Revisiting Lexington Social House (Hollywood): New Chefs Bring New Menu(Plus Jazz Nights)

Lexington Social House has gone through a couple of executive chef changes since they opened and have also added nightly specials like Tuesday Pizza Pop Ups and Wednesday Jazz Nights. I was invited in recently to check out the new items and also the Jazz Night.

The large back patio is a nice spot for a quiet outdoor dining in Hollywood.

We started with a LITTLE GEM LETTUCE salad with smoked blue cheese vinaigrette, grapes, toasted hazelnuts ($10)

The smoked blue cheese was very aromatic!

Steak Tartare, pickled fennel, root beet caviar, french fries

The root beer caviar was a fun touch, but I'm not sure about serving the tartare with french fries. I ended up eating them separately.

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Sweet Endings of Foie: Foie Gras Desserts in LA

As July 1 is looming ahead, what better way to say farewell to foie than with ... desserts? OK, so you can partake in a couple hundred dollar five-six course foie gras menu, but if that's too much for you, here are some places in LA who had been serving up foie gras desserts.

1. Foie Gras Ice Cream Sandwich at Petrossian

Imagine eating a cold, sweet foie gras terrine with brioche and jelly. That's almost what this super-decadent was like. This was originally a special for DineLA week, but it was popular enough that Chef Giselle Wellman wanted to make it regularly available.

2. Hazelnut-foie gras ice cream sandwich at Father's Office
At Father's Office, Sang Yoon combines the hazelnut foie ice cream with oatmeal cookies.

3. Foie Gras Cheesecake at Haven Gastropub

The taste of foie gras is not as strong here as with the foie gras ice cream at Petrossian, but it's a wonderfully smooth cheesecake and the light foie flavor does come out at the end.


4. Foie Gras Jelly Donut at Umamicatessen
Foie gras mousse elevates this jelly doughnut at Umamicatessen, and the combination with the peanut dust made J Gold call this "the most luxurious peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the world."

Roti Tissue and More Goodness at Kedai Sabindo (Surabaya, Indonesia)

In Indonesia, you don't have to hang out at upscale cafes and bars after dinner. Desserts at a dive works just as well for many people, and Kedai Sabindo is always packed. As with other dives in this country, there's no air conditioning and you sit on plastic stools, yet people clamor to this place for its roti tissu ("tissue bread", also known as tissue prata).

Roti Tissue is a Malaysian Mamak (Tamil Muslim) food and is basically a wide, round-shaped, thinner version of roti canai, grilled until crispy on the spot...

.. rolled up on the grill

.. until you get this cone of very thin, crispy "tissue", doused in toppings on the inside (chocolate sauce, condensed milk, or cheese - or whatever sounds good to you).

It's a very simple yet very addictive dessert. Large enough to share but good enough to not share with too many people. It costs less than $1 anyway, so splurge ahead.

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Shaved Snow at Salju Dessert

There aren't too many Indonesian establishments around LA, so I can't help be excited when I hear about one. Wandering Chopsticks told me there was a new Indonesian dessert store in Alhambra. How did she know it was Indonesian? She saw the name was "Salju Desserts" and googled the word. Yep, salju means snow in Indonesian, so as you can probably guess, it's a shaved snow (and ice) store!

The difference between a shaved snow and ice is that shaved snow is made with a block of ice that contains condensed milk in it. At Salju, the snow is also flavored. One order is $5.50 for shaved snow (choose from taro, green tea, mango, and other flavors) and three toppings (choices include jackfruit, red beans, grass jelly, mochi bits, nuts, and other fruits). It's automatically topped with more condensed milk.

The "snow" itself already has green tea flavor

The shaved snow I think is still not as good as Class 302 as the one here is still shaved with a normal ice shaver (Class 302 uses a special one that shaves them into wide ribbons and gives it an even better texture). Still, Rowland Heights is quite far for many of us and Salju Dessert is a pretty good alternative that also offers more flavors and topping options than Class 302. Plus, I have to support my fellow Indonesians!


Salju Dessert
35 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 289-3578

Meet the True Ice Cream Sandwich

Sandwich, according to Wikipedia, "is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of bread with one or more fillings between them". But then there's the ice cream sandwich, usually consisting of ice cream in between two cookies. Where's the bread, I asked. And Night+Market answered.

