Cupcakes.

Auntie Em's in Eagle Rock is killing it with their homemade cupcakes. While they lack in the insatiable chocolate with peanut butter center or Snickers style cupcakes from Joan's, they gain in their simplicity and cared for taste. In fact, in the adjacent marketplace where they sell a nice assortment of cheese, there was an adorable young man who had set himself up behind a folding table. He was decorating each baby chocolate cupcake with intensity. 

Santouka Number 81

Underneath lies a sea of noodles. Santouka! To be found at Mitsuwa, the Japanese restaurant and food court at the corner of Centinela and Venice blvd. 

Lunch Today

Little chunks of Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Sliced Shaner avocados, keeping the jams coming with some sugar snap peas, arugula that will fool ya, lemon juice, olive oil, salt. Zion I Salad.

JITLADA Sundays

Herring Salad

They bake their own bread

Dinner at Church & State, Downtown Los Angeles. Amazing. 

Best Fish Tacos in Ensenadas

 pickled radish, shredded cabbage, salsa, sour creamy

Ignore the mess on the plate

A very unfortunate dining experience at Reservoir in Silver Lake. Horrible service, spiteful food, gum chewing servers-- the list goes on. But set your eyes beyond the misguided miso black cod and rest them on The Prisoner. 

50% Zinfandel, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Syrah,  9% Petite Sirah, 2% Charbono, 1% Grenache

Made by Orin Swift in Napa Valley, The Prisoner is a phenomenal red wine made from a blend of six different grapes, dominated by  Zinfandel. It has the rich berry rush of Zinfandel, but with more structure and complexity that can be attributed to the high percentages of Cabernet and Syrah. There are hints of spice, it coats the palate without crushing it, it's fun, it's solid, it's a prancing pony. Also wonderful by Orin Swift is the Papillon. 

http://www.orinswift.com/

So Civilized

         Breakfast at Cecconi's 

What I Arranged Yesterday

  Silver Dollar Eucalyptus and Oriental Pink Lilies

Six Potatoes

 Red Thumb potatoes from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. 

You're Hot and You're Cold

                 Excellent glasses, they keep it cold, they keep it hot, your hand feels nothing. Ice last longer. Birds sing louder. Romance is deeper. 

"I feel like sausages is our best option"

                                                  

These sausages are amazing. 

The frites are out of this world and there are dipping sauces! I recommend the Tzatziki and the Sun dried Tomato Mayo, stay away from having them tossed in truffle oil, it's not the real deal. Also keep in mind that dipping sauces are easy money, I would veer away from being overly ambitious. 

Nestled in downtown Los Angeles, in a tailored industrial space, they have lots of great beer on tap and an atmosphere of communal fun. It's like a beer garden, but indoors and hip. The people working behind the counter and at the grill can be a little bit too proud of their meat slinging status and foster a sort of  artisan sausagocracy, but in reality it's all about the meat anyway so it doesn't matter. Nice touch: Cucumber Water for everyone!

http://www.wurstkucherestaurant.com/

Let's Play Footsie

All I wanted to do was get down at Footsie's, however I showed up on a fairly subdued night so I played it cool. But I wanted to run a race around the track of royal red inlaid wall paper that crowns the ceiling. I wanted to drink and dance, and squeeze into black leather studded semi circle booths with five of my closest friends, sloshing ice on the fake wood formica tables. And I definitely wanted the bartender who didn’t know what Scotch was to keep pouring me ridiculous doubles and charge for singles. The enviroment is a seasoned patch of cool where all of these fantasys are sure to take place.  And More.

Tucked away on the easterly end of Figeroa, Footsie's is near Mount Washington, on the other side of the tracks (literally, there are tracks) from Echo Park , Atwater, and Silver Lake and actually in Northridge. Footsie's has a similar discreetness to that of the Mandrake with a simple dude at the door , it has a jukebox that rivals Lost and Found’s, and the dark, mysteriously seductive charm of La Poubelle meets the cool of El Prado. Plus there are portraits of topless ladies so everyone wins. 

Bedtime Stories

Bartending is a skill y'all, and Dale Degroff has got answers to your questions and the facts that you need to know at your next party or lounge about. I really like this book as a reference, this guy is a historic bartender who includes history and fun insights with his breakdown of cocktail recipes. He is not too staunch and there are fun pictures...like this one of accoutrement twelve ways. 

Attention to detail is always impressive. More bedtime stories to come. 

It's Mixology, Man

Last Saturday night, we went to The Varnish. It's downtown, it's in the back of Cole's, it's cloaked in secrecy, it's "old timey," and it's a shrine to mixology. I am a HUGE fan of great bartenders, but something about this movement has gotten a little bit too distilled and syrupy. While the drinks we had were good, piled on top of each other they dissolved into a sugary, acidic excess in the back of my throat. I eventually moved on to scotch on the rocks, a bold and not readily acceptable move in these parts. Mixing things together well is an art, but I fear that in this current mood of master bartender fever craze, their fervent adherence to simplicity, organic, and homemade has led to a rapid overuse, overextraction and perhaps too much mixing. Suddenly, it's not the bartender that I see behind the bar, but the cocky/sulky/chubby/stinky/ eight year old who couldn't get enough candy. I digress, the place is lovely, aside from the underutilized piano. The drinks, are good, in fact some are great like the Brown Derby, or I am sure they make a killer dry martini. 

AROMA WHEEL

Any student of wine or restaurant server will most likely recognize the aroma wheel. While it is a tad limiting in it's scope of descriptors, I find it helpful to get the ball rolling. Wheels, rolling, get it?  The nuances and notes really are present in wine-- it just begs for constructive thought and a simple format. 

The perfect snack. The perfect cup of joy. A little citrus, a little salt. Done. 

Champagne of Bears

A sure shot for any summer afternoon. It's light and the label parades not only stars, but back slashes as well. I showcased it this past Saturday afternoon after some kind gents moved a cumbersome table from my dining room. The reward was well received.