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Dog Haus - Pasadena

October 25, 2015

My aunt Betty and cousin Celia were visiting from San Francisco this weekend to take care of some things. My aunt recently moved to San Francisco a year ago for her retirement, and to be closer to her daughters as well as her new born granddaughter.

To save this story for my next post, we were in queue as to when we were going to have dinner, so my dad told us to eat a snack first and dinner will be later around 7 - 8pm. This was around 3 close to 4 when he told me. John and I were done with the gym, and yea we were pretty hungry.

And that's where our post workout meal landed us at Dog Haus in Pasadena.

It was my first time here. John used to come with Brad, his best friend, that left us to Arizona (what a jerk right?). So now, John took me. I realized they used Hawaiin Kings roll instead of your American white logs, and they also have tater tots as an option for a side. Without getting too excited, I just wanted to stick with the classic downtown dog. John got a little leaguer, and we shared an order of tater tots and soda pop.

That looks pretty fantastic doesn't it? And a total failure to what a snack should be. Just imagine how full we felt afterwards.

This was my Downtown Dog. It consisted of a smoked bacon wrapped dog, caramelized onions, roasted bell peppers, mayo, mustard and ketchup. There was a few things I wished. One, was I couldn't unfortunately taste the bacon and wished the roasted peppers weren't so wilted that the only texture came from the dog. Other than that, I did enjoy the crispy toasty Hawaiin roll and the perfect combination of everything else.

Ok. I only looked passed this because there was "Little" in the name, and I was not looking for something little as a snack considering how hungry I was. If I actually read the description of " haus chili, fritos, shredded cheddar, diced onions" I would've ordered this in a HEARTBEAT. This was a pretty good dog. I wished the fritos had a stronger corn chip flavor due to it being slightly stale, but I still liked this better than the Downtown dog. I would order this again. I am the hugest sucker for Chili cheese. HUGE.

Fried-to-perfect. Each one very extremely crispy with a piping hot center. Next time, I'm going to order these with Chili cheese.. because everything should have chili cheese... everything...

So there you go, a quick post workout meal after LA Fitness in Hastings Ranch. We always tend to find something to eat or going towards Pasadena because that's where the food is closest. Dinner ended up being at 7:30pm... so we were pretty screwed..

But in my genes, our family will eat no matter if we are hungry or full. Just wait and see later what we ate.

Enjoy a fantastic Sunday! I'm off to the Race tracks to celebrate a dear friend of mine's birthday today, Patrick Yorba. If I come home still standing from the champagne and endless shrimp cocktails, be ready to see my Chinese meal with my family.

Cheers!

Daiisies

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Table Crush - Gracias Madre

October 22, 2015

I got the pleasure this week to have dinner with a group of foodies hosted by Table Crush. This dining experience is something new, fun, definitely delicious, and stress free. Well, meeting the group for the first time is always a bit tense, and sometimes, awkward. BUT! We are foodies. And as foodies, feel assured that your food taking photos are welcomed and appreciated. A common interest of where the best steak you had recently, or your next venture to a different city, state, country.

Table Crush works pretty simply. You just sign up for free on their website, put the most beautiful photo of yourself (though I prefer mine to be a big sexy hamburger), find a meal you would like to have, and then reserve! The meals are prefixed and sometimes paired with drinks as an option. But really, why wouldn't you drink? I love to drink. Love the big eye balls that everyone gets when the cute short glasses come along, the arrays of colors, that one peel a poor orange had to endure... just for you and me.

Basically, the concept of Table Crush is to bring people who enjoy food together at various restaurants in LA to share unique food experiences in a group of 6-8 people.

(First off, I quick apology to the photos not being the most clear or sharp. Shooting at night is still something I am working on)

Table Crush had their dining event that evening at Gracias Madre. This is my first time here, with that said, I was super stoked to have a beautiful Mexican VEGAN dining experience. Yeah, Mexican Vegan. From their website, this is the story of Gracias Madre:

“We first conceived the idea of Gracias Madre while visiting the families of our employees in Mexico. We wanted to both; offer organic Mexican food to the communities we serve as well as honor the mothers who work tirelessly in the kitchens of Mexico and often live without their husbands and children while they work side by side with us in California. Inspired by some of the recipes of these families and the love of their mothers, Gracias Madre serves organic, farm fresh, locally sourced food, full of flavor and love.”

— Gracias Madre

Going back to the photo above, that is the full menu that we received for our tasting. Ready? First things First. Drinks. Because I am NOT an alcoholic, but I just like to get belligerently drunk with my meals. Not really but really. No I don't have a problem.

