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Tasting

Napa Valley Grille

May 3, 2016

After closing down 3 months for a renovation costing a little over $2 million dollars, Napa Valley Grille in Westwood is now reopened. I've never seen the restaurant before the renovations, but as I walked by, I told myself "Wow! This restaurant is beautiful." John reminds me "We are eating here today..."... I wasn't embarrassed but I can't believe that just happened. The restaurant has valet if you prefer, but there's also meter parking available on the streets.

1100 Glendon Avenue, #100 Los Angeles, CA 90024

The restaurant is nothing short of its name. Right when you walk in, you first notice the bar filled with liquor. Then, the beautiful vaulted ceilings with arches and wood beams throughout the warm dining room. As you walk by, the elegant display of wines waiting to be drunk.

Our server Jaryl was great, friendly, and attentive throughout the whole course of our meal.

We started our dinner with 2 appetizers.

Prepared with crispy pancetta, sweet onions, charred tomato, and Tavistock Reserve Chardonnay. The broth was to die for. The Chardonnay was perfectly cooked out leaving a subtle sweetness that marries great with all the ingredients. I also love the utilization of fresh herbs. Must order.

Wagyu Beef, pancetta, fried green tomato, fresh herbs, and romesco sauce. This was excellent. The sharpness of the green tomato complimented the beef and pancetta. I'll be happy eating this everyday.

Love the simplicity of the pickling. I would buy this in a jar if sold in markets.

I am a huge fan of branzino. I love the meatiness and slight sweetness of the fish. Deboned, and cooked with capers, tomato, Romanesco, olive oil, parsley and other fresh herbs. Not show in the photo are a few slices of peeled limes. The fish was stunning and tasted better than it looked. The flavors were simple, but the execution was flawless. This tasted like Spring leaping towards summer. Another must order.

The Lobster ravioli was served with this shrimp, chervil and watermelon salad. Interesting concept, but the flavors worked in this dish. The ingredients were fresh with the play of herbs again. Another leap towards summer with this one.

I am not much of a fan of sweet items, but there are things I can never pass up.

It's not just a baked cookie. It's a baked cookie served with pecan nougatine and salted caramel ice cream. A great cookie with a creamy ice cream. I'm a huge fan of salted caramel ice cream. This does not disappoint.

You have absolutely no idea how delicious this was! The bread pudding was made with brioche, brown sugar sauce, and brûléed marshmallows. Super rich. Super decadent. But high comforting and highly contagious. You can't just have one bite. These were definitely the top desserts on their menu.

Don't forget to pair your desserts with an espresso.

Their Executive Cef Adrian Vela incorporated a lot of fresh ingredients from the local Farmers Market in Santa Monica. Every dish was vibrant with flavor, plated rustically but with elegance.

1100 Glendon Avenue, #100 Los Angeles, CA 90024

Great for any occasion with plenty of space and a few private rooms.

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Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop - Costa Mesa

April 21, 2016

I love being in Costa Mesa even though I haven't really figured out all the go to spots. Spending your day somewhere else you are not familiar with can be challenging. It really depends on what to eat in the area. That's always the biggest question. I got the opportunity to taste some food from Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop. They do have a few locations, but why not pick one that I am more comfortable with and getting the opportunity to explore at the same time.

3321 Hyland Ave, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Chopshop is located outside the OC Mix. I've never been to this side of Costa Mesa. Just being here was exciting enough. They have a pretty wide selection of items to pick from. Luckily, they had a Sunday Brunch menu that we were able to pick from. Huevos Rancheros. Almost immediately I knew that's what I wanted. But. John also wanted it. We can't both order the same things. That just doesn't happen. I let him have it. I am always the nice one, remember that. I ordered their flat iron steak with 2 gourmet sides: Roasted Yams & Red Onion, Pomegranate Quinoa.

Steak was delicious. Perfectly medium rare. The seasonings were simple. Roasted yams with red onions, can't complain. The Quinoa, however, were cranberries and not pomegranate which was a bummer. But I did enjoy the sweetness of the cranberries. It actually complimented the yams really well. Lucky you. Lucky me.

I don't know how to say this... but this tasted like the Mexican Taco from Taco Bell. BUT, in the BEST way possible. And come on, who doesn't love the Mexican Taco from TB? The Huevos Rancheros is consisted of over easy eggs, refried black beans, chipotle sauce, pico de gallo, avocado & crisp corn tortilla strips. Ridiculously crispy, the sauce is also extremely flavorful, egg, cheese, guac! I would highly recommend this. Also, this is not as heavy as it looks. It was very light, but extremely satisfying.

After your done, make a stop at the OC mix to check out some shops.

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Tacos Tu Madre - Westwood

March 13, 2016

LA has definitely been a taco staple exploding into different counties. What I find is there are more contemporary fusion tacos than what you would find the past decade. Tacos Tu Madre not only offer your fusion tacos like Korean BBQ or Duck Mole, but also stays within your comfort zones by offering Asada, Carnitas, Al Pastor, Lengua, and Chorizo Egg which I HIGHLY recommend.

