hwy.
Corona del Mar, CA 92625
949.675.0771
www.genkairestaurant.com

Gen Kai in Corona del Mar was my favorite sushi restaurant growing up, and it had been a loooooong time since I'd eaten here, so when Awni & I had dinner there last night, I'm happy to state that it's right back up at the top of my list for sushi spots in Newport :)

We had the sweetest sushi chef (and lame of me that I forgot his name) that made us such yummy stuff! All the sushi fare was simple & traditional...you can't go wrong there!

We sat at the sushi bar and enjoyed yellow tail, salmon, some baked crab roll, tuna, albacore & oysters! YUM YUM YUM!!! Fish was very fresh & the best part was that when we got the bill, it was A LOT less than what we had expected it to be :)

Hip hip hooray for Gen Kai!

2006-10-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

Brickhouse
826 Hampton Dr.
Venice, CA 90291
310.581.1639

Had brekkie this morning at the Brickhouse with a lovely bunch of hungover folks :)

Quite delicious really...everyone's food looked amazing, except for my own of course- ha ha ha ;) I just had the two eggs, potatoes and turkey sausage, which wasn't anything amazing...but like I said, everyone else's stuff was good. A couple people got the breakfast burrito which was HUGE and quite tasty. I think there were scrambled eggs, potatoes, salsa, cheese & sour cream in it. Everyone else got the 2-2&2, which is two eggs any style, two pancakes and two pieces of breakfast meats.

Might I recommend the mocha to start the morning off with? I'm not much of a coffee drinker and I had maybe about a third of my coffee drink, but it is very tasty :) I just can't stomach caffeine all that well :)

Great breakfast spot, definately helped to soak up all that alcohol from the previous day ;)

2006-09-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

Sandro's Lobster Dinner
Puerto Nuevo, Baja California
011-52-661-614-10-51

A couple of my buddies (like 40 of us) and I decided to rent a couple of houses in the lovely neighborhood of Las Gaviotas in Rosarito, Mexico last weekend to revel summer's last weekend :)

Saturday night we found ourselves at a maginficent lobster joint in Puerto Nuevo, which is about a 7 minute cab ride from Las Gaviotas. Sandro's is on the second side street to the left, around the corner from Puerto Nuevo II. Not too big of a place, but not too small either...they had set up one super duper long table for us to dine at together...too funny!

Most everyone got lobster (except for our silly vegetarians), and it was a sight! The lobster plates above are just a couple of what was served at our table!!! They were steamed and then grilled? Not quite sure on how they were prepared, but quite tasty nevertheless, so who cares!?!?! hee hee

The lobsters were served with fresh beans, hot tortillas, sour cream & guacamole. Personally, I didn't waste my time on any of the fillers...I conserved it all and went straight for the lobsters :)

Losta fun cocktails are served here too...they have this fabulouso concotion called a coco loco, which is basically a plethora of alcohol served with some coconut juice in a coconut! They also have their own home made tequilla, which is by far some of the best tequilla I've ever had...I should've brought some back with me, but one too many coco loco's will make you forget to purchase a bottle or two of that stuff :)

Our fabulouso mexican feast was topped off with a mariachi performance! Post dinner, we ventured over to Papas & Beer for a loooooooooong night of dancing...so fun!!!!

Heads up, a lot of places take cash only (Sandro's being one of them), so that means no credit cards :)

2006-09-21T08:25:00.000-07:00

930 Sushi
930 W. Coast Hwy
Newport Beach, CA 92663
949.645.6500

Lucky me, I got to dine with two special boys last night...Vinny Koo Koo, Alex and I went to this yummy sushi joint...soo fun! Nice, small local spot with surprisingly good sushi! Reservations are probably a good idea.

They have a variety of specialty rolls that are a definite must to check out...I can only remember a couple of the ones that we had...the MD roll, which is crab, shrimp tempura, avocado and smelt eggs wrapped in rice & seaweed...mmmm, YUMM!!!! We also had the Lobster roll...it was served with asparagus, avocado & smelt eggs. My favorite dish of the evening though, was the seared yellowtail with jalapeno...very nice :) We had plenty of other sushi & sashimi there too...fish was fresh

For dessert we had the green tea ice cream, one can never go wrong there :)

930 also has all the regular Japanese food fare for those who don't care for sushi, though I don't know why you wouldn't?!?!

2006-09-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

Wilma's Patio
(On Balboa Island)
203 Marine Ave
Newport Beach, CA92662
949.675.5542
www.wilmaspatio.com

I had quite the charming brekkie this morning at Wilma's Patio on Balboa Island with the very cute Fernie! Being that it was a Monday, it wasn't crowded at all!

So, it took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to eat....their breakfast menu is quite extensive...but I went for the traditional two eggs any style (I like one scambled & one sunny side up), with toast, potatoes & sausages, YUMM! Fernie got the short stack of pancakes with strawberries & that looked really good too, but I'm not a huge pancake fan :( I could've gotten about a dozen other things though...but I was feeling indecisive...it's the gemini in me ;)

2006-09-07T03:35:00.000-07:00

La Scala
11740 San Vicente Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90049
310.826.6100

KaDo, Shauna & I went to yummy La Scala earlier today for yummy chopped salalds, mmmmmm!! La Scala is known for their tasty chopped salads, which consist of finely chopped lettuce, marinated garbanzo beans (the beans are optional), salami and mozzarella :) This is really good stuff :) Personally, I like to get the dressing on the side because I think that the dressing can sometimes take away from all the yummy flavors of a salad, I mean, who wants dressing to overpower yummy salami & mozzarella?!?!?

We also had the bruschetta, which was quite delicious, but also quite garlicky...so for those who don't care for garlic, I'd definately pass on it, but hey...if you're not gonna make out with anyone post-lunch, why not!??! Nice plump tomatoes and not overly smooshy (which I hate!) :)

There are two La Scala locations...one in Beverly Hills which is the fancier of the two, and one in Brentwood, which is the more low-key of the two...and my personal favorite :)

Buon Appetito!

2006-09-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

Las Brisas
361 Cliff Drive
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
949.497.5434
www.eltorito.com/lasbrisas

Las Brisas in Laguna has a pretty tasty breakfast buffet, served Monday thru Saturday, from 8-10:30am :) Eggs Benedict, breakfast potatoes, an assortment of breakfast pastries, croissants, muffins, cereals, fruit and made to order omelettes!! FUN!! And all for about $12 :)

What better way to start the day than dining seaside and enjoying the BEAUTIFUL view :)

There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home!

I heart the OC :)

2006-09-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

La Creperie
4911 E. Second Street.
Long Beach, CA 90803
www.lacreperiecafe.net

Mama & I went here for lunch today...and it's about as good of a crepe as you can get when not in France :)

First of all, in case you don't know what a crepe is, it's basially a super thin pancake. Ah, how the Frenchies would slap me for degrading their crepe to a status of a pancake, but I'm not really sure how else to describe it :) Check out the wiki definition for it if you must: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepe

I ordered the Rusticana...which is a savory crepe served with ham & mushrooms and a white wine sauce...holy shizzle this was amazing :) My mom ordered the Di Pollo, which is also a savory crepe, but served with chicken, mushrooms & a thyme cream sauce. This was good too, but I liked mine better :) There are plenty of other savory crepes to enjoy, just pick one off the menu! Trust me, it was definately hard to pick just one :)

We finished our meal with a sweet crepe, a MUST, really :) We opted for the Marie Antoinette to share, which was served with nutella (YUM!), strawberries, bananas and Bailey's Irish Cream on top and of course, you have to order a side of ice cream :)

This place has lotsa other traditional French food fare too...like the Croque Monsieur :)

SUPER YUMMY MEAL!

2006-09-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

Buddha's Favorite
634 Lido Park Dr
Newport Beach, CA 92663
(949) 723-4203
http://www.buddhasfavorite.com/

So, some of the girls and I headed out to Buddha's Favorite for dinner last night :)

Buddha's is a small little sushi joint on the peninsula with lotsa tasty treats! It's kinda hard to find, and it shares the same dock/ patio with Bluewater (from the previous blog) :) It's a good little find though..with lots of cool rolls and same traditional sushi dishes :) I've never had non-sushi stuff here, so I can't vouch for it, but it is a nice little place to come get sushi and take in a lovely harbor view :) They even have blankets for you if you get super cold! How cute is that?!?!

Super cute place with great service :) Don't forget to make reservations though...it can get pretty crowded :) And best part, it's not that expensive :)

2006-09-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

Bluewater Grill
630 Lido Park Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92663
94.675.FISH (3474)
www.bluewatergrill.com

Happy September! And being that September is a month that ends in an "R"...that means it's prime oyster time!! WOOT WOOT!!

