Cafe de la presse -SF

What better way to celebrate Bastille day then on the sun drenched bistro tables at cafe de la presse.

Fantastic little place on the corner of grant and bush, classic French dishes await you.

Great French baguettes served with unsalted butter:



A little shrimp cocktail, oui oui...the shrimp are sliced in half to absorb the tangy grapefruit and tomatoe sauce, adorned with greens an avocado ..refreshingly Delicious:


Poullet roti! Baked juicy chicken served with au jus and pomme frites covered in herbs... Summer days in montepellier! Keep the au jus flowing!


Have to get a close up of the chicken:


Savory, tasty and seductively reminiscent of feasting on the west bank.

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Fundraising food

For those of us who have had to eat the dried chicken, overcooked beef or sometimes scary seafood at fundraising events, the baby carrots or fingerling potatoes branded foods tend to be a bit run of the mill.

With all the finicky eaters out there, more and more combo plates are being prepared to minimize the portion size but maximize something you will like.

To this extent, let's take a look at some of the new trends in the event space:


Spinach salad with sliced mushrooms and accompanied with a goat cheese stuffed puffed cigar brought about a remake of a classic salad.

The main plate: a combination chicken and brisket, chicken covered in a bernaise like sauce with pepper, brisket tender and succulent with risotto and baby carrots



For dessert, small bites to capture all the flavors. Chocolate mouse topped with vanilla cream filled shot glass. Berry, and we mean single berry compotes in a strawberry, raspberry or blueberry dipping sauce, apple topped creme brûlée cups:


Overall, a notch above the dried out chicken with mash potatoes.

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Mahi and risotto

Mahi mahi comes to full flavor with garlic and tarragon in a sweet vinegar and tomatoe compote sizzled and curled while it basted:


With a mushroom and dill risotto, the arborio rice and mahi married well. With a baby beet salad and balsamic glaze, nice flavors.


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True north - northpark

This north park sports bar has a modern loft style interior, garage door style wall that opens to the outside street and 20 or so plasma screens projecting whatever sports games are playing.

For the Spain vs Netherlands world cup, all screens were projecting the game, with the homemade routing for Spain.

Green flash, fat tire, and a variety of other hood beers on tap, burgers, ahi and hummus are the menu options.

Tater tots! They come with all the burgers, sprinkled with cheese:



Crunch time craziness... Rafael the bar tender Will take care of you!
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Bite- Hillcrest

Bite with an appetite... This modern comfort American tapas place is a great little spot that offers a level up on the flip flop drinking holes around.

With chris Walsh as the executive chef, small plates to full plates were meant to be shared. Intimate interior, modern art deco almost, and great space where the interior is not overly crowded, good bites are to be expected:


A starter: crostini topped with creamed goat cheese, strawberry and balsamic glaze.. Delicious:


The Japanese eggplant with beet carpaccio was fantastic, grilled sliced perfection with a dollop of creamed cheese ...


The cauliflower sprouts with panko covering and lightly fried with an interior basil mint sauce accompanied with a mango chutney were fantastic:


Mahi skewers with tzarziki dipping sauce and lemon were great little meat Sticks:



Watermelon and feta salad with a slight balsamic tang was a welcome to summer salad:


One of the favorites is the smoked chicken pizza... Grilled then baked thin crisp dough accompanies the smoked chicken (and they smoke their own) with a little mozzarella and green onions, a fantastic share :


With plenty of decent bottle of wines below $40... Fabulous Syrah at $30, digging this little spot...

A birthday celebration vanilla Creme brûlée :



This is definitely a place were "bite me" is in order!

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Ichiban- Hillcrest

An almost hidden sushi spot on uni between bamboo lounge and Baja betty's across from gossip grill, ichiban exists with a small set of tables on the outside and an interior that is right up in front of the kitchen.

Passing by this place, there are always tons of people eating here. Well today I found out why: daily happy hrs from 3-8p where all sushi rolls are $3.

As to the quality, the proximity to the kitchen area allowed for an inspection. Pre-made baskets of mostly fries things (potstickers, calamari, veggies) were awaiting to be second dipped, which wasn't all that appealing.

Sushi combos and a variety of noodle, bento boxes and your standard rolls existed.

The rainbow roll and the spicy tuna roll were ordered:


The sampling was ok, not spectacular and comparable to your whole foods sushi to go. The spicy Tuna lacked spicyness and I was questioning the freshness of the yellowfin. The salmon piece that day tasted fresh, but the wasabi was definately pre-made.

The Ginger salad reminded me of the benihana salads:


The slightly spicy Ginger dressing was quite good amongst some pickled sprouts.

The chicken yakisabi: noodles, stirred veggies and twice cooked chicken was tasty, a tad salty but not bad:


Overall prices were very reasonable, which makes this place pretty popular... At bight the plastic canopy covers the outside tables which I find to be quite hideous. The proximity to the kitchen allowed a quick scan of the cleanliness of the place and it appeared that it was, gracious hostess.

