uch a heavenly creation, the French Macaron.  The first time I ever had them was about 15 years ago, in Switzerland.  They were made by the confectionary Sprungli and called "Luxemburgli." They were tiny little "burgers" that would melt in your mouth with a buttery, creamy texture within a meringue like shell.  Back then, there were only a few flavor options, but each one would burst in your mouth with incredible purity of flavor.  I had to travel to Zurich a number of times on business back then, and I would make sure I always grabbed about $20 worth (which bought about a pound or so.) I had never had any dessert before or since that was so incredible.  ...<< MORE >>

I love Santa Barbara spot prawns and am used to paying a premium for small tastes of them in restaurants. I also adore them in the form of ama ebi at the sushi places. But so expensive and hard to find. So when I saw a reference on Chowhound to getting live spot prawns at Ranch 99 Markets for a mere $16/lb. I know what we were doing on Friday! << MORE >>

I believe it would be a terrible thing to ever ignore the plight of a fellow foodie. And people who run taco trucks, well, I have seen the passion in those taco creations and they count. So when I heard of their plight, well, we had to come out and show our support. << MORE >>

We went here for my birthday; it came highly recommended and Irene (LA Times) had very nice things to say.  I wish I had read the recent not-so-nice review in LA Magazine that showed up on my doorstep the next day...perhaps I would have reconsidered. ...<< MORE >>

We've been to il Chianti before, being that it is only about a mile from our house.  Dinner has always been interesting, but generally items are hit or miss.  Not often you can get an uni pizza.  But it is a cool place, great hidden tables, counter seating, outdoor seating, lots of options.  Even a nice wine list with some good Italian options.

So it was just happenstance that we were driving out this past sunday looking for a quick meal not so out of the way, and we saw the open sign.  What the heck.  Our timing was good, they just started offering brunch in the last month.  ...<< MORE >>

We were not expecting much. The reviews for this place are generally mediocre at best, plus it is very expensive.  Although one of my foodie coworkers was recently there and he had nothing but good things to say about the place.  I have to say, I am with my coworker on this one.  ...<< MORE >>

...How'd I miss this place? Ok it is on the end of a nondescript strip mall kinda stuck behind a Cost Plus World Market, but still, what a find. Tiny place, a bit too bright, but it's about the food. Here's what you do. Bring a bottle ($10 corkage) or order the Hakkaisan ($12 for a generous "waterfall" serving.) Then order the 14 piece Omakase for $32. Yes, that's right, $32. And no, it's not for pale, tired tuna and a California roll. << MORE >>

No, it is not an April Fool's menu item.  It's for real, and quite tasty.  We were visiting Chez Melange in Redondo Beach the other night. We generally enjoy the "melange" of menu offerings, but this one was the "Melange-iest" one we have had in quite some time.  The succulent little froggie thighs were deep fried and smothered in a wonderfully buttery and perfectly spicy buffalo sauce.  ...<< MORE >>

The table, the room, Karl, our hot and yet attentive French waiter, and of course the food...all VERY impressive. They were even kind with corkage. If you have read any of my other posts, you know I do not impress easily. So this was a night to remember.<< MORE >>

We didn't have reservations but they agreed to let us hang out at the bar.  Cool room, reminds me of Fraiche.  Industrial look, lots of stone.  Awesome drink list and tons of wine by the glass.  Dinner is a motley assortment of small plates, salads, pizza, big plates, etc.  Their thing is the whole local/sustainable/organic movement that has invaded LA.  This place may look casual, but their prices say otherwise.  ...<< MORE >>

Interesting piece in the NYT today: The Fat Pack Wonders if the Party's Over

The gist of the article is that there are a bunch of foodies and especially foodie bloggers out there revelling in Pork Fat and are all finally getting to a point where they have to come to terms with the terrible things they are doing to their bodies.  ...<< MORE >>

We love oysters.  Such tasty little creatures.  Ordering a dozen at a restaurant is such a tease.  We want LOTS of oysters.  I have happy memories of sitting at Felix's in New Orleans eating four or five dozen at one sitting.  While I have bought two oyster shuckers, the few times I attempted to shuck an oyster or two has ended in disaster so it was something I never really pursued. 