Sooo, folklore if you will, says that oysters are best to eat in months that end with an R...the reasoning behind this is that it's the time of year that oysters spawn, thus making their meat tastier, firmer and just more flavorful :) mmmm, super fun! In actuality though, oysters are good all year round now that we have refrigerators and stuff :)

Anywho, so mama & I had lunch at Bluewater today...it's one of my family's favorite places to eat :) They have yummy sourdough bread served warm, mmmm :) Their spinach salad is my mom's favorite :) Served with eggs, bacon and a light vinagrette :) I like their chowders...give 'em all a go..they're all good :) They have a great crab louie salad, which is served with lotsa crab! YUMM! Their burger isn't too shabby either :) My favorite though is their steamed clams, served in a white wine sauce with garlic :) And their oysters are pretty tasty too :) Shucked nice & fresh for your consumption! Their happy hour here is pretty awesome too :)

Love this place because it's right on the water in Lido...definately a must to check out :)

2006-08-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

Jack & Jill's
342 N Beverly Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310.247.4500

Today I had lunch with Coco & KaDo at Jack & Jill's in Beverly Hills :)

Super cute little lunch spot & apparently they have a pretty tasty breakfast as well, though I've never had their breakfast :)

We were lucky enough to nab one of the three tables outside and it was sunny and beautiful out, so lunch was off to a good start :) The inside of the place is also pretty roomy so you'll never have to wait very long for a table :)

Sooooo, I'm a big fan of their cobb salad and french fries :) Lovely fries...skinny, not too soggy, yet not too crispy either :) The burgers are also pretty tasty and rather filling :) They have a bunch of healthier alternatives as well...such as wraps and stuff. Coco got a wrap which was very tasty! Ooooooh, and their soups are pretty good too! There's about a gazillion different things on the menu, so definately something to please every tummy :)

Best part I think about the meal, and you might think this is silly...but when the waiter brings you the check, they bring tootsie pops! Super fun! Oh, and Jack & Jill's is across the street from Williams Sonoma! Even more fun!!!

2006-08-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

Mix
3950 Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89119
702.632.9500
http://www.alain-ducasse.com/public_us/cest_aussi/fr_mix_lasvegas.htm

Happy Bachelorette to Eber!! So we're about to lose another soldier, so what better way to mourn her loss than with a fabulouso dinner at Mix, the uber yummy hot spot on the top floor of TheHotel at Mandalay Bay.

Think white, think swanky and think VERY delicious!!!!

Probably some of the best food I've had in awhile, but unfortunately also very expensive :( What else can you expect though from Alain Ducasse :)

Let's see...shared the foie gras tartlet...which was just lovely...but I love fois gras and I rarely think it can be horrible...though it wasn't the best foie gras I've ever had :) Then I had the roast duck which was amazing!!! Sweet, juicy & cooked to perfection :) I heart duck!! It's soo much better than chicken, which happens to be my least favorite kind of meat :) Ordered a side of the elbow macaroni with gruyere cheese & ham!!!! As simple as this may sound, it was probably my favorite dish I had. I heart ham. I heart gruyere..so the two of them together, how could it go wrong?

My friends ordered some other tasty treats of the menu that I also sampled...gnocci which was my least favorite...it was just very plain...ahi tuna salad...which was a lovely cut of tuna, nice & fatty :) Lobster served in a curry sauce...this was amazing! Just the perfect size lobster :) When it comes to lobster, bigger isn't neccessarily better...I hate really big lobsters, their meat is super chewy & tough :)

For dessert we had madelines fresh from the oven!!!! Hot & delicious AND served with Nutella...gawsh that stuff is soooo good :)

All in all, the food was amazing, and a great time had by all :) Congrats Eber!

2006-08-15T21:54:00.000-07:00

Mama's Yummy Vietnamese Dinner

My mom made the best dinner earlier tonight! It had been awhile since we've had a traditional Vietnamese dinner so my sister & brother and I were pretty freakin' excited when my mom made dinner tonight!!!!!!

So we had steamed white rice (of course), because no Vietnamese meal is complete without it really :) We had a soup that you eat with your rice called canh (top pic). It's bascially broth with lettuce & meat in it...but not the usual lettuce you see at your local grocery stores, Asian lettuce I guess you could call it. We also had cha truong (second from the top), which is basically an omelette with just green onions; cai lan, which is similar to Chinese broccoli (third from the top). Cai lan was prepared with garlic and soy sauce. We also had ga xao xa (third from the bottom), which is chicken sauteed in lemon grass & chili peppers, VERY tasty!!!! Mama also made tofu two different ways (the two pics on the bottom).

All served family style, you kinda just eat your rice and whatever else you want in your bowl. SO yummy and so fun to eat! Thanks mama for a delicious dinner :)

2006-08-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

So..apparently the thing in the south of Italy is Limoncello! And trust me, it's EVERYWHERE...and it's quite tasty!!!

Wikipedia definition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limoncello):

Limoncello is a lemon liqueur produced in the south of Italy, mainly in the region around the Gulf of Naples and the coast of Amalfi and Islands of Ischia and Capri , but also in Sicily, Sardinia and the Maltese Island of Gozo. It is made from lemon rinds, alcohol, water, and sugar. It is bright yellow in color, sweet and lemony.

Lemons for limoncello are picked and washed only with water. They are then fed through a machine which gathers the lemon rinds. The white pith of the lemon should be avoided. Various varieties of lemon are used to produce different flavours. The variety of lemon used is usually dictated by region. The lemons of Amalfi produce a particularly pleasant Limoncello. The rinds are placed into a vat, where they saturate with alcohol for 3 to 5 days. Various alcohols can be used to give varying flavours. Grappa is sometimes used, as is refined pure alcohol. A more refined alcohol maximises the lemon flavour, whereas darker alcohols add complexity.

After saturation sugar and water are added to the vat. A sugar and water solution is sometimes used instead. Higher quality sugars used in the infusion process create a sweeter liqueur. The resulting liquid is then homogenized in a turbo emulsifier for 40 minutes, after which it is bottled.

It is traditional to serve Limoncello chilled as an after dinner digestivo. Along the Amalfi coast, it is usually served in small ceramic glasses themselves often chilled, the Amalfi coast being a centre of both ceramic and limoncello production. This tradition has carried into other parts of Italy.

2006-08-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

Relais La Palma
Via Vittorio Emanuele, 37
80073 Capri
Tel +39 081 8370133
www.lapalma-capri.com

While in lovely Capri today, we lunched at the very chic Relais La Palma at the La Palma hotel in the center of town, which is also located at the VERY top of a gnarly hill.

Other than the strenuous hike, lunch was quite wonderful :) The menu offered traditional mediterranean fare...

My sister enjoyed the nicoise salad (third pic from the bottom), Awni & Lu enjoyed caprese salads (again, fourth pic from the bottom), and I had a very yummy-in-the-tummy bresaola salad (third pic from the top), which is air-cured beef that is sliced very thinly...it's quite delicious and flavorful..I LOVE LOVE LOVE :)

We lunched on the terrace of the hotel and took in the very elegant surroundings...think Rodeo Drive, but Italian and waaaaaaay cooler :) This place was GORGEOUS!!!!!!

2006-08-07T09:11:00.000-07:00

Ristorante Buca di Bacco
Via Rampa Teglia, 4
Positano, Italy 84017
www.bucadibacco.it

Last night we trekked it out to Positano for a lovely dinner by the sea :)

We ate at Buca di Baco which is about a 5-10 minute walk from where the cabbies drop you off...it was a full moon and everything about Positano was just charming!

I had the fettucini and clams (second pic from top) which was amazing!!! Not very fishy...very fresh and light :) My sister had the seafood risotto (second pic from the bottom) which was also quite tasty :) Not too creamy...and lotsa little squids and mussels and stuff :) SOOO YUMMY! Lu & Erica both had the vegetable soup (third pic from the bottom) which had a bit too much cabbage in it for my taste and not enough broth...but if you like cabbage, than it's perfect for you!!!

LOVED Positano...delightful little town and everything about it just radiates romance...but I had the best 3 dates any girl could ask for ;)

2006-08-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

GELATO!!!!!

FINALLY had gelato in Italy...and it was well worth the wait!

Rich, and creamy and sweet (yet tart if that was the route I chose...) and lots of it!!!!!

