Anniversary Afternoon Tea at The Langham Pasadena

Every year, The Langham Hotels around the world celebrate their anniversary with a ridiculously priced afternoon tea. The price is what the original Langham in London used to charge back in 1865: 1 shilling and six pence. That, dear readers, amounted to $0.15 this year. Fifteen cents!

Before this, I have not had the chance to try the Langham afternoon tea, and what better time to do it than when it was only 15 cents as opposed to the usual $39?

The afternoon tea is held at The Lobby Lounge of the Langham. We got a nice table by the window overlooking the green expanse of the hotel.

For this event, the servers also dressed up as if it was 1865. Our server had on a mustard suit and a cute blue ribbon while the female server was wearing a blue dress of that era.

The Langham offers a pretty nice selection of classic and scented teas. I ordered the Orchid Oolong, described as being "highlighted by a touch of coconut to offer the tranquility of a fragrant bouquet of fruit and floral notes in a rich, soothing infusion." Rich, indeed.

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Heirloom Tomato Dinner, The Terrace at The Langham (Pasadena)

'Tis the season for heirloom tomatoes! These red pearls were the theme of The Langham Pasadena's latest Farm to Table dinner at The Terrace.

Before the dinner, we had a wine reception in the lobby lounge with creative appetizers such as the "pizza chips" (airy pizza-flavored chips made from tapioca) and macaron with a guacamole center.

All the passed appetizers and the dinner courses were prepared by Erik Schuster, the Executive Chef of The Terrace, while the wine pairings were done by Eric Espuny, the GM of The Royce upstairs.

After appetizers and glasses of wine, we move downstairs for our dinner.
As soon as we sat down, we all fell in love with the tomato tapenade they served with the bread. We had to ask how they made it and while I don't remember many of the ingredients (beyond the obvious tomato and olive oil), it apparently involved anchovies.

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Hot Brunch at Playa

The promise of a free pitcher of Julian Cox's cocktail during brunch was all I needed to try out the brunch at Playa, John Sedlar's newest restaurant (thanks, BlackboardEats!). And I was glad I did.

Now, being a Latin restaurant (they call it "urban Latin"), you can expect a lot of kick in your egg dish. Spicy sauces abound, though not everyone.

I love tamales so obviously went with the Tamal (Cracked Corn Masa, Pulled Pork, Sunnyside-Up Egg, $12)

Yes, that is Clockwork Orange on the plate (part of his changing Reflexiones series). The sauce was pretty spicy for me but the egg yolks helped with that. A hearty and satisfying breakfast plate!

Oh, and make sure you get the Blue Corn Muffins made with Anson Farms Organic Cornmeal, served with a side Almond Butter ($6)

Not only were they cheap at $6 for 4 pieces, they are incredible. I have never had an unfilled muffin so moist with such a distinctive flavor. I'll be back for these. Over and over.

(Look, it's really blue inside! Or more like purple?)

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The ABC's of Cecconi's: Aperitivo, Bone Marrow, and Ciccheti

I hadn't been back to Cecconi's since my brunch two years ago, but after a recent visit to try out their new aperitivo and ciccheti menu (and a feast of everything else), I wondered why. Oh, right, it is on the pricey side, but the recently launched Ciccheti menu (small plates/appetizers) you can dine here for less. (On another note, on Sundays Cecconi's have quite a deal: family style dinner for $50, up to 4 people. That's less than $13 per person!)

Scallop, pancetta, rosemary ($15)

They recently invited a number of bloggers for some ciccheti, aperitivos, and dinner. We started the night at the bar, where Creative Bar Director Chris Ojeda made some aperitivos and cocktails for us.

Since we're talking Italian aperitivos, there were naturally a lot of Aperol, which is an Italian aperitif similar to Campari (in fact, it is now produced by the Campari company). Cecconi's was never on my radar for cocktails, but the drinks Chris had made were surprisingly good.

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August is Garlic Galore at Chaya Venice

Garlic lovers, did you miss Gilroy Garlic Fest this year? If you did, you can still go a little garlic crazy at Chaya Venice this August, where they're offering special garlic dishes during their month-long Garlic Fair.

