While in Peru I met a tall, dark and handsome man.
Cold, and slightly sweet, full bodied, and absolutely smooth - not to mention rich.
But, alas, now I am back in LA just pining away.
So, someone help me find him again! My beloved Cusquena Negra ... is it anywhere in LA?
If anyone knows where I can go, we won't forget your kindness ...
Zelo was recommended by a friend of mine as "the best pizza in town" so obviously I had to check it out. I suggested it to a group of friends when we were meeting up - funny, we seemed to have pizza everytime we meet up ...
What's so unique about Zelo is their cornmeal crust, and their signature pizza is their Corn pizza:
This consisted of the cornmeal crust+white corn+marinated onions+mozzarela+chives. Being a corn lover, this pizza was totally awesome! The cornmeal crust is definitely different, and unlike regular dough, actually has flavor and (when done right) enhances the whole pizza.
You can order by the slice ($3.50), half ($10.00), or a whole pizza ($18.00). They're normally cut up into six slices but since there were four of us, the workers were nice enough to cut them into fours for us :) extra points for service ;)
Below is the the corn pizza and the mushroom pizza (from the specials):
The corn, like I said, was *amazing*. The mushroom pizza was also good. The basil and sundried tomatoes were a really nice touch, but it still can't compare to the corn one.
We also got another of the specials, the spinach pesto. It's apparently very popular so it shows up on the specials a lot.
I think pesto makes everything that much better, so naturally I like this one a lot! They put a lot of pesto sauce. Spinach, pesto, and basil? How can you go wrong? The corn is still our favorite though (A friend of mine told the waiter that he should've told us to just order the corn pizza and nothing else :P But I'm glad I got the spinach pesto too!).
We ordered three slices for each person, which ended up being A LOT, since the cornmeal crust made the pizza very dense and very, very filling.
Zelo
328 E. Foothill Blvd
Arcadia, CA 91006
www.zelo.us
There was never much on Third Street Promenade as far as food goes. A couple of edible choices here and there, but no "destination" places. In fact, I haven't been back to 3rd street promenade in a couple of years. But when Anisette Brasserie opened its doors a few weeks ago, that all changed.
We were seated on the second floor, where we got a nice view of the the first floor.
Our waiter was young and seemed to be new at the job - there were awkward moments when he was taking our orders etc. But he was really nice so, oh well, on to the food.
The hostess recommended the peas gazpacho, so I ordered it.
There's a touch of mint that really made the soup that much better, but I realized I'm still not that big on gazpacho. Trying to eat this whole bowl was too much for me.
I actually ordered the croque madame, but they brought me the croque monsieur instead :/
The waiter apologized and then brought an egg on the side. He was a cute frenchie so I guess I'll forgive him ...
Here's the gruyere-cheese-goodness:
Delicious - and better with the egg! That melted gruyere cheese on top of the bread really made my day. It came with the "chef's fries" which I thought were just like regular fries. I was never big on fries though so I'm not one to judge ...
Someone else got the brasserie burger, cooked medium rare.
Avocado, tomatoes, ... and brie! Who would've thought of putting brie in a burger? Awesome! The bread was great and -of course- I loved the cheese :D
Overall a really good burger ... hm I think I still like the Grace burger with truffle cheese... I'm gonna have to do a double take on this one!
Desserts were $8 and based on what we got that seemed a little steep. I don't remember what this one was called - but it's the one with strawberries and lavender ice cream (when they put up their menu online I'll let u know what it is ...):
A bit too much whipped cream and meringue for me personally. I really liked the lavender ice cream, though.
We also got the chocolate mousse:
Now this was a delicious chocolate mousse! And the toast was also a nice touch. It seemed a bit like eating toast with nutella (which, who can argue, is awesome? ;> )
Thanks to Anisette, I've been to the Promenade twice in the last two weeks. That's more than I've gone in the year before that! :D
Since it's new and has a nice atmosphere, and plenty more dishes to try out (such as the Feuillete of Scrambled Eggs with White Crab Claw Meat that's supposed to be *amazing*), I'll be back some more and recommending it to people.
Anisette Brasserie
225 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA
(310) 395-3200
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