SUPER FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY for Gelato :)

Not for the lactose intolerant :(

2006-08-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

La Petite Chapelle
Place De Gaulle
St. Paul de Vence, France
phone : 04 93 32 77 32, 50

We had lunch today in St. Paul de Vince at La Petite Chapelle which was just about the cutest place ever!!!!!! A quaint little joint with traditional French Bistro eats, this place was just darling :)

It's off to the right when you enter the main square from the town entrance...it's about a 30 second walk away from the more famous Colombe d'Or...and it has a fantastic view of the country just behind the cote d'azur :)

EVERYTHING here was super tasty & yummy!!! I shared the penne bolognese (second pic from the top), which by the way was hearty and meaty and delicious, with Erica. We also shared a salad with toasted pine nuts (sooo fun!!!), hard boiled eggs and shaved parmesan (third pic from the top)...perfect and light and complimented the penne well :)

Everyone else got some amazing dishes too!!! Veal with this yummy cream sauce (fourth pic from the top)...I think there was truffle oil in there or something...tasted kinda mushroomy and it was soooo good!!! Sea bass with the MOST AMAZING saffron cream sauce (fourth pic from the bottom)...I think this was my FAVORITE!!! MMMMMMMMMMMM!!!! Chevre Chaud salad (third pic from the bottom) which is just a salad with warm goat cheese....super good!!!

For dessert we shared yummy profiteroles (second pic from bottom) with lotsa chocolate sauce and some freshly whipped cream and we also had a chocolate fondant cake (bottom pic) which is like molten chocolate cake...chocolatey & rich :) YUMM!

Dude, good thing I wore roomy shorts, otherwise I would've had to unbutton them, and that wouldn't have been attractive cruising around St. Paul :)

PS- No reservations necessary ;)

2006-08-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

Cafe de Paris
Le Port - 83990
Saint Tropez, France 83990
Tel. : +33 494 97 00 56
www.cafedeparis.fr

Had lunch here yesterday before heading over to Nikki Beach to party...it wasn't anything spectacular...salads had waaaaaaay too much dressing...and they ran out of croque monsieur!??!!?! Who runs out of croque monsieur?!?!??!

Haughty taughty waiters don't help out either...but the view of the yachts in the port are definately not to miss ;)

Dine at your own risk...

2006-08-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

Nikki Beach
Route de Epi Ramatuelle
St Tropez, 83350
Telephone: 00 334 9479 8204
www.nikkibeach.com

So, today (8/4) we went Nikki Beach is just about one of the most fabulous places I've ever partied...everything is white...everything is chic and I swear they took all the good looking people within a 50 mile radius and dumped them all right there...everything was fabulous!!Too bad dining fare wasn't the same :(

Dinner was just ok...I had the filet mignon with the bernaise sauce (pic second from top)...and my friends had the sea bass with mango salsa (second from the bottom) and everything was just mediocre...not much to say other than that everything was plain and icky...not your typical french fare...quite the disappointing end to a very fabulous day :)

J'aime Nikki Beach!

2006-08-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

Ristorante Delfino
1 Mollo Humberto
Portofino, Italy

We lunched at the Ristorante Delfino in Portofino today...quite tasty...but just a heads up...there's a 6 euro cover charge just to lunch there...so it sure makes that bill a lot more than anyone would care it to be...

But onto more important things like the food...mmmmmmm!!

I had the nicoise salad (second pic from the bottom) which is quite prevalent in Europe I've found...I really liked their nicoise though...very fresh & crunchy vegetables, and the tuna wasn't over powering and well drained :)

I also had some of the vegetable soup (bottom pic) which was thick & hearty :) I know...you're thinking who eats soup in crazy hot weather?!?!? Well...me & Awni do, and it was delicious :)

Lusunnie & Erica both enjoyed their caprese salads (second pic from the top), which were quite tasty as well...and again, very fresh! It sucks when you get soggy tomatoes ;)

The best part about this restaurant though its location :) It's right in the middle of the town, and it offers great people watching...and dining al fresco ;)

2006-08-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

Tarte Tropezienne

If my vacation gave me anything, it was a new favorite dessert- the ever so mouth watering, tarte tropezienne (pictured in the top picture...in the back right corner) :)

It's basically a brioche with creamy custard pudding in the middle and topped with powdered sugar...it's nothing short of AMAZING, I promise.

The History:
According to Mr. Guy Gedda, the recipe was developed by Alexandre Micka, a Pole whose family immigrated to the Lorraine part of France in 1914. WWII brought Mr. Micka to St.-Tropez. He fell in love with the sun and sea and decided to stay after the War. Relying on his pre-War apprenticeship in a pastry shop in Lorraine, he opened his own pastry shop in St.-Tropez. Using local ingredients, he re-created, as best he could, a pastry that he recalled from his youth in Lorraine and called it "Tarte Tropézienne". The people in St.-Tropez didn't give much regard to his creation at first. It was considered just a "local curiosity" until the 1960's when St.-Tropez began attracting beautiful people from around the world who fell in love with his creation.

Um...as soon as I find where I can purchase this stateside, I'll share details...until then...I guess I'll just have to venture to the lovely and fabulous French Riviera to get my fill :)

2006-07-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

Charentais/ French Melons!

Charentais is a type of true cantaloupe found only in Europe. It's similar to what we Americans know as the canteloupe...but actually what we eat here are muskmellons. The skin on the fruit is thin and smooth with light green stripes. The orange flesh is sugary, frarant & very sweet :) Unfortunately for us, Charentais melons can't ship here to the states because their high sugar content and thin skin make it too fragile to ship when ripe :( Sad for us!

We sure enjoyed our fair share of melons in France! YUMMY!!!!

2006-07-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

Busaba Eathai
106-110 Wardour Street
Soho, London
W1F 0TR

(Pictures are from top to bottom: Buddha and purple orchids in the restaurant, baby bak choy, pad thai, fried calamari, coconut shrimp & yellow chicken curry)

Before we ventured out to see Mary Poppins last night, we had dinner at the very tasty Busaba Eathai! This was probably my favorite restaurant we went to during our visit to London :)

Busaba serves some of the yummiest Thai food I've ever had outside of Thailand :)

My favorite thing we ate was the fried calamari...just battered enough to get the crispy fried taste, and squidish enough to actually taste the squid...scrumpdiddilyumptious!!

Everything was great though!!! I wasn't a HUGE fan of the coconut shrimp, but the presentation of the dish itself did lead me to attack it first...so maybe that's where my disappointment lies...

Pad Thai was like pad thai anywhere else...you can't ever really mess it up ;)

All in all...definate place to check out while in London :) It's also located in super fun SoHo and just a short walk to the theater ;)

2006-07-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

Imli
167-169 Wardour Street
Soho, LONDON
W1F 8WR
http://www.imli.co.uk

For dinner last night, we ventured to Soho for a little Indian flava ☺ When in London, you can never go wrong with Indian food. Imly offers traditional Indian dishes served in smaller portions tapas style ☺

Everything was delicious…we had a paratha appetizer served with three different dipping sauces (chicken based, lentil based & lamb based). We also had some yummy samosas, banana dosa, and some tartlets filled with yogurt and chutney….this was my fave!!! SOOOO yummy ☺

Post appetizers, we shared grilled fish and a fish curry that was flavored with masala…we also ordered an aubergine masala which was quite tasty but a wee bit spicy for my liking.

Again, another satisfied meal in London!!! KNOCK ON WOOD!!!! I’m actually enjoying the food here this time around!

2006-07-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Farmer Brown's
4 New Row
Covent Garden, London
WC2N4LH

OMG….we went to the cutest breakfast place today in London!!!! It’s this tres charming little shop located in Covent Garden…it didn’t offer anything super special, just the traditional English breakfast fare, complete with fried eggs, lotsa bacon and uber buttery toast ☺ Their sandwiches looked pretty tasty too, but I stuck with breakey…

We nabbed a table outside on the cobble stone street and took in London faire and enjoyed our breakfast! The servers were so sweet and nice and were even so helpful as to give us directions to the London Eye ☺

Trust me English food isn’t the greatest, but this place was just lovely (& greasy, but who doesn’t mind grease every now & then ☺)

Great way to start the day in London, one of my favorite-est cities- EVER ☺

2006-07-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

yaki soba

spicy tuna rolls

ramen

Satsuma
56 Wardour Street
Soho, London
W1D4JG

Last night was our first night in London and ironic that we dined at a Japanese eatery...LOL :)

Satsuma is similar to the more well-known Wagamamas chain found all over London. Inside were long dining tables, like the ones you find in cafeterias in grade school where patrons share eating space but not meals :)

Quick (albeit, not the best) service here, and most dishes were under 15 pounds. Their menu consisted of simple Japanese dishes...…yaki soba, ramen, and simple sushi rolls such as spicy tuna kept our tummies happy :)

All in all, favorable dining place for a city notorious for not being such a fabulouso place to dine out :)

2006-07-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

East West Sandwiches
1116 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310.208.8880
www.eastwestsandwiches.com
7/13/06

Ummmmm, ok..we all know I'm a huge Vietnamese food fan...so you can imagine how ready I was to pee in my pants when I found this place...it's basically an Asian Fusion of sandwich shops..but they have traditional Vietnamese banh mi (sandwich) :)

YAY for meeeeeeeeeee!!! and the best part is, it's in Westwood, and within walking distance from my office- WOOT WOOT!

