Spring in Provence at Kendall Brasserie (Los Angeles, CA)

by guest blogger @btsunoda

Taking a staycation can be a unique way to try a restaurant that you wouldn’t ordinarily visit. While on a staycation, consider changing your eating habits and wander outside of your hood. Why not take the opportunity to mimic something that you would experience in another country?

Kendall’s Brasserie is the ideal place to have a transportive experience to France without spending the money for travel. As in true brasserie form, the bar is the center of the restaurant; the French antiques that adorned the walls made me forget that I was only miles away from home.

From now until the end of May, Kendall’s Brasserie is featuring “Spring in Provence”. This special event is part of their “Passport to France” series where executive Chef Jean-Pierre Bos takes guests through a virtual culinary tour through France. Recently, I was able to preview some of the items that will be served.

Housemade albacore tuna confit is the centerpiece of their Niçoise salad. 

They add Boston lettuce, haricot vert, tomatoes, potatoes, chopped eggs, niçoise olives and toss the ingredients with  a shallot vinaigrette. The fresh albacore confit made me realize how tasty tuna can be. Farmers market quality ingredients allowed the salad to shine.

Tomato tarte tatin consisted of tomato confit, basil and parmesan.

Most tarte tatin crusts are similar to a pie or a quiche in appearance. Their version was unique because the bottom of the crust was very thin and super crisp. Tomato lovers will enjoy this dish.

Read more »

Ames Street Deli (Cambridge, MA)

Backbar is one of my favorite bars in Boston, so when the same team opened Ames Street Deli near MIT, well, I was quite excited (and scared for my wallet).

Ames Street Deli is open from morning until evening with different offerings throughout the day (making the place even more dangerous for the wallet!). In the morning, come for a kouign amann. Ames Street makes a great one, the layers are so flaky and crispy with the baked sugar.

They also have breakfast sandwiches and scrambled egg donut and bacon and egg donut! I'm not quite sure yet what those are like because I haven't woken up early enough to go to campus for those, but I'm certainly intrigued. The kouign amann is also typically gone by late afternoon, so you should come earlier for that, too.

At lunch, you'll find sandwiches. The sandwiches are on the smaller side, but each order comes with a side dish! I really enjoyed the Rabbit Sandwich (mustard bread, rabbit mortadella, pork liver, beets, radish)

Read more »

Haggis Burger and More: Hard Rock Cafe's World Burger Tour

I don't even know how many years it's been since I stepped into a Hard Rock Cafe, but when I heard from Deep End Dining that the Boston location is offering a haggis burger during the World Burger Tour promotion, I decided I had to try it!

I didn't know this before, but each Hard Rock Cafe location has their own unique burger, dubbed Local Legendary Burger. During the World Burger Tour, which is happening now until June 30, the Hard Rock Cafe locations in the USA will be showcasing different local burgers from all around the globe. Each US cafe will feature four different burgers, and the menu will vary from cafe to cafe.

The Boston location is featuring the haggis burger (Edinburg, Scotland), schnitzel burger (Cologne, Germany), Andean Burger (Santa Cruz, Bolivia), and the Chamorro Burger (Guam). I couldn't fit all four in my stomach, so I tried some:

Of course, I tried the Haggis Burger from Edinburgh, Scotland.

It's a beef patty topped with haggis, Monterey Jack cheese, golden turnip frazzles, whiskey maple glaze, lettuce, tomato, served with fries.

They even got the nips and tatties in there! That's turnips and potatoes, if you didn't know.

Read more »

Meal Kit Delivery Comparisons: Plated, Blue Apron, Just Add Cooking, HelloFresh, The Purple Carrot, Home Chef

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I don't really cook at home and I mostly eat out. All the time. But actually I've been cooking at home a lot more, lately. I don't develop my own recipes, though, and I am cooking thanks to all those services that deliver boxes of pre-measured ingredients with recipes to you. I don't have to go grocery shopping and I can just follow the recipes.

I've tried a lot of these boxes. Want to know which one to try? Well, there's a review of all the boxes I've tried and the pricing!
Yes, for all these boxes, you'll get a cheaper price per meal if you order boxes for 4 instead of for 2, but as a comparison, I'm showing you the prices if you were like me and only order meals for 2.