The ice cream sandwich ($4.50) at Night+Market actually involves bread, and it is a must try.

The contents are everything you'd think of in a Thai dessert, minus mangoes.
Sweet sticky rice and toasted mung beans are doused with condensed milk, sandwiched by a (toasted) sweet roll, then topped with coconut ice cream.

Now that's what I'd call an ice cream sandwich.

For a review of their dinner menu, go here.

Night+Market
9041 W Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 275-9724
thenightmarket.blogspot.com

Anniversary Afternoon Tea at The Langham Pasadena

Every year, The Langham Hotels around the world celebrate their anniversary with a ridiculously priced afternoon tea. The price is what the original Langham in London used to charge back in 1865: 1 shilling and six pence. That, dear readers, amounted to $0.15 this year. Fifteen cents!

Before this, I have not had the chance to try the Langham afternoon tea, and what better time to do it than when it was only 15 cents as opposed to the usual $39?

The afternoon tea is held at The Lobby Lounge of the Langham. We got a nice table by the window overlooking the green expanse of the hotel.

For this event, the servers also dressed up as if it was 1865. Our server had on a mustard suit and a cute blue ribbon while the female server was wearing a blue dress of that era.

The Langham offers a pretty nice selection of classic and scented teas. I ordered the Orchid Oolong, described as being "highlighted by a touch of coconut to offer the tranquility of a fragrant bouquet of fruit and floral notes in a rich, soothing infusion." Rich, indeed.

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Mini Tarts, Mini Arts at Früute

Cupcakes are old news and cookies are ubiquitous. It's time for delicately crafted mini tarts with creative flavors. Welcome Früute in West Hollywood.

Früute is a collaboration of two sisters and their mother. The mother develops the recipes for the tarts, the daughter (at least one of them) brings her experience in branding. It's a tiny shop on Santa Monica Blvd serving gorgeous tiny tarts like this Wasabi with blood orange center, frangipane in pistachio crust, garnished with mint leaf tempura.

There are more than a dozen flavors now, which you can check out on their website (the photos there are beautiful). The mini tarts go for $3 each, which I initially considered expensive for the size, but considering that  a cup-sized cake dough and a piece of cookie these days go for $3, these meticulously crafted tarts are of better value.

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Spring Dessert Tasting and Wine Pairing at Napa Valley Grille

Desserts for dinner? Why not, especially when you're having a whole tasting of them. That's what I and other bloggers ended up doing one night at Napa Valley Grille, where we sampled their new spring dessert menu created by Pastry Chef Manuel Ortega.

Six desserts, with wine paired by their beverage director, Christina Sherwood (who did a great job pairing, I might add). Yep, that's how we roll.

Here's our dessert tasting:
Pineapple Upside-Down Tart coconut sorbet, brown sugar caramel ($9)
2006 Iron Horse Cuvee, Russian River Valley

For a sparkling wine, the Iron Horse Cuvee actually had a thick body that can stand up to the richness of the cake. The pairing enhanced the bright flavors of the pineapple, making the otherwise heavy dessert refreshing.

Saffron Crème Brulee, pistachio nougat cookie ($8.75 - the one pictured is not the regular size but a sampler)

I was afraid the saffron would get lost, but the aroma was still strong, which the whole table loved. After all, we eat not just with our mouths, right?

Blood Orange Crème Caramel candied orange, tarragon crème fraiche ($8.50 - the one pictured is not the regular size but a sampler)
2009 Gundlach Bundschu, Gewurztraminer, Sonoma Valley

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Endless Chocolate Indulgence at Oliverio's Chocolate Salon

I'm a self-professed chocoholic, and so was my companion. Yet we both had to wave the white flag after morsels and morsels of chocolate desserts were brought out to us at Avalon Hotel's Oliverio. I don't think I've indulged in so much chocolates in a while!

Photo courtesy of Oliverio

About a month ago, Oliverio started Chocolate Salon, a chocolate buffet spread out next to the pool of the Avalon Hotel every Friday and Saturday nights. For $28 per person or $50 per couple, guests can partake in offerings such as the triple chocolate truffle pizzetta, chocolate martini, white hot chocolate, spicy chocolate pot de creme, and all manners of chocolate dipped goodies.