They have about ten garlic dishes, most of them not overly garlicky (except for the rib eye steak with 40-clove garlic sauce, or so our server told us. Mmm 40 garlic cloves ...)

After an amuse bouche of beets with orange and arugula, we started our garlic feast with Heirloom Tomato with Garlic Ice Cream and Fourme d’Ambert cheese ($13)

Overall good, but the heirloom tomatoes were overshadowed somewhat by the smaller, sweeter tomatoes. I liked the garlic ice cream with the tomatoes, but the possibly even stinkier blue cheese masks the garlic a bit.

Next: Grilled Shrimp, country bread ($12)

It's a simple dish, with crisp shrimp. After you finish the shrimp, soak the bread in the garlic butter.

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Savory (Malibu, CA)

In Malibu, there are the ocean-view restaurants that tourists go to, and then there are the locals’ hangouts. Savory seems to be the latter, tucked in the corner of a strip mall. The kitchen is headed by Bastide-alum Paul Shoemaker. That was enough to put Savory on my radar, but it took receiving a gift certificate as a present to make the drive (it's pretty far down on PCH, past Malibu Seafood and Pepperdine).

We had a reservation, but even after waiting 15 minutes our table wasn't ready. On the other hand, a couple with an earlier reservation who was 30 minutes late got seated. Punctuality is not rewarded in this town. Well, anyway, we got seats a bar and decided to have our dinner there.

We started with some housemade pasta, beef tongue, marinara sauce, parmesan cheese ($12)

We loved the pasta, and the thick cuts of very tender beef tongue - as tender as I remember them being in the beef tongue stew (semur lidah) I ate as a kid in Indonesia. I would definitely order this again.

Next was the Dungeness Crab Cake, remoulade, fine herbs ($17)

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Summertime Clambake at Rush Street (Culver City)

This summer, Rush Street in Culver City brings in a bit of New England with a special clambake menu, including a chowder, prime rib, a special summer-y cocktail, and of course the clambake itself.

I joined a recent media tasting, and started off our feast with a Roasted Corn and Crab Chowder in bread bowl ($7)

Forget clam chowder, sweet corn and crab in this creamy soup is the way to go. I loved this chowder, wished I didn't have to share!

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Healthy Eating at Fresheast (West Hollywood)

Being a food blogger is tough. No, really. You eat big, delicious meals day after day, sometimes multiple times a day. It gets to you - or rather, it gets to your waistline. When you're feeling particularly weighed down, an invitation to a healthy meal is very welcomed.

I admit, the first time I heard about Fresheast and what they were doing, I wasn't too enticed. They serve healthy, organic, Asian dishes and use no salt, butter, or nuts in their dishes (they still use miso, soy, and other sauces, though, so I don't think it's entirely sodium-free).

With all that said, a lot of their dishes turned out to be quite boldly flavored. One of my favorites were the Goa Shrimp ($11.95)

I was expecting food that are rather bland here, but the goa shrimp jumps with spices and flavors. The lamb curry as well was in fact quite spicy, again, unexpected from a healthy casual restaurant in West Hollywood. With the bold and spicy flavor profiles of Southeast Asia, perhaps you don't need extra salt after all.

Another dish I liked was the Bulgogi (Harris Ranch Natural Beef bulgogi, fresh wok’d vegetables), $10.95

Well, they taste like a good, standard bulgogi but they're supposed to be healthier! The meat was pretty tender, too.

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A Perfect Day in Malibu: Waterfall Hike, Malibu Seafood, and Gelato

The beach isn't the only reason to brave PCH traffic and head to Malibu. On a recent weekend, I hiked a 4.2 mile trail to Escondido Falls, feasted on fresh seafood overlooking the ocean, and finished off with some of the best gelato in town.

The hike to the lower falls is fairly easy and shady, good for a family hike. Once there, you can play in the water or take the trail to the right to the upper falls. It's a short hike from there, but much steeper. At some point you will have to climb an incline using some ropes, taking turns between the people going up and down. Take your time. Also, you will most likely get a bit muddy, but it's all worth it. You'll be rewarded with a beautiful three-tiered waterfall.

