Ahhh… its always beautiful to see so many food trucks in one place.  But all of the trucks sitting side by side does make for some tough decisions.  From traditional grilled cheese, to ruebens, to dessert grilled cheese, it was all here.  Yes, I said dessert grilled cheese, and that was my first stop.  I made a B line to the McCallum’s Melt truck for their Tiramisu Grilled cheese.  Who knew?  It was about time someone came up with a hand held tiramisu!  It was delicious, but kinda spoiled

Stuffed Grilled Cheese from The Reuben Truck

me for the rest of the cheesy goodness that awaited me.   From this point we bounced from truck to truck sharing our sandwiches.  Im getting hungry again, its difficult to write these things sometimes…  If you could imagine it, it was probably there.  My plate saw the likes of bacon grilled cheese, philly grilled cheese, and even mac n cheese grilled cheese with a masala dipping sauce.  But my definite favorite was the stuffed grilled cheese from The Reuben Truck.  it was “stuffed” with cheddar, pastrami on sourdough.  The Rueben Truck is now on my favorite truck list.  Can McCallum’s and Reuben park next to each other sometime?  That would be awesome.

The longest line was for the CoolHouse Truck selling ice cream sandwiches.   If you have never seen this truck, it’s really kinda cool, pardon the pun.  They have their menu set up on cards that they stick on the side where you get to pick your sandwich cookie and type of ice cream.  I think we spent 20 minutes in the line checking out what kind of sandwiches we wanted from whiskey and lucky charms, to sorbet.  By the time we got up there, someone came up and started to take away cards and rearrange flavors.  There was an audible no and cheers when he did that.  Kinda funny.  But I got the lemon sorbet on a gingerbread cookie.  Very refreshing on a hot day, too bad half of it melted before I got to sit down at a table.

We missed the free puppies and alligator toss

At the very end, I was getting full from all the bread, cheese, and water I was chugging to stay cool, but I knew I wanted to try the Masala from Elbow’s  My friends had thrown in the towel, but I had to make the sacrifice.  So I bought the sandwich knowing that I wouldn’t finish it, but at least wanted a taste.  I ended up selling back half the sandwich to the girl behind me who was getting the same thing for her friends, she got a great deal on it too!  Watch out Elbow’s, I’m coming back for the rest of that sandwich!

One thing that was disappointing was that every sandwich was a full sandwich, not that I mind eating.  I didn’t understand this concept when they are trying to do a peoples choice award.  Now for $12, I guess it makes sense, the trucks just gets invited to sell their sandwiches, but if you are going to do something like a peoples choice, for god sakes, I want to try as many sandwiches as I could.  I was full after 5 sandwiches (and $30 lighter).    Why not up the price give out tasting tickets and have each truck give samples of a certain sandwich, and then they can sell others?   Or sell half sandwiches, something.  I was a little disappointed I didn’t have the room for the Grilled Cheese Truck.  I think I was sweating cheese.

Only 364 more days until the next Grilled Cheese Invitational.  The countdown begins..

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In the past couple weeks, I have had the pleasure of sharing meals with couple friends at restaurants at the opposite ends of the spectrum. My friend Monica and I ended up at a place called Food+Lab which is quintessential California; organic, organic, organic.

Cheese plate at Food + Lab

The meal started off with a cheese plate, which is something that I couldn’t pass up, which included gruyere, blue, and chèvre cheese, nuts, fruit and crusty bread. This is always a good start, although the blue was rather potent, kinda overshadowed everything else I had on that plate, but cheese no less! And a small chicken sandwich rounded out the sitting. Although there was no alcohol involved, the fact that we were sitting in the back patio enjoying the day made it worth it.

On the other hand, my friend Nicole and I went to a place in Pasadena called Mirajes for a margarita lunch. Unfortunately, it was a cold overcast day, so we sat inside, which made the mariachi band playing next to our table rather deafening, my voice became a little strained after lunch having to shout at her.

Burrito, Chile and Margaritas at Mirajes

The cheese smothered plate of something, I think it was supposed to be a burrito and chile relleños, was second to our conversation, and of course margaritas. I wouldn’t necessarily call this brunch, if we would have sat about 25 feet towards the other end of the doors, then yes, but the margaritas helped it out a lot. Did I mention margaritas?

