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breakfast

Claudine - Encino

June 15, 2016

"Claudine Artisan Kitchen & Bakeshop is the collaborative effort of Chef Anthony Jacquet and Pastry Chef Lea Newton, whose combined skills and culinary passions have led to the opening of a globally-influenced neighborhood café and bakeshop in the San Fernando Valley. Named after Jacquet’s late sister, the driving force behind his decision to become a chef, Claudine Artisan Kitchen & Bakeshop is a full service restaurant, bakeshop, coffee bar, and grab n’ go deli. Serving only the highest quality food made with local and sustainable ingredients, Claudine Artisan Kitchen & Bakeshop features an assortment of breakfast, brunch and lunch dishes.Highlighting the bounty of local and seasonal produce in California, the restaurant’s menu draws inspiration from the many cultures and people who have shaped the city."

16350 Ventura Blvd., Suite F, Encino, CA 91436

Located on Ventura Blvd in Encino is where you will find Claudine. From the outside, it blends it with the neighborhood Chipotle which sits in the same center. But walking inside, the expectations are blown away by how adorable this place is. Open kitchen with tons of baked goods ready for you to hover over. Everything is made fresh daily, so if you see low inventory, that's a good sign.

Claudine also serves wine and beer which is always a plus. I started with a Stone IPA. They also carried a few specialty cocktails like sangrias and micheladas.

We had a few dishes to sample, all delicious. They make their own house cured lox on toast. The salmon was not overly salty served on top of some preserved Lemon Cream Cheese, Pickled Shallots, Cucumber and Capers. Their Briana's Short Rib Grilled Cheese is also a must order. Stuffed with Stout Braised Onions, Roasted Mushrooms, ‘Merican Cheese, Black Vinegar Teriyaki, and russet wedges. Get your napkins ready.

They also make their own naan pizzas. We've tried 2 and fell in love instantly. Cianna's Naan-Zza: pesto, buratta, bacon, mushrooms and asparagus. Serrano Ham and Olive Naan-Zza: fresno chile, buratta cheese and oregano. The Lea's Lightened Quiche was a winner all around. Custard made with spinach, basil, and only one egg with salad greens (SO GOOD).

If you are not sure what to do about your life, order the Malted Milk Pancakes. Cinnamon-Blueberry compote, salted honey butter, Warm Maple Syrup and Bacon. Sandwich this baby together and eat it with pride. Lot's of it.

16350 Ventura Blvd., Suite F, Encino, CA 91436

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Maximiliano - Highland Park

June 13, 2016

Maximiliano is another restaurant concept by Andre Guerrero. Many of you LA natives are familiar with one of his famous restaurants in Eagle Rock called The Oinkster. With their famous pulled pork sandwich to their highly talked about Belgian french fries with garlic aioli that changed the world. Honestly, their french fries here are killer. It was my first time and many others of having a twice fried potato. It's pretty genius, but Oinkster's really made it their own.

Maximiliano is a different concept than Oinkster's. Practically being the only Italian restaurant in Highland Park, Maximiliano has a full menu that carries a wide range of Italian favorites.

5930 York Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90042

To get started right away, I ordered a raspberry bellini with a cup of Intelligentsia coffee.

It was raining a little bit on this day, so a little Prosecco definitely helped with the gloomy weather.

I am happy I get to share with you a wide variety of the items on their menu.

This was one of my favorites on the menu. The crust was thin and crispy, the smoked salmon was nice and salty, but balanced with the creamy subtle flavors of the Burrata. I would order this again.

Better eat this fast or the potatoes will starch up once cold. Delicious fennel sausage with the over easy eggs to really put a dent in your gut. There's nothing wrong about this. Just douse each slice with more chili flakes to get the full experience.

Hand-Made Linguini, nice and al dente with bacon confit, pecorino and a poached egg waiting like a hot water balloon waiting for you to slice for the ultimate yolk porn. You should've seen it run in all its glory. Pass the chili flakes. Butt fires will be worth it.