Home Chef
Price: $9.95 per serving for most meals with 2 servings/meal minimum. Free shipping with $40 order.
Promo: Join Today & Enjoy 3 Free Meals

Review: Blue Apron used to be the cheapest option, but now Home Chef is. They also let you choose your own meals each week, which is a big plus for me. Right now Home Chef doesn't deliver everywhere yet, only 60% of the country so you need to check whether you live within the delivery regions. Pretty big selection of recipes each week, and they also have cheaper breakfast items to help you meet the $40 minimum for free shipping. I thought their recipes and ingredients were of high quality - the herbes de Provence pork tenderloin (pictured) was my favorite! Read the full review here.

Plated
Price: $12/plate, $4/dessert ($50 min for free shipping)
Promo: two free plates on your first order on Plated (up to $24 value).

Pro: Great recipes and high quality ingredients. You can choose your own meals. They've also recently added desserts!
Cons: On the more expensive side, and the Chef's Table recipes cost more.

Review:
I actually really like Plated, it's just that it's a bit more expensive than some of the others. They even have special recipes dubbed the Chef's Table now, which do all seem even more interesting, but they cost even more. I select my own recipes based on my taste and difficulty level (easy ones for me), so I know what I'm getting and am never disappointed. Their recipes are pretty easy but still interesting, I've learned to make many things I've never known before. They also substitute healthier ingredients for familar recipes.

Blue Apron
Price: $9.99/plate ($59.94 for 3 meals for 2)
Promo: Keep an eye out for Gilt City or other deal sites.

Read more »

A Fiery Feast at Szechuan Impression (Alhambra, CA)

OK, that's not actually quite true. Szechuan Impression, which serves more of a "modern" take of Szechuan food compared to Chengdu Taste, is actually not as spicy as Chengdu. The main question on everyone's tongue is: Is it better than Chengdu Taste? The short answer is that they are each better than the other on different dishes!

One of my favorite dishes at Szechuan Impression is the mung bean jelly noodles, which I think they do much better than Chengdu Taste. This restaurant sure uses the word "impressive" on the menu a lot, perhaps in relation to the restaurant's name, or perhaps just bragging. Anyway, this dish is called the Impressive Bean Jelly ($5.99)

I thought it had a lot more flavor than the one at Chengdu. It's also not overly spicy while still having that numbing effect and bold kick. The slippery noodles have a cooling effect that tempers the spiciness for me.

My other favorite dish there was the garlic pork ($8.99)

This spicy, garlicky slices of fatty pork were very addictive! I would come back for this dish and the jelly, for sure.

Read more »

Summer House Santa Monica (North Bethesda, MD)

Pizza fans in Los Angeles are already familiar with chef Jeff Mahin's name and the two Stella Barra locations in LA (it's been so long ago that I've written about it, back when the restaurant was still called Stella Rossa).

Chef Mahin is bringing Southern California to the east, though, and I was reunited with his food while visiting Washington, DC. You see, Jeff Mahin is also in charge of another restaurant from the same group, called Summer House Santa Monica. Summer House currently has two locations: Chicago and North Bethesda in Maryland (if you're geographically challenged, that's a stone's throw away from DC).

The interior evokes that beach house ambiance, as one would expect, but they've done it better than what I had imagined. I love the lights hanging from the ceiling!

You have to start with: Baked-to-order biscuits with poblano honey butter ($8.95)

The biscuits, which are served piping hot, are incredible, perfectly flaky and buttery. Combined with the honey, it's even better. I knew I had a big dinner ahead of me, but I couldn't stop eating it.

Jeff Mahin's burrata dish has always been one of my favorites at Stella Barra, where it is served with roasted grapes. The one at Summer House is served differently but still uses fresh and creamy local burrata. Here it's served with tomato jam, arugula, grilled bread ($13.95)

Read more »

Five Sweet Stops in Phoenix, AZ

When you live in a city that gets a hot as Phoenix and Scottsdale do, great dessert places are a must. Ice creams, soft serves, donuts ... I was quite impressed at the desserts I ate while I was in Phoenix on my last trip! Some of the flavors are very adventurous, some more than what I'm finding in Boston. Here are the five top spots for sweets and desserts in the Phoenix area:

1. Churn

The list of great ice cream shops in Phoenix goes on and on, but you must stop at Churn. Churn is known for their ice cream sandwiches, with deliciously gooey cookies and creamy, freshly churned ice creams. You can also get a scoop of ice cream and a half cookie as a topping. I had the Vietnamese coffee and Hangover Helper (a whiskey ice cream) topped with half a salted chocolate chip cookie. You can get two different cookies for your ice cream sandwiches, too!