But this time, it was going to be different. ...<< MORE >>

It's called Kula Sushi Bistro. A Sushi "Bistro" in Century City? This was going to be an adventure. From reading all the reviews and descriptions, I was expecting a fairly authentic Japanese dining experience but with some "dumbing down" for the American palette, all in a funky, modern setting. << MORE >>

We loved Alinea in Chicago, and since that experience have been questing other great Molecular Gastronomic experiences.  I had heard that Coi (pronounced "kwa") is the best (only) experience SF has to offer in Molecular Gastromony...(meaning they have exactly one more option than LA...) so of course this was at the top of my list.  ...<< MORE >>

Cav was the surprise of the trip. My original expectation was just to share some wine and snacks with a friend I know from when I worked at Wally's about 5 years ago. She had left Wally's while I was there and opened Cav some months later. I was certainly looking forward to some good wine (she was the sommelier.) The wine did not disappoint, but it was the food that really blew us away. << MORE >>

We stopped for a drink and just to try the signature dish - the crudo. They were very nice about accommodating us at the bar, where we could watch them shuck oysters and prepare the dishes. Pictured was the house variety; there were three of us and they offered a combo of 3 pieces each. It took us 4 tries to find a bottle of European white wine from the list that they had in stock. << MORE >>

Since the Sunday brunch we were originally going to go to at Nikko looked awful and un-Japanesed, we decided to let our friends take us to to their new-found treasure, an authentic NY Deli called Miller's East Coast West Delicatessen.  We HAD to go, as they professed to have awesome Nova and bagels flown in daily, which is my husband's favorite.  ...<< MORE >>

This event was the primary impetus that prompted our recent SF visit.  Having visited the Burgundy region last year and being completely blown away, we were excited to be able to try so much wonderful burgundy in one place.  We only attended the luncheon, which at $300/pp we thought it to be quite extravagant.  Clearly money was no object to most of the attendees, and/or they were industry people. I definitely spotted many familiar faces from Wine Spectator and other publications.  It seemed most people were also attending the dinner event, which was $1500 AND you were expected to bring some special wine to share.  We decided to skip that event, lol.  ...<< MORE >>

...I thought it would be better. Kind of a tourist trap. The oysters were way overpriced at $2.50 or more a piece.<< MORE >>

The Quince people really think a lot of themselves.   I had to make the reservation EXACTLY 30 days from the time I wanted the reservation. No more, no less.  They wanted a $100 deposit (cancellation fee) on the credit card for four people.  You can only bring up to two bottles of wine per table, at $35 corkage for each one.  And when I tried to take a picture of one of the courses, the hostess quickly ran up and said that there were to be no pictures of the food.  I thought I was on a Seinfeld episode, the one with the Soup Nazi.  That said, it really was a great meal.  We opted for the tasting menu ...<< MORE >>

My husband has been craving an authentic New England Lobster Roll, and I had heard this could be procured in SF.  After much research, I decided we would try the Lobster Shack, a tiny little place that is located in the in-between area between China Town and Little Italy. The people there were very nice, and the owner even stopped by to chat. We got the double, which came with home-style cole slaw and thick cape-cod chips. The sandwiches consisted of two wonderful "hot dog" buns that were grilled and basted with butter.  The five oz of lobster tail and claw meat nice and chunky with just the right amount of hellman's mayo mixed in.  (We loved the way they made a point of mentioning they use Hellman's and not the nasty cheap no-name or miracle-whip stuff.) They also offer a "naked" option for those mayo-haters out there. More butter ...<< MORE >>

We recently have discovered the joy that is sea-salt caramels.  But not until this past valentine's day have we had any this amazing.  I purchased them from Bristol Farms; the company that makes them is called Moonstruck Chocolates out of Portland, OR.  There was an assortment, but by far our favorite was called a Cajeta Caramel.  I had to look this up, as I never had heard of it before.  I learned that caramel is made by cooking sugar very slowly and cajeta is made by cooking sweetened milk very slowly.  The end result was incredible.  These little gems came enrobed in a rich, dark chocolate.  Inside was a liquid caramel that was at once creamy, molten, and milky, with just the right touch of sea-saltiness. It had a viscosity similar to the liquid around a cherry cordial, but yet possessed the "goo-iness" inherent in a well-made caramel.  Overall, it was a delightful experience and I recommend you try them the next time you want a tasty treat. 

www.moonstruckchocolate.com

        

