Showing posts with label fairfax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fairfax. Show all posts

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Paninis at Pirolo's Panino (Fairfax, Los Angeles)

by @discovering_LA

August is National Panini Month. Because I like to take time to find a unique way to celebrate food holidays, I recently visited Pirolo’s Panino. They are located on Melrose Ave in the Fairfax region of LA. Pirolo’s Panino has only been open for 3 months. Michael Pirolo is behind the line of Italian panini sandwiches. Pirolo was born in Queens, but was raised in Italy. He is a Torino culinary school grad and has worked in New York, Philadelphia and most recently at Macchialina in Miami’s South Beach.

Restaurant Hospitality recently named Pirolo’s Italian Dip the “Best Beef Sandwich” in America. After eating it, I can see why.

The toasted ciabatta is from artisan baker Clark Street Bread. The beef is tender, not fatty, and sliced super thin. The salsa verde and caramelized onions nicely compliment the beef. An au jus dipping sauce is included. This sandwich alone is worth a return trip.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Cozy Comfort at Tart Restaurant

Tart Restaurant on Fairfax had been around do a while but I've always looked over it. Upon walking in for the first time I was pleasantly surprised at how cute the place is.
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Both the indoor and outdoor dining areas are charming
IMG_9574Owl lampshades!
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Biscuits and butter to start
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From the appetizer (they're rather big appetizers) we tried the Shrimp 'n grits (beer braised white shrimp with andouille sausage, okra, cheddar grits, topped with sunny side up egg - $12)
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They flavor is pretty different than the usual shrimp and grits, but mmm... cheddar grits and runny egg!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Pitfire Pizza's 15th Anniversary Special and New Fall Menu

Did you know that Pitfire Pizza has been around for 15 years, serving artisanal pizza?? I didn't know about them until they opened up the downtown location next to The Edison so I was surprised that they've been around for so long, but their original location in North Hollywood has been around for that long. Now they have locations in downtown, Westwood, West Hollywood, Culver City, and soon they'll be opening a Costa Mesa location.

Anyway, to celebrate this major milestone, Pitfire will be serving a special 15th Anniversary Tuscan Pizza (roasted potatoes, rosemary, gorgonzola, grilled chicken). Not only that, for the month of November, this pizza will be selling for the price it was back in 2006, which is $7.95! 

It's the perfect time to visit Pitfire Pizza, because at the same time they have just launched the Fall menu. Roasted Pear Salad

Farmer's Market Platter ($9.95) features heartier items like butternut squash and a bowl of  Cranberry beans and christmas beans. The brussel sprout and kale remain from previous seasons, and there is also a nice mixture of farro, crimini mushrooms, and hazelnut.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Giveaway: Tickets to Munch LA - CANCELLED

UPDATE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED!
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Fundraising with cookies and Krispy Kreme is so last year. This year it's all about food trucks!

That goes for school fundraising too.
Fairfax Highschool is holding a one day festival called Munch LA featuring 30 food trucks, culinary demos, even designer shopping (shopping for Paige Denim or T Bags dresses while munching on kimchi fries?). There will be complimentary drinks from sponsors including Hansen's Natural Soda.



Participating trucks include India Jones, Ahn-Joo, Dim Sum Truck, Frysmith, Tropical Shaved Ice and way more (full list here).

Tickets are $7 pre-sale and $10 at the door but for the next 3 weeks, Munch LA is giving away one pair of tickets per week!
I'll be drawing the name from all the comments below, so the earlier you enter, the more chances you'll have to win! I'll be drawing names at midnight of Sunday 9/5, Friday 9/10, and Wednesday 9/15.

How do you enter?
1. Just leave your email address in the comments below.
2. You'll get ONE extra entry if you either:

  • Tweet: "Win a pair of tickets to @MunchLA on @gourmetpigs http://bit.ly/9PtmsM"
  • or "Like" my Facebook page. But either way you'll have to leave a separate comment to let me know.
Good luck!

Munch LA
11am-5pm. Fairfax High School, 7850 Melrose Ave, LA 90046
Free parking on-site (first come first serve).

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Animal Instinct

I tried out Animal last week after reading a Chowhound thread on it. Still unsignaged, we went for a 7.15 reservation and when we got there, only two other tables were filled. But surprisingly it was still loud, probably because 1) there was a table of six men drinking and chatting and 2) what's with the wall, tile floors, and hardwood tables and chairs, harsh sounds tend to reverberate.

At any rate, let's move on to the food.
For appetizers we started with the Pork Ribs with bread and rocket salad:The ribs were kind of fatty, but otherwise they were perfect! Tender meats falling off the bones ... the sauce was also amazing!
I've had the Niman Ranch ribs at Slanted Door but these ribs here surpass Slanted Door's by a biiig margin.

The bread was soaked in olive oil. Besides the arugula, it was definitely not really a healthy plate :P

We also had the Marinated leeks, spinach, poached eggs, serena and bacon:
I really like eggs, and poached eggs, even for dinner. There was a lot of bacon which adds to the flavor of the leeks, although I liked the spinach in this dish better.

I had the quail fry for my entree (unfortunately the picture is blurry, I'm so sorry!)
The sauce was good, but it was too much with the quail fry - together they become too salty. But it was perfect for the grits and greens.
Oh, and great thick bacon. Again, great with the other sides, but for me, the fried quail legs should be eaten in isolation to get the full, unadulterated flavor - and not get salt overdose.

My friend got the monkfish with beans
The monkfish was also pretty good, juicy and the broth is good. But, I was too preoccupied with my quail fry :P If I had to choose ... well no question about it, quail all the way.

One of the desserts we got was what the waitress recommended,
Who would've thought to put bacon on a chocolate cake? (I must say this restaurant puts bacon on a lot of things :P ) but it works surprisingly well. The bacon bits give both crunchiness and a bit of saltiness that go well with the rich, sweet chocolate.

The other dessert we got was the White peach and Mulberry Crisp.
What is the difference between a crisp and a cobbler anyway? I'm not really sure yet, I'm going to have to look this up. But anyway, the crust of this crisp was what I would expect from a cobbler (but I may be completely wrong), but it was very good nonetheless. The combination of the white peach and mulberry went very well, and it was perfect since it would otherwise be hard to decide which one to get! I was missing my ice cream with this though - don't know maybe I'm just too used to it? Pies/cobblers/etc seem to always be too rich and sweet to me not to cut with some cold vanilla ice cream?

My final judgment? I thought all the food was great. Creative and interesting ideas with solid preparation. Reasonable prices, good service. I would definitely, definitely be back, despite the loudness (the only bad point).

Animal
435 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 782-9225
www.animalrestaurant.com

Animal on Urbanspoon

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