Delicious melt in your mouth pulled pork. Sweet, savory, and luxurious with the ooey gooey egg. This is definitely a good breakfast item to order if you are a meat lover like me. So perfect with a sunny side up egg. Break the egg into the short ribs before enjoying.

Another house made pasta. What you see is squid ink linguini served with clams, calamari, scallops, spanish chorizo, mussels, shrimp, jalapeno roasted red pepper served up in a pomodoro sauce. They are not shy of seafood.

Tender fall off the bone Moroccan braised lamb shank. This was served on some curried couscous. Very delicious and slightly gamey without it tasting viciously grassy. With the leftovers, you can always make dumplings with the meat, turn it into a ragu, or even just straight up wrap it in some tortillas. Definitely worth ordering when you come.

One of the best pancakes I've ever put in my mouth. Once it comes out straight from the kitchen, the aroma from the lemon curd will make you salivate almost immediately. The pancake had a nice crispy crust, hot, melting the lightly dusted powder sugar before dousing a large scoop of curd goodness. We had to share, but in reality, I would want this all to myself.

Make your reservations if you have not. Go in a group so you may try more things.

Also, here's a snip of their drink menu (Beer & Wine)

Maximiliano is also Craftsman Brewing Company’s Official Tasting Room! Join them every Monday & Tuesday for their awesome Beer Flight Nights where you can try Five 5oz pours of North East LA’s finest Craft Beers for just $12. I'll definitely be here for that.

5930 York Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90042

Click here to visit Maximiliano.

Cheers!

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Pitchoun Bakery - DTLA

June 5, 2016

Pitchoun is a fairly new bakery located in DTLA on Olive Street. Pitchoun is also a family owned bakery who were originally from South of France. Besides it being a bakery, it is also a cafe that serves up some tasty sandwiches as well as tartines. I'm such a huge fan of french Pâtisserie so it didn't take me any hesitation to say yes to swing by.

some baked goods and sweets.

This smoked salmon tartine was served on a bed of arugula, country bread, and topped off with capers, creamy spread with chives and shallots. The Country bread was nice and thin that allowed easy bites without playing tug of war. The smoked salmon was fresh, with no fishy aftertaste. Just a nice smoked flavor with the brininess of the capers. I loved this and will definitely order it again. For $13.50, you definitely get a great sizeable portion good enough to share.

This tartine was composed of Ciabatta break, topped with fennel, asparagus, sundried tomatoes, pisto, fresh basil, chicken, and cheese. Fresh and light with a yummy bright pesto. Piled high, but not heavy at all with the nice combination of veggies.

Cappuccino - Enjoy this with your lunch or a Pâtisserie

Could not say no to that Fig. This tart was delicious, buttery and flaky. The fruits were also really fresh. There's not much to say about this besides it being great. With a nice cup of cappuccino, I can sit here for a while.

Oh yes. This angry bird eclair exists from time to time. Whether you are getting one for a kid or you just want to feel like one all over again, these are fun to have.

545 S Olive St. Los Angeles, CA 90013

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Kings Row Gastropub- Pasadena

May 22, 2016

I've been to Kings Row a few times since they've opened doors a few years ago. I've celebrated friends birthday here, graduations, and their famous piggy roast that you can find every 3rd Thursday of the month. It's a great space to hang out and they do offer food to accommodate the savvy eaters.

Besides having food to serve with your drinks, I kind of forgot that breakfast/brunch was something they did here at KRG. Below you will find the slew of most of their brunch menu with a few additions to their main.

Brunch

Naan

2 Eggs Breakfast

Farmhouse Skillet Scramble

Mushroom Omelette

Pork Hash

Kings Signature Breakfast Burrito

Mains

Classic Double Cheese Burger

Highland Park Pulled Pork

Mussels in Beer Chorizzo

Fries with Cheese whiz and spicy verde

Wings

Macaroni and Cheese

Banana Creme Pie

Tres Leches

Bacon Dessert

Roasted Veal Marrow

And of course, you can't forget the cocktails.

Check them out for Brunch whenever you are looking for a local spot. Nice to not have to dive into Los Angeles.

