Before our trip, my brother and I decided that we wanted to try some of the best sandwich shops in town. So I did a lot of research — both on the types of sandwiches and the proximity to Culver City — and we made our picks. AND THEY DID NOT DISAPPOINT. So delicious — if you are going to LA, you must go to both of these shops!
The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills
An institution famous amongst tourists and locals. A restaurant and high end grocery store and cheese store.
There is so much to love right now — and this is what I am loving!
1. Picnics in October
This past weekend felt like summer in the city. 80 degrees in October! I absolutely loved every minute. Toosh and I had a picnic and she did homework and I needlepointed. Loved it.
Ok, so going with my theory of always doing something cultural and eating something delicious, we had a great day at Gjusta Bakery and visiting the Getty Villa (different than the Getty Center!) in Los Angeles. These are not next to each other, but it was a quick drive from the bakery to the villa. And we wanted to do both (and recommend both, too!)
GJUSTA BAKERY
Gjusta is the sister restaurant of Gjelina (which is forever my favorite restaurant in LA, and also has the best cookbook and best sticky toffee pudding you will ever eat). It is located in Venice and everything in it is just beautiful and delicious.
BLINK and here we are in June. In disbelief at how time flies, floats, and passes. So here is what I am loving right now.
1. My Boy Home
My boy is back from boarding school and I couldn’t be happier to have him home. And with me. And in my arms. He had the best year and I am forever grateful for this experience at his new school, but man, I have missed him. And so happy to be reunited.
My daughter does not eat salad. Like ever. Never have I ever seen her eat a salad before. And yet, somehow, she not only devoured this entire salad at a friend’s friend’s house (yes, friend of a friend), but demanded that I get the recipe and make it for her. So when that happens, you FOLLOW THROUGH. Thank you, Dana, for giving me a new salad to feed my child and finally saying she eats salads! Ok, so this salad is from Baked by Melissa (who knew she did anything other than cupcakes?) — and trust me, make it. Your non-salad-eating-child will change their mind. It is basically a lot of healthy, nutritious, delicious greens all in one — dressing and the salad itself.
Ingredients:
GREEENNNNNN
For the salad Continue Reading
Always on a hunt for an adventure and a new restaurant, I read about Thai Diner and knew it was somewhere I needed to try. So I dragged the family there this past weekend — and loved every minute. HIGHLY recommend if you are in the city! Or if you come to visit — loved it. A mixture of diner food and Thai food — lots of flavor, spice, and deliciousness. It opens at 10 am, we got there at 11:45 am and had a 45 minute wait, but. we roamed the streets of Soho, so didn’t feel like a wait. There was a line around the block for 2 hours when we left. 2 HOURS!!!!
Located in Nolita on Mott street — across the street from my favorite (but no longer there) retail store, Warm, RIP). Easy to get to from our place on the subway.
In our jammed pack time out west, we had our annual Food Eating Tour. Last year, we did San Francisco with Avital tours, but this year, our hostess picked the East Bay with a different company, Edible Excursions. It is now becoming an annual activity — to eat EVEN more after Thanksgiving meal — and I love it oh so much. I absolutely loved our tour this year — our guide was incredible (Rebecca), the food ridiculously delicious, and we experienced new cuisine together as a family — which I really loved. Highly, highly recommend.
Edible Excursions has been around for 20 years! Check them out if you are in the Bay Area!
This morning when I was walking the dog, I was in disbelief that there were Christmas lights on so many of the stores along Madison Avenue….but then I realized, we are 2/3 done with November and it is almost December….how did this happen? In any case, Christmas light season here we are. And here is what I am currently loving.
When I went to visit Cruzzie, I thought it would be nice to bring him and his friends something from NYC to CA. It had to be compact, easy to travel with, and something everything would like — which turns out to be candy. Bonbon candy. It was a huge hit and worth lugging it across the country.
Over the weekend, we went blueberry picking again, and decided to have a bake off that afternoon with the blueberries we picked!
The blueberry patch is located on the McKenzie River. It is a farther drive than the farm we usually go to, but they have 80 different types of blueberries and it is all organic and super beautiful, so it’s worth the extra drive.
We just returned from our 4 day Thanksgiving Break to our besties in the bay area. We had the BEST time — came back with a very full stomach and extremely full heart. I laughed the entire 4 days (and ate the rest of the time) — all in all, the best time ever. One of my favorite parts was the Avital Food Tour — just the 8 of us on a guided food tour of the Mission District in San Francisco. We had a tour guide take us, by foot, to four different restaurants as a progressive meal. Each one was delicious and something I would have NEVER tried before.