To start

Is it gorgeous looking or what? The drink consists of :juniper infused mezcal, lime, mint, sparkling wine, spherical ice of absinthe. This drink had a light smoke, the tang from the lime, and the dry finish from the wine. It reminded me of the sour warheads because of the color. Are you old enough to remember what Warheads are?

"mezcal espadin, house quince tepache, crushed ice, smoked table side in a whole pineapple with organic apple wood". Is that ridiculous or WHAT! Your drink is in that pineapple, they bring a freaking smoke gun, and that infuses the cocktail! That lady in the back wants to steal it, just look at her.

Appetizers

Their escabeche are made in house and it was really delicious. The jalapenos weren't too spicy, the carrots had a nice snap to it (I hate it when they are soggy socks), and there were also garlic. There were also a few bowls of guacamole. Simple, fresh, creamy, and a punch of lime. Also, a salsa trio was sent compliments from the chef. The salsa trio consisted of mango salsa, pineapple habanero salsa, pico de gallo, and with some house made tortilla chips.

Chef Chandra Gilbert came out to greet us and explained the concept of Gracias Madre. Which by the way, is a perk of dining through Table Crush, you get to meet the chef. HOW freaking cool is that?! She explained to us how they source their ingredients from local farmers market as well as owning their own farm (so freaking badass). I am not a chef. But I've worked in a restaurant for 4 years and I know how hard it is, for the head/exec chef to step out to greet you, and to show their appreciation for you dining with them. It's very humbling, and makes the food that much better to know there's a lot of heart and soul that the whole team is pulling together. Definitely worth meeting the chef.

Sorry! Back to the meal.

Oh! Hi there! I think they should make one with Habanero! Ultimate butt fire game. By the way, I love their ice cubes.

Ensalada de espinacas - Spinach, shitake mushrooms, mint, mandarins, and aged balsamic. The salad was huge, looked simple, but PACKED with delicious flavors. I loved the play with the shitake mushrooms, it reminded me as if I was eating a Octopus salad. The aged balsamic with the mandarins made the salad very distinct and it's own character. I would definitely order this again, and I'm not even a spinach salad fan.

The next appetizer that we also tasted, and is a MUST, was their Coliflor Frito. Cauliflower, cashew nacho cheese, and lemon. GUYS! I am going nuts with this cashew stuff. Cashes nacho cheese? We all did the mmMMmmmMMmm *eyes roll back* - *died* - *risen*. I loved it. Cauliflower is one of my favorite veggies. It's so meaty, stands within the heat really well, and takes up a lot of flavor if you give it a lot of nurture and love. Now, I would definitely come back just for this.

Entrees

A rolled up tortilla with sweet potatoes, DEEP FRIED - caramelized onions, pico de gallo, guacamole, cashew nacho cheese. All you sweet potato fans. You will love this. Out of everything I ate that night, this really reminded me that I wasn't eating meat. The sweet potato was very smooth and creamy, a perfect way to smack a wall in your face to tell you "HEY! if you are not full yet, this will do it!".

Sorry for the blur, but this is their potato masa cake, pineapple habanero salsa, guacamole, pickled cabbage, black beans, cashew crema, cilanto and more escabeche. I doused their red and green chile sauce on this sope (and my flauta). I loved the black beans and the masa very much. The flavors were well balanced. The habanero in the salsa finds its way to stab you. I like to be stabbed. But don't worry, the cashew crema and pickled cabbage will make the ride easy. I also loved the sweetness of the pineapples and the components in this dish. It was very well thought out and well executed.

Dessert

Peanut Butter Cup Bites - Raw Cacao crust - toasted peanut ganache. Wow. Just wowsers. This was so decadent and different from all the peanut things I've ever had. It was really creamy and rich. Basically, it's everything you would want in a giant tub, with a giant spoon, watching Homeland, Ray Donovan or the Walking Dead. I would like a quart of this NOW.

Followed by their Fudge Brownie - salted caramel, coconut bacon and coconut cashew whipped cream. Uhhhh we all slathered the peanut butter cup spread on this. How full I felt after entrees, immediately disappeared when I was having this dessert.

Rounding it up, I am happy I tried Table Crush. The owner of Table Crush, Jay Park, was with us to share his passion, his visions of bringing a whole new game to the foodie community, and to definitely bring light to the underdogs in the restaurant industry. It's cut throat in this world, and sometimes, one bad review by someone ignorant of a culture, can depict the whole image of a restaurant, causing patrons to steer away.

