Monday, August 25, 2014

Eat for FREE at Cafe Rio [sponsored]

Want to eat for free like a food blogger? Well, now you can at Cafe Rio.

Cafe Rio is a fast casual chain serving a variety of Mexican food. The Southern California locations at Cafe Rio is offering a free meal and dessert for first-time diners who are willing to come in and give them honest feedback.

All you have to do is go there and fill out a survey of your dining experience (the survey can be found here, or you can also scan the QR code which will be posted at the restaurants). This campaign starts today while quantities last. The deal should be available all of this week, so be sure to hurry in!


This deal is only available at the following four SoCal locations: 

1800 Rosecrans Ave Suite G
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
(424) 456-3800

1140 Irvine Blvd.
Tustin, CA 92780
(657) 622-3000

27510 W Lugonia Ave
Redlands, CA 92374
(909) 801-6900

24312 Rockfield Blvd.
Lake Forest, CA 92630
(949) 334-9292

Sunday, August 24, 2014

New Chef Heralds Summer at Cafe Pinot (Downtown LA)

Downtown's Cafe Pinot has announced Joe Vasiloff as their new head chef. Chef Vasiloff has worked with the Patina Group since 2011, most recently opening the Wine Bar at the Hollywood Bowl. Before that, he's also worked at Bouchon and Animal.

I recently went to a lunch tasting, sampling some of his menu offerings.
Soup du Jour: Chilled heirloom tomato soup, bluefin crab salad, old bay and cheddar crackers

IMG_7785

Burrata salad, mixed stone fruits, honeycomb, mint, smoked sea salt, mache, marcona almonds, candied lime
Burrata salad
There are quite a lot going on in this burrata salad! I particularly loved the addition of the honeycomb, and the almonds provided a nice texture contrast. I think I might start putting honeycomb on my salads ...

Friday, August 22, 2014

Saint Martha: An Ode to the Patron Saint in Koreatown

An unexpected wine bar has opened in the heart of Koreatown with Tart's Chef Nick Erven (formerly Messhall) and sommelier Mary Thompson (formerly Rivera). The warm gougeres is just an amuse of the surprising and delectable dishes to come.

IMG_7619

The appetizer puts almost all that is good on one plate - and it worked with the steak and oyster tartare and champagne sabayon, served with hot bone marrow beignets ($13)
Steak Oyster Tartare
Steak and oyster tartare: the combination of these two raw delicacies  was one of those "why didn't I think of that before?" moment.

IMG_7618
Sommelier Mary Thompson has done a wonderful job with the wine list, and the servers know their stuff, too. I told my waitress what I liked and she recommended a lovely, crisp, 2012 Wagner Stempel Weissburgunder, Rheinhessen from Germany. This is one of the best new whites I've tried lately.

Gourmet Pigs   © 2008. Template Recipes by Emporium Digital

TOP