California – I love you. West Coast – I love you.
Following a trend, I decided to make smashed broccoli and potatoes — and although they are basically just roasted broccoli and potatoes, I AM A FAN! I will make it again!
First, boil / steam the broccoli for a couple minutes to get soft.
My absolute favorite restaurant in the United States is now in NYC! Gjelina is an LA based restaurant and by far the best dining experience I have ever encountered — scrumptious food, great service, easy and laid back vibe — all perfection. When I read that it opened up in NYC for breakfast and lunch two weeks ago, I knew that I needed to go. And sure enough, I went not once but twice this past weekend. It is SOOOOOO good. Everything. The date cake is my absolute favorite, and not yet on the NY menu, but I still love it regardless.
Photo taken by the NYTimes. It is a two story restaurant, with a waiting room in the front, as no reservations are accepted.
I came across the cookbook Smitten Kitchen Keepers over the holidays, and since then, I have made dozens of recipes. It is HANDS DOWN my favorite cookbook. Everything I have made has been absolutely delicious (and there have been many repeats) and literally everything in the cookbook, I want to try and eat. So if you want to be inspired in the kitchen, get this cookbook! I AM IN LOVE.
I love absolutely everything about this cookbook — the recipes (most importantly), the photos, the writing, all great.
The weekend before Thanksgiving, I had a craving to go to dim sum in the city. After an extensive search online on what the best dim sum restaurant is, we ended up at Nom Wah Tea Parlor. It was everything that I had hoped for, and I highly suggest going (and waiting) for a great dim sum meal if in the city.
Down a car free street. It was a cold morning and despite it opening up at 11 am (and us getting there then), we still had to wait for 45 minutes. That said, it was worth it.
Through a friend, I was introduced to Good Eats, a program that feeds elementary school children, every weekend. Sadly, all over our country, there are children that eat all their meals at school through government subsidized programs. As a result, over the weekend when they are not in school, they do not eat. Good Eats comes in to schools where there is a need and gives students a package of food to put in their backpacks for the weekend. Often times these kids do not have can openers or fridges that work — so the food has to be nonperishable and have a shelf life. Yes, the goal is to change the world through KALE (don’t get me wrong, I LOVE KALE), but the reality, is that the food needs to be accessible and easy for the kids to eat. Basic hunger.
A distributor that is partnered with Good Eats, delivers the food to the school once a month. We were supposed to meet him at 830. He did not show up until past noon…..but grateful even more so.
After a personal recommendation AND reading about it in the NYTimes, we decided to trek to Ridgewood, a neighborhood in Queens, to try out the restaurant Rolo’s. Definitely a trains-plane-automobile situation to get there, but the food and adventure was worth it. The restaurant was started by 3 ex-Gramercy Tavern chefs (an old time favorite and Classic NYC restaurant) and every bite was delicious. If you are up for a different neighborhood and scene, definitely check it out!
And of course, on the 10 minute walk from the subway station, we came across a Biggie Smalls mural, which I love…because I love Biggie and most of all, 90s hip hop.
For some unknown reason, I had this incredible desire to eat mango pudding. So, I made some! It tasted like summer and vacation!
Ingredients:
Over Thanksgiving break, I decided it was time to start my food hunts again in NYC to find “the best ofs.” Last Winter, I found the best dumplings, the best pizza, and the best Italian Food. So, this time, I thought it would be fun to find the “best Vietnamese” in Manhattan. It was a throw back to when I was pregnant with my 12 year old, and only wanted gazpacho and Vietnamese Summer Rolls…..So after reading several articles and reviews, we headed down to 6th Street in the Lower East Side to Banh Mi Zon to pick up a selection of items.
Vietnamese sandwich — perfect crusty bread with vegetables and meat. Loved every bite.
OK, so I have written about these sauces before, but I have to write a full post about it because they are just that good. They are SOOOOO good. Back in June, I bought the “Husband Sauce” and the “Caesar Sauce,” and they were delicious, but it wasn’t until this month that I purchased The Full Batch. The full batch includes: 1 8oz. Husband Sauce, 1 8oz. The Heat, 1 8oz. Soft Caesar, 1 8oz. That Good Grainy Mustard, 1 4oz. Garlic Confit, and 1 4oz. Garlic Rillette. Literally you can make the most scrumptious meal with any of these sauces.
Even the jars are colorful and make my fridge bright and happy.
