Tag: dining

5 Years

5 years as Mr. and Mrs. Kim, and this was a milestone anniversary for many reasons! We tend to really go big for anniversaries … we’ve spent them in places like in Miami, Buenos Aires and even The Grand Canyon! So this year, it was tough to think of a way to make this one just as extraordinary (especially with the one-income budget we’ve been adjusting to, and our sweet little baby at home!). But thanks to a really fabulous mother-in-law, this year was no exception. Halmoni stayed with Ruby at our house and got us a room at The SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills!


When we arrived at the SLS, we were told that we’d be receiving an upgraded room … score! As you can see, the rooms are breathtaking and have a modern look that we always die over. We especially loved the leather lounge bench near the window. The SLS’ interior was designed by Phillippe Starck, and we are huge fans. We’ve made special stops in many of the hotels he’s designed, just to gawk. We checked out The Delano Hotel when we were in Miami, we checked out the Clift Hotel when we were in San Francisco, and we saw The Faena Hotel (a masterpiece!) when we were in Buenos Aires. Needless to say, we couldn’t wait to see the SLS.

Just a few more pics of our room …

Aside from the room, we decided to indulge in dinner at the very swanky modern latin restaurant, Rivera.

The restaurant is probably the best take on a modern latin theme we’ve ever seen, and it was very cool inside and out. We thought the food was just okay, though.

If we were really big shots, we could pay for one of these many bottles of tequila embedded in the wall. If you pay a large sum of money, they put your name on one, and you get to have them pull it out for you every time you visit. Big league kinda stuff!


We were pretty anxious to return to the SLS, where a very famous chef, Jose Andres has his very famous restaurant, The Bazaar. We couldn’t get a reservation, but we knew we wanted to grab some cocktails and sample the goods at the on-site patisserie. We ordered cocktails, just a few bon-bons, and two cupcakes. :)


The best part was knowing that we could sleep in and not have to worry about waking up before we were ready to! We rented a movie in the morning (Woody Allen’s, Midnight in Paris) and ordered room service for breakfast! 12 quail eggs sunny side up for Ed, scrambled egg whites with squash blossoms for me, a side of chicken sausage and French Press coffee were delivered to our room as we watched TV. It was pure decadence!

A perfect way to celebrate 5 years!

Lunch Date!

This is how the babies ladies lunch!

Ruby had her first lunch date today at Tender Greens in Culver City with her fabulous friend Olive. Olive was kind enough to share an order of organic sweet potatoes with apple and Ruby treated Olive to a veggie flavored Mum Mum. They were a real hit and attracted lots of attention – two women even walked past our table and thought they were twins!

Mommies are foodies, and the babes are obviously foodies … so the real question is, where to next?

Long Beach Street Food Fest

Last Saturday was the 1st Annual Long Beach Street Food Fest in Rainbow Harbor! Basically that meant some pretty awesome gourmet food trucks were all parked out in one place (check out all the trucks that were there) , and we got to spend the day walking around the park, hanging out with friends, lounging on the grass and sampling food after food … pretty much a perfect day in our opinion! Here’s a short clip we took from our shady spot in Rainbow Harbor:

It’s no secret that the gourmet food truck phenomenon has been growing strong over the last few years. Ed & I credit the original Kogi BBQ truck for all the hype (We chased them around L.A. one night – you have to get their location by following them on Twitter). Many, many chefs have followed in Kogi’s direction, and now there’s a truck for just about any food you can possibly think of.

1st Stop: Ahn Joo LA (A Korean Snack Bar)

Where do we begin with Ahn Joo? It was amazing – we ended up visiting this truck twice, and we decided it was our favorite truck of the food fest. If you watched the Food Network’s “Next Food Network Star”, you may remember Debbie, who was one of the contestants. This was her truck! She was known on the show for being Korean, but growing up in the South. Mixing up bold flavorful Korean flavors with Southern Comfort food is an absolute winner!