So, I haven't really tried much of anything but the Vietnamese stuff...and I gotta say, they stay pretty true to the banh mi...pickled veggies, cilantro, Vietnamese ham (I don't really know how to explain this, you just gotta try it for yourself, it's good though!) and chiles...I choose to forgo those little chiles though...they sure get spicy and they'll make my lips burn for hours...no fun!!!

This place also has Vietnamese iced coffee, which sure packs a nice espresso punch for ya, and they also serve lotsa boba...I can't get over those big jellies that look like fish eyeballs though...Tina = not a boba fan :)

Well, check it out for yourself....they have lots of fusion sandwiches taken from the flavors of Thailand, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, & India...they also have a menu dedicated just to veggie sandwiches :)

Hope you enjoy as much as I do!!!!

2006-07-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

traditional ancestor altar that the bride & groom pray to for well wishes :)

goi cuon/ spring rolls

bi cuon chay/ vegetarian spring rolls

cucumber wrapped pork & shrimp

bo la lot (beef wrapped in grape leaves)

cha gio/ Vietnamese egg rolls

sticky rice & chicken skewers

Awni & Billy's Engagement Party!!

Congratulations to my favorite couple- Awni & Billy on their engagement :)

So my parents hosted an engagement party for the lovebirds on Saturday, July 8th and we prepared lotsa Vietnamese food, my fave!!

We had quite the factory going on...2 of my cousins came over to help, and we made my brother's girlfriend Kathy come down to help too, and my sister was there, myself and of course my mother...

We rolled about a gazillion rolls of different types:

- goi cuon which are spring rolls wrapped in rice paper and filled with mint leaves, boiled pork, shrimp & lettuce
- bi cuon chay which are vegetarian spring rolls with tofu, mint leaves & lettuce
- bo la lot which are rolled up pieces of grilled beef (sometimes made with ground beef instead...but we opted for thinly sliced beef) in grape leaves
- cucumber rolls with pork, shrimp & mint
- cha gio which are Vietnamese egg rolls, filled with shrimp, crab, ground pork, daikon, carrots, mushrooms & glass noodles (we also rolled ones without crab & shrimp for Howie, who's allergic to shellfish...so sad!!!)

We also grilled skewers of shrimp & chicken and wrapped some traditional Vietnamese engagement cakes in pretty paper :)

UGH, the thing I HATED to do the most was to mold the sticky rice in these little flower tins...my fingers turned red & raw from the metal edges...ouchie face :(

But alas, all turned out lovely and fabulous and to the likings of my mother and sister, the two bosses for the day!

The best part of the whole day, other than celebrating Awni & Billy's engagement that is, was that everyone ate all the food!!!! YAY!!!!

2006-07-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

Jello Shots!!

Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope everyone had a lovely day yesterday and enjoyed the extravaganza that is the American Indpendence Day :)

Shelley, Angela and I decided to make jello shots for our July 4th celebration down at Emerald Bay...and they certainly went to good use!!!

So much fun!!

- 6 ounces Jello (large package)
- 16 ounces Water (boiling)
- 6 ounces Water (cold)
- 10 ounces Vodka

Mix the jello mix with the boiling water until the powder is fully dissolved and add the cold water and alcohol. Pour the cooling mixture into either shot glasses or paper cups. Shot glasses are more attractive, but drinker can turn the paper cups inside-out to more easily eat the alcoholic jello

2006-07-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Enterprise Fish Company
174 Kinney Street
Santa Monica, CA
310.392.8366
www.enterprisefishco.com

My buddy KaDo enjoyed her birthday back on June 26th, but it wasn't until July 1st that we celebrated the festivities!! We dined at the always pleasing Enterprise Fish Company in Santa Monica :)

If you're into great seafood, this is the spot for you! A pretty casual & fun place to eat, the list of seafood here is extensive and plentiful.

Don't miss out on the very yummy lobster bisque!! Very tasty and you can get a cup of it or a bowl and the best part is that you can also get it with a delicious & flaky puff pastry atop :) So good, but quite filling. I've enjoyed many dishes here...the shrimp and scallops skewers are a good option (if you're not super hungry)...the bucket of manilla clams is lovey (served in a delicious white wine, butter & garlic sauce), the steak is ok if you're really craving it, the risotto is good, filling and quite rich, the salads are all nice and I have yet to try the oysters there...it's hard to dine with someone that loves oysters as much as I do :(

Okie doke, that's all for now, this place is yummy, I heard about it thru my sister who used to work at the one up in Santa Barbara. Also, they have really tasty bread & herbed butter, mmmmmmmmmmm!!!!

Happy Birthday KaDo!!!!

2006-06-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

Matzo Ball Soup at Jerry's Deli

Um, so I heart matzo ball soup, and though I'm not much of a matzo ball soup connoisseur, I do heart the matzo ball soup at Jerry's Deli, which I think is the yummiest place to get it ever...what's so great about it you ask?

Well, the serving itself is pretty hearty and the matzo ball is very big...and I like the stringy noodles in the soup, and the optional chicken (for when I'm feeling carnivorous) and the best part...I can get it without the cooked carrots!!!!! YAY!!! I hate cooked carrots :)

Sorry for the fuzzy pic...but you get the gist ;)

2006-06-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

Coral Tree Cafe
11645 San Vicente Blvd.
Brentwood, CA 90049
310.979.TREE
www.coraltreecafe.net

One of my favorite breakfast/ lunch spots in my neighborhood is Coral Tree Cafe...the best part about this place really is that you get to lounge outside, and there's free wireless!!!

I love their cobb salad...and it's a pretty big serving too...and their breakfast is good & traditional...eggs any style, served with toast...they are a little skimpy on the toast though, so you may want to ask for extra...the have mimosas and smoothies and their coffee is supposed to be pretty nice too ;)

I've often watched my friends consume the paninis here...but being that I'm not much of a panini fan myself...I can't tell you how it is...but it looks good and a lot of people order them so it can't be that bad :)

Their soups are also nice, I've had their vegetable/ minestrone soup before and it's pretty hearty, filled with veggies and stuff...and I've also had their turkey chilli which was just lovely :)

Also, wine after 6pm on Saturdays are available for purchase and consumption on the premisies for 30% off...what a fun way to spend the afternoon :)

Okie doke...maybe I'll bump into you guys here sometime ;)

2006-06-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

Giorgio La Trattoria
305 Marine Avenue
Balboa Island, CA 92662
949-675-6193

So a bunch of us grabbed dinner here last night and it was so much fun!!! Great, simple italian eatery...family owned...very cozy and the food isn't too bad either ;)

They serve wine in these beautiful rooster pitchers (pictured above) and honestly, these pitchers provide endless hours of entertainment. For eats, everything was tasty...I ordered the Penne Primavera (I like to eat Penne b/c it's much neater than eating spaghetti noodles) but I had a bite of pretty much everyone's orders...the lasagna was lovely, as was the chicken parmesan. We all started off with the bruschetta which was quite tasty and very garlicky, yumm!! All entrees are served with a salad, so that's lovely too :)

All in all, fun place to eat :)

2006-06-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hyatt Regency Newport Beach Brunch
1107 Jamboree Road
Newport Beach, CA 92660
949.729.1234
www.newportbeach.hyatt.com

SO Happy Birthday Awni & MEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Mama took us out to our favorite brunch spot- the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach (formerly known as the Hyatt Newporter). The reason why this brunch is so fabulous is because 1) you can eat outside and enjoy the lovely sunshine and 2) they have an amazing seafood bar!!!!!!!!!!!! Oysters & Alaskan king crab legs galore!!! mmmmmm, my faves!!! They also have mussels (which personally, I like better served warm), and shrimp cocktail :)

They also have all the other traditional brunch fare, omelet station, salad bar, sushi station, dessert station, muffins, pastries, fruits and cheeses...and all this every Sunday :)

YAY!