Tacos Tu Madre - 1945 1/2 Westwood BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90025

This menu was taken a few months ago when I first visited the restaurant. This menu is located outside their take out window, but they also have one to look through for more in depth options. I've included their most recent menu to the left.

As you see, besides the tacos being more sophisticated, so are the prices. But, there are also more component to each taco that you order here. I brought John with me. Like myself and many of you who grew up with $1 tacos, find it blasphemy when a taco costs $1.25.

But as the economy is growing, so is everything else. That's right, a bundle of cilantro can cost 99 cents. Avocados are expensive as hell. And lemons are only used if it's a special occasion. You catch my drift.

This is my favorite from everything I've had. For $4.75, this is totally worth it. Served on a crispy tortilla shell, the ahi tuna is cut in chunks and mixed with avocados, spicy citrus yuzu ponzu sauce, chives, sesame seeds and seaweed flakes.

The only thing I can say, is I can't extract the yuzu flavor. For some reason, I tasted a lot of ginger. Maybe I have poor taste buds. Maybe they don't even have any ginger in house. But it's extremely fresh and something I would never complain about. I would definitely order 2 of these and be content.

There are options to order this in a Burrito or a Bowl for additional charges. A burrito or bowl will supplement as a meal.

In other words, the Darth Maul version. How can you not think about that just by looking at these colors. Or maybe even Deadpool. Each chip has a helpful amount of salt, but not too much. Just enough to balance the guac. I couldn't help but dive back into this from time to time. Avocados are the good types of fat, and I will keep telling myself that everything it touches will become just that.

In the platter above, there's Duck Mole, Korean BBQ, Crispy Fish, Carnitas, and Lengua. The tortillas is not your standard 2 sheets, but one presumably hand made. You gotta eat these fast because the tortillas does break apart if it sits for a while. All the tacos were packed with flavor. I ate these tacos not keeping in mind with what I've grown up eating, but to keep an unbiased opinion based solely on flavors. So yes. I will pay over $3 bucks for a taco.

Street corn is my thing and something I love to make at home. This is not your elote you would find on the streets. Mayonnaise was missed, and it seems they use red chili flakes instead of cayenne. This does make eating a lot easier, and less messier than it would be on a cob.

They have desserts like red velvet churros and frozen horchatas to help you move on with your day. The red churros were interesting and definitely had no resemblance from a traditional churro. These are much more dense. I would love the cream cheese frosting to be sweeter as well has the roll out of the cinnamon sugar that is coated.

Putting everything in thought, I would be back. Space is extremely limited, but tables turning over is fairly quick. It does help there are 2 Starbucks within a 1 mile radius. They do have street parking with meters, a lot where you need to pay, or residential which is just around the corner which is what we did. Trust me, after these tacos, you should take the walk.

Tacos Tu Madre is snuck away, but has a giant colorful mural. If you are lost, but close, it's in between to 2 Starbucks I mentioned.

Good luck.

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Mondo Taco - Santa Monica

March 8, 2016

I have to say, Tacos has come a long, long way here in Los Angeles. I lived in Glassell Park most of my life. If you don't know where Glassell Park is, it's basically where gunshots are fired around 11pm or 2-4 in the morning, Ice Cream trucks at noon - 3pm - 5pm, Elote man around the same time, and tacos covering every proximity you can put your hands on. Back to the days when tacos were $1 a pop, and they just had that flavor you can only find on the streets. If you know what I am talking about, just close your eyes for a minute to relive it.

I remember there was this one stall, serving up all kinds of cuts you can imagine on a comal bola grill. Every meat fat you can imagine, melted and cooked as one. You can't find that anymore nowadays. Or not as easy as it was just a few years ago.

But tacos has evolved into something more multicultural. That's the beauty of living in LA. We don't see each other differently because we are so exposed to the different cultures that we are surrounded with. It's really beautiful if you think about it. I remember when I went to visit some friends in Arizona, I literally stood out like a sore thumb being asian. Nothing wrong with that, but you just know when you are in a town where your existence is minimal. Tacos, right.

I was luckily invited to a taco tasting out in Santa Monica the past weekend. And boy, tacos are my thing. So are burgers. There's just some kind of pleasure I find eating food with my hands. Mondos Tacos provide a more contemporary take on tacos than what you would find at the corner of your local neighborhood in LA. Their tacos travel around the world meaning they do flavors like Italian to a further leap like Indian.

Mondo Taco - 2200 Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90404

6 Tacos to try with one Watermelon Agua Fresca (delicious!).

Chips and Salsa with a side of Guacamole. A must! Good portion of avocados in the guac. It wasn't super loaded with tomatoes either. A perfect starter. I even whipped some of the guac onto my tacos. You know you want to do it too.