Left: This was my “KFC” – Korean Fried Chicken! Yep, juicy on the inside, crispy on the outside – and glazed with a sticky sweet garlic sauce. I want to eat this everyday! Right: Ed was loving his Mama Lee’s Meatloaf!
And these were the simple, yet perfect, showstoppers: The “Seoultown Spuds”. Potato Wedges with a spicy chili sauce & green onions! LOVED THESE!!!

We also sampled Bacon-Wrapped Rice Skewers and Kimchee Citrus Pork Skewers with Grilled Fuji Apple. We WILL be searching out Ahn Joo in the future!

2nd Stop: Buttermilk

Buttermilk was a fun truck! They kept it simple – and indulgent! – by offering three things on the menu: Glazed buttermilk doughnut holes, Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Pancake Bites and “The Brick”. The Brick consisted of hashbrowns and an over-Easy egg smothered in chorizo gravy, with a buttermilk biscuit right on top. Ed was all over it – and this was a big fave from the day as well.

3rd Stop: Border Grill

Ed & I were super excited about hitting the Border Grill truck. Border Grill is none other than Chef Susan Feniger, who is an inspiring and energetic chef who we especially loved watching on Top Chef Masters (you may also know her from The Two Hot Tamales?). Unfortunately – the food we got on the truck was just “meh.” We tried the Yucatan Pork Taco, the Crispy Baja Fish Taco, the Potato Rajas Taco, the Carne Asada taco and an order of Cumin Fries w/chipotle ketchup. Maybe it was the crowds (this truck had a HUGE line) or maybe something was off, but the food was kind of a disappointment. Oh well, we still love you Susan!

4th Stop: Great Balls on Tires

Okay – technically, this is just a 1/2 stop, because while we were in line at Border Grill, people kept walking away with food from this truck that looked AMAZING (like that cute little meatball slider you see on your right!) and we had to get in line. But, we were too late – by the time we got near the front, they were sold out of many items and all they had left were bigger plates (which we didn’t want to indulge in, because we had to pace ourselves – there was a lot of food to try!). But I definitely want to find these guys again soon … they have a really fun menu (“Ballafel”, anyone?), and we are intrigued!

5th Stop: COOLHAUS
I could not wait to check out COOLHAUS, where I’d saw online that they are known for their “architecturally inspired ice cream sandwiches”! (The truck itself also rules – notice the rims!)

They have unusual (and some classic) flavors like: blood orange, brown butter w/ candied bacon, chocolate chipotle, cinnamon, coffee toffee, dirty mint chip, meyer lemon, vanilla bean, lambrusco, baked apple, sea salt caramel, mascarpone balsamic fig, ed velvet, peanut butter, strawberry, carrot cake, pistachio w/ black truffles, and even foie gras! They come sandwiched in-between two yummy freshly baked cookies.

My pictures didn’t really turn out (this one comes from their website) – but they come as minis, which is optimal for trying multiple flavors/combinations! Unfortunately, by the time we hit COOLHAUS it was later in the day, and the infamous Brown Butter Ice Cream with Candied Bacon was sold out – as well as the Red Velvet! But my Minty Brownie sandwich was awesome. It’s gonna be a long hot summer, so I guarantee The Kims will be seen chasing this truck in the future as well.

And for some summery refreshment: Del’s Frozen Lemonade
There’s not much better on a hot summery day than a Frozen Lemonade. Del’s was a classic. You could also consider this a palate cleanser, no?

Overall – it was a great day in Long Beach. We can’t wait for next year! (Or maybe this weekend, we we just go search out all the trucks again on our own?)

Summer Fun Day

Today was wide open and we had an itch to get on the road – Ed sold his beloved Mini this week, but it was happily replaced by his favorite car, a VW Jetta SportWagen! We decided it was a good day to break it in. We decided to head south down PCH and see where the day would take us. Too bad the sun never came out today – but the drive was gorgeous nonetheless …

We were hungry for lunch, so we hit up Yelp to find a new good place to try. We stumbled upon Crab Zone in Laguna Beach. Don’t be fooled by the cheesy name, this place really delivered! It is a seafood restaurant offering traditional type items like Clam Chowder and Seafood Gumbo, but they also have an interesting Asian Fusion twist, too. There was definitely a lot to choose from.

