How to Blind Date at The Market

You meet for coffee at the newly opened The Market at the Santa Monica Place. It's bright and spacious. Maybe you meet at Groundworks or get some Austrian coffee from Rockenwagner and chat over pretzels and danishes.

Rockenwagner Bakery

You want to spend more time with her so you ask if she wants to have dinner at The Curious Palate. You find out she loves craft beers and has good taste in food and you think it's awesome. After dinner maybe you take her for some ice cream at N'Ice Cream or ice cream sandwiches from Beachy Cream. Maybe you share a chewy chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven from the Cookie Guru.

Sample-bearing girls from Beachy Cream

Fresh chocolate chip cookies from Cookie Guru

You want to impress her so you decide to take cooking classes at the Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories. You buy a bottle of wine at Venokado, some cheese and cured meat (maybe one of those truffled ham?) from Norcino Salumeria Cheese Bar and invite her over for a romantic dinner.

Classroom at Gourmandise

Your anniversary rolls around and you ask her to meet you at the place you first met. You get to The Market 15 minutes early and buy some beautiful flowers at Magical Blooms, some truffles and macarons at L'Artisan du Chocolat and you're all set. It's a one-stop-shop.

Macarons at L'Artisan du Chocolat

Orchids at Magical Blooms

Stones Restaurant at Marriott Marina del Rey

I have been finding myself in Marina del Rey more and more these days. My last visit was to Stones Restaurant at the Marriott Marina del Rey hotel, which recently obtained a new chef and revamped their menu. Instead of ordering a la carte, they sent out a tasting of the dishes they wanted to showcase.

We started with a sampling of two appetizers:
Arugula, grilled peach, pickled red onion, burrata, balsamic glaze

The burrata was creamy but the flavor was fairly mild and the dish benefits from the crunchy grilled peaches and the sweet and tart pickled onions.

Grilled shrimp, orange marmalade

This is the chef's riff on shrimp cocktails, where he grills then chills the shrimp. The sweet marmalade is a nice complement, though I'm not sure if I could eat more than two or three pieces of sweet shrimp.

Warm bread

Since all the entrees are accompanied by something creamy and starchy, we got full pretty fast, but we plowed through! This shouldn't be a problem for a regular diner not eating three entrees in a row :)

John Dory, popcorn crust, sweet corn ravioli, vegetable slaw

The popcorn crust was rather interesting (and according to the chef, pretty simple to replicate). The flesh of the john dory remains moist and flaky. I thought the sweet corn ravioli filling could be smoother and creamier, though.

Filet Mignon, yukon mash, cauliflower, demi

Stones cooks their proteins well, as exemplified by this tender, juicy steak. The mashed potatoes had the potato skins left in, giving it more body and flavor. The cauliflowers were not only colorful and fresh and crisp. This was a solid steak dish, you can't go wrong in ordering this.

The next dish doesn't lose out: New Zealand lamb, bacon, brussel sprouts, green apple risotto

Even with my full stomach, I thoroughly enjoyed this lamb, cooked a nice medium rare with that trickle of blood in the middle and nicely charred edges.The tart, crisp green apple slices in the risotto helped digest the other rich and heavy items.

We finished with a dessert sampler: Apple cobbler, Key lime tart, Chocolate ganache, Pineapple Upside Down cake.

My favorite was the dark, spongy chocolate ganache, followed by the apple cobbler.

The libations menu need some work for my personal taste as the cocktails were mostly fruity martinis and the wine by the glass selection is limited. The chef seems to have a liking for rich and creamy sides, but if you're staying nearby, you'd be satisfied with having a nice piece of filet mignon or lamb, or perhaps a moist John Dory here.

Stones Restaurant
Marriott Hotel Marina del Rey
4100 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, California 90292
(310) 301-3000
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/laxmb-marina-del-rey-marriott/


Disclosure: this meal was hosted.

Afternoon Tea at Chado Tea Room (Little Tokyo)

A pastime I enjoy but don't get to do quite enough is afternoon tea. I've slowly tried various afternoon tea places around town but have never tried Chado Tea Room before, despite the fact that they have three locations including Pasadena.

The afternoon tea is $18 per person (one of the cheaper options in LA), but I had bought a Groupon for the Little Tokyo location and invited Wandering Chopsticks to come along.

Chado has a pretty extensive list of loose leaf teas, priced by the ounce and some can be quite expensive. One good part about doing the afternoon tea is that for the same price you get to choose any of the teas on their list, some of which are a lot more expensive than others.

I ordered the Chado Afternoon Tea (usually $5.67/oz) which they said was "the most elegant blend of the best gardens from Darjeeling." It was a good cup of Darjeeling, though I ended up enjoying the tea Wandering Chopsticks ordered better, though, the Lavender Earl Grey, as it was more interesting.

Our afternoon tea set, served on the traditional three-tiered trays

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