2006-06-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

Hula Ho Chili

YEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAW- we're country!!!! (as Brit Brit would say ;))

Ok...so this one's a little late...On June 3rd, a couple of my friends and I ventured up to Sacramento to compete in Al-the-Wop's famous Chili Cookoff!!!

The day was filled with lotsa chili, shots, beer bongs, more shots and even more chili!

Y'all would be glad to know that we won for best presentation...we should've won for best chili too, but I guess we had to share the wealth :)

Our prize money was donated to the ever-so-heart-warming Make-a-Wish Foundation :) YAY us!!!!

2006-06-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

Stonehill Tavern by guest blogger Scott Wicken
http://www.michaelmina.net/stonehill_tavern/about.html

As a big fan of not only the beautiful and vivacious TT but also the ihearteating blog, I was very pleased when she asked me to provide a review of a recent dinner I had. Because it was a special occasion, yours truly’s birthday, I chose a suitably special destination, Stonehill Tavern. Located at the St. Regis Hotel in Monarch Beach, the restaurant is the newest creation of superstar chef Michael Mina, of the famous Aqua in San Francisco.

The restaurant showcased contemporary and elegant design and a great looking marble cocktail bar. Though the dining room was a tad bit loud it did not feel crowded and the noise did not have a negative effect on the dinner. The menu at Stonehill Tavern is simple and elegant focusing on high quality ingredients and simple preparations. It is very conducive to sharing items, though all are so good you may not want to! Appetizers are inventively arranged by food type: lobster, scallop, duck, tuna and greens and offered in three different preparations as well as a trio of tastings. We had the lobster fritters (with bacon and shiso), lobster bisque as well as seared scallops (with potato, parmesan, and ham). The scallops and fritters were both delicious in their own right but the bisque out shined them both. Although I am biased, as I would kill a man for a decent bowl of lobster bisque, this one was superb, perhaps the best I have had. It was mostly a delicious broth, clearly homemade lobster stock, light on the cream and contained nearly an entire lobster tail as well as fresh vegetables.

Not to be outdone by the appetizers the main courses impressed as well. I dined on the braised short rib of beef, a personal favorite of mine. I can rarely turn down this comfort dish if offered on a menu and this one was the best interpretation I have ever had, very tender with a light sauce and very lean as far as short ribs go, just spectacular. It was served with glazed mirepoix and potato puree; the latter was so delicious and buttery if I had the opportunity I would have gladly showered in it. My brothers had the New York steak and halibut respectively and both were delicious and inventively prepared. My parents shared the Berkshire pig, which was also delicious and cooked perfectly. In an age of flavorless, overcooked pork it was nice to see a restaurant treat it with respect and prepare it properly. The dinner ended with an incredible desert, a warm chocolate cake with an inside of molten peanut butter, an absolutely great ending to a truly memorable meal. In similar fashion the wine list shone as well. Expansive without being overbearing it showcased excellent and interesting choices all at reasonable cost, with a majority of the bottles under $125. We were guided through it by an excellent sommelier and enjoyed two great recommendations, a 2003 Patz and Hall Pinot Noir and a 2004 Copain Pinot Noir. Both wines were excellent and complemented the food wonderfully. Throughout the meal the service was superlative, friendly and non-intrusive and completely professional.

It is tough to describe a meal at Stonehill Tavern and not run out of superlatives, as the entire experience was nothing short of spectacular. If you are looking for a special occasion restaurant or wish to experience dining at its finest in Southern California, Stonehill Tavern certainly fits the bill. In short, drive, fly, skateboard, hang glide, or walk, just get there as soon as possible!

2006-05-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

Mama's Birthday Dinner

My sister and I prepared a lovely feast for my mom's birthday!! Though tired and exhausted from our long weekend of boozing and partying, we toughed it out and prepared a pretty fabulous meal if you ask me...

On the menu:
Dungeness Crab Steamed with Beer
Grilled Artichoke with Parmesan Cheese
Shrimp Louie Salad
Roasted Red Potatoes

All in all, pretty easy to prepare...just a little time consuming...I don't have much else to say about the meal, except that it was pretty tasty and I thouroughly enjoyed eating it as much as I enjoyed making it :)

2006-05-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

a Frittata...though, not the one Shelley made...

The Girls in front of Petco Park (post brunch, pre game)

Empty Petron Shot Glasses Post Brunch...those suckers were HUGE!

Shelley's Fabulous View

Shelley's Frittata Brunch

So, a bunch of us just spent a pretty fun-tastic weekend in San Diego for Memorial Day...and on Sunday morning Shelley prepared some pretty fantastic frittatas for us to enjoy!! The first one was filled with mushrooms, dill, zucchini and horseradish cheddar...this was my favorite one!!! The second frittata had mushrooms, onions, parsley, zucchini & fontina cheese, mmmmmmmm!! The last frittata had tomato, parsley & fontina cheese, these things were heaven.

All of them had eggs (obviously), salt, pepper & heaving whipping cream :)

I was too drunk to think to take pics for my blog...so here are just some fun pics from the weekend! Thanks Shell!

2006-05-27T22:54:00.000-07:00

Masala
314 Fifth Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 232-4634
www.masalarestaurant.com

Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend, a couple of us ventured to this amazing Indian restaurant in the gaslamp district in lovely downtown San Diego!

Masala is quite the swanky Indian eatery...very elegant and trendy...with dark furniture, dim lighting & an Indian woman dressed in a sari that goes around and puts bindis on all the girls- SO FUN!!!

Everything was amazing...except the cocktails...they could've used more alcohol, but hey...the food more than made up for it! I wish I could remember everything that we ordered, but I don't...a couple of things that stood out in my mind were the lamb curry, (my favorite) aloo paratha, and dal. Half the time I didn't really know what I was eating, as long as it was drenched in exotic spices and flavors, did it really matter?

Good times, great company, excellent food and all for about $50/ person (that includes cocktails) :)

A word of advice-don't plan on going out afterwards, you'll be full and another cocktail or two or a night of dancing just isn't comfortable ;)

2006-05-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

Le Cheval Restaurant
www.lecheval.com

1007 Clay Street
Oakland, CA 94607

Ito beeto graduated from Berkeley earlier today, so to celebrate we went to Le Cheval for dinner last night in Oakland, CA :)

It was pretty tasty...Le Cheval is a French-Vietnamese restaurant...but it's a little different than a lot of the other French-Vietnamese restaurants in that it leans a lot more Vietnamese than it does French...YAY!

I was pretty happy with everything that we ordered...fried salty calamari (muc rang muoi), beef wrapped in aromatic lot leaves (bo la lot), steamed fine rice with grilled shrimp (banh hoi tom) nuong) , cubed beef steak (bo luc lac), and my favorite dish of the evening was the steamed whole fish served hanoi style (ca hap cuon banh trang, pictured above). MMMMMMMMMMMM!!! The fish was steamed, served whole and covered with peanuts, hot onion oil & friend onions. It's accompanied with lettuce, mint leaves, carrots and cucumbers and rice paper that you use to wrap the fish in and dip in fish sauce!!! Sooooo, tasty! oooh, another highlight of the meal...our banana flambe dessert (the pic isn't that great...but you get the gist)!

2006-05-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hamasaku- Los Angeles, CA
www.hamasakula.com

My buddy Fuzzy (aka Patrick) and I went to Hamasaku for lunchie lunch today...if you don't know what Hamasaku is, get to know it. Some of the bestest sushi in LA fo' shizzle. Normally, I choose to forgo the rolls when I eat sushi at a bonafide sushi restaurant, but this place, you gotta try their concotions...fresh fish, and some pretty amazing & creative rolls!!

My favorite was a crab handroll that was served in thick rice paper with sesame seeds rather than the traditional seaweed...I think it was called the Fox Roll. I'm lame and don't remember what else we had...but it was all pretty tasty!! Just look over the menu and pick something that looks good to you...but then again, they all kinda looked good..sorry, this is no help!!

For dinner, they also serve sushi omakase style...which basically means you put your trust in the sushi chefs to serve you the best cuts of fish for the day...pretty tasty and for the moderately adventurous sushi eater :) My favorite place for sushi served omakase style would be Sushi Sasabune...nothing short of amazing, I guarantee it!