I was invited by the restaurant's PR to try it myself, and my companion and I came ready for battle. It was raining so instead of setting up a buffet at the pool, the restaurant plated everything. We sat at the small lounge/bar area which extended from the restaurant instead of in the cabanas.

We thought we should have a light dinner before digging into dessert, so we ordered some appetizers. On one hand, it was good to have something savory first. On the other, if we hadn't we would've had more room for more chocolates.

When you go for dinner, do try the smooth and creamy Tortino di Cavolfiore (cauliflower souffle, parmesano sauce) - $14

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Plaisir Opening Party: Launching Guilty Pleasures

Plaisir is the newest hot bakery in town, recently launched by owner Daniel Salva and Frenchman Pastry Chef Philippe Dray (previously at Cafe Flore).
Plaisir has only been open for about a month but have garnered some great reviews on Yelp.

The main attraction at Plaisir is their take on the traditional cream puffs. Colorfully glazed and filled with a creamy mousse, the cream puffs come in many a flavor.
Their namesake creampuffs, which come in 2 sizes, are quite addicting. I was recently invited to their grand opening party where I tasted the vanilla, mint, and peach cream puffs. The peach filling has a nice hint of tartness that makes it even easier to keep popping more in your mouth.

We also tried some of their savory offerings:
Buttery croissant sandwiches include ham & cheese, and lox & cream cheese.

There's a special quiche-of-the-day every day and that night I tried their spinach quiche.
Good and healthier, but I have to say I loved the slightly richer and cheesy Quiche Lorraine even more (regular order $6.95).

You can also order crepes and Belgian waffles made-to-order here. I'll have to try them next time.

Besides the cream puffs, chef Dray also offers a variety of other desserts. A peek inside the display case during this party shows mousse, baba au rum, and various cakes.

During the opening party they had a live DJ and generously flowing cava, because as they say this place is about guilty pleasures.

But it's not ALL about guilty pleasures. You can do your work here too.
What I really loved about this place is not only do they offer FREE WI-FI, but each seat is also set up with an iPod nano and its very own headphones.

With a freshly made crepe or Belgian waffle and a couple of Plaisir creampuffs next to your laptop, it's quite the work set up, don't you think?

Plaisir is located in the same complex as Trader Joe's on Santa Monica Blvd. Parking is available in the back with free 1-hour w/ validation.

Plaisir
8613 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(310) 855-7177
www.plaisir-la.com
@PlaisirLA

The Real Cake Monkey: Beyond the Cakewiches

Some of you already know Cake Monkey. Some of you think you know Cake Monkey from their cakewiches and Yo-hos from Umami Burger, or their maple oatmeal cookies Li'l Merris available at Silverlake Wine. But the real Cake Monkey is even better than that.
Available by phone order are 3" individual-sized layer cakes, and these cakes are the ones raved about on Bon Appetit and LA Times.
Here's the deal: Cakes must be ordered in advance and requires a minimum order of 9 cakes total AND minimum 3 cakes per flavor ordered. Meaning for each minimum order you can only try out 3 flavors.

And with 12 different flavors offered, this is a hard proposition. And trust me, you don't need to eat 9 cakes anyway, so the best chance to order some Cake Monkey cakes is to 1) share it with at least 2 other people, or 3) splurge for a party.

I did number 1 above and picked up the cakes at their bakery in Glendale (no storefront available) and below is my loot!

Raspberry Red Velvet Cake
The same moist red velvet cake with creamy raspberry icing in between, just like its cakewich counterpart. But double stack that and instead of chocolate shell, think MORE raspberry vanilla icing that makes the cake even more moist.

Must Love Chocolate (Devil’s Food Cake with Crunchy Valrhona Chocolate Pearls and Dark Chocolate Frosting, Topped with Crumbled Honeycomb)
You really must love chocolate in order to be able to finish this, but if you do you'd love it. The intensity of the dark chocolate and the richness of the devil's food cake really get you hooked, though it's so rich and sweet that half a cake is more than enough for one sitting.

But then again, I think that might be the case for most of their 3 inchers.