In the wake of football season, and working our way into another one, enjoy the beautiful southern California weather, eat well, and enjoy time with your friends.. Cocktail in hand of course.

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I love gastropubs, they always have good food, wine, and great atmosphere.  They are my preferred dining experience.   Our evening started off with wine, a sauvingon blanc for her and a High Note Malbec for me, a cheese plate, which included  triple creme, an olive tapenade, mixed nuts, and crusty bread, and sharing food pictures and stories that lasted so long, we almost forgot to order actual dinner (but I couldn’t let that happen).  After meeting and eating with so many people , I would suggest to anyone to start off with a cheese plate of some sort.  Its light, will temporarily satisfy you until the main meal, but best of all, I have found that I talk more over a cheese plate than any other appetizer.  If you are on a date, you will play the “You take the last piece” game

Since it was passover, I wanted both of us to have the full experience of sharing these small plates, so I gave her the menu and let her run with it, and her first choice was brussel sprouts.  Now I have had good sprouts, and I have had bad sprouts.  This dish was on the great sprout side.  Perfectly roasted and topped with balsamic, I don’t know why, but it reminded me of Chinese food.  Again, I don’t know why my mind went there, but it did.  Random huh?  But man can not live on brussel spouts alone, our other dish was the short rib over polenta, (I think she knew that it was over polenta when she ordered it, but scraped it off).  The short rib was very tender and cut like butter.  Im glad I saved some sprouts, because they went together nicely in one bite.  And just like the rest of our dinner, we shared a simple butterscotch to end the evening.

I enjoy tapas style eating, I was hungry but not starving, so the small plates allowed me to taylor my dinner to my hunger level, unlike some other sit down places where you get a plate of food that may be too much for you to eat in once sitting.  Sometimes I tend to ever eat because the food is in front of me and then I would have that over stuffed feeling all night that may overshadow the experience.

I cant help but reiterate how much I love living in this town.  There are so many delicious food finds, and I would like to thank Stephanie @ The Triple Dipper for turning me on to another restaurant to my list.  Also if you are a foodie, eat with another foodie because they will encourage you to take pictures of your food.

If you expect to go to The Village, be prepared to spend up to $100 for two.  Our dinner consisted of 2 glasses of wine each and everything the I wrote about.

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Oh the hazards of my job….

I will post a proper review as soon as I get back!

Last year, my friend and I decided that instead of presents, we would take each other out to dinner at the restaurants of our choosing. Apparently, due to the party demand and conflicting schedules, our dinner was moved into the new year, and what a way to start a new foodie year then by celebrating at Mastro’s Steak House in Beverly Hills.

For me, this is not a place I can frequent on a regular basis, with the $10+ glasses of wine, $40+ steaks, this is the type of place that I need to save for, but its well worth it. I had been to Beverly Hills several times and I must have passed this place every time, but once I found it, I wont forget it.

From the outside, just above the awning and sign, there is an elegant outdoor eating space, which is inviting in itself, so I was a little excited to see what was inside. When you walk in, you are walking straight into an intimate bar setting with a grand staircase leading to the second floor dining area and a curtain separating the first floor. Have you ever watched the episode of Bugs Bunny where he found a small tent in the middle of the desert but when he walked in, it was a palace, thats what I felt like walking into Mastro’s, it just kept going back, but still remained cozy.

Just as I pulled my glass of cabernet sauvignon from the downstairs bar, my friends arrived and we were promptly escorted to our table on the second floor, where we were seated next to the glass partition of the wine room. This doesn’t get any better, well, until I saw the menu.

Mastro’s knows what they are doing, and do it well. The appetizer section was filled with a variety of starters including beef carpaccio, ahi tuna, and bone marrow, (which I ordered). As with any good steak house, there was a no fuss steak section, just pick how hungry you were, and in addition to seafood, all of the sides were meant to share. My dinner… bone marrow starter, bone in prime rib medium rare, and lobster mashed potatoes, which was recommended to me. I would suggest to check out the menu >>here<<

Bone Marrow with salad

First off, the bone marrow is the best I have had since I have been in LA, it spread like butter over a slice of crusty bread and was seasoned to perfection. I was served about a 7-10″ bone which yielded about 5 slices of bread, but I wish there was more. THe steak and potatoes came out at the same time. There is nothing like seeing a single chop on a plate undisturbed from any distracting sides because you know that food was prepared to perfection. This was 22 ounces of pure love….

