Tag: dining

This one’s for you, Dad!

We are so embarrassed at our tardiness on posting Father’s Day ’08 with the Facey’s pictures! We took Carrie’s dad down to Laguna Beach for lunch at Las Brisas. It’s a beautiful place with delicious food! So delicious in fact, that we forgot to take a lot of pictures! As you can see, between the scenery and the colorful drinks, it was easy to do …


A margarita for everybody!


Enjoying the view!


A perfect day to be in Laguna Beach!

Afterwards, we had to take them to Sprinkles – they’d never had a Sprinkles cupcake before, and that just needed to change! Mom had the Ginger-Lemon, Carrie had the Cinnamon Sugar, Ed had the Strawberry, and Dad had their famous Red Velvet!

Love ya, Dad! We didn’t forget about you!

Mmmm…mmm…Canter’s.

It’s been way too long since we’ve been to Canter’s Deli on Fairfax, but when Carrie’s mom requested lunch there for a post-Mother’s Day celebration, we were all over it. Happy belated Mother’s Day, Mom!



Fun Canter’s facts:

  • Over 4,900 lbs of Pastrami are sold per month.
  • There are 1,500 gallons of Chicken Soup made per week.
  • 4,000 Knishes are baked per week.
  • Seating capacity is 465 people.
  • Canter’s Delicatessen is 14,000 sq ft, making it one of the largest delicatessens in the country.


An homage to Canters, one of our favorite time warps:




San Diego Stylin’ – sadly comes to an end.

To wrap up our San Diego experience, we decided to grab some lunch at Bondi, an interesting and artful Austrailian restaurant. We were intrigued, as you don’t often hear about “Australian cuisine.” We discovered that it’s not all that different from our American palates, it’s just simply prepared food that’s done extremely well.


Of course, the fact that it boasted a contemporary setting wasn’t bad either. They have these super cool bamboo Pods” that you can enjoy drinks and appetizers in. We were all over it.



After our drink, we decided to move to a table so we could better enjoy what was coming from the kitchen. Check out the presentation! This is Carrie’s grilled chicken breast with prosciutto-wrapped asparagus.

We decided there could’ve been no better way to wrap up such a stylish trip!


San Diego Stylin’, part two

Besides checking out cool modern boutique hotels, we also really enjoy scoping out fantastic restaurants. We knew San Diego wouldn’t disappoint. Tonight, we visited The Red Pearl Kitchen for some delicious asian fusion. From the dim sum to the shrimp-bacon-garlic fried rice – we left the establishment properly satisfied and super-styled.



After dinner, we needed to check out The Confidential, where we had the most delicious martinis ever – and that’s saying a lot coming from the two of us. The place was very easy on the eyes, and surprisingly, very friendly.



Now we’re back at The Keating …


So much to do tonight!

And how do you finish off a Palm Springs weekend?


At The Parker, of course! So this day was Carrie’s actual birthday, and we’d been wanting to visit for a long time. The Parker was once owned by Gene Autry, and was reopened a couple years back under the creative and stylistic guidance of Jonathan Adler, one of our favorite designers. It had been redone in a very groovy late sixties/early seventies style – not so much Modernist, but a bit of regency, and a huge helping of whimsical grooviness. It got some publicity as of late thanks to being the subject of the TV show Welcome to the Parker on Bravo.



We met up with Lewis and Mary, along with Mick and Andy and Mick’s parents for an amazing brunch. Alfresco dining with incredible (but down to earth) food, and the incredible surroundings that were both “shagadelic” and dreamy all at once.


Afterwards, we walked about the grounds, and came across Samir, the manager who is one of the stars of the TV show!! He was more than happy to indulge us with a photo. Samir’s the tall, imposing man in the back.

We can’t describe just how amazing the place looks. It reminded Ed of his childhood in many ways, with very familiar early 70s materials, furnishings, textures, and colors. We have to stay here soon! Here are some more pics:


The amazing fireplace lounge…


Some competitive Ed vs. Mary ping pong…


Colored vases…



Mister Parker’s, the onsite restaurant. It’s so swingin’ London.


How do you like that bar!



The happy couple!

Pics don’t do the place justice. It’s mindblowing and just plain fun all at once.

So that’s it – that was our Palm Springs weekend #3, and a fine way to celebrate Carrie’s birthday and Valentine’s Day! I’m pretty certain you’ll see another set of blogs about this time next year….if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll be staying at the Parker!