Oh...word of advice...don't waste your time getting full on miso soup or with the cooked stuff :) You'll be much happier in the end that you filled your tummy tum tum up with raw fish rather than rice, broth & other cooked shizzle :)

2006-05-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

The Cottage- Laguna Beach, CA

For Mother's Day my family and I opted out of our traditional brunch fare and decided to take my mom to one of her favorite breakfast spots in Laguna- The Cottage :)

Super cute place, if you get to eat outside…we however, got shoved into a miniscule corner table that was really only big enough for 2…but hey…we made do, it was Mother's Day :) Food was alright…regular American breakfast fare…apparently Eggs Benedict is their specialty…they had about a dozen different ways they prepared it…I found it to be nothing spectacular, just ok.

All in all, mom was a pretty good sport about it…we had made reservations, requested a table outside, but were forced to wait 40 minutes for a table inside anyways…BOOOO! Great company however…mama, sisto A, BC3 and ito beeto are always a good time…no matter the drama that is always sure to ensue :)

2006-05-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

I found heaven today, and it's on Westwood Blvd.

I was driving to Aaron Brothers to buy some photo albums and I drove past this Paris Bakery Place (I forget the real name, but it's something like this)...I decide to park and go check it out...DING DING DING DING!!!!! HEAAAAAAVEN!!!!

Um, basically there's all sorts of French pastries and treats here!! Eclairs (that come w/ vanilla custard, whipped cream or chocolate pudding, mmmmm), profiteroles, mille feuilles, petits fours, fruit tarts, palmiers (big ones & small ones!!!) and MORE!!! Holy shizzle, I bought soooo much stuff, and so far everything is pretty tasty. They even have ham & cheese croissants here, fresh baguettes...I mean, goodness, what's not to like about this place??

So, yeah...next time you're in the area and you want me to take you to heaven, just lemme know...I'd be glad to show you!

2006-05-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

Lusunnie's Debut Dinner!! So one of my dearest and nearest friends from HS made dinner for a bunch of us Saturday night...read the disclaimer: although this is her debut dinner for the blog, it's by no means her BIG DINNER... that will premiere shortly :) So check back soon!!

For a first attempt, it was most definately impressive!!! To start, we had melon & prosciutto, then homemade bread (with rosemary- Lu, who makes homemade bread?!?!) with spinach & artchichoke dip (courtesy of my lovely sister, Angela), then we had some o-so-very plump and sweet tomatoes with basil and mozarella, mmmm!!! For the main course, Lu made us the super yummiest pasta ever- fettuccini with zucchini, lemon & shrimp...soo yummy and about as light & fresh as a pasta dish can be :) To top off the meal, we had some crazy sweet and crazy delicious white-chocolate covered strawberries (a la Sabina & Lu) :)

Everything was so good, I think I'm gonna move home just so Lu can make me dinner every night! HA HA HA :) Newport here I come!!! As if I'm not already there enough ;)

*spoken in a Napolean voice* Thanks for dinner Lucinda!!

2006-04-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

Cha Ca

ok...so I know I have a problem...I can't stop eating Vietnamese food, but honestly, it's my favorite, so why eat anything else? so next Vietnamese dish I'm blogging about is Cha Ca., I had it for lunch today with my sisto and her main squeeze, BC3. Cha Ca is a fish dish that's grilled and served to you on a sizzling hot plate at your table!

Marinated in curry powder, and grilled with LOTS OF dill and even more onions, the fish will appear a yellow color and quite fragrant:) It'll be served with side dishes of lettuce and herbs, nuoc mam (fish sauce), some roasted peanuts & rice crackers and some noodles (bun). You combine whatever you want from the side dishes in a bowl along with your noodles and pour some nuoc mam over your bowl and voila! You've got yourself a pretty tasty dish, promise! And a heads up...because it's served to you on that sizzling hot plate, you may come home a little smelly :) But trust me, it's well worth it!

Two of my favorite places to eat Cha Ca:
- Hanoi Restaurant which is on the corner of Magnolia &; Bolsa in Westminster/ Little Saigon
9082 bolsa ave Westminster 92683 714.901.8108
- House of Soup (I'll figure out where this is and post)

2006-04-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

Dominick's in West Hollywood
8715 Beverly Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90048
http://www.dominicksrestaurant.com/

So my buddies and I had a fabulouso dinner at Dominick's last night. We decided to forgo main courses and just ordered a bunch of appetizers and had a tapas style meal...sooo fun and sooo tasty!

We had the Stuffed Mushrooms (vegetarian friendly dish) which were super duper delicious and a little spicy, but in a good way :) Fried calamari was tasty too, served with yummy marinara sauce...mmmmmm. Best thing by faaaar though was the Grilled Aged Provolone with Grilled Bread...we ordered several of these...super cheeeeeezy and garlicky. I PROMISE you won't be able to stop eating it. The grilled artichoke wasn't anything too special, especially compared to all the tastier dishes we ordered. Hmmm, what else did we get...ooooh!!! there was a beef carpaccio salad dish that we also ordered...VERY good...this was served with some warm goat cheese (I think, or it could have been ricotta...) and arugula, YUMM!!!! Our vegetarians also ordered the warm arugula and parmesan salad...I heard it was super yummy, but I saved my tummy space for the beef carpaccio dish ;) I think that's all!!!

All in all, pretty fabulouso evening with great friends, great food and even better cocktails! Gotta love girls that can grub!

PS- if you're ever there and one of the specials is the Oso Bucco...order it...it's pretty amazing :)

2006-04-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

Fuji Apples- these are hands down the most delicious apples ever. Sweet, crisp, juicy and meaty...can't go wrong :) They are usually yellow/green with red highlights...sometimes you'll find them with a pinkish blush to them too :) Secret to picking out a good apple: pick a firm, medium sized one with no bruises (duh!) and look for the little tiny specks on the apple...they are sugar deposits!! which meants the apple will be sweeter :) Fuji Apple season is September-October, but you can find them year round...sometimes a little pricier during the off-season

2006-04-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

so i just had a humungalo lunch

left over sushi from last night
1/2 a chicken and havarti cheese sandwich on whole wheat pita bread
banana pudding (from easter)

but I'm still hungry...and then i thought I'd see what my Napolean doll has to tell me today..and he said "Tina you fat lard, come get some dinner!!!!!!!!!!"

thanks Napolean, for making it ok to eat :)

so funny, I had to share :)

2006-04-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

Banana Pudding

Sorry for the lame pic...but we ate it before I remembered I had to take a pic of it!! I have the recipe for the famous banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery in NYC... I made it for dessert for Easter yesterday....super duper tasty and easy to make!! I could eat tubs of this stuff :)

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups ice cold water
1 (3.4-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix (preferably Jell-O brand)
3 cups heavy cream
1 (12-ounce) box Nabisco Nilla Wafers (no substitutions!)
4 cups sliced ripe bananas
In a small bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and water until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the pudding mix and beat well, about 2 minutes more. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight, before continuing. It is very important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream until well blended and no streaks of pudding remain.
To assemble the dessert, select a large, wide bowl (preferably glass) with a 4-5-quart capacity. Arrange one-third of the wafers to cover the bottom of the bowl, overlapping if necessary, then one-third of the bananas and one-third of the pudding. Repeat the layering twice more, garnishing with additional wafers or wafer crumbs on the top layer of the pudding. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours - or up to 8 hours, but no longer! - before serving.

2006-04-09T22:40:00.000-07:00

Banh Khot

My mom, sister and I decided to make banh khot for dinner tonight...banh khots are little rice pancakes with shrimp and/ or ground pork, mung bean and green onions in the middle. They are sooo tasty, and soo good and sooo fun to make!!

I should preface with how I first fell in love with these little rice pancakes. It was on my first visit to Vietnam...I was 13 years old, and my mom took my brother, sister and me to a beach town just outside of Saigon called Vung Tao...in a little hut on the side of the dirt street, there was a lady cooking these cakes on a HUGE burner with eight little holes that she poured the batter (rice flour, coconunt mile and water) into and they would kinda fry up and bake, they smelled soooo freakin' good... At her "restaurant" you sit on little stools or you pop the asian squat (because there isn't enough stools for everyone) and just wrap up these little suckers in lettuce and other fresh herbs, dip in fish sauce and eat the day away!!!

These tasty little pancakes are now one of my favorite-est things to eat EVER, and I can't wait 'til the day I get to go back and visit her little shack of savory banh khots!!!

I'll out eat anyone in an banh khot eating contest!!