Angry Chicken

Southern Decadence

Fancy Fish

El Greco

Crazy Fish

Taj Mahal

Angry Chicken - $3.50 crispy chicken - hot sauce - blue cheese. Finger licking hot sauce that will make your eye wink. So be careful who you are sitting in front of. Don't want to be sending the wrong signal when you are just enjoying your taco. The blue cheese was tasty and added a nice musk to cut through the tartness of the sauce.

Southern Decadence - $3.75 fried chicken - bacon - BBQ sauce - ranch dressing - diced tomato. I loved this! Yummy BBQ sauce with fried chicken strips. I had the slighted memory of eating chicken nuggets from Wendy's. Not like there is anything wrong with that, because everything about that is utterly amazing.

Fancy Fish - $3.50 grilled fish - poblano - pico de gallo - cilantro crème. The name says it all. The fish was delicate and was complimented by the poblanos and creamy cilantro creme.

El Greco - $4.75 grilled lamb - tzatziki - diced tomato. If you love lamb, this will definitely deliver. The gaminess of the lamb really shoots through. The tzatsiki and tomatoes really help cutting through the strong flavors of the lamb. Great portions of lamb.

Taj Mahal - $4.75 coconut shrimp - curry sauce - diced red bell pepper. Surprisingly one of my favorites from the 6. The shrimp was very plump, cooked perfectly, and the creamy curry sauce pairs perfectly with the light flavors of the shrimp and the sweetness of the red peppers. I really want to order 2 of these next time I come, but there are just so much to try from.

Crazy Fish - $3.50 panko crusted fish - pico de gallo - 1000 Island. Another tasty taco. Loved everything about it. There's nothing I love more than a fried fish taco. This was also one of my favorites. Simple, and flavors were well executed. The fish was fried perfectly.

If you think the condiments are a bit loaded, you are WRONG *BUZZ* The portions of these tacos are larger than you think. The protein is packed, so the amount of sauce and toppings you see doesn't overwhelm the overall taco.

For dessert, we were able to try their Blueberry Panna Cotta. Don't think about it. Just order it. It's delicious and I've had many Panna Cottas. It's so decadent, I can't believe it's in a plastic container! For $3.50, it is definitely a steal. I would honestly drive the 23 miles to get this again. If you've never had Panna Cotta, just imagine a soft cheesecake. Mild, not as sharp. Creamy. Silky. Soft. Like a baby's butt.

Plan your next visit, there are plenty of things to do out here. We visited MUJI afterwards around the corner-corner.

Until Next time.

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Pig Pen Delicacy - Santa Ana

March 3, 2016

Pig Pen Delicacy, located on 201 E 4th St - Santa Ana, CA 92701, inside 4th street market.

I got the chance to taste Pig Pen Delicacy yesterday, another one of Andy and his partners Kevin, Mark and Jason's creation. This place serves a few dishes that are focused in a world of pork and bacon flavors. Just the sound of that gives me heartburns. But, that's why I have Tums.

I've never been to Downtown Santa Ana, so making the trip from Pasadena was already worth it to be able to explore a city I am not familiar with. We arrived around 7. Just in time before the crowd started swarming in. Pig Pen Delicacy as said before, is located inside the 4th street market, but you would need to make your way inside as it is wrapped passed the corner. You will figure it out. Andy recommended a few dishes which we tried. So let's get it on.

I had a feeling they might've been running low on pulled pork for this tasting because the portions were really minimal. I am not complaining since I understand that they were pretty busy from the heavy crowds. But based on the pork that I was able to taste in this, it was something that I enjoyed.

The pork was cooked till tender with some pickled carrots and daikon to cut through the richness of the meat and egg. The brioche bun held the sandwich together nicely as well as soaking up the yolk lava from the eggs. Like really, what kind of world are we living in if eggs can't be cooked perfectly?

I loved this burger. I've never had a sweet and savory burger like this before. I am not a fan of western bbq sauced burgers or hawaiin burgers with pineapple. But sausage with syrup or bacon dipped in syrup is my kind of thing. I think when you really want to imagine how a sweet and savory burger would taste like, this is it. It brings a nostalgic moment from childhood. Eating pancakes and oozing your maple syrup all over everything on your plate imaginable. This is comfort food right here y'all.

I don't really need to say much about it. It's bacon with brown sugar and spices. Baked until it's finger licking good. What more do you want? Good Daisy... eat that bacon...

Again, I think they were running low on pork belly because there were only a few nibbles floating around. The flavors though were really great. I can only imagine how delicious and composed this dish would be if made with their proportions (I saw photos during the day, and this order was HUGE compared to this). Loved the fries that they use. Loved the creamy cilantro sauce with the fresh pico de gallo. Would love to try this again next time I come.

Enjoy. And always love the Dew.

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Wine & Dine

Napa Valley Grille

Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop - Costa Mesa

Tacos Tu Madre - Westwood

Mondo Taco - Santa Monica

Pig Pen Delicacy - Santa Ana