What I love about Table Crush is how it stays true to the values that I believe in. It sets up random spots for you to try, and you go blinded without really knowing what you are in for. This was a great way for me to kick off my first reservation with Table Crush at Gracias Madre.

I would never think of dining at a Vegan restaurant, and now, look at me. I've became a guppy for cashew nacho cheese and peanut ganache.

Happy eatings, and hope to see more faces on the next Table Crush event!

Salud!

Daiisies

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Happy Birthday Donny Wu

October 19, 2015

Ok. Took some of the worst pictures this night for Donny's birthday. I haven't mastered shooting in dark light... and the amount of old fashioned I was drinking didn't help either. We had reservations at Arroyo Chophouse in Pasadena. The chophouse is one of the Yorbas and Donny's favorite places to celebrate a birthday. And when they do, they do it big.

We... had a lot of these. This was the Donny birthday drink. Every year for his birthday, most of everyone will have this as their drink of choice. It goes down so smooth which makes it a dangerous cocktail. Based with bourbon or rye, the orange twist and bitters makes me a happy girl. Don't forget to drink your water (oops).

They made it to my decent photos. Before the camera shakes... and more old fashioned.

Shrimp and King Crab platter. (Alaskan Crab $18, Jumbo shrimp cocktail $14)

First off, the shrimp was supposed to be cocktail shrimp, so this (BBQ Shrimp) had to be returned. When the dish came back, everyone were immediately digging in to one of the largest shrimps I've ever seen used for cocktail. And by the way, it was DELICIOUS. King Crab? DELICIOUS. Everything was extraordinary.

Yeah I don't remember what kind of oysters these were. Just call this post a failed post. BUT, we ordered 2 dozens of the small oysters that they have since they carried 2 that night. These oysters were spectacular! Cold, clean, buttery, had a nice snap with a sweet finish.

We (as in Donny) ordered 4 of these. It was melting your buns good. Food gasmic in your mouth good. It actually made my mouth feel sexy if that makes sense. It doesn't huh? Well this was one of the best Foie Gras I've had. It's simple. They use a thick piece for every order. A literal explosion of flavor in your mouth, and one of my absolute favorite decadent things to order.

The Wagyu New York strip came in at 14oz. I was underwhelmed by how chewy it was.. With that being said, it did have good flavor, but it definitely didn't meet the expectations of a Wagyu Steak. American Wagyu or Japanese Wagyu, I've had both, and this was a bit disappointing.

On the other hand, I tried their Wagyu filet mignon, and that was much tastier coming in at $51.

Of course Donny ordered the Wagyu Rib Eye. The texture of the steak was also underwhelming. The fat in the steak however, was very flavorful. For the price, I would definitely order their regular rib eye...

or their Tomahawk:

This beast, made for a carnivore, came in at a womping 2 1/4 pounds. No knife, just gram the handle and chop it off like this was your last meal. Yes, 2 people can share it and maybe even 3. But you are about to die, so skip the onion ring and eat this up. I'm salivating all over again.

Of course, Donny ordered every single dish on the menu minus the Souffle. I say skip the dessert next time, and order yourself another Foie Gras. Just saying.

Um so yeah. I do have more photos, but it's pretty blurry. Just like the rest of the night.

$1,666 and tip wasn't even included? Bold. We strolled to Old Town Pasadena. Crashed the Blind Donkey (btw yummy burgers), had more old fashioned, water, and played a few rounds of Shuffle Board. Followed the birthday boy to Kings Row Gastropub. And then, ended up in my first UBER ride to another place that I had no idea existed. From there, there were blue liquid shots. I lost track.

And guess what? I drove everyone home! I'm SO AWESOME!

And the next day?

Hungover as F!

Mother F'ers. Happy birthday Wu! till whoevers birthday is next. I will be hibernating.

Life is good.

Daiisies

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Special Olympics - SOCAL - Pier Del Sol

October 13, 2015

I've been anticipating this years Pier Del Sol in Santa Monica after a wonderful time I had last year. Get ready, unbuckle your belts, because I'm sure you will gain 10 pounds just by looking at these photos.

Here's a little bio about Special Olympics from their website:

"The mission of Special Olympics Southern California is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.
Our vision is to provide sports and training programs for any individual with intellectual disabilities who chooses to participate, thereby improving their lives and the lives of everyone they touch."

-Special Olympics

Being as big of a foodie as I am, I was super stoked to see all the participating restaurants that will be there. Providence for one, shucked way over 100 oysters to serve the crowd. This year, I was hoping they would do the same. Why? Because it was the best oysters I've ever had.

