street food in a pricey resto

susan feniger's street resto has received a lot of buzz from the critics. i was intrigued because everyone was raving about it so i just had to try it myself. the idea was that the resto served "street food" from around the world.

first off, the valet (which you pretty much had to do because of the permit street parking around that area). it was strange yet fabulous that all the valet parkers were women. they made it a point to say that they do not discriminate. although they later said, if men applied, they send them off to another agency. uh-huh. but my main beef was that it cost $8.50(!!!!) to valet. what a ripoff.

next up was the decor. it was pretty cool. minimal but had character.




lots of drawings on the wall (as in graffiti-like) that would, presumably, reflect what streets looked like.





they also had this nifty fireplace thing (in addition to the heat lamps). and in case it got chilly, they offered blankets/wraps for patrons.



ok, on to the food. we decided to go for the "globe trot" route -- it was basically chef's choice for $35 per person. they started us off with the below bread and butter substitute. it was basically like rice balls with some anise and fennel and cumin. i personally did not like it. i didn't think that the flavors worked well. the rice balls were on the soft side too and not on the crunchy side. the texture was more like rice krispies completely drowned in marshmallows, i.e., no crispness.



next up was the new jerusalem bread salad made of cucumbers, feta, greens, croutons made of olive bread and topped with a hard boiled egg. this was an explosion of flavor that was refreshing. although, if i had a criticism, it would be that it was a bit too overdressed.



next up was this mung bean pancake made of mung beans, kimchi, scallions and pork belly. the mung bean pancake was crunchy, which i enjoyed. the pork belly was so subtle in flavor that it was completely overpowered by the kimchi. maybe a little less kimchi? otherwise, it would have been great.



next was the spicy peanut noodles with vegetables and tofu. this was my favorite. it was like a spicy pad thai with a sauce that was thicker in consistency. i thought the ingredients worked well together.



at this time, we were really full. but, we ate on. the below was the egyptian style baked fish with greens that i thought were too bitter and some macaroni and lentils mixture. i liked the fish, which was juicy and fresh but the sides, not so much.



finally, they served us with corn and pork belly. i did enjoy this dish. too bad, i was really really full to even truly appreciate it.



the food was good but i would not say it was exceptional. there were some hits and misses. one thing i know though, in my travels, no street food has been this expensive.

ucla football: not a pretty sight

it is really quite telling when the highlight of the ucla scrimmage is the tailgate.

ucla's offense can be summed up in one word: suckage.

yeah, offense scored a couple of touchdowns. but the qb's would've been sacked -- multiple times -- before then but for the fact that there was a self-imposed rule of no hitting the qb's.

and oh, i was just informed that the touchdowns were against the second or third team defense.

great.

on the positive side, i love this guy:


"who does the taliban not want you to be? BRUINS!"


and another positive, i love the new grill for the tailgates. woohoo!

long beach grand prix

i recently visited long beach during the long beach grand prix and had a primo spot watching this car racing thing. as i have previously mentioned, i really have no clue as to what was going on. and seeing it hasn't really changed that.

apparently, these drivers (who were both from irl and champ or lemans - whatever that meant) had to go around this track (or, as i say, in circles) 85 times or in 2 hours. strange sport.

franchitti (a.k.a. ashley judd's husband) -- the second red car in the video below -- won and danica patrick came in fourth. the video below was the last lap with a bonus view of a crash at 00:35.




so i thought the race was ok. but i really came for the food that included: lumpia, pansit palabok, chicken dijon pressed sandwhich and an assortment of goodies like pork crackling, nuts, chips, chocolates, and, oh yeah, some fruits and salads.

oakland: le cheval

so i was in oakland the other other day and took the opportunity to hang out with some of my friends. g decided that since we were car-less, we had to go somewhere close to a bart station. so we were off to le cheval -- supposedly vietnamese food.



we had the snow pea shoots, which was fresh, crisp and good.



the singapore noodles with chicken and veggies was supposed to be spicy. it was not. it tasted like it was drenched in curry powder though.



the lemongrass pork chop was pretty tasty. it had a nice char taste and had some bit of sweetness. i enjoyed it very much.



i think le cheval was fine. we did end up paying about $30 a pop with a bottle of wine and 2 beers. i think it's a bit pricey for what it was. there were definitely hits and misses. but for options around the 12th street bart, it was just fine.