Not on the top 5 list for sushi, but for low cost meals, can understand the affinity.

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First victim of the night

Chicken meat pieces wrapped with mozzarella in a crispy lavash topping with truffle oil, green onions and crispiness only a soy sesame dipping beast deserves...





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Babycakes Hillcrest

Cupcakes galore! Sweetcakes and all! This little Hillcrest spot has been in corne of my eye everytime I stop by the rite aid. Finally got a chance to stop by for a little sampling.



It has a very nice little outdoor searing area that unfortunately faces 5th but cute nonetheless.

Cupcakes are the perfect portion control for all the dessertaholics out there..



What to select, blood orange cupcake? Chocoholic?







The chocoholic with a chai latte was in order. Lush and moist chocolate with a marbled flake:


Cute little spot with good cupcakes...

News flash: a full bar was opening Friday night to complement the desserts... Do we are chocolate martini's being offerred?


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Operacaffe downtown sd

After hearing so much about this place, tonight was the night an event brought me to place.

Inner decor is very red and dark brown, with a huge baroquesque mirror and tables so close to each other you can basically grab your neighbors wine bottle by mistake :)

The bread that was delivered was unremarkable:


It was your basic Baguette from Ralphs... Would have preferred a freshly made sourdough baguette.. Even a days old thrown into the oven would have been better.

The olive oil served on the table was ok, but a little too fresh of virgin olive oil... If we are to eat calories, we want flavor, and with so many good olive oils out there, not to mention that this is an Italian place, was still craving the rich grassy blend:


For some odd reason, the calamari sounded like a tryout:


Lightly breaded and a pretty good tomatoe sauce, these weren't half bad.

The de mare salad, with 2 clams and 2 mussels and 1 shrimp was basically what you see is what you get:


The osso bucchini, veal medallions in a mushroom baste served with a dollop of saffron risotto came out with a fragrant Rosemary stem:



The veal was pretty good, tender and tasty, a little fatty but the marrow inside the bones was delicious... Scooped up onto a crispy baguette would have been yum.

The atmosphere has a good cozy vibe to it, being a block from the civic center could see an after opera cake happening. Don't forget that Horton plaza validates for 3 free hr parking!

And sadly the curtain came down on the operacafe...
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Voyou- Hillcrest

A new addition to the 5th ave restaurants, voyou is a small wine bar that serves small plates and vino.

Set in a candle lit interior, white cushion cubes amongst a dark backdrop, a seductive candle warmth takes over as the sun sets. Tiki torches on the balcony facing 5th offers a small seclusion from the outside:



With some chill beats in the background and a little Pinot, the beef skewers were calling:



Nice greens with a light olive oil, beef skewers with onions, peppers and grilled to a nice char..

Bastille day is offering $2 mimosas all day long.. With its chic euro feel, cozy atmosphere and gracious host, this little corner may have potential..we'll see if Hillcrest can handle the eurogentrification of the area..

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Arugula ooh la la

So what do you do with 2 pounds of fresh arugula that needs to be consumed or forever perish in the back corner of the fridge?

A little experiment started with some garlic and kalamata olive oil, Himalayan rock salt and a little chicken stock. As the arugula shriveled, the calling for trying a creamed version was calling. A little butter and some flower, a bit of avocado oil and citrus to balance the flavors and the mighty 2 pounder wilted harmoniously into a very tasty surprise.:


Firecracker chicken, sauteed with rich Tuscan olive oil, fire peppers and green onions, balsamic glazed for a semi sweet tang to the fire, went remarkably well with the punchy creamed arugula.


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Sharky-- charbroiled mex

If you're driving down the 5 and start to hit the Tustin/Irvine area and all you see is fast food stops and chains, the district has an interesting alternative for relatively healthy Mexicanish food.

With "naked" items on the menu, those highlighted as low calorie, low fat, sharky's claims to use only organic ingredients, grass fed beef, antibiotic and hormone free chicken and the best fish cuts available.

On this road trip, the chicken salad was deserving a try:


Shredded charbroiled chicken with greens, tomatoes, mandarin oranges topped with a combination of tomatillo salsa and pico de gallo for dressing, made for a pretty good salad.

The chicken Fajitas with rice and pinto beans, guac and crema, was flavorful and filled with grilled veggies:


Not so bad for a random spot in Tustin.

The salsa bar had frequent visits:



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Dusty's bistro- silverlake

Tucked into the streets of silverlake, across the street from the 7 mares, mariscos y ceviche and anything mexicatessen, is dusty's bistro.



Wide assortment of tasty bites, from skillet mussels, to tartare to chorizo con huevos, this eclectic flappers era chalendier decorated space has a bit for everyone... Especially for breakfast.

Torn between the huevos rancheros, chilaquiles and eggs benies, the huevos rancheