Pinkberry

I was looking though my phone and laughing at the pictures from my trip with Carbo to LA and San Diego...within these hot pics I also came across a few images of places we ate. One of the nice treats was having Pink Berry for breakfast on our way out of San Diego. Pink Berry dining opportunities are only available to you if you are in Cali or NYC.

With the top down in our sweet rental we drove to the local Pink Berry.


Often imitated in bootleg frozen yogurt shops all over this city the design concept is so clean and on point at Pinkberry. Detail is given to the floor, chairs, lamps, glass and everywhere you look. It was extremely comfortable in a strange sort of mind controlling way.

The staff were nice and extremely well groomed. I am sure that is a requirement some sort of pink berry brand.


All of the toppings looked very fresh, the fruit was almost fake looking and the nuts had a gloss on them. I imagined that someone went through every piece of fruit and nut getting rid of anything that looked damaged or irregular shaped. I should also mention it was spotless in there.

I dont really like fruit as much as I adore salt. I do however love coconut...so I went with the original yogurt with almonds and coconut.


We sat in the Cali sun and enjoyed our breakfast, after the night we had it was just what I needed. I love frozen yogurt and enjoy most bootleg recipes that I have tried. Pinkberry however has this extra tart kick that makes it very much superior. Then again, now that I think about it I may have been brainwashed in that store.

More pictures from Pink Taco

Thank you for the wonderful post Carbo. Here are some pics from when we were at Pink Taco at the end of January. I swear I meant to post, but I am glad you did.

Craft

It was just about a month ago when I traveled down to LA and San Diego for a short vacation with CarboOverload who was there for work. I wish this was the right venue to share the highlights from the rest of the trip but it wouldnt even come close to doing it justice, it was beyond interesting. It has taken me longer than I would have liked to write this post but here we go.

If you watch Top Chef you know who Tom Colicchio is and he also happens to own Craft Restaurants. I was invited by Carbo to enjoy a dinner with her on the first night I arrived in LA, and everyone at the hotel said Craft because it was just down the street. We called to check if we needed a reservation but they had room for us regardless. The restaurant is in a non-descript office tower complex down a narrow walkway in the middle of Century City and not surrounded by much. It is definitely a destination eatery. When you walk in you are right in the bar. This bar was small and awkward, it had too much lighting and was more like a lobby. They offered us a seat in the bar but we told them we would take the dining room.


When we were seated I looked around and noticed the simple design and subtle art. The lights hanging from the celiing and the large booths made the energy very comfortable. For some reason it made me feel like I was in Las Vegas or something, but I dont know why.


We were seated and greeted with some water and a box of bread. The butter that came with it was very rich and sweet.

After the bread the server came back and dropped off some complimentary sea urchin custard. It was still a bit warm and had a very fish stick like taste. The texture was hard to enjoy, I tried my best to eat as much as possible to see if I was just missing the genius...Carbo barely had one bite.

After the custard our server returned and helped us pick out a wine. I leave that up to Carbo, I rarely have bad wine when she orders.

Carbo settled on something she has had before it was a Holus Bolus 2006 Santa Ynez Valley Syrah. I thought it was nice and rich with some deep fruit flavors, but do not know much about wine. Good choice and cool bottle.

By far the best thing that I ate at Craft was this beet salad. They were amazing pickled and roasted baby beets from local farms mixed with gorgonzola. I wish I had more words to describe them...besides awesome.


Next we shared a few gnochi which contained chestnuts and marscapone cheese. On top of the gnochi was a rich buttery red wine sauce with a touch of rosemary. They were pretty good but you couldnt eat a whole plate of those alone without getting too stuffed. They were really heavy to me.

We ordered a few sides to accompany the meal including Swiss Chard which was very well cooked and perfectly salted.

As well as some risotto, which was thin but the small bites of pork were very rich and buttery.
In the back are the diver scallops which we shared as one of our entrees. I thought they were too fishy and sort of dirty tasting. Really rustic presentation with capers and slivered almonds. I only had one...

Our other shared main was the berkshire rack of pork. The pork was light and very soft. Although you cannot see them, this dish had jalapenos which made everything pop. This pork would make a good sandwhich. Delicious.


After our meal the server showed up with another complimentary item. It was a meyer lemon soda with coconut sorbet. It was sour and sweet. I could have drank a whole glass of this if I didn't just eat a huge meal. Very good.

Although the soda was a nice touch we also decided to share a dessert. We went with the peanut cup with peanut butter brittel, caramel gelee and little caramel gelato. The peanut butter cup had a really tasty chocololate crust. This dessert was salty and rich, I loved it. The guy who makes this won LA pastry chef of the year. He knows whats up.


Now I thought we were done but arrived was another complimentary item...mini cupcakes with cinnamon frosting and a bite of what can best be described as apple and cotlets. This was a gross dessert on all levels. Dry and tasteless. Pointless as well.

Upon paying we als recived a to go pastry....nice marketing idea, but the thought of eating it even the next day was too much.


This review is bittersweet because I had the best time sharing this meal with one of my best friends, we laughed talked to the awesome servers, drank and had some really amazing food but the next day proved to change my whole attitude about the night. Now, because you cannot prove it I do not want to make harsh accusations about Craft, but the next day Carbo was bedridden from what we think was food poisoning. I had stomach issues all day but nothing half as bad as her. We think it was the scallops, I only ate one and she ate the other three. Looking back and thinking a piece of fish was too fishy and dirty that should be the heads up to pump the brakes. Im not sure if I will eat scallops again for a long time.

Let me end this on a good note, our trip was fun, lots of great memories. Thanks for taking me out to dinner Carbo. See you on our next vacation.

10100 Constellation Blvd
Los Angles, CA

Los Angeles: Sun, Food and Tres

I haven't been to LA in years...until last week. For my birthday I decided to purchase myself a gift and that was buying tickets to see Mary J. Blige and Jay Z at the Hollywood Bowl. After a few cocktails one night I mentioned I was going to a friend, who in turn told another friend and next thing you know we all ended up in LA and booked rooms at The Standard.

Well, this is a food blog so lets get started.

Day 1.
After getting off the plane and heading to our hotel we stopped at Los Burritos on Sunset (4929 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles) The "natural juices" sign caught our attention as well as the big outdoor patio. I guess this is a chain spot with close to 10 locations around the city.

I went with a chicken taco and a fish taco. The chicken taco was tasty and fresh and the salsa came right on with just the right amount of heat. The chicken was nicely cooked but it needed a bit more seasoning. I also enjoyed the fish taco which was extremely deep fried making the sour cream so-so necessary to kill the dryness. The fish was coated in what tasted almost like a curry seasoning. We also got some chips, cuz i LOVE chips. This was a nice quick meal before we hit our hotel for some draaaanks.


So we hit the liquor store and grabbed some drinks and then we did this...


After the show we did a mini pub crawl back to the hotel where we ended up eating in The Standard's 24/7 Restaurant. Several of us at the table ordered the chicken sandwich which was pretty damn good, it came on a big spicy jalapeño biscuit. The chicken was fried and the soft biscuit was a great touch. I ended up eating half at the spot and the other half the night before we left straight out the mini fridge in my room. Both times the sandwich was great, if anything it just needed more mayo. Oh yeah, and it also needed to not be like 12 bucks without a side. Welcome to Hollywood.

Day 2.
One thing pretty awesome about The Standard is their pool and with the sun blazing at 930am two of us took advantage of the opportunity. We ordered two cups of coffee and then TWO carafes. Our first carafe was some sort of coconut margarita. This was the truth. It wasnt an overpriced weak ass cocktail it came correct with the alcohol and the coconut flavor was amazing.

By the time we ordered our second carafe we had made a new friend, Bruno, our poolside server. Bruno was amazed at the fact that the two of us were that ready to party on a Thursday morning. He was a good dude and on our last day at the hotel he gave us a hug goodbye. Don't worry Bruno, we will be back.

The second carafe was a watermelon mojito. Again, the drink was nice and the flavor was so natural it did not taste all gross and sugary. I cannot figure out how they got these strong fruit flavors without syrup. I am a fan of the carafe even though they set you back at 40 dollars a piece! The thing is, one drink is $12 so why not make a budget decision and go for the goods.

We waited for everyone to get up and then we all needed to eat. One place on everyones list was Roscoe's. It was a meal we all shared together and it was really chill. All of us were feeling the effects of partying and traveling so a nice meal of grease and carbs was totally appropriate. With 5 locations in the LA area we ended up at the one closest to our hotel in Hollywood.

I went with the SCOES which is basically 1/4 Chicken cooked southern style and 2 waffles. A few others ordered this as well. Someone also ordered an omelet and RB went with some smothered chicken, grits and greens. I tasted all of it except the omelet. This place rules. I loved the chicken and thought it was exactly as I expected = BOMB, and the waffles were perfectly cooked. The tastes really do come together and you need to eat a piece of chicken with a bite of waffle dipped in some syrup. It is the truth, ain't just a gimmick.

We did some shopping then took a nap. Later that night we ended up across the street from our hotel at this strange little place called Cabo Cantina (8301 W Sunset Blvd). This place was everything I imagine Spring Break would be. Girls with half shirts, guys with backwards visors and loud obnoxious music. Earlier in the day we were intrigued by the signs of good cheap tacos and drinks. Apparently we missed happy hour because our tab ended up being ridiculous. Again, welcome to Hollywood. The margaritas we pretty good, a little sweet for me.

I got down on fish tacos. The spicy mayo like salsa sauce was a nice touch. The fish was a bit fishy but the overall dish was pretty good, but the portion was way too much for me considering I ate a basket of chips and downed two drinks.

More drinking ensued and then we hit a club. After the club we hit another mexican spot by our hotel called Pinches Tacos. The outdoor deck was nice because the LA evening weather was super comfortable.

I ate two chicken taquitos which were great and they were on some real budget food because they only set me back $4.50. The guacamole was tasty and fresh, I also liked the flavor of the chicken mixed with the cheese. Damn, I love taquitos...keep reading.


Day 3.
Day 3 included a quick morning stint at the pool with a fruit plate and one drink. Then next thing you know we headed out for some shopping over on Fairfax. After shopping L. and I got scooped by his Dad and we headed over to Pasadena and had a really nice meal at Cafe Santorini. I had a big seared ahi tuna salad which was dusted with a light lime ginger dressing. The salad was really what I needed after all fried food. Then again, the friend wonton chips on top of the greens were quite tasty. While we were eating we got down on a couple bottles of champagne which made the whole meal even more enjoyable.

Once again I will make the announcement about me and dessert and how they just don't mix. HOWEVER, this was no joke prolly the best Tiramisu I have tasted in a long long time. I am not sure if it was the tasty cocoa powder or the fine custard coating on the rum soaked lady fingers. The raspberry sauce that the dessert was sitting on was also amazing, it was fresh and made with real raspberries.

So after dinner we went back to the hotel, drank a lot, celebrated J.'s bday and stayed up til like 430am. This was the night I went back to my room and pounded water and ate the other half of that chicken sandwich.

Day 4.
I rallied the troops so we could get up early because we were hours from having to get on the plane to come home. Before we left we had two things to do. The first was to hit Santee Alley for some shopping. We really wanted to get breakfast first but it didn't seem to work out. (Thanks for nothing A.)

So we ended up in the Alley, had to pay 50 cents to go to the restroom and then stumbled upon some street side mexican food. Once again I went for the taquitos. What made these different from the Pinches taquitos was the dripping cream and the nice hot sauce. The chicken wasn't as good but the sauces more than made up for that.

Because it was our last day we were on a mission to eat and eat and keep eating. I think I was trying to eat off three days of partying. While we were waiting for RB to hustle some jeans and some shirts we ended up getting down on some sidewalk grub. This $2 treat was one of the best things I ate in LA. Corn coated with butter, hot sauce and cheese. Damn.....

Tres

So the very last thing we had to do was hit Venice Beach. This was the perfect end to our trip because we got to walk around and enjoy the last bit of sun. After 2 hours of walking around we got hungry again. We really set out to just get a snack but ended up with more food than a small army would need. You would think that at a place called Big Daddy Pizza we woulda just grabbed a slice....but we didnt.

I went for the chicken chunks and fries. Uh...this was a whole chicken that they blew up and then fried the busted pieces. The chicken was sitting on top of sliced potatoes "fries" which were undercooked and nasty. I am still also not sure why they need to serve this to you in a damn tortilla bowl? Whatever, I ate a few chicken bites covered in the best thing on the dish (RANCH) and then it hit the trash. I do not even know what the hell that chicken was seasoned with.

L. got some fish and fries and also went for the churro. Nothing like some fried fish and some fried dough. He claims it was all good, but damn he got those fries too and they were not whats up. (Wait...hold up, is that t-shirt a picture of MJB and J Dilla!?!??!)


Before I say farewell, I need to leave you with one more picture from our Venice Beach snack time. A. ordered a turkey leg....and boy was it disgusting. What the hell. No comment. Don't worry, she didnt eat it.


Goodbye LA! I didnt eat that many meals but I know I gained 2 pounds! I am gonna bet most of that came from the drannnnnnks.