5223 N Central Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85012


2. Rollover Donuts (also at Short Leash Hot Dogs)

Read more »

The Jolly Oyster Market, Bringing Fresh Shellfish to Torrance

The Jolly Oyster is a beloved oyster shack in Ventura, where many Angelenos have taken a day trip to get fresh oysters and have a picnic in the park where the shack is located. They have all natural oyster farms based in Baja in Mexico. If Ventura seems too far for you, though, don't worry, since The Jolly Oyster just opened a market in Torrance! As with everything in Torrance, it's in a strip mall. Hanging on the walls are photos of their oyster farms in Baja. I really enjoyed listening to the story of how they got started and what they do. If you're interested, you should check out the documentary video.

Now, since the space is small they can't have seating for you to eat oysters there, but they will shuck them and sell them to you to take home (or to a park nearby or whatever). It does cost more to buy shucked oysters than unshucked ones, obviously, but it's still cheaper than getting them at a restaurant. A half-dozen shucked oysters go for $10, while unshucked oysters are $1.25 each (or $1 if you buy more than $40).

Jolly Oyster has three different sauces you can put on your shellfish, but there's no cocktail sauce because that overpowers the oysters! There's a vinaigrette made with beets, a spicy one with garlic and thai chili, and a brown rice vinegar with cucumber.

Read more »

Upgrade Your Office Lunch with Farmavore, Delivered

Cambridge has many great restaurants, but there's not much on MIT campus. I tried my share of Anna's Taqueria, the food trucks (which are too far to be my daily lunch), and the food court at the student center. Nothing worth seeking out.
Enter Farmavore.
Farmavore delivers homemade lunches made with local, sustainable ingredients to your office. The founders actually started out as farmers, so they're committed to supporting local farms.

They delivered a couple of lunches for me to try (OK, to my home because sometimes I go to work really late ....). The lunch boxes are labeled with the menu and how to reheat them (and the calorie count, if that's important to you).
The first was a Moroccan chicken tajine with rice.

As promised, the meal tastes homemade, with fresh asparagus and tender chicken. The chicken had a lot of flavors but not overly salty, I thought it was quite healthy. The portion was just right, as well, not too big, but enough to maintain your energy.

Read more »

Southern Fare at Kendall Square's State Park (Cambridge, MA)

I'm pretty lucky to live within walking distance to Hungry Mother and its sister restaurant, State Park. State Park has more of a sports bar vibe with more casual food and beers, but you can still look for great Southern food here from the James Beard Award winning chef Barry Maiden. Instead of the refined dishes at Hungry Mother, think sandwiches, fried chicken, and the likes.

Try the Snappy's Famous Pork Chop Sandwich (chili, cole slaw, tomato, mustard, $12)

For those who are not familiar, this refers to Snappy Lunch in Mt Airy, North Carolina. The diner is famous for their pork chop sandwich where the boneless pork chop is covered in a sweet milk batter - yes, very much reminiscent of french toast. Think french toast stuffed with pork chop, then made into a sandwich with chili and cole slaw... The pork chop itself is ridiculously tender! A wondrously messy sandwich worth digging into.

Another surprise for me was the Memphis BBQ Spaghetti (pork shoulder, sarvecchio cheese, garlic bread, $12)

Who knew spaghetti would work so well with BBQ sauce? It's just a bit saltier than bolognese, with a subtle kick. Bold and sweet, served with fluffy, buttery garlic bread. This has become another favorite of mine.

Read more »

Brunch and Cocktails at Virtu (Scottsdale, AZ)

As I'm heading back to Phoenix and Scottsdale this weekend, I'm looking back to my last trip there. On my last day, I had a lovely brunch at Virtu in Scottsdale. It was a beautiful day, perfect for sitting outdoors and enjoying some good food and drinks.

I had to order this dish, you'll see why: Duck confit benedict, duck fat potato, poached eggs, foie gras hollandaise ($15)

Duck confit! Foie gras hollandaise! I just wished they had put more foie gras hollandaise ...

Virtu is known not just for their food, but also their cocktails. They're at the forefront of the Scottsdale's craft cocktail scene, serving up adventurous and unique cocktails like this Chili infused aquavit, with salted beet syrup, lime, and mezcal

Read more »

Phoenix and Scottsdale, AZ

Phoenix
Churn
Nami
Rollover Donuts
Short Leash Hot Dogs
Welcome Chicken + Donuts

Scottsdale
Sweet Republic
Virtu

The Vegan Beer and Food Festival Even Omnivores Would Love

Yes, not all beers are vegan. Beers and wines are sometimes processed using gelatin or other animal products, thus making it not vegan. However, that doesn’t mean vegans can’t drink beer or wine. Thanks to the “purity law”, most German beers are vegan and these days you can find many craft breweries producing vegan beers. But how do you know which ones? Well, fret not, because the LA Vegan Beer and Food Festival has vetted more than a hundred beers from 40 breweries for you, so you don’t have to worry as you eat and imbibe.