After the hike, we headed over to Malibu Seafood for a quick lunch. As always, there's a line to order food, but it moves fast. Take your food to one of their benches overlooking the Pacific ocean.

Malibu Seafood has combo meals, tuna burgers, etc, but that day we decided to order a bunch of things a la carte.

Steamed large shrimp, 1/2 lb ($10.95)

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Dock for Lunch at Baleen, Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club (Redondo Beach, CA)

Not so long ago, Redondo Beach in my mind consisted of a crowded beach and the pier (which has Izakaya Bincho and Quality Seafood, both great). Enter Baleen Los Angeles at the Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club, a much quieter, less touristy spot away from the pier.

The Chef's Burger

The restaurant's layout seems a strange one when you walk in. Instead of a big dining room, there's only one row of tables, all of them provide a view of the marina and yachts.

Baleen recently launched a new lunch menu. I wasn't able to come to their media lunch so they invited me over on another day - a beautiful Saturday afternoon, perfect for dining al fresco by the water. Judging from the customers coming in while I was there, seems like this is the spot for local residents to have their casual lunch and family reunions.

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Cocktailing at Next Door Lounge with Joseph Brooke (Hollywood)

Hollywood's latest bar, Next Door Lounge, isn't exactly next door to me but with The Edison's alum Joseph Brooke behind the bar, it is certainly worth a visit. Joe Brooke joined the team right before the lounge opened, so while he's added his concoctions on and revamped some of the drinks they already had on the menu.

Next Door Lounge is owned by the same man as The Corner, but unlike the casual comfort food joint, Next Door Lounge is aiming for a sophisticated speakeasy feel. When I checked out the place with LA OC Foodie and e*starla, I got to really take in the space during the quieter early evening, and it's beautiful.

The cocktails are mostly $12, with a couple that run $14 (one of them also happened to be one of our favorites, the Volstead and Vice made with Ilegal Mezcal Joven, Pernod Absinthe, cucumber water, agave nectar, lime juice). Yep, we love smoky drinks.

Here are some more of the cocktails I liked:
The Dame Next Door (Canadian Club 12 yr, dry vermouth, clove-infused pineapple gomme syrup, pineapple juice, pasteurized egg white, angostura bitters)

See the key-shaped bitters sprayed on the drink? That's the Next Door Lounge logo.

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Mohawk Bend, Echo Park's Newly Opened, Extensive Watering Hole.

If you were keeping tabs on who has the longest list of beers on tap in LA, you might want to add Mohawk Bend to the list. Opened yesterday, this bar in Echo Park carries over 70 beers on tap, all but five are dedicated to California craft beers. They have a full bar which is also all-California, and a full dining menu.

For owner Tony Yanow and GM Paige Reilly, this isn't their first venture in California beers. They opened Tony's Darts Away in Burbank which also has a California-only beer list, and a local brewery is in the works.

The space was a theater, more than 20 years unoccupied. As you enter, you will see the open kitchen on the left, and the bar on the right.

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Worthy Burgers in OC: Joseph Mahon's Burger Parlor (Fullerton, CA)

I never got to try Chef Joseph Mahon's burger while he was at Bastide, but everyone raved about it.
Naturally when he opened Burger Parlor in Fullerton, I decided I had to try it, OC or not (being in Pasadena, OC seems extra far).

Burger Parlor is sort of a permanent pop-up. The space is Rialto Cafe by day and Burger Parlor by night (Wed to Sat nights only at the moment).
In this casual and intimate space, regular customers can chat unintimidated with Mahon, and occasionally his wife and adorable baby boy.

There are nine burgers on the menu and thick cut steak fries, but a sign indicates that he can also construct something vegetarian-friendly. You need only ask.
Mahon has the burger basics down: good meat patty, ground daily from Nebraska Angus beef, and good buttery buns. Of course, he doesn't just stop there - more after the jump.

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A Pupu Party, LA Mag's Island Style Cook-off

Who doesn't like pupu? No one, because who doesn't like Hawaii? In conjunction with the Hawaii Visitors Bureau, Los Angeles Magazine threw an island-style cook-off between four of LA's greatest chefs. A pupu cook-off. Readers tried the pupu and voted online over a period of few weeks, and it all culminated in a cook-off between two finalists at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows.

