Crackin Kitchen

New to Pasadena, straight from Hawaii, comes Crackin' Kitchen. This is the first Hawaiian cajun I've come across. They do seafood platters to different varieties of mussel pots. The viet cajun seafood boils we are used to is now fused with Hawaiian flavors for a different twist. Come check them out in Old Town Pasadena when you're in the area.

House sodas. This is peach and watermelon.

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Seafood platter. Oysters, shrimp cocktail, tuna poke, smoked salmon with taro chips, and snow crabs.

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Clam Chowder fries. Mashed potatoes topped with french fries with ladles of clam chowder, cheddar cheese and fried egg. My ultimate carb obsession.

Seafood tortilla pizza - Ahi, shrimp, tomato, avocado, jalapeno, cilantro, red onion, and special sauce served on a crispy tortilla

Thai Mussel Pot - Coconut milk, lemon grass, coriander, kaffir, fish sauce, chili, ginger, garlic

ULTIMATE COMBO - Shrimp, clams, mussels, corn, potatoes, andouille sausage and snow crab. Served with all three signature sauces. 

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115 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91105

Plenty of seating with a full bar. Love that the space feels really open. I would recommend coming with a larger group to try out different items. They have a HUGE selection of different flavored mussel pots.

enjoy!

Jane Q - Los Angeles

Jane Q is expected to launch their opening sometime between the end of July and August. The restaurant will be located on the corner of Argyle and Yucca streets. There will be bar seats near the open kitchen. The food we had that evening was a preview of a few items that will be in store on the menu. Tons of fun flavors. I'm excited to see the full menu once the restaurant opens its doors.

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Chef de Cuisine, Jason Hall

Below are some delictables I was able to try.

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Amazing veggie tower with 2 dipping sauces.

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Brick oven pizzas in the making.

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Their all-day menu is focused on seasonal local produce, sustainably-sourced fish & meat, and pizza, all prepared in a rotating hearth oven. They will also have beers, wines, and cocktails, all on tap.

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Jane Q serves modern Los Angeles cuisine with produce purchased directly from the Hollywood Farmers Market which is only a couple of blocks away. You can find locally-roasted coffee, house-baked pastries, made-to-order breakfast specialties plus fresh-pressed juices and smoothies in the morning.

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Stay tuned for updates.

1800 Argyle Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028

Osteria La Buca - Los Angeles

I got to visit Osteria La Buca during Sunday brunch over the weekend. Los Angeles. You would think the 101 is free or at least think people are at church. No. The 101 towards downtown will forever be filled with cars along with stop and go traffic. Oh the joy. Knowing this restaurant is located on Melrose is also another stinger to think you will need to drive into LA. Before I got all boo-hoo-crybaby-face. My gps told me my destination would be on my left in 1 mile. 1 MILE. Melrose blvd is no joke. But to know the restaurant is on the outskirts of the busy street was music to my ears.

And I got the ultimate VIP parking right in front. It was all luck and perfect timing coordination on my part. So Sunday, 12 PM, time to eat.

Aye Aye to a full bar. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever mood you are in, they will fix you up.

No cocktails for me that day. Played 9 hours of Final Fantasy XV the night before so coffee was definitely imperative that day.

California Toast - Toasted rosemary sourdough, avocado, soft scrambled eggs and an arugula herb salad. I loved the arugula herb salad. It was a nice touch and not something I expected when I took a bite. The eggs were perfectly soft scrambled for all the Chef Gordon Ramsay's out there.

Neighborhood pizza - Guajillo sauce, taleggio cheese, pancetta, pickled pearl onions and baked egg. What part of that do you not like? This pizza was delicious. I loved the pickled pearl onions touch. We keep a jar of these all the time and it's a great palate cleanser. The pickled onions helped by cutting the richness from the pancetta and baked eggs. The guajillo sauce and taleggio cheese was a nice touch. And Pancetta? Well, Pancetta.

Grab a slice, and swim it through the eggs.