The festival has grown so much that for its 6^th year, they will be taking over The Rose Bowl in Pasadena (3 years ago they only had 50 beers line up. See my post from 2012). It will feature beers from big-name breweries such as New Belgium, Anchor, Ballast Point, Firestone Walker, along with smaller and newer establishments including Three Weavers, King Harbor, Ohana, and many more. Your $50 admission includes a souvenir glass and unlimited pours of beer and entry to the festival which will also host live music featuring Jamestown Revival, The White Buffalo, etc. VIP admission will give you early admission and access to a VIP lounge as well as some exclusive pours.

Food is sold separately by the more than 40 vendors that will be there, and even if you’re not vegan, you’ll drool over the lineup. You’ll find pizza from 800 Degrees Pizzeria, macrobiotic vegan cuisine from Shojin and M Café, donuts, cupcakes, ice cream, and whatever your heart may desire (as long as it’s vegan). Look out for popular restaurants and food trucks such as Mudhern Tavern, Mohawk Bend, Sage Vegan Bistro, Real Food Daily, and the Grilled Cheese Truck.

LA Vegan Beer & Food Festival will be at The Rose Bowl on May 16. Tickets can be purchased using this link. 

Brunch at Michael's Pizzeria (Long Beach, CA)

I've been meaning to try Michael's Pizzeria, but I haven't gone down to South Bay much lately.
I finally made the trek and visited the downtown Long Beach location for weekend brunch, and they had a musician playing guitar outside.

Michael's doesn't just serve pizzas, but they also have a special brunch menu, where you'll find dishes like Cast-iron baked cinnamon rolls with rosemary syrup

The cinnamon rolls are made to order, which means they are piping hot, fresh from the oven! They're mini-sized to make sharing easier and the green color for the rosemary syrup is actually from spinach (so it's healthy, right?). These are definitely great cinnamon rolls.

Cast-iron dishes are a special category at Michael's and include the Caprino e Carciofi (pesto, baby artichokes, potatoes, mozzarella, goat cheese)

I like these baked cast-iron dishes as a fun twist on the typical brunch dishes.

Read more »

Preview: Tacos and Cocktails at UnderFire in Back Bay (Boston, MA)

The aptly named Under Fire is now open below Fire+Ice in their Boston Back Bay location. While Fire+Ice is a family friendly buffet, UnderFire is more of a bar/restaurant serving food a la carte featuring burgers and tacos.

I was invited to the opening celebration so I didn't get to try the full menu but I did try some tacos and sandwiches. Between the two, the tacos are the way to go. They're not all traditional Mexican taco recipes, but instead modernized - Americanized perhaps, but the flavors are good - incorporating ingredients like pesto in the Pollo al Pesto (fire-grilled chicken, sunflower pesto, queso fresco, diced tomato, fresh basil, EVOO, flour tortilla, $11 for 3)

My favorite (of the two tacos) was The Club (Peruvian-style grilled chicken, braised pork belly, cheddar cheese, pico, guacamole, jalapeno garlic aioli, flour tortilla, $12 for 3)

Some of the other tacos like the carnitas use a corn-wheat tortilla instead of white flour tortilla, and I'd be curious to try them!

The cocktails here are fruity and easy to go down, but they start at $8. It's nice not to have to spend $14 on a single drink. Also, for the most part, they're using fresh fruits.

Read more »

Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop Transforms with Hollywood Location

Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop is transforming their look with the new Hollywood location. I still remember the Century City and Beverly Hills locations, a small, fast-casual lunch spot with salads and fresh juice bar. Small, bright, casual. But now, in Hollywood, the restaurant has an outdoor seating area where they also grow some herbs, a gorgeous full bar, a rustic, dimly lit dining room.

Still serving the same organic, healthy food as the other locations, but they've also expanded the menu with more entree-like options and cocktails.

The entrees are "build-your-own" where you can choose a protein and 2 sides. Salmon filet is $16.95 and I chose pomegranate quinoa and baked sweet potato fries as my sides.

