Stay tuned, for an amazing dinner Hosted by Thrive Algae oil. I have so much fun things to share with you.
For the time being, check out http://www.thrivealgae.com/
xoxo
daiisies
A colleague took me here for the first time back when I worked in Hollywood. I didn't know what to expect, but knew the food was going to be great based off of tasting their chimicurri.
Going a little deeper with their chimichurri sauce, it was basically freaking amazing. I never remembered it to me pulverized like some restaurants, but you can still see a few of the leafy bits. My friend ordered 2 because he didn't want to share. Now I get why.
I've tried many things here. But one thing I was surprised on how delicious it was, were their burger.
Lalas Burger
I'm a burger snob. There's just nothing I love more than a good patty between bread. And when they ask you how you like your burger done, you know you are in for a good treat. It had good meat flavor, a beautiful char, but the best part was slathering the chimichurri sauce on. ALL over. Slow motion. Big bite. Finger-licking-napkin-faced- GOOD.
Argentina Sausage
I've never had this before, but I did enjoy this. Yes. Chimichurri met the sausage. It has a nice snap and well balanced with the salsa. I've also tried blood sausage before. Unique and actually quite good. As long as you can get passed the blood part.
I'll definitely be back soon because this place makes bad ass food. So if you are ever in town and want to eat here, take me.
7229 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Tel (323) 934 6838
Sunday / Thursday 11AM till 11PM
Friday and Saturday 11AM till 12AM
wine alllll night.
cheers,
Daiisies
This is my dad and his sister. My aunt is the oldest out of 6 followed by my dad. All of my family has immigrated to Canada making my cousins 2nd generations. From my dad's side of the family, my aunt Betty is the only that resides here in Los Angeles, California with her 2 daughters that live up in San Francisco. I'm not sure what the term is in Cantonese, but I am pretty sure these 2 are best friends. They spend every Saturday having breakfast together for almost 2 decades. With that being said, my aunt recently moved to San Francisco a year ago for her retirement, and to be a caretaker for her first granddaughter, Abigail. With the mentality that my aunt was leaving, I remembered how sad this whole situation must've been for these 2. My dad doesn't talk much about it, but I knew he was saddened.
Wow. Writing this makes me a bit choked up with them staring at me in this photo.
I decided to be breakfast buddies with my dad now that my aunt has moved (John comes along of course). This means a lot. This means no sleeping in, up at 9AM to meet my dad at the same Chinese Cafe that he likes. No matter if I sleep at 3AM from shows, coming home late at night, or hungover in the morning. The breakfast still goes on. This has become one of my sacred mornings that I cherish.
My aunt and her first daughter (don't want to say anything that makes my cousin Celia feel a certain again.. ooops!), came to LA to finish up some errands. I am happy I got to catch dinner with them, because I don't have much family in LA, so it's amazing and always a fantastic time to be around each other.
Now. FOOD.
Phoenix Boneless Chicken.
This is definitely one of my favorite dishes. I actually grew up eating at Phoenix in Chinatown in DTLA. That location has been around since, I believe, 1960, so just imagine the history and the type of classic Chinese dishes that are served there. This chicken is served cold. Extremely comforting over a big bowl of hot rice. The cold sauce will slowly melt through the rice, heavenly. Yes, I would 100% recommend to order this.
Ong Choy with shrimp paste
I don't even know how I would explain this. Ong Choy is a water spinach. The stems has a nice snap and crunch to them. The soft leafy parts get really tender as you cook them through. I normally like to order this with fermented soybean, but my family felt like the shrimp paste.
Beef Steak in Black Pepper Sauce
Come on, have you seen my dad? He needs his beef. I think that's where I get it from. This is something we would order, but it made it to our table that night. Tender, and the sauce was not too powering as it looks. The rice always acts as support to any saucy dish.
Seafood with crispy tofu
The tofu fried with a simple corn starch batter, topped with seafood that's cooked in a broth with more corn starch to thicken. This is something we always order. I don't know why, we just do. I like to splash a little soy sauce and chili oil. Just a simple sole, shrimp, squid, canned mushrooms and snow peas.
Bitter melon with sea bass
This is a classic Cantonese dish. But, beware. The melon is obviously bitter. We eat it because the taste is acquired, and it's good for you. My parents would always cook this for me as a detox, especially when I had pimples or oily coughs from eating too much fried foods. People always ask me what I do with my skin. Besides drinking a lot of water, I grew up eating stuff like this and Chinese herbal tea drinks. Let me know if you are ever interested and I'll talk about that.
The sea bass was really butter and cooked to perfection with the fermented black bean and garlic sauce. They normally add sugar to the bitter melon to balance out the bitterness, but not so much in this case.
Deep Fried Pork Intestines
You guys... do know I'm Chinese right? This is one of those "what's wrong with this?" foods that is second nature to me. I don't find it disgusting. I am hooked on the taste. and my brother eats this too. He likes the ones especially with the dirty brown bits inside. No not really, but we joke around with that. I can tell that Phoenix, in Alhambra, doesn't really serve this too often. Some places that I order this from, have more finesse with the presentation. Like, a green onion is stringed through, fried, and sliced in an angle, presented in perfect alignment. This looks a little like... "Oh shit! someone actually ordered the intestines tonight! do we have anymore?". I have a lot of leftovers still. I cleaned out the gutter, and popped it in my breville at 450 for maybe 10 minutes to crisp it up. SO much better. Oh, and it comes with a sweet and sour sauce that helps with this, none. MAN UP AND EAT THIS! One of my favorites if done right.
Black rice, with coconut cream and jelly. One of my favorites and something that my dad taught me to make growing up. You can find mixed black rice in any asian market to make this at home. I'll look into it and share it with you. This is sweet, hot, a little sticky, but thick. The coconut milk/cream thins out this hot dessert. It's really lovely, and different. I'll bet you've never had this before.
Durian, black rice, coconut jelly and coconut milk.
But.. this might be my new favorite. Yes, Durian has a strong scent, but I love it. A lot. I'm a secret Durian lover even though it's not a secret anymore. Durian.. is like.. a sweet rotten onion. Ok that doesn't sound delicious, but I don't know how else to describe it besides that. with the black rice... and the coconut noodle.. Oh MAN! I need a large spoon, with Homeland, and I can be a caveman for THE REST OF MY LIFE. Don't you like moments that make you feel that way? I live for those. If you've never had durian, make sure you have a group of people to try it with. Chances are you won't like it. But, you never know.
And that was that. My aunt left 2 days later. It was easier to say bye this time since it wasn't a vacation visit. My next trip will be to San Francisco. Are you ready? I can't wait to visit Chinatown, by some Chinese sausages, and make some cooked rice.
Stay tuned.
Eat well, Travel well, Family first, and always, food within reach.
Daiisies
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.
Little Leaguer
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.
Tater Tots
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
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)
Dedicated Menu.
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.”
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
Three Miracles
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?
SMOKE BOMB SQUARE PANTS
"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.
Jalapeno Margarita
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
Flauta De Camote
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!".
Sope Con Pina
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.
Gracias Madre
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