The winning pupu: Foie gras sushi
Chef Mark Gold, Eva Restaurant

The attendees don't want to just come and watch the cook-off, of course. We want to eat and drink and have fun. And those we did.
First, the drink. Pineapple Mosquito made with vodka, pineapple juice, liquor 43, mint, pineapple juice

We also ate the pupu prepared by the two finalists: Chef Mark Gold from Eva Restaurant prepared sushi with whole lobes of foie gras, tea smoked plum, and grated yuzu. Chef Neal Fraser from BLD prepared Hawaiian tuna poke with wasabi tobiko and sambal creme fraiche; he also prepared some spam banh mi.

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Product Review: Hell Fire Pepper Jelly, Aptly Named!

I'm not one to try the ghost pepper, or enjoy the incredibly spicy dry curry at Jitlada. Basically, I can't really handle spicy food (although I'm getting much better). Still, when they offered a sample of the Hell Fire Pepper Jelly, I was curious. Yes, I'd love to try it! I've had jalapeno jam before and it wasn't all that spicy.

The small jar came with a cute little spoon. The golden color looks unassuming. It smells both spicy and sweet - hard to tell which way the taste will lean but it smells good.

I didn't have any bread at home, so I went over to Wandering Chopsticks' house and for the first taste spread it over white bread, took a bite ... sweet, a little touch of tartness, .. then it creeps up on me: oh my god, SPICY!

Hell Fire indeed! This was no jalapeno jam I randomly tried years ago, this thing is the real deal! Now, white bread is probably not the best way to eat this. WC suggested this would be a good dipping sauce for meat. Perhaps glaze for barbecued meat? Yes, I think that would work very well with this. It already has the flavor components of a sweet BBQ sauce, with a super kick.

Bottom line: if you like spicy and want to try something different, this one is for you.

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Girls' Night Out and Beer 101 at Tony's Darts Away

If you hadn't noticed, there are quite a few women in the beer world in the area. Women brewers, beer writers, beer bar managers, etc, and they want to get more women out there to learn more and fall in love with beer. To that end, some of them decided to hold a girls' only beer 101 tasting class at Tony's Darts Away in Burbank, which houses over 30 California craft beers.

The beer tasting was led by Paige from Tony's Darts Away and Ting from Eagle Rock Brewery. For those of you who are interested, Ting actually holds girls' only beer classes at the brewery on the third Wednesday of every month.

Before the tasting, we had to first learn about the four major ingredients: water, hops, barley, and yeast.

Malt/malted barley gives color and body to the beer. Pilsner malt is the base malt (used in lagers) and determines the gravity (how much alcohol and sugar) of the beer. In addition, crystal malts are added. Named by numbers (like C-120), the higher number indicates a darker roast, which also gives more fruit characteristics.

Hops give bitterness to the beer (which comes from the alpha acids) and without them, the beer would be overwhelmingly sweet and have no balance. They showed us what the original dried hops look like (right) before they're packed into the pellets used today (left). The pellets save space and also make it easier to obtain consistent flavors.

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Indulge: Shakes and Waffle Sandwiches at Bruxie (Orange, CA)

Waffle sandwiches may be one of the few things that would make me venture out to Orange County. That's why when I had an invitation to the avocado cooking demo in Anaheim, I decided to make a day out of it and visit one OC place that's been on my list: Bruxie Waffles.

Most of my fellow bloggers love this place, although one warned me that some of the sandwiches weren't all that. Still, I wasn't deterred and made my drive on a hot summer day. My only problem when I got there was figuring out which one to order. Luckily, when I checked in on foursquare, I saw a tip from a fellow blogger, inomthings, saying to get the Green Eggs and Ham. Well, green eggs and ham it is!

The Green Eggs and Ham ($6.95) was filled ham and cheddar, jumbo egg, mayo, arugula pesto

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Lunching at Le Saint Amour (Culver City)

Le Saint Amour has been a bloggers' favorite ever since Chef Walter Manzke started consulting for this Culver City bistro. While I have yet been lucky enough to dine while he's in the kitchen, I was recently invited for lunch. It was a nice day so we sat on the patio, overlooking the beautiful city hall.