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I was in Marukai last night looking for dinner inspiration. I usually tend to go for the raw fish for some kind of sushi concoction, but then my eye caught some shiny pink-tinged Dover Sole Filets.  I have never cooked Dover Sole.  Hell, I am not sure I ever even had it in a restaurant.  ...<< MORE >>

It's still Chinese New Year time for a couple more weeks, and we wanted to get some authentic goodies.  But it was late, there were just two of us, options were limited.  You may recall I already rejected a number of local options in previous posts.  So I hit the Internet and decided to try Shanghai Palace Garden as it sounded most authentic, and I like Shanghai style Chinese.  I called first. Yes, they had some fresh lobster specials.  Yes, I could bring wine.  ...<< MORE >>

I am in the middle of listening to the audio version of Fast Food Nation.  I am sure I will get to the outrage part soon enough, but at the moment all of this talk about burgers is really making me crave a Big Mac and fries. And a shake.  And I never eat that stuff.  Sigh.
...<< MORE >>

So I keep this database of LA restaurants that includes those I want to get to at some point. Part of it consists of all the so-called "premium" sushi places in LA. I have been to many of them with different degrees of success. My favorite is probably Shibucho off Beverly, but that is for another review. For my husband's birthday, we decided to finally hit R23. Scary valet parking, Really cool decor, great art, funky cardboard chairs. But who called this place premium?<< MORE >>

The background is that we were huge Michael fans - loved him at WaterGrill. Yet we have been to Providence twice before now, did the tasting menu, and were underwhelmed each visit. This time we went for my husband's birthday with three others. We all agreed to order off the menu and not do the tasting, in hopes of a better experience. Admittedly, we were terrible customers. One person in the party arrived 30 min after we were seated. We brought 4 bottles of our own (very good) wine and only ordered a few cocktails. We were kinda loud. And when they overheard me complaining about the tasteless Ahi/Black Truffle dish ($55) they came by and offered to take it back.<< MORE >>

9:15 on a weeknight...we just worked out. Hungry. Where to go to get a light dinner? We just weren't in the mood for Soon Tofu. ...<< MORE >>

And more recently, Crudo (Italian Sashimi) and Ceviche have become quite trendy as well.  I was recently in South Beach and South American fusion sushi was all over town.   But not until my experience with the new Sushi Chef at Chez Melange have I experienced...Tropical Sushi!  ...<< MORE >>

We love good dim sum but Alhambra/Monterey park is such a long drive we don't go that often unless we just want to kill most of the day.  But sometimes we really get a craving, and are too busy for the trip.  FOr those circumstances, South Bay had two options: Sea Empress in Gardena, and Regal Palace in Lomita.  The last several times we went to Sea Empress it completely deteriorated, so we actually haven't been there in six months.  Regal Palace was the standby. It was generally hit or miss, but there were always a few decent items for not that much money.  So we were quite surprised this past september when we stopped by and it all seemed quite different.  Many of the staff had suddenely been replaced by people we knew from PCH, another chinese restaurant in Lomita that used to be good.  They had a new ...<< MORE >>

A friend sent me an email asking if I had been to a new place in Torrance called Rain.  40 wines by the glass, small plates, organic/sustainable, even a waterfall.  All of this AND in Torrance. OMG how could I have missed it? I was terribly embarrassed.  So I couldn't even wait until tonight (fri) to go.  I had to check it out that very night (thurs).  I called, and found out they were open for 8 months (?!) and serve dinner until mignight. It is in the Marriott near the mall. So we grabbed two of our foodie friends and headed out. We didn't even get there until 9:30. 

The first sign something was wrong was when all the cool interesting things on the online menu were missing.  ...<< MORE >>

Went to a top 100 party the other night. Attendees were required to each bring a bottle from the top 100 list from any year. No top 10's showed up at the party, but there was a generous assortment from recent years. I had seen the 2007 list when it first came out and wasn't particularly enthused when I saw it contained such gems as Yellowtail Shiraz and Rombauer Chard, both horribly over-oaked and over-extracted high-alcohol fruit bombs (IMHO). It seems that Wine Spectator is really going for the big juicy stuff. << MORE >>

Have you heard?