long beach grand prix: qualifiers

i'm not into cars. or racing. or car racing. but, i had access to a condo with a view of the racetrack -- and particularly, of one of the turns. so, off i went to the LBC. it wasn't officially the grand prix yet but there were some drifting (i don't even know what that means) qualifiers this past saturday.

as much as i know nothing (zip, zilch, nada) about car racing, this i knew. the first video was not a good race while the second video was better.






ok, so i really wasn't in the LBC for the grand prix. i was really in the LBC to hang out with a family i met back in the czech republic in november 2006 who were in town for a visit. while those cars roared loudly below us, i had a great time reminiscing about the CR by chatting and reconnecting with them, and enjoying the company of their daughter, who is now a ripe old age of 5 and a half. wow. time flies.

either that, or, i'm just old. bah. those cars were loud. they needed to turn down that ruckus!

joking aside, the CR was a fantastic place to visit. if you don't believe me, just watch:
1. the illusionist - the backdrop for showing the main characters when they were young, was filmed in cesky krumlov. the backdrop for the rest of the movie was prague (doubling as vienna).
2. casino royale - the casino was the grand pupp in karlovy vary and some outdoor scenes also showed karlovy vary.

if the location does not convince you, then tasting fresh beer at the pilsner urquell brewery in plzen or budweiser brewery (the original, please) in ceske budejovice just might. sure beats cringing every time those cars loudly made a turn below us.

i'm no longer a seder virgin

i can't believe it took me this long to experience the food fest that is seder. ok, i know that it is based on religion. but me, not of the jewish faith, wanted to experience this holy observance for the company, and for the food. so, i, along with other friends, finagled an invite to my friend's family's seder. good thing too because mary is a good cook.





mary's husband, seth, started off the reading and everyone took turns reading. mary and her sister sang some hymns in hebrew. yes, i got to read. something about the wicked sons. it was mary's idea. hmmmm..... what was she trying to say?



and before anyone asks, no, i did not find the afikomen - a piece of the matzah hidden away somewhere and the lucky kid who finds it gets some prize.



drinking the manischewitz was a treat. it tasted just like the grape juice i've drank hundreds of times in my youth while taking communion. mmmmm.... yummy.



i was also pleased to have tasted the celery dipped in salt water.



seder wasn't all eating though. we also got to hit each other (and boy, some of those hits were vicious) with the green onions. mary explained that the hitting thing with the green onions was a persian jewish tradition. let me just say on the record that i hit my companions softly with the leaves part. some people, on the other hand, were hitting with the bulb part. my friends were vicious!



one thing that my jewish friends warned me about was the gefilte fish. better yet, the gefilte fish with the maror (sp?) (grated horseradish). they warned that it was not good, that one had to acquire the taste for it. i must have, in a previous life, acquired the taste for it because i loved it. in fact, i had two. it tasted just like softer fish balls with the spam gelee. oh yeah. and the maror? well, it was like wasabi. nothing strange there.





mary also made matzah ball soup, which was perfectly filling.



also served was the tzimmes below, which i did not try because it had some cow pieces.



friends also said the brisket below was delicious. i did not have a taste as it was the cow.



but, i can attest that the stuffed cabbage with ground turkey was filling, rich, sweet and perfectly delicious. i had two!



so, at the end of seder, i was definitely grateful that i was invited. although i have already been familiar with the story of passover from my youth and college course, it was something else to be actually celebrating it.

more importantly, it was good to learn more about the culture and food of my friends. i just hope they invite me for hannukkah. there are more food then, right?

berkeley: an ode to alice waters

on a recent trip to the bay area, i had the occasion to finally (!) go to chez panisse. the fact that the obamas are now planning to have an organic garden in the white house after waters' lobbying efforts is testament to her influence in the culinary world. that being said, i went to cp with less than a week's notice and was only fortunate to get a table at the cafe upstairs. it didn't matter, i was going to go anyway.

the other problem about going to cp with a week's notice was that the table was only available at 5:30 pm or 9:15 pm. i went for the 9:15 reservations. but, because i tend to go hungry early, i had to eat well before then. the fix? pre-dinner dinner. where? cesar, which was next door to cp.

