Viva Madrid | Claremont, CA
After a long short day of skiing, my friend Adam and I decided to meet up with one of his friends on the way home to LA, so we stopped in Claremont. Down town Claremont is very nice, clean, and quaint, but just down this hallway, before the bathrooms, and next to the confessional, there is a set of doors that leads you into a small and very intimate space. She was right when she said that this place was a local hangout and not too many “outsiders” knew about it. I tend not to disagree with her on this one.
When you walk into this one room space, all you notice is tables, tables, tables; pushed into every corner of the restaurant with just enough room for one person to walk through or get in and out of your seat without hitting the person behind you. I tend to like places like this, where they can concentrate on each customer without being overloaded. Needless to say, when we were hungry, our server was right there.
Coming from an Italian family with many italian friends, I have never been a fan of sangria, but I have learned to get into it since I have moved out here, and I would highly recommend their red sangria.
Overall, this place had many tasty things on the menu, such as the bacon wrapped dates.
Bacon wrapped dates
Cmon, we all know everything is better wrapped in bacon!
Their muscles…
Muscles
Terroni | Los Angeles
Before I went on a 2 week cleanse, I wanted get a little dressed up and have a nice meal. So a friend of min suggested a little place in Los Angeles called Terroni, just east of the Grove on Beverly Blvd. This is one of those places that you could miss if you were not paying attention. As you walk in, you notice the tight quarters of all of the two tops and larger tables along with the open kitchen and wine bar. You would think that this would be a louder place than it is. But the conversation that I had with my friend was was really easy. But I did notice that the couple next to us stopped many times to listen to what we had to say. The menu is a little confusing, all of the dishes are in italian and can be overwhelming, but there are explanations of each dish under the names. The wine list is rather limited in wine types, but the variety rather impressive from vintage to vineyard and region.
Piatto a Stutare
We started with the Piatto
Read MoreNoir Food & Wine: Pasadena, CA
I know, its been a while since I’ve actually posted something, and I will have to remedy that. I have taken the lazy route and just too the intagr.am pictures. I will have to get back into my foodie ways and go out toe some great places soon! I am a little rusty, so please forgive the review. I need to get back into form!
Anyway, let me tell you about this place I went to last night with a neighbor of mine called Noir Food & Wine. After only 8 months, I am still a newbie to the LA area, so most of the things that I have found are on pretty main streets, but this one is tucked quietly off on a side street with a fairly unassuming entrance, right next to a, from what I have heard, pretty popular comedy club called Ice House.
Simple and elegant come to mind when you walk into this place. A couple small rooms with 2 bars and small intimate tables with just enough room for one person to walk without running into someone. Traffic stops when food comes out. Anyway, so we sit down, and my friend used to call this place home so she schools me on the ins and outs of the restaurant. The owner is originally from Louisiana, so all of the dishes are relatively simple with a Louisiana flare, (and a really nice guy, he came out to talk with us during dessert.)
This is a small plate restaurant, everything is served tapas style. We started off with a couple of wine flights. I had a Malbec flight of three wines, (at this point, I honestly forgot to take pictures of the menu, but there I was), paired with a cheese plate with some slices meats, nuts, honey, and a preserve. Im a sucker for wine and cheese, so this was a perfect start to the meal to get me into the mood.
While we were waiting for a main course, we ordered Crab Fritters. This was a perfect light intermediary dish; lightly battered and fried, served with a couple of dipping sauces, a light tartar and a dijon style mustard. My main course was the Hanger Steak, medium rare of course! The steak was cooked to perfection served a in wine reduction with veggies. Ever bite was savory and perfectly tender.
Hanger Steak @ Noir Food & Wine, Pasadena, CA
As if this was not enough, after the main dinner, we went to the front bar for dessert. Now I will say, this was definitely the right call. You sit in again, simple elegance with white upholstered high chairs looking at the wine selection. I had a nice port wine with their Chocolate Terrine. Talk about heaven on a plate. Its a thick chocolate custard served with a raspberry reduction and fresh berries. That was worth the whole meal!
Chocolate Terrine @ Noir Food & Wine, Pasadena, CA
All said and done, this place is simple, elegant, and classy. A little on the pricy side. Dinner for 2 with wine and dessert was about $250. But this is definitely a great experience that is something that can be saved for a special occasion and would highly recommend it.
http://www.noirfoodandwine.com/
Weekend Foodie on Instagr.am