Bone in Rib Eye medium rare with a side of Lobster Mashed Potatoes

Medium rare never tasted so good! Well, that is until it was paired with lobster mashed potatoes. The bowl was filled about 3/4 of the way with garlic potatoes topped with a generous helping of claw meat. But the secret of this dish was the ring of oil that was leeching out of the meat. Without that ring of oil, this dish wouldnt be worth it, but it was just amazing. My day just got better at that point.

After a great meal like that, I was persuaded to try their signature warm butter cake. It was yellow cake prepared with caramelized sugar crust with a nice dollop of ice cream on top. As I started from the exterior, I wasn’t too impressed, but the soma lie advised me to dig right into the center. It was warm and buttery, but wasn’t as impressive as the rest of the meal. I think I will have to end the night with chocolate next time. And since Im a port lover, my friend and I shared 100 years of port, which was 1 ounce pours of 10, 20, 30, and 40 year old Taylor Fladgate. My new favorite is now 30 years.

All in all, im glad I went, it was a great experience and is one of those meals that I will remember for a while, until the next time I go . But, it didnt come cheap. I think that my meal alone was on the $130 range, plus a bottle of Cakebread wine. My recommendation is to save your money to have the opportunity to try Mastro’s. You will not be disappointed, except if you are a vegetarian, then I dont think it would be worth it.

When I think of good BBQ, I imagine meat smoked slow enough that it falls off the bone when you try to pick it up off the plate, or so tender that it can be cut with the back of a knife. Unfortunately, today was not the case. We were presented with a plate of plasticy ribs, brisket, and links swimming in BBQ sauce with cuts so clean that I dont think the word tender crossed my mind. This was nothing like I remembered from the first time I was here, the meats were tough, and the links were dry, and the mac n cheese was rather plain. Hushpuppies are always a classic and are hard to mess up, barring a fire, so they were satisfying.

I had brought this to the attention of my friend who originally brought me here last year and he said that they were hit and miss and they have bad days on occasion. So at the moment, Spring Street Smokehouse is batting .500. I am not going to pass judgement just yet, and will chalk it up to one of those days, but I know that next time I go may be the time that makes or breaks it for me.

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line of people in a mix of casual, dressy, and the occasionally formal attire stretched before me. When I finally got up to the front of the line to pick up my tasting tickets, I knew that the slim ticket pack of six taste, (three premier tastes or “Q cards” and three regular tastes), and four drink cards would not be enough to satisfy my desires to the try the food of the many booths that lined the inside and outside of the museum.

Armed with my two sets of tickets and an empty stomach, a b-line was made for the premium tasting room. I passed by the courtyard flanked by booths but dominated by a reserved seating area and stage with small orchestra and singer. Pizza, pasta, fish, and roasted veggies danced through my head, as I got closer to my destination. And at last, I was in the middle of this room of sights and smell reminiscent of some of what my mother cooked me when I was younger.

No good Italian could dive straight into a meal without a light appetizer to prepare the stomach for the gastric love to follow, so my night started off with a light plate of prosciutto, salami, mozzarella, and bread with a white wine. My palate successfully transitioned from pedestrian chicken wings and beer while watching football earlier in the day, to the delicate tastings of Italian food and wine, which was laid before me.

Working my way around the premium room there were many varieties of pasta, wines, and even plates for the vegetarian. The plate that stood out to me, if not my favorite of the event, was a truffle mac and cheese from Il Fornaio in Pasadena. Now if you have not had any version of a truffle mac n cheese, I would make this a mission. This dish was creamy full of flavor, and lingered on the palate just long enough not to impose itself on the other taste creations, but made me want more than what was on the tiny tasting plate. Unfortunately, by this time, I was out of the premium Q cards.