The famous Bucatini Carbonara that I've been seeing everywhere. Made with house pancetta, poached egg, and freshly cracked pepper. The pasta was perfectly al dente that springs back with each bite. The egg was also executed beautifully with a soft runny yolk. The element that brought this home for me was the cracked black pepper. It gave it a nice heat element that warms your face and your throat as it goes down. It had great flavor too.

The steps to eat carbonara: Pop that yolk. Toss the pasta. Twirl your pasta from your fork in your spoon. Keep spinning. Eat.

Make your reservations.

 5210 Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA 90038

Pizza Stop - Abbot Kinney

I have a love hate relationship with Abbot Kinney. Mostly because I find myself excited to come here, but always leave slightly disappointed. There's not much to do besides watching humans, hanging out at a restaurant, or visiting one of favorite shops on the block, Tortoise. 

It was a lovely Sunday and I was just in the area so thought I stopped by to take a stroll. I decided it would be fun if I just did a quick pizza dive.

Abbot's Pizza Co

Abbot's Pizza has been around since 1995. I was 7 years old with a bomb ass bowl cut at the time so it was a legit year to start. This place is nothing but homie, and nothing more than love on a pie. You can order your crust as thin as you like. They also have this bagel crust to make your pizza experience that much more elevated. Great place to stop when you are on the run or just trying to be the life of a party. Because who doesn't love pizza?

Gjelina take away (GTA) 

I love Gjelina. In fact, Gjelina was one of the first restaurants I've tried in Abbot Kinney. I've been here multiple times since and it has never failed (Best duck confit hash). They started their take away not too long ago, but I've never stopped in to check. It's pretty grand compared the Abbot's pizza and can pretty much be a restaurant of it's own. 

I am always a huge fan of Gjelinas pizza. I was craving their wild mushroom pizza, but it was unfortunately not available by the slice. If it's not mushroom, I go with meat. It's rare I pick a veggie pizza, and today definitely wasn't the time.

Bacon, pomodoro, mozzarella, mushrooms, onions and thyme. Extremely thin with a light crispy crust. I love it when tomatoes have a nice tart to them and not overly sweet. With a rich pizza like this, a tart afterbite really helps cut down the richness.

Oh it was a good day.

True Food Kitchen - Santa Monica

Not going to lie or try to be swift about it. We came to Santa Monica to play Pokemon. The good thing about this game is how hungry you get from all that walking. There isn't really a time where we declined the chance to eat something. And that's when we stumbled upon True Food.

It was a hot day. Even by the beach, it was extremely humid. Humidity alone does it for me. I don't care if we are in the high's, but being drenched in your own sweat is not the same as a gorgeous pork roast based in it's own fat. It's just not a good look on me. I needed to find shelter, fast. And cool down before I start having weird body beach odors that I never knew I could achieve.

The restaurant was packed, but they were quick to accommodate. In hot weather like this, make sure you hydrate yourself with tons of water. I had a huge migraine from heat exhaustion and even popped a midol just for relief. But it also turned out that I was hungry. After ordering, it wasn't long before our food arrived.

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Wild Mushroom Pizza

Pizza is topped with mushrooms, asparagus, roasted garlic, and taleggio. A light pizza to coast through the day without feeling overly guilty. Vegetarian pizza does that to you. It just makes you forget about the carbs all because there's green stuff floating around. Still a delicious pie that I would order again.

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Grass fed burger

My brother, David, was bummed they no longer carry their bison burger. John was also disappointed since David was raving about it. If you've been here for the bison burger, we found out that their supplier couldn't meet the demand. Makes sense. But this burger did not disappoint. The burger is piled with umami mushroom, caramelized onion, arugula, parmesan, mayonnaise, sandwiched between a flax seed bun. The burger had a delicious beefy flavor with a nice crust. The sauteed mushrooms really added that extra level of umami to the burger. And there's nothing I love more than a burger that has arugula wedged in between. This is a upside down burger to eat to make sure it doesn't break apart.

I'll be back to try more items and have a cocktail or so.