2006-04-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Rouge in Newport Beach, CA

One of my favorite-est people ever, my buddy Vincent, and I went to dinner last night at Rouge in Newport. Rouge is a French Bistro located in Fashion Island, that claims to serve French comfort food...and yes, it does serve all the richness and heartiness that comes with comfort food :)

Vinny Koo Koo & I walked into a decadent red room when we entered the restaurant...I felt like I had just stepped into a fancy schmancy Parisian cafe, complete with jazz music and lounging gourmands enjoying their bistro faire :)

We started with the proscuiutto wrapped scallops...sooo yummy and the proscuiutto was a refreshing change from the more provencial bacon wrapped scallops. We then ordered two entrees to share...the chicken & wild mushroom crepe with truffle cream sauce and the filet mignon encrusted in blue cheese. Entrees were amazing...flavorful and tasty but they were both super duper rich so we couldn't really finish either one :( And trust me, we both have the hearty appetites to polish most things off...the blue cheese really overpowered the filet mignon and the truffle cream sauce made the crepes too rich and creamy. Nevertheless though, both dishes were quite tasty! For dessert we got a blackberry crumble with vanilla ice cream...this was delicious!!! Served warm so the ice cream melts, yumm!!! This brings us to the end of our culinary adventure for the evening...the greatest of company with all the richness of French comfort food, awesome evening :)

2006-04-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

Rice Congee/ Rice Porridge

Sooooo, I'm feeling a wee bit under the weather and hence decide to make myself some porridge, a.k.a. Rice Congee. Contrary to popular belief, porridge is not just for Goldilocks and the Three Bears...It's basically rice soup and is the asian equivalent of chicken noodle soup- YUM!!! Porridge is for everyone!

Sooo to make porridge is pretty easy...you boil about a cup of rice to three cups of water...and you let it boil and boil and boil and you keep adding water until it reaches a consistency that you like...I kinda like mine thicker so I let it boil for awhile...maybe about 30 minutes. Then I chop up some ginger (this is the ingredient that's supposed to help make you feel better, because if you didn't know...ginger helps to boost the immune system and helps w/ nausea) and throw it in my pot of boiling rice soup. Next, add a bouillon cube of your choice (I like the Knorr's ones), and some fish sauce to flavor. Then add some ground pork/ beef/ chicken/ chopped tofu...whichever you choose...it's important to marinate the the meat of your choice with some fish sauce and pepper and maybe some minced garlic...whatever you like...this all helps to flavor the soup. Soo, allow your soup to boil and reach a consistency that you like...taste & flavor to your liking...and voila! your porridge is done! Chop up some green onions and cilantro to garnish your porridge and serve :) mmmm, mmmm, good!!

2006-04-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

Ah Sin at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, NV

sooo, I just got back from a pretty fabulous weekend of partying with the girlz and a special boy in vegas, and we hit up this casual eatery for some yummy asian food Saturday night...mmmmmmm, my fave!!! It was tasty, filling and not expensive...we ordered a hodge podge from all over the orient...we got pad thai, sushi, lettuce cups, beef & broccoli and I don't remember what else...but it was all good. The place wasn't too crowded, service was quick and we were in & outta there in maybe a little over an hour...we had more important things to do like go get our groove and booze on!!! Oh..and we had a nice view of the Bellagio Fountains and the strip too...all in all...pretty sa-weet. Definately worth checking out :)

2006-03-22T09:57:00.000-08:00

YAY! Last night I hosted my first dinner party that I'm gonna blog about :)

MENU:
smoked salmon (lox) with creme fraiche served on mini
toasts with dill & chives (bottom pic)
butternut squash soup with nutmeg (second from bottom pic)
beef tenderloin with bearnaise sauce (second from top pic)
strawberries & ice cream (top pic)

Some pointers for the food I made:
- Try to buy lox that is wild and not farm raised...the flavor is better, but it will be more expensive -I like to serve on cocktail bread because it's kind of plain and you'll really get to really taste the smokiness of the fish better :)
- I whisked in some creme fraiche with the butternut squash soup to add a richer and creamier texture
- For the meat, it's really helpful to cook with a meat thermometer, that way you can easily determine if the meat is done to your liking (130 degrees F is medium rare)
- my bearnaise sauce was a little runny because I prepared it so early...it should be the last thing you prepare
- I used shallots rather than onions in the sauce because I think their sweet and subtle flavor compliment the tenderloin better than onions
- I prefer to use fresh tarragon also, rather than dried tarragon because the flavor is much stronger and pungent
- for the strawberries, I suggest slicing them in half and pouring some sugar over them (allows the sugar to absorb easier) and mix and then refridgerate and serve with ice cream when everyone's ready to eat dessert!!

I think I enjoyed making the meal more than I enjoyed eating it...thanks for sharing :)

2006-03-18T17:27:00.000-08:00

Rai Rai Ken in the East Village in New York

ok...so next NY eating adventure took me to this ramen house in New York...for those of you that don't know what ramen (picture on the bottom) is, it's a Japanese fresh noodle dish served in a broth that is usually flavored with soysauce (shoyu)...ramen has been popularized in American society by Top Ramen & other similar brands :) But these ramen houses serve ramen quite differently than the instant ramens that we're so familiar with.

Ramen houses serve ramen in fast-food like shops with only a counter or at food stalls...in your bowl, you'll probably get a hard-boiled egg, some veggies, pork and maybe a piece of fish cake.

The dish I liked most at Rai Rai Ken was the menma (picture on the top)...it's a bamboo dish that's marinated in some type of soy sauce concoction & is served cold with seaweed...soooo delicious!!! You've got to give it a try if you visit this place...YUM!!!

2006-03-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

L'ecole in New York (SoHo)

I went to visit one of my dearest friends this weekend- Vivian (the chef who likes to butcher rabbits) in New York. My first eating adventure took me to her school's restaurant, L'ecole. Lunch was lovely...I got to sample all sorts of yummy stuff!!! I recommend the prix fixe menu which gives you an appetizer, main course and dessert for $24 (not including tax & tip). I had the mushroom soup (pic on the top), which was amazing...super yummy! Then I had the leg of lamb (pic in the middle)...which was a little dry...but nonetheless flavorful...it was served with a super tasty baked tomato with bread crumbs and potatoes. Viv also sent me the pork loin (pic on the bottom) to try which I personally liked better than the lamb...the meat was more tender and juicier. The dessert was the best part...I got to try the chocolate tarte with caramel ice cream...I'm not a fan of caramel so this wasn't my favorite...I also had the nougat which was my favorite!!! There was a nice amount of rum in it that flavored it quite nicely...kinda reminded me of rum raisen ice cream...yummy!!!! Then Viv brought me a St. Patty's Day cupcake, which was nothing short of amazing...the frosting was waaaaaaay too buttery for me...but the cake itself was delicious!!! I wish I had pics to share...I'll see if Viv will send me some...

2006-03-15T11:53:00.000-08:00

Irish Creme Brie- ok...so I thought I'd try some Irish Creme Brie from Whole Foods yesterday...um, not good...not creamy, no pungent brie flavor...I even left it out overnight hoping that once it softened, the flavor would become more enhanced...but to no avail :( Just thought I'd share with everyone...I have nothing against the Irish, but the French make cheese better :)

2006-03-13T11:57:00.000-08:00

Ham & Cheese Croissants

I am in search of the yummiest ham & cheese croissant in Los Angeles (preferably on the Westside, but if it's amazing, I'll drive east :)), so please feel free to add your comments here if you've found something wonderful.

So far, I've had one at the Literati Cafe II (on the corner of Bundy & Wilshire). It was more like a croissant with ham & swiss on it...croissant was excellent...buttery, flaky, just the right amount of fluff...but I like the kind with the ham & cheese baked into the croissant. MMMMMM...

I heard the Farmer's Market in Santa Monica on Sundays have a nice one...I have yet to try though :( I'll report back once I do...

I usually get mine from Vietnamese-French bakeries in Little Saigon (Orange County) and they are pretty tasty and inexpensive ($1.75)!!! Gala Bakery (14570 Brookhurst, Westminster, CA 92683...there's also one by the Phuc Loc Tho on Moran St.) is a good one, and they make a pretty mean cup of traditional Vietnamese iced coffee, guaranteed to keep you on a caffeine high for the entire day!! And they make good Vietnamese rotisserie chicken sandwiches too!! This deserves like 5 more blogs though, dedicated to iced coffee, Vietnamese sandwiches, desserts, etc...so stand by!