Unfortunately, I was so excited that I didn't catch the names of the oysters... all 3 times I stopped by! But the clams, were extraordinary. I've never had such clean tasting clams with the most memorable snappy texture. It just pops in your mouth. The sauces that they were serving were impeccable as well. You would think cocktail sauce, horseradish, and mignonette sauce is the most simple things to serve with oysters. Like duh, how can you mess that up? Well... A LOT of places do. And once you've tried their sauces, especially their mignonette, then you will understand the excited booty dance that I was doing.

Hache LA were serving a nice refreshing non-alcoholic cocktail. Fresh strawberries with basil lemonade. Such a delightful cooler to ease of the terrible hot-humid weather that was hitting the pier. I was DRENCHED in sweat every time I stepped into the sun.

Bar Pintxo served one of the best breakfast Paella I've had. I haven't had much either, but the saffron was so aromatic and distinct. There was a bit of socarrat in every bite which drove me bonkers! So delicious! With the creamy soft poached egg was to d-i-e for.

Speaking of delicious poached eggs, it seems like everyone was getting their egg game right.

Getting serious now.

Fishing with Dynamite served one of the best shrimp and grits I've ever had! John just came back from New Orleans a few months ago, and said this topped what he's had there. By the way, I'm not trying to sound obsessed... but the poached egg was STELLAR. The whites literally mushed off... like soft super soft custard.. glued to the ooey gooey yolk... there was nothing more heavenly.

Take a break and grab some fresh s'mores from Spago! My brothers girlfriend, Angela, is the Sous pastry chef that created this with her team for this lovely event. Though this was specially made for this event, I just want to say that their raspberry marshmallow was the best mother f'ing marsh s'mores muusshh I've had! It totally reminded me of the holidays, and y'all know how crazy I am about the holidays right now! BEAST! Think of raspberry covered chocolates. H-ea-v-e-n.

Via Alloro served a duck beat salad and a delicious creamy mushroom truffle soup. Their mushroom soup is something that I was looking forward to this year as well. Though the soup was cold... the mushrooms had a delicious aroma throughout. The truffles, however, did nothing for the soup. I was a bit underwhelmed this year. The duck beat salad was simple, refreshing, and balanced if you eat the dish together. The duck was slightly salty.

This was AMAZING. Hamasaku did this sweet tofu wasanbon that was out of this world! I should've had more of this. It was their version of panna cotta, and I definitely enjoyed this a lot more. It was really thoughtful and well executed. Something so simple done right, gochisousama!

LA Prime did not disappoint with this New York cut steak. A beauty served with watercress, perfect mash and meat gravy. Is that sexy or what? I had 2 plates. (restaurant is located in Westin Bonaventure Hotel).

Mistral was here last year and here again this year serving the same dish. I'm NOT complaining. This was their red wine braised short ribs, doused with a horseradish cream, on a garlic crouton. This was slayed! The horseradish cream was the perfect compliment to cut the richness of the beef. Need I say more? Just one bite folks!

Ok we are almost there. Are you getting hungry yet?

Comforting pesto penne from Terroni! I love, and pretty much am, obsessed with pasta at the moment. I loved the velvet olive oil that you can taste in the whole dish. So silky in the best way ever! I'm definitely going to pop my head in this restaurant in the near future!

Daily Grill was serving up some blackened Ahi tuna. I was a bit skeptical by the simplicity of this dish. But the flavors? PACKED! This was SO delicious, and had gems hidden! There were artichokes, DELICIOUS artichokes. I think this dish was the underdog from the event. Who knew a simple salad like this could be so freaking decadent! I have to visit the Daily Grill AS WELL.

The Tripel created a simple refreshing ceviche served over taro chips. Great dish for this humidity. I never thought of using taro chips for ceviche... genius. Is it lower calories? A girl can only dream....

Really? Angelini Osteria served prosciutto with persimmons. WHY. DOES. IT. TASTE. SO. GOOD. TOGETHER?! Persimmons is seasonal. So how am I going to eat this again? Why do this to me? WHY must you?! I hate simple dishes. Everyone tries to always overdo simple things that stands on it's own. Cantaloupe has nothing on this persimmon. Bravo!

Honary Chef goes to Alain Giraud, chef and owner of Maison Giraud. Serving up some pretty looking food that day. Their salad nicoise was simple and fresh. Again, another refreshing dish to cleanse this heat. And scoot over to grab a mini pain au chocolat, one of my favorite classic french pastries. Where's the coffee?!