I had to order the Duck Confit Salad ($14) since duck confit and cherries sounded too good to pass up. Don't order this expecting a light lunch though. The duck confit salad at Petrossian comes with shredded duck confit integrated into the salad, but here the "salad" comes with an entire crispy duck leg along with arugula, cherries and hazelnut vinaigrette on the side.

They rotate around the fruit in this duck confit salad, and the PR rep accompanying me said previously they only used dried cherries. When I had it, the salad has both dried and fresh cherries, which I loved and balanced the bitterness of the arugula. The duck confit itself was well cooked: crisped skin and juicy, gamey flesh. The salad counters the richness nicely.

I only had a bite, but did enjoy the Croque Madame ($13) made with French ham, gruyere, bechamel, fried egg

One of Le Saint Amour's co-owners/chef, Bruno, makes his own charcuterie: rillettes, pate, and terrines. We shared a plate of Pork Rillette, Venison Galantine with Pistachios, Country Pate, Persille in gelatin.

The pork rillette is definitely my favorite, with its melt-in-your-mouth richness, but I also enjoyed the novelty of the venison with pistachios.
They serve a nice bread made by Bread Lounge, a bread artisan in downtown LA.

Because I needed a pick-me-up, for dessert I ordered the Cafe Liégeois, made with vanilla ice cream, espresso, chantilly cream, chocolate ($8)

Like an affogato on steroids? The cream and chocolate made this a rich and heavy dessert. Nothing wrong with chocolate and ice cream, but in terms of an afternoon pick-me-up, food coma wins over the caffeine here.

I still need to come for dinner when Walter Manzke is manning the kitchen (I hear it's on Friday nights), as I've heard it would be one mind-blowing experience, but if my lunch was any indication, Le Saint Amour is still a solid dining destination even when he's out.



Le Saint Amour
9725 Culver Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 842-8155
www.lesaintamour.com


Disclosure: this meal was hosted.

Recipe: Crab Ravigote and California Avocado Napoleon (Chef Darrin Finkel, Jazz Kitchen)

It was California Avocado Week in Downtown Disney Anaheim 3 weeks ago, and the chefs from each restaurant held an avocado cooking demo and sampling. I attended one where Chef Darrin Finkel from Jazz Kitchen cooked up a New Orleans-inspired crab ravigote and california avocado napoleon and here's the recipe for you to try at home. Remember the California avocado season only lasts until the fall, so hurry to enjoy it!

Crab Ravigote and California Avocado Napoleon
by: Chef Darrin Finkel. Jazz Kitchen, Downtown Disney, Anaheim, CA
yields about 2 1/2 cups

1/2 Large California Avocado

Lime

3 oz Blue Crab meat. Picked and free from the shells

2 oz Chipotle Ravigote (see below)

Optional garnish:
Heirloom tomato salad (see below)
11/2 oz pepper coulis (see below)
Pinch micro salad greens

Dice avocado into small pieces. Squeeze lime juice on avocado, season with salt and pepper. Using a ring mold, press diced avocado on the bottom of ring mold. Gently toss crab meat with the chipotle ravigote sauce, season with salt and pepper. Spoon crab directly on top of avocado and press down gently until they are molded together. Remove ring mold and garnish dish with heirloom tomato salad. For additional garnish, squeeze 3 dots of pepper coulis around avocado crab mold. Top with micro greens.

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Mini Tarts, Mini Arts at Früute

Cupcakes are old news and cookies are ubiquitous. It's time for delicately crafted mini tarts with creative flavors. Welcome Früute in West Hollywood.

Früute is a collaboration of two sisters and their mother. The mother develops the recipes for the tarts, the daughter (at least one of them) brings her experience in branding. It's a tiny shop on Santa Monica Blvd serving gorgeous tiny tarts like this Wasabi with blood orange center, frangipane in pistachio crust, garnished with mint leaf tempura.

There are more than a dozen flavors now, which you can check out on their website (the photos there are beautiful). The mini tarts go for $3 each, which I initially considered expensive for the size, but considering that  a cup-sized cake dough and a piece of cookie these days go for $3, these meticulously crafted tarts are of better value.

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