The 5-star ratings were pretty hard to ignore, and everyone seemed to be raving over the Dungeness Crab with Garlic and Pepper Butter Sauce, so Ed went ahead and ordered it. They really weren’t messing around – look at the size of that thing! Although he said it was probably the messiset meal he’s ever eaten, Ed swears it was worth the mess. They actually chop the legs off and cook everything in a wok, and then they “assemble” the crab back on to the plate. You get a lot of attention when its brought out to the table!


I decided to order a cup of the gumbo and get some steamed King Crab Legs. Wow – those did not disappoint either! Everything was delicious! Once again, big thanks to the Yelpers for getting us to a new destination!

After our awesome lunch, we decided to head over to OCMA (Orange County Museum of Art) for their 15 Minutes of Fame: Portraits from Ansel Adams to Andy Warhol exhibition. From OCMA’s website:

15 Minutes of Fame: Portraits from Ansel Adams to Andy Warhol explores a diverse range of photographic portraits from early modernism, to photographs of celebrities from the 1930s to 1960s, photojournalistic street photography from the 1960s, and contemporary portraiture.

All of the photos were fantastic! This photo taken by Lawrence Schiller in 1962 was one of our favorites. See Alfred Hitchcock in the rearview mirror of the car?

They also had a pretty cool photo booth in the exhibit so that you could capture your own 15 minutes of fame. Here we are with our best attempts at celebrity!
 

We also love OCMA because of its beautifully designed modern space.
Here’s Ed looking dapper in the tulip chair …

And me … looking pregnant!

Adventures in Downey: A Mid-Century Treasure Trove

This past weekend, Larry took Carrie and I to Bob’s Big Boy in Downey. Doesn’t sound like anything out of the ordinary, does it? After all, most Bob’s Big Boy restaurants are but a shadow of their former selves, looking like generic family restaurants inside and out. And Downey? Just another ho-hum middle class suburb of Los Angeles, right?

Um, no. This restaurant has been lovingly and painstakingly restored to its original glory, down to every last detail. It is an archetype of mid-century Googie architecture. Everything here is as it once was, from the green vinyl upholstery on the booths, walnut-effect laminate on the counters and tabletops, rock walls, and gorgeous bullet and sputnik light fixtures. It even features a drive-in section that is operational everyday after 4pm. You can learn all about it here at the restaurant’s website. And Downey? As it turns out, it is filled with amazing mid-century architecture everywhere, some well preserved, others not. It’s an amazing place to explore. Downey. Downey!!

All of these pics were taken with my iPhone, with suitable vintage photo effects courtesy of two apps – Hipstamatic and Camera Bag.

I had to dine on an old childhood favorite of mine, chili spaghetti. Sounds disgusting, and it sorta is, in the most gloriously delicious way.

The experience was so magical that we had to bring our friends Rebecca and Jody back the next day, meaning that we came here twice in one weekend. And yes, I did get the chili spaghetti the second time too.

Larry also took us to another Downey landmark, the oldest operating McDonald’s in the world. Opened in 1953, this location is well preserved and has its huge sign intact.

Rebecca and Jody learned that Downey was the birthplace and home of The Carpenters. Who knew? We found the house Karen Carpenter was raised in, and better yet, learned that once the Carpenters became successful, they decided to buy and manage two apartment buildings in Downey, directly across the street from each other. Random thing to do with your success, huh? And they named them too. What did they name them? What else?

We passed a Hawaiian apparel store called Exotical…filled with all kinds of vintage Hawaiian kitsch (which I don’t think was meant to be kitschy). Regretfully, they were closed as it was Sunday, but we got pictures of the patina’d sign and some creepy mannequins.

Turns out Charles Phoenix, a connoisseur of all things mid-century, has also taken an interest in Downey and did a feature with the local NPR affiliate KPCC here. Downey’s only 15 minutes from home…we’ve got some more exploring to do, and more chili spaghettis to down!