Uhhh... yeah you gotta make your sundae from Dandy Don's. Don't forget your nuts and maraschino cherry.

Strand House made this pretty awesome creation. What you see is a blueberry crumb cake, creme fraiche whip you see there, blueberry compote, and a cardamom injector. How fun is that?

Uhhh... yeah this happened to. PINKS was serving up their whole links. No minis. No saving grace. You take the calories, and you run. You can feel bad later, but at this moment, I devour and I will slay.

It's now Tuesday, and I've been working out insanely from eating as much as I did. The hot humid weather didn't make me feel all that attractive either... but now, I feel a lot better. I am super stoked to come back again next year.

Now you tell me. $150 to help charity and to get all this food, is it worth it to you?

gochisousama,

Daiisies

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Henry's Cuisine

October 6, 2015

Henry's Cuisine - 301 E Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801

If you are familiar with 626 restaurants, you can understand there is a lot going on in this area. With that being said, there are a lot of restaurants that stands out, and some that are just trying their best to survive. The more common restaurants like Tasty Garden has emerged over the past several years and has opened a few other locations. Phoenix Inn has been around for 50 YEARS (can you imagine that?) also evolved overtime and some even revamped the interior of their locations. Then, you have the typical Chinese cafes like Garden, Baccalis, JJ, JR, KT cafe, Ledo, and so much more. This is also followed by the many restaurants that serves dim sum in the morning, all the Vietnamese joints, HOT POTS, but we are definitely not going to to go into any of that today. (I'm mind blown just going through all other cuisines in my head)

I picked up my mom today to have dinner. We were trying to figure out how to set up her Bluetooth to connect to her car. I don't know if you remembered from a past post, my mom got a new car.

It took a while before I figured out that... I couldn't really figure it out. We decided to take a break from that and head to dinner. She already had her mind set on Henry's Cuisine because a few of her friends raved about the fried salted pig knuckle. I've heard about it, seen it, and always wanted to try it myself. I am a huge fan of roast pork. Being Chinese, it was really something we grew up eating in the household. We would order a few ribs, chopped it up, made some garlic sauteed veggie, a big pot of white Jasmine rice, and that was our meal. It was tough, but our parents made it easy for us to enjoy tasty meals with a low budget.

See? Literally. Meat. Veggie. Rice. With the addition of the porridge because my mom was not feeling well. First thing first.

Deep Fried Salted Pig Knuckle:

Seriously, it was decadent. My mom went straight for the skin, took one bite, and told me "MMMMMM, it's good" in Cantonese or "MMMMM. Ho sik". I tried it for myself and almost cried. The meat was lean, but tender. The brininess of the pork was perfect. This dish was pretty extraordinary. The saltiness of the pork really makes it distinct as well as the hue of the meat. My mom called dibs on the bone, but before she did I peeled a few bits of skin off for myself. She was one happy mom.

The vegetable was simple. Something we always order because we need to have some green with our meal. It's just the way every Chinese meal goes.

This is another typical staple in the Chinese cuisine. Whether you are sick, or having breakfast, this is always a go to comfort food. Preserved eggs are not for everyone. I didn't start enjoying the eggs till I was in my 20's. I would normally eat around it because I do like the flavors it brings to the congee.

All in all, thumbs up. This place was not packed whatsoever and that makes me really sad. There were these 2 mainland Chinese ladies that arrived at the same times as we did. They ordered food at the same time, but left in the middle of our meal. My mom overheard them saying the food sucks. I'm like it sucks? "MMMMM HO SIK AH!" that's what I said. The ahh puts emphasis on your statement.

How rude were these ladies? They actually went up to the waitress who was closing out their bill, and spoke in mandarin that the food was poor quality. The phrase in our language is actually a lot worse than the English "It sucks/not good/taste bad". It's a lot meaner to say it in our language. The restaurant was not full, so them saying it a few times stung me a bit. It made me slightly mad. The meal I just shared with my mom was delicious. The service we had was one of the best that we had in the area. The food was comforting and there is no reason to be hostile.

I want this place to do good. So I hope that you all can give it a try (especially the pork knuckle). I would totally save the bone, and make congee with that. Just imagine all the delicious roasty pork flavors you can extract from it?

Or you can chuck it at those 2 ladies I saw.

Chow!

Daiisies

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Wine & Dine

Dog Haus - Pasadena

Table Crush - Gracias Madre

Happy Birthday Donny Wu

Special Olympics - SOCAL - Pier Del Sol

Henry's Cuisine