Wandering outside, it was again a mix of mostly pastas and pizzas from places like Roma and Village Pizzeria, with a smattering of other dishes like a sausage sandwich from Margarita Bar, and plenty of wines. One of the best slices of pizza came from Verace Pizza, who brought their own brick oven for their Neapolitan pizza. Being a Jersey boy, I love my NY pizza, but out in CA, Neapolitan is where its at! Out of the their two selections, I enjoyed the traditional cheese over the sausage.

Everywhere I turned, someone was pouring their wines, and I gravitated to San Antonio Winery and Viansa wines where I was treated to some nice heavy pours. Since I’m a cabernet sauvignon fan so I gravitated towards their reds, but by the end of the night, there was not much red wine to be seen, but there were plenty of whites.

What could be better than pizza on your plate and wine in your glass while sharing the sounds of Sinatra with about a thousand of food enthusiasts? Not very much. Dining space was at a premium. My friend landed us a spot dining with a nice couple from Venice and Verona (CA and PA respectively). And they echoed the personality of most people there: friendly, eager to talk about their background, and hungry.

Before the night ended I got wind of a great French toast dessert, which everyone was raving about. Turns out it happened to be from Nonna’s Kitchen, a truck that I visited at the LA Food Truck fest at the Rose Bowl in June. This mini French toast with a vanilla bean infused whipped cream was a great way to end the night.

The Taste of Italy was a nice way to spend a Saturday night with friends. Always being partial to the portion sizes; some were heavy, some were light, I tried some things that I liked, and some things that I didn’t. But being a good foodie means that you will try. This yearly event will definitely garner my participation next year and I am already looking forward to it.

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When you first walk up, you notice the bright red building with copper colored doors stand out from the rest of the cityscape in Silverlake.

Naya graces the entrance of the restaurant

As you get closer, you not only can hear the music from the inside, but a person playing bongos to the beat to entice people to approach.  As I walked in, I was greeted by a short and spunky midwestern bartender in a pork pie hat, inviting me to sit at the lavish bar area backed in mirror with a tile facade.  As I strolled up to the bar to sit and examine the happy hour list, the bartender went through the happy hour beer selection.  Now, for being in an obviously Indian themed restaurant, I thought there would be some interesting beers, but the choices that were in front of me were anything but, Budweiser, Bud Light, etc.  The last beer on the list, called Little Buddah, sparked my interest, but was not a happy hour beer.  So I the caution to the wind and had to try it.  Its a very crisp, light beer, hardly any taste to it.  I was actually happy to have it because it didn’t overpower any of the flavors that I was excited to try.

From the happy hour menu, I decided to try the Naanza Pizza, a neopolitan-esque type pizza, cooked at high heat to provide a crunch with every bite.  This personal pizza starts with a base of marsala sauce topped with mozzarella and jack cheeses, and then you get to pick three out of the six toppings available on the menu, of which I chose chicken, peppers, and goat cheese.  Biting into this small pie was a nice savory treat, but I was a little disappointed that the sauce and cheese overpowered my toppings to the point where I didn’t know they were there.  That aside, I still think this is a great way to start a meal, and even better to share with someone.

For a main course I was presented with a tower of white rice speckled with dill and basil and large chunks of lamb in a brown demi-glaze slightly spiked with curry called Everest Lamb.  When it comes to this dish, Naya knows what they are doing.  The lamb was tender enough to cut with a spoon, but seemingly over-sauced.  But that was not the case as I assumed.  Take your spoon, break apart the rice tower, and you have a lamb transport vehicle that blends well with the sauce and cuts the curry heat.  This dish hit the heat sweet spot: there was a slight heat, enough to make me sweat, but not so much where my mouth was on fire.

Chocomossa: puff pastry filled with chocolate goodness

Well, in order to quench the fire, I opted for dessert, and something that looked delicious and intriguing was the Chocomossa.   One thing I did notice about this place, from the look of the restaurant, to the lounge, and even the copper sinks and bronze fixtures, was that they were about presentation.  And the Chocomossa didn’t disappoint.  I was presented a scoop of vanilla ice cream, flanked by two crispy puff pastries on a decorated dish.  This was very pleasing to my eyes, but as I dove into one of the pastries, I was flooded with a chocolate overload.  This is easily the Indian version of Death by Chocolate.  Chocolate filled all my senses to the point where I forgot that there was ice cream on the plate.  When I came down from the chocolate high from the first pastry, I managed to marry ice cream to chocolate and went back into my high.  Now I know why it was called “Famous”.