we started with a cheese plate: mahon, roncal and garrotxa. the cheeses were rich and flavorful and as i am currently in love with sheep's milk, the roncal was the clear favorite.


cesar also had these amazing fries. well, i like mine thin and crunchy and these were definitely thin and crunchy. it was perfectly seasoned and came with aioli.



after polishing off our plates, we were off next door.



this bottle from la rioja was very oaky but went well with my meal.



i had the pork shoulder with spinach and mashed potatoes. the swine practically tore itself away from itself. it was that tender.



my dessert of almond brittle ice cream with dark chocolate was divine. there were chunks of almonds in the ice cream. i was in love. if i could marry it, i would.



grace had the fixed menu that came with a salad, the pasta below with fava beans and an ice cream dessert full of fruit like tangerine and kumquats. at $26, it was definitely affordable. the ingredients were fresh and the dessert was refreshing.





now that i have finally been to cp, i understand why people rave about her food. i didn't think all the dishes were great (they were all good though) but i thought that when the ingredients and execution worked (think swine), they were right on.

cecconi: another trendy resto

saturday was not a good day for the bruin faithful. but, i won't talk about it.

so, after indulging myself in the requisite grieving period, i was off to dinner. this time at cecconi's in west hollywood.

the space was nice - dim, airy, faux chandelier.

the server we had was actually pretty friendly, gregarious, funny and full of suggestions. it was refreshing not to get a stuck-up-not-acting-better-than-thou server in weho.

there was the almost-expected celebrity sighting: dana delaney was there.

the space was a bit loud (and i don't mean the color scheme). i don't know why restos in la seem to be all really loud or really quiet (valentino comes to mind where one is afraid to make any noise). happy medium, anyone?

on to the food.

we started off with the octopus salad. it seems a bit trendy these days to have octopus on the menu, which is nothing bad. here, though, it was fine. the octopus was tender, nicely flavored but it did not wow.



d had the the chicken, which she said was fine.


a had the papardelle with sausage. this was very tasty. the pasta was not al dente, which was actually fine by me. don't get me wrong, it wasn't soggy or anything. the sausafe was full of flavor.


i had the rack of lamb. it actually came out different than what i imagined. but, it was pretty good. not gamey.


another trendy thing on the menu these days is some kind of chocolate fondant with ice cream. but, i am a sucker for chocolate so we got it. i asked to substitute vanilla ice cream for the pistachio, which was fine. the chocolate was perfectly melty and not overwhelmingly sweet. of all the meals we ordered, this was polished off. i can't say it was the best i ever had but it was perfectly fine.


with two glasses of wine, my share came to about $73. kinda pricey especially with this recession going on.

march madness 2009: heart attack-ville

take that, obama!

he may be the most powerful man in the free world, but he knows jack when it comes to basketball.

go bruins!

march madness 2009: my picks

it pains me that ucla is not gonna make the final four, but it is what it is. if they do, great. if they don't.... well...

so here are my picks:

temescal canyon and anisette

on my first hike since summiting kilimanjaro, i chose an easy hike -- max 1.5 hours. temescal canyon in the pacific palisades fit the bill. the entrance is on temescal canyon where it meets sunset boulevard. you can park inside for $5.00 or park on the street for free. methinks, free is always the best.








this trail was a loop. in my opinion, the best workout was to take the trail clockwise (to the left) as the trail went through more switchbacks and was steeper. the counter-clockwise (to the right) trail had gentler slopes and the downhill on the way back to the trailhead would have been steeper and thus, harder on the knees.








the trail was dotted with wildflowers that have started to bloom.
















the funny thing about this hike was that ther was a "waterfall." the problem with it was that, for most of the year, the waterfall was dry. after a downpour, you might see a waterfall. let's put it this way: don't get your hopes up.




but waterfall or no waterwall, this trail has always been pretty, a good workout but would not take the whole day, and close to civilization. beware though that because of its closeness to civilization, weekend warriors love to frequent this place.




temescal canyon's close proximity to santa monica meant that the after-hike brunch had to be in santa monica. this time, we chose anisette.



i had the hot chocolate, which was ok. (my friend's coffee and soup apparently were not hot enough.)




i also had the croque madame. for whatever reason, i don't think the gruyere worked well.



my share came to about $24, which was a bit pricey for average food. it wasn't great but it definitely wasn't bad. oh well.