Rye-IPA Pot Pie and Infused Ice Spheres at Muddy Leek (Culver City, CA)

I was recently invited to dinner at Muddy Leek in Culver City, just a little ways away from the Helms Bakery area. 

The menu sounds promising and interesting (of course, there are a few dishes with leek in them). Many people would order and enjoy the Chicken fried bacon with tomato jam ($9), though I personally found it to be too much - too rich, especially when shared only between two people.

Instead, I liked the Cauliflower croquettes with house cauliflower kimchi ($8)

The "kimchi" isn't spicy or as pungent as your regular Korean kimchi, but a light pickled flavor.

If you haven't gone to Muddy Leek recently, you should know that they have a new bartender on the stick, who hails from Chicago, Sara Kay Godot. She's doing some exciting things including making her own infused ice spheres. I loved the H. S. Thompson ($12), made with spiced rum, Greenbar orange liqueur, lime, ginger, cardamom, and star anise.

I liked my entrees better than the appetizers, starting with the Chicken pot pie baked in rye-IPA crust with braising greens and quince puree ($20)

The filling was quite flavorful and I really liked the texture of the crust.

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Turkey Ice Cream? Thanksgiving Flavors from Portland's Salt and Straw,Now at Joan's on Third

Portland's Salt & Straw small batch ice creams aren't sold anywhere else outside of Portland - other than our very own Joan's On Third, that is! Joan had long been searching for the right ice cream to serve at Joan's On Third, and when they tried Salt & Straw they knew that was the one. They somehow managed to convince cousins Kim and Tyler Malek to partner up. 

Now, not only can you try this farm-to-cone goodness in town, you can also try their fun Thanksgiving flavors. Co-owner Tyler Malek has really gone all the way this year, creating a whole "Thanksgiving dinner" with ice cream.

The first, is the sweet potato and candied pecan ice cream with gooey marshmallow fluff! If you like sweet potato you will love this.

There's "apple cranberry stuffing." This was a celery ice cream with apple cranberry bread pudding.

The celery ice cream is lightly sweet, a perfect vehicle for the bread pudding inside. This was paired with Lanson Brut Champagne.

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Backstage Tour and Turkey Prep for Falstaff at the LA Opera

Being a blogger has some perks, like being invited to cool experiences I normally wouldn't get. Recently I had a backstage tour of the LA Opera to talk about the food preparation for their current performance, Falstaff. Falstaff is a comedic opera by Giuseppe Verdi and is an adaptation of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor and some scenes from Henry IV. Gluttony is one of the major themes, hence the food preparation!

Lots of cool props from previous operas

We first made our way to the stage. On the stage, that is! It's quite something to be standing on the stage looking at all those seats.

We chatted with the director, Lee Blakeley, about the opera and the various food items he decided to include in the production (although his request for the Yorkshire Parkin cake got replace with a Trader Joe's gingerbread cake, they look close enough from the audience seats). While it's an Italian opera, since it's based on a Shakespeare play he decided to keep everything true to the Shakespeare era. The two towers that appear on stage are a nod to the Globe Theatre.

Seeing everything up close was a pretty neat experience.

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