The salmon was nicely cooked and the quinoa with almonds and pomegranate was almost like a dessert or a nice breakfast dish. They're healthy and delicious like other Greenleaf offerings I've had before, but definitely heartier than the usual salads.

Read more »

Forage: A Surprising Fine Dining Gem in Salt Lake City (Utah)

I never knew Salt Lake City to be a fine dining destination, but my last visit to Forage was an eye opener. Chef Bowman Brown's tasting menu at Forage is worthy to be compared to the best tasting menus in New York or other major metropolitan cities, and at a fraction of the price! The food and presentation reminded me a bit of my experience at Willows Inn.

We got the wine pairing and started dinner with a glass of Gruet Brut, followed by the first course:
apple and evergreen

These tiny, bite-sized apples were filled with chestnut and coated in spruce vinegar. What a surprising dish and so fun to it. To make it even better, it was served with apple cider poured over spruce juniper. Can I have the whole pot?

Bread with goat's milk butter, both really good (even if it doesn't compare to Willows Inn's chicken drippings to go with bread).

Potatoes cooked in oak leaves, garlic scapes

Read more »

Lobster Roll and More at Neptune Oyster (Boston, MA)

Neptune Oyster is a small seafood restaurant in the North End, and one of the most popular in town. If you don't get there early enough, waits can go up to over an hour! Luckily, we came pretty early and got seated before too long.

Since the place is called Neptune Oyster, we obviously had to start with some oysters. They have one of the bigger selections in town. This time, we tried 4 different oysters from the area: Katama Bay (Edgartown, MA), Thatch Island (Barnstable, MA), Browne's Point (Damariscotta, ME), and Summerside (Bedeque Bay, PEI)

Everything was extremely fresh - I think I liked the Summerside the best from this batch.

Neptune is famous for their lobster roll: Maine Lobster roll, hot with butter ($27)

It's one of the most expensive in the city, but also one of the best. It's served on a buttery brioche bun, and the lobster is soaked in hot butter. It's so rich, the bread gets drenched and the roll becomes messy, but you won't care as you devour it.

Read more »

Fast Casual Lebanese at Urban Garden (Los Angeles, CA)

George Abou-Daoud may be famous for his previous enterprises along the lines of gastropub The Bowery or Delancey, but he's started to bring his Middle Eastern heritage into the LA dining scene.

His latest venture is Urban Garden, a fast casual Lebanese spot in Mid-city that boasts free range chicken shawarma, organic chickpeas in the falafel, and more.

As you'd expect from a Lebanse spot, they have hummus, falafel, shawarma, etc.
They have three types of hummus: Traditional hummus, spicy hummus (with spicy pickled peppers), garlic hummus (with thyme roasted garlic). On top of that you can also get a lebneh made with Mediterranean yogurt, topped with French feta cheease and za'atar. There's also babaganoush with sumac.

Pictured on the wall is Abou-Daoud's mother, who inspired most of the recipes (the baklava with rosewater syrup served here is his mother's recipe). These are the food that Abou-Daoud grew up with, but he's added his own touches.

Read more »

Provence Rosé Luncheon at Bar Boulud in Boston

Rosé. What comes to your mind when you hear about this particular type of wine? Summer? Lawn party? This wine is more than that.

Provence is the largest wine producing region specializing in dry rosé and they rosé very seriously and had even established The Center for Rosé Research in 1999, analyzing more than 1000 wines each year. The center is open to the public for anyone interested in learning more about this wine.

Provence extends from Marseille (the birthplace of rosé) to Nice and contains 3 main appellations: Côtes de Provence, Coteaux d'Aix en Provence, and Coteaux Varoix en Provence. It is believed that the earliest wines were originally rosé since the Greeks did not macerate wine with the skin for a long time to give the red color.

US is the largest export market for Provence rosé (even though France still has the highest consumption), yet rosé still has the reputation of being just a summer wine and Provence aims to change that. I recently attended a luncheon at Bar Boulud and tasted many different kind of rosé. The luncheon really showcased the diversity of this pink wine.

We were greeted with a glass of Hecht & Bannier Cotes de Provence Rosé 2014 ($18.99). This is perhaps the "typical" rosé: bright, crisp, fruity, with citrus notes and a clean short finish. Good to drink on its own yet versatile.

It was followed by Chateau Leoube, Rosé de Leoube 2014 and the first course was served:
Vivaneau Marine aux Agrumes (citrus cured red snapper, heirloom carrots, tapioca, lime, cilantro)

Read more »