Pecan Dacquoise (Brown Butter Cake with Pecan Dacquoise and Caramel Buttercream)
Perhaps my favorite with its lighter flavor. It's lightly sweet making finishing a whole cake that much easier, and the nutty, creamy pecan dacquoise takes the cake to a whole new level.

Cake Monkey
877.640.CAKE (2253)
www.cakemonkey.com

Checking out BoHo at 50% Off

Back in May, BoHo had an awesome special: 50% off all food on Tuesdays.
Thanks to Twitter, Choisauce and I managed to set up a last minute dinner date and off to BoHo we go.

Many many foodbloggers told us to get the Oyster Po' Boy sliders so we listened.

Fried Oyster Po'Boy Sliders (gougeres, tartar sauce, applewood bacon, arugula - $9)
Best dish of the night, for sure!! There were four sliders per order, 4 hot and crunchy fried oyster in puffy gougeres. The juicy fried oysters were so addicting! We wanted to get another order but we have so much food coming still ...

Ratatouille (baby summer squashes, eggplant, roasted peppers, tomato - $8)
The ratatouille was not at all like what I thought ratatouille should be like, to say the least.
Rather bland and uh .. "healthy tasting", none of us actually digged this.

Hot oven-roasted beets (goat cheese, lemon-onion confit - $8)
The beets were your standard beet/goat cheese dish

Baked Fennel pizza (applewood bacon, caramelized onion, gruyere - $14)
The fennel pizza was actually pretty good although Choisauce said the one at Church & State was inarguably better.

Beef Short rib Shepherd's Pie (baby carrots, mushroom, red wine, Yukon potato mash, Vermont white cheddar - $16)
Another dish that didn't look anything like what it's supposed to be -- a pie, in this case. Not a bad dish - solid and comforting on a cold night.

Pile o' Ribs (applewood smoked baby back ribs, Belgian fries, bbq sauce - $19)
The ribs themselves were not bad at all, pretty tender. What we were confused about is the sauce in the metal container. It wasn't ketchup for the fries. It wasn't quite your typical BBQ sauce either ...

Besides the awesome oyster sliders, the rest of the dishes were pretty good but not particularly notable. But then the desserts came .... Oh, those desserts!

Summer Peach crisp (almond streusel, vanilla bean ice cream - $8)
I love peach crisps, and this was a really good one, with a great scoop of vanilla bean ice cream to boot.

Brown Butter Blueberry Tart - $8
We all had a hard time choosing which dessert was our favorite ... I believe this one ended up being Choisauce's favorite though.

Chocolate cake bread pudding, vanilla bean ice cream - $8
The heaviest of the dessert, so rich and decadent. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I love this dessert! Among the three, I was having a real hard time deciding too ... maybe the crisp after all?

It's too bad BoHo is no longer offering 50% Tuesdays, but even without that I would go any night for the oyster po boy sliders and the desserts. The rest (so far) I can do without, tho I heard the burger was good.

BoHo
6372 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 465-8500
bohorestaurant.com

STL: A Cup of Conrete at Ted Drewes

"Get a concrete."

That's what noah of Chowhound told me to do. So I did just that. En route to the airport, I made a quick stop at Ted Drewes for some frozen custard. At first I made my way to the other location but apparently (so I was told) that was not the place to go. The place to go is the Ted Drewes on Chippewa.

Sure enough, everyone and their gangs were there, lining up under the midwestern sun for some cold frozen custard.
Confused with all the choices and toppings and running out of time, I went simple with a Chocolate concrete. We were sharing so I got a large.

Whenever your order is ready, they will flip it over before handing it to you to show you that it doesn't fall. Because it's, you know, concrete.

I, however, just had to take a photo. A photo of it flipped over but not falling. Because that would be so cool. So I got my creamy chocolate concrete.
Got my camera ready, posed for my companion to take a photo, flipped it over .... and FLOP.
Well, half of it did :(

Note to self: 1) Don't wait too long before flipping it over. Even concretes melt. 2) Get a small next time. It'll probably hold up better.

As for the other half, it was all you'd ever want from a frozen custard. Thick, creamy, smooth. Even the weather was perfect for a cold treat. So if you're in St Louis, get a concrete.

Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (St. Louis Hills)
6726 Chippewa St
St Louis, MO 63109
(314) 481-2652
www.teddrewes.com