Santa Barbara CHP grant targets drunken driver 'Sideways' effect ...<< MORE >>

Lucques is simply a great place to go with friends to have a relaxing, uncomplicated dinner. They have a small but thoughtful menu that offers enough variety for even your most picky companions.<< MORE >>

Five of us visited on Day 3. Ultramodern, open/high-ceiling, strikingly decorated with a white and red-orange motif, nicely contrasted with black linen napkins. Unlike other restaurants in the area, tables are not too close together, acoustics lend themselves nicely to private conversation. JD, our waiter, was a pleasure. Incredibly enthusiastic, he carefully pushed and pulled us to order the "right" items. So we were optimistic at first. JD sold us on the night's appetizer, a very special grilled octopus. Then he came back to give us the sad news that they ran out. We joked that the chef should come out and personally apologize. He did, lol. Unfortunately, as great as the service was the food turned out to be typical of other Patina establishments. It looked pretty to the eyes but just did not deliver in quality and flavor. << MORE >>

We have been to the pizza place and also recently went to B&B in Vegas.  So how would Osteria Mozza compare? We managed to obtain a difficult to obtain reservation when someone canceled.  We packed up a nice 96 Brunello ($20 corkage) and headed out.  Typical HW set up...loud, tables close together.  And they were playing 80's rock.  We ate to foreigner and Blondie.  Funny.  Foodwise, started out great.  Starters were fried pig trotter, grilled octopus, and burrata on leeks.  Pig trotter was reminiscent of scrapple (maybe there is someone out there from philly who knows what I am talking ...<< MORE >>

Attended one of the most remarkable birthday parties ever, at the legendary Urasawa in beverly hills.  The birthday family reserved the entire restaurant...10 people at the bar, 2 at a table.  One seating per night.  The experience was reminiscent of Alinea in that it was an amazing dinner and a Cirque du Soleil-like foodie show all in one.  There were about 10 appetizers, 20 individual pieces of sushi, and about 2-3 desserts.  In total, yes, it was the best sushi I ever had.  But if I were to dissect each individual piece of fish, I would have to say I had comparable quality at other high-end sushi places.  The main sushi differentiator here was that EVERY piece was at least as good as the best I ever had anywhere else. 

But trancending the sushi were the small plates.  Especially memorable was a shabu-shabu-like dish involving kobe, lobster, and foie gras.  ...<< MORE >>

One of the wines we brought back from a recent trip to Tuscany was a '93 Cerbaiona Brunello.  Now I knew I loved brunello, but I am only recently getting into older wines.  My comfort zone and passion typically lies with burgundy or barolo, but this wine....OMG.  I heard 1993 was one of the best years for brunello, but never got to experience it until now. 

I am not good at tasting notes like the fancy stuff you see in Wine Spectator or erobert parker that often reference obscure vegetation, industrial chemicals, and various land and sea creatures.  But I ...<< MORE >>

I was a perfectly happy chowhounder.  Mostly a lurker, occasionally posting a review or two.  THen came CNET and their ruination of what was a perfectly good place to talk restaurants.  I started reading things about people getting banned, but I didn't really believe it.  Until it happened to me.  I actually thought this was a solid post - very fair.  It generated lots of good responses for a couple days.  THen it was mysteriously gone.  ALong with every other post I ever made.  And my account was deleted.  I really don't think I deserved that, but you be the ...<< MORE >>

Actually, it was a friend who talked us into going. We read all the reviews, talked to the guide. All of them pointed us to many other gastronomic delights in Lyon. But he said, “How often in life will you get the opportunity to go to a 3 Star Michelin?” Admittedly, curiosity got the better of us so I emailed my reservation. Now, those who know us know we are not strangers to fine dining. We have been to most of the top restaurants in LA at least once, and have experienced many great meals at top restaurants in other parts of the US and beyond. But a 3 Star? How good could it be? When we arrived for our 8PM reservation on a Sunday night, the place was almost empty. (The crowd really picked up by 9:30.) The ambiance and the place setting was everything you would expect, extraordinarily elegant. I did find the oil painting of the the fresh-killed rabbit (a hunting picture) over our table a little disconcerting, but well, perhaps we just don’t understand the French. << MORE >>

We made a pilgrimage to Alinea in Chicago for my 40th birthday.  It was a completely sublime experience in molecular gastronomy.  We did the complete menu with wine pairings.  Length of Dinner: 5 hours.  When we left at about 11:30 the place was still completely full.  Bill total for each couple: $910.72 ...<< MORE >>

Unique and facinating, but just not that good. ...<< MORE >>

So here is a bit about my attitude towards foodie travels: ...<< MORE >>