One of my favorite parts of spending the summer in Oregon is being surrounded by all the local, organic, small-batch, hippie foods. I have my all time favorites that have been around forever (Toby’s Tofu Pate), but each summer, I fall in love with some new favorites. This summer, I am head over heels with this spinach hummus by King Harvest. BEYOND DELICIOUS, TASTY, UNBELIEVABLY GOOD. It is die for — and you must find it and buy it….and even if it is not sold in your grocery store, try to replicate it and make it home.
King Harvest.
Mid July, here we are. Second half of the year, here, too! Here is what I am currently loving this month:
1. Martha Stewart’s Blueberry Crisp Recipe
We went blueberry picking this week and picked over 12 pounds of blueberry. So I decided to make a blueberry crisp (and follow a recipe!) I made two of these crisps (used 6 pounds of blueberries) and found this recipe perfect — not too sweet, but light and refreshing.
This past weekend, in an attempt to have an adventure and do something off electronics, we looked up “best pizza in Brooklyn” (in our 5 borough food scavenger hunt) and discovered Di Fara. So we hopped in the car, drove to a predominantly Hassidic Jewish neighborhood and got some pizza. And yes, it was the BEST PIZZA EVER and I am so glad that we went on this adventure. It was absolutely incredible.
Just a window. Incredible.
If you know me well, you know that Fred’s at Barney’s was my go-to restaurant for 11 plus years. It is where we had every Sunday dinner, multiple meals throughout the week, and even many special occasions such as Marathon parties, birthday parties, and special moments. It was our kitchen. We knew the entire wait staff and loved everything about it — it felt like home. So we were extremely sad when Barney’s shut down PRE Covid. It felt like we lost a part of our family and didn’t know what other restaurants to go to. Sure enough, a month later, the music died, and all restaurants were shut down to Covid…..but here we are, back in NYC, restaurants are reopened (currently only outdoor dining) and the chef from Fred’s, opened up his own restaurant “Mark’s Off Madison.” It is located downtown on 26th street and Madison, with Mark as the chef, and many of the same wait staff as at Fred’s. It felt like going home — we were so happy to see so many of the same waiters and think often of the others that we don’t know their whereabouts (Lorraine, Aggie, Jose, Gian Franco, and so many more — we miss you and hope you are all safe and healthy). Fred’s was a special place to us and so going to Mark’s Off Madison felt special, too.
It is NOT warm. Right now, in NYC, there is only outdoor dining, but that didn’t stop us from trying and seeing our old friends.
Most everything in Oregon is hippy dippy (the remaining bit is redneck), and the state produces an incredible amount of yummy, healthy, unique, and interesting food products. There are a dozen of Oregon items that I can’t live without — Toby’s tofu pate, Emerald Valley salsa, Pok-Pok drinking vinegars, Yumm sauce, Nancy’s Yogurt, Dave’s Killer Bread, etc…..– and I just found a new one! Kale Sprinkles! It is literally a pound of dehydrated kale, mixed in with nutritional yeast and other herbs, that you sprinkle on any food to create a spice and added texture. It is so easy, so delicious, and healthy too. I can’t wait to stock up on kale sprinkles (ps, how great is the name?)
Superfood seasoning mix: kale sprinkles
The local community pool in Eugene, Oregon (Amazon Pool) is unlike any other public pool. Sure, there is a random mixture of people (Olympic athletes, White Trash, professors, and a mish mash of kids), incredible views and greenery, and endless options of fun (high dive, platform dive, loopty-loop slide, tunnel slide, obstacle course, water sprays, sandbox, you name it). But it is the snack grill that is my ultimate favorite. It is not your typical pool snacks — no corn dogs or french fries — but rather hippy dippy Asian cuisine served at Ume Onigiri House. Kombucha, of course, and even better their dumplings and onigiri. Even though Ken is half-Japanese, I had never tried an onigiri until this summer. AND MAN, how I love it. Seriously, if you ever go to a restaurant and see it on the menu, get it. It is essentially a rice ball filled with various fillings — teriyaki chicken is my kids go to, but I have had the kimchi and teriyaki tofu and they are DELICIOUS.
Placing the order. Each onigiri costs $2.50 — A STEAL OF A DEAL! That alone makes it amazing.
The kids love it so much that they can barely wait to eat it.
It comes with homemade pickles, spinach, and the rice balls.
Tusia loves to mix hers up…making it a mixture of rice and chicken.
Cruzzie loves the dumplings.
Dumpling dude.
A portrait of feet and onigiri.
Another day, another onigiri dinner.
Basically, twice a week at swim lessons, the kids would eat onigiri for their dinner.
Perfection.
So yes, I understand that Ume Grill is unique to Eugene, but wherever you are, go find ONIGIRI. So good and so healthy, too. The perfect little meal.