20 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91105

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Rice Box - Los Angeles

April 26, 2016

Rice boxes are a huge staple to the every day Chinese fast food. But calling it fast food is a huge understatement. I watched tons of Hong Kong soap operas as I was growing up and a lot of times these "Fahn Hup" were known as fast food for the working class. When we think about fast food here in America, we are familiar with McDonald's. In Hong Kong, you would find white rice, and proteins like BBQ Pork or Roast Duck with a side of gai lan.

Rice Box is a new up and coming concept coming in the near future to run with the modern approach of Cantonese BBQ. They will be at Unique Markets in Los Angeles this Saturday & Sunday, 04/30 - 05/01 from 11AM - 6PM. They will be featuring a few of their Rice Boxes. We had the pleasure to taste a few of their items before this event. I can't tell you how excited I am about how incredibly delicious the food was. It really reminded me of great comfort rice boxes when my parents would bring some home.

One of the first dishes we had was this Sesame Cold Noodle. It's made with organic noodle, house pickled carrots & cucumbers, organic tofu, sesame dressing, and house made chili oil. This was very fresh and slightly creamy from the sesame dressing.

Growing up, I hated these things. I think I disliked them because it was something my parents always ordered when I wanted egg rolls instead. But once I started getting older, and I start eating less with them, I find myself not having these as much as I used to. And now, I really really love them. The daikon cake is made with daikon, rice flour, bacon (hormone/antibiotic free), dried scallop-shrimp-shiitake, house made chili oil and garlic sweet soy sauce. The cake is normally steamed first before pan fried.

Get it? This is for the absolute mushroom funk lovers. This daikon cake is made with daikon, rice flour, dried wild porcini, oyster mushroom, wood ear, and shiitake served with house made chili oil and garlic sweet soy sauce. I could eat these during any sports game.

One of the ultimate fahn hup's I grew up eating. Rice, BBQ Pork, Gai Lan, and a sunny side up EGG ALWAYS. This organic, hormone & antibiotic free pork shoulder was not shy of any flavor. Their eggs are also organic served with some organic quinoa rice. The best parts are the burnt ends that has been caramelized in the open flame.

Soy sauce chicken is one of my favorite Cantonese dishes. It's hard to find made right. A lot of times, it's extremely dry from staying under the heat lamps for so long. People just don't appreciate this style of chicken anymore. This was perfectly executed. The chicken breast was extremely succulent and I can't say that a lot about chicken breast. The soy sauce was not too salty, but perfectly balanced with the sweet marinade. Served with house ginger scallion sauce, and charred Gai Lan with sesame seeds on organic quinoa rice.

This is for the Vegan/Vegetarian peeps. You get the same marinade as the Cha Siu pork, but with a Cauliflower Steak. Have you ever had a Cauliflower steak? It changes you.

These are for the spicy lovers. Beware because these poppers pack a lot of heat! The organic tofu is deep fried then doused in minced jalapeño, scallion, garlic, salt and pepper. I could take the heat, but I'm not going to lie that I sweated a little.

Roasted Pork belly. It's pretty self explanatory. This might be one of my top favorite ways to eat pork. It's a huge staple in our culture. Something that is served for celebratory events, holidays, or just a Friday night special. The pork belly is the best cut of the whole roasted pig. Rice Box focuses solely on the belly. Yeah, it's good.

To wrap things up, everything we had was phenomenal. To me, this is what Chinese BBQ is all about. If there was a restaurant that made food this great in a rice box, I would be there in a heartbeat almost everyday. This is also something I know a lot of older generations would love.

Don't forget to check them out at Unique Markets. Tickets are sold $10 at the door -Cash Only, but you can always purchase your ticket online by clicking HERE.

Stay tuned as Rice Box is working into becoming a brick and mortar.

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Wine & Dine

Claudine - Encino

Maximiliano - Highland Park

Pitchoun Bakery - DTLA

Kings Row Gastropub- Pasadena

Brunch

Mains

Rice Box - Los Angeles