I was very pleased with Naya Sunset.  The food was great, although I would probably add another pastry to the Chocomossa  .  I ordered from the full and happy hour menus.  Food and two beers came out to just under $40, which seems to be a common price point for a lot of restaurants that I have visited.

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And even when I was paying attention, I still missed the awning. It sits on the corner of S Santa Monica Blvd and Wilshire. So I had to turn around for another go. Once I did walk in, I was promptly greeted by its highly regarded Matre D’ Ruben with a straight eye line to the bar. This place is not large by any stretch, but it is intimate, casual, and classy at the same time. And I still felt a little underdressed.

One thing I like about this job is when I don’t even have to look at the menu, because I know that what I am recommended it always good.

So lets start with the Antipasto. Full disclosure: my mother is from sicily and my father’s grandparents as well, so my traditional antipasto has always been a plate of several thinly sliced meats. Rarely was there cheese (goat and parmesan), peppers, veggies (tomatoes, broccoli, and red peppers), and anchovies, which graced the plate that was before me. Throw in some thick cut salami and mortadella, this was a taste treat. I am not really a fan of anchovies, but when you get a bite of a slice of anchovy, pepper, and goat cheese on your fork, that is heaven. There was a freshness about the plate that provided a clean taste that lingered on the palate just long enough to enjoy, but didn’t roll over to the entree. I paired this with a Simi Valley chardonnay.

As I waited for the main dish, I took a glimpse of where I was and just thought of Ol’ Blue Eyes sitting behind me with his back to the wall as to see the entire restaurant, and checking out the … and then the Osso Buco showed up. If you have never had Osso Buco, this may ruin you for every other one that comes along. Not only did it look delicious, sitting on top of a bed of risotto and flanked with asparagus, but the taste was amazing. It was so tender, picture cutting through hot butter with a hot knife.. it fell apart in anticipation of the fork digging into it. And the flavor was amazing, but it wasn’t so much with the meat itself. The money is in the risotto that soaks up the reduction that gives that intense flavor to the entire dish. (Sidebar to LDV > Are you open right now? Im hungry writing about this.) Sorry, anyway.. The veggies get a little splash of lemon that finds its way to the sauce that adds a little bit of unexpected kick that kicks of the flavor even more. I would suggest pairing this with a nice Cabernet, and yes, I love cab, so Im a little bias . Warning, it will fill you up, so in order to preserve my appetite for dessert, I boxed up the remaining portion of my dish and ordered their home made cheesecake.

A hazard of the job is that I have to wait until I get the pictures done before I could eat anything, and I really had to control myself on this one. So I set up at the bar so they could turn the table and I was presented with this perfectly sliced cheesecake which I thought had a creme brûlée topping on it, but it was just the browning from baking. When you dig into this pie, you realize it’s no lightweight, it bears the full force of the cream cheese, so I was a little skeptical of the taste, but I was wrong again.. I don’t think I have ever had such a hefty piece of cheesecake (which actually wasn’t very dense) with such a light flavor . It was just enough to satisfy that sweet tooth craving.

After 40 years, this restaurant knows what they are doing and how to please their clientele.

The food was stellar, the staff was more than courteous, the atmosphere was amazing. You can hear stories about places, how they are historic, famous people frequent them, etc etc, but as I was sipping my port about to leave, Ruben and a man dressed in a black suit walked in escorting an older woman to hear seat. When I realized it was Nancy Reagan it all seemed to come together. If she has been a regular for many many years, then this place has to be special.

La Dolce Vita made me feel like my friend had brought me home for dinner at his italian mother’s home. I was treated like family, they made sure I was satisfied, and had enough to eat .

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Note: Since I went in and took professional photos of the establishment, LDV discounted my bill on their end.