2006-03-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

Mai Tais at Billy's at the Beach in Newport Beach, CA...These concoctions are dangerous...two will pretty much guarantee you a good night, but me not knowing...well, knowing but not really caring...about the limitations of my alcohol intake have four mai tais... soo a GREAT time was definately had ;) Sweet, strong and tasty drinks! Can't go wrong there :)

2006-03-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

Buona Vita- 439 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA

YUMMY!!! I went to this pretty tasty Italian place last night for dinner in Hermosa called Buono Vita for my friend's birthday (Happy Birthday Schreibeeeee!). Small place, charming...I was presently suprised at their Italian food because Italian food isn't my favorite. Best part- you can bring your own wine for no corkage fee :)

Bread served upon arrival with olive oil & vinegar (personally, I like my bread served warm, so I chose to pass on the bread)...we started with the Mista Salad- mixed greens with goat cheese (mmmmm!!), walnuts & balsamic vinaigrette...then personally, I split the Gnocchi Bolgonese (enjoyed very much) and it was just enough to share. My friends got the low-carb rigattoni with shrimp and some other veggies...it wasn't bad, very fresh and void of sauce...and the chicken marsala (served with angel hair pasta, aka capellini), which was surprisingly good! It had a hint of a maple syrup flavor...which sounds kind of gross, but it was actually pretty good!

All in all, pretty tasty meal and not very expensive...a little less than $20/ person.

2006-03-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

My friend Vivian (on the left) breaking down rabbit at the French Culinary Institute in NYC!!!

Soooo cute!!! (kinda gross for all the vegetarians out there, sorry :))

2006-03-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Ferrero Rocher Chocolates

Have you ever experienced the sweetness that is a Ferrero Rocher chocolate bon bon? Because, really....it's sweetness at its best!! Sooo delicious!

These little chocolates have a whole roasted hazelnut (YUMM!!!) and creamy chocolaty filling inside a light, crispy wafer, all wrapped in milk chocolate and finely chopped hazelnuts...these are little bites of heaven, all wrapped up in gold foil.

You can find them anywhere...drugstore, grocery store...easy to find and even easier to eat!

2006-02-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

Mardi Gras Cupcakes!

Sooo, my very dear friend Mario had a Mardi Gras party (with some pretty amazing gumbo) and I decided to bake beaucoup cupcakes for it :)

I have to admit, I cheated and used store-bought mix (Betty Crocker) for yellow cake cupcakes & chocolate cupcakes. The best part about making these cupcakes was the sheer volume I made (I made almost 50 cupcakes!!) & the decorating!!!

Decorating cupcakes is awesome...soo fun!! I chose to frost the chocolate cupcakes with white cream cheese frosting with purple, green & yellow sprinkles and green sugar toppings. Tres cute! I frosted the yellow cake cupcakes with chocolate frosting and adorned each of them with a gold coin and purple, green & yellow sprinkles. Pics are above...I heart baking cupcakes!!

2006-02-21T22:37:00.000-08:00

Great food is like great sex. The more you have the more you want. ~Gael Greene

2006-02-19T20:39:00.000-08:00

Bo 7 Mon (Beef Seven Ways)

This is definitely one of my favorite things to eat...but I guess I like to eat a lot of things...so whatever...but really...it's pretty gosh darn amazing :)

Bo 7 Mon is a Vietnamese dish...there are seven courses, each serving beef a different way...

The first course is usually a salad of some sort...not my favorite course...but there's meat in it :)

The second course (bo dung dam) is my second favorite of all the courses. Raw meat is laid out on a plate, and you cook it on a hot pot in the center of the table. The hot pot has boiling hot water in it...flavored with vinegar and onions. Once your meat is cooked, you roll it up in rice paper with lettuce and various other fresh herbs & vegetables (I like rau ram, mint & cucumbers). Then you dip it in fish sauce (it's really good, I promise) and your little rolls are pretty freakin' tasty.

The third course (bo nuoung vi) is my FAVORITE!!! Again, raw meat on a plate marinated in sesame oil and lemongrass, and you cook on the hot plate in the center of the table. This time however, the hot pot is exchanged for a hot plate and the hot plate serves like a grill for you to cook the meat on. Eaten the same way as course 2, wrapped in rice paper with lettuce and herbs, YUM YUM YUM!!!

The fourth (not sure what it's called) and fifth dishes (bo la lot) are served together...one looks like a meatball with ginger stuffed in the middle, and the second is a rolled up piece of meat wrapped in asian basil leaves. No need to wrap these dishes in rice paper.

The sixth dish (not sure what this is called either) is my least favorite...it's kinda like an asian meatloaf made with eggs, mushrooms, glass noodles, green onions...and I'm not sure what else...but if you've never had it...you can't knock it, so give it a go and see if you like it :)

The final course (chao bo) is rice soup with beef in it. Simple, tasty and a nice way to end a filling meal :)

So there it is...Bo 7 Mon...if anything, come to enjoy the experience...oh and a word of advice...you'll want to shower after you eat this because you'll come home smelling like cooked meat.

2006-02-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

Sushi Laguna- 231 Ocean Ave. in Laguna Beach, CA

Saturday night, enjoyed a nice dinner here with friends...fish was fresh, sushi chefs were hospitable, fun and drunk!!! Hiro (not sure how to spell his name) was the best!!! This place is small, but charming...and I quite enjoyed the tasty feast of sushi...it definately earned a spot on one of my fave sushi spots in the OC :)

My recommendations:

1) Kumamoto Oysters on the 1/2 shell- Kumamoto oysters came from Japan and are now raised in Humboldt...I love them because they are small and their meat is firm and plump. At Sushi Laguna, the oysters are freshly shucked and served with a light ponzu sauce and garnished with green onions. VERY tasty...I could eat dozens of them.

2) Octopus Sashimi- thinly sliced and sprinkled with some salt and a twist of lemon- YUMM! You can taste the freshness.

3) Sit at the sushi bar :)

A number of Japanese beers are served super cold here & complement the fishes nicely!

2006-02-17T07:46:00.000-08:00

Mastro's Ocean Club, Newport Beach, CA

WOW!! We celebrated my brother's birthday last night here...and it was nothing short of spectacular.

Food was fabulouso...I highly suggest starting with the seafood tower (not for the weak appetite). It's literally a tower of seafood...filled with Alaskan king crab legs, lobster tails, colossal shrimp cocktail, oysters on the half shell, snow crab claws, caviar (with all the trimmings...blinis, mini toasts, egg, capers, onions, sour cream- YUMMMMM!!). The tower is served with cocktail sauce, a mayonaise-y aioli-ish sauce, horseradish & tobasco.Quite hearty & VERY filling. AMAZING fresh seafood!!

Then...for the main course, the thing to get here is the bone-in filet. Trust me...unless you don't eat meat...don't bother getting anything else. Served on a warm plate, the cut of beef is thick, luscious and melts in your mouth. There's a plethora of side dishes to enjoy (and share!) as well...the gorgonzola mac & cheese is very rich and very tasty...lobster mashed potatoes were a little oily, & the sauteed asparagus served with a hollandaise sauce was ok (I prefer super skinny asparagus though...and they brought out kinda thick ones). That's all we ordered...everything was enjoyed by all. Oh...dessert...carrot cake was very huge and not too cinnamon-y! 1 slice was definitely enough for 6 to share...baked fresh everyday and served with whipped cream & fresh berries. The only thing I didn't like about the carrot cake were the raisins...but it was easy enough to pick around :)

Happy Birthday Ito Beeto!

2006-02-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

It would only be appropriate for me to blog in my first food blog about pho.

Pho is your friend.

If you don't know that I LOVE pho, than you don't really know me. It's probably my favorite thing to eat...EVER. If I was ever stranded on a desert island, the one thing I could eat for the rest of my life would be pho.

It's probably the most well-known dish to come from Vietnam (from now on to be referred to as the homeland). It's usually a beef based broth (but it can be a chicken based broth too), with ginger, onions, koo kai trang (I don't know what this is called in English...sorry non-VN friends) & star anise. YUMM!

It's served with rice noodles and thinly sliced raw beef (that cooks from the contact with the hot broth). Once served, it's garnished with green onions and cilantro...and maybe some red onions or white onions. It will always be served with a side dish with some Asian basil, bean sprouts, jalapenos, and some hoisin sauce...but from personal observation, Chinese people are the only people that really enjoy the hoisin sauce with their pho.

Pho is to be eaten piping hott with an asian soup spoon and chopsticks. If you're gonna use a fork, don't bother eating it...it's disgraceful....and be sure to slurp it just a little, so the cook knows how much you're enjoying it :)

Pho shizzle,
Tina

2006-01-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone...welcome to my blog :)

I intend this to be a creative outlet for all my eating extravaganzas...and all things related to food. I heart food. I heart eating. I heart blogging.

However, don't be surprised if you catch a good story in here, about some lame boy shenanigans.

Enjoy & happy eating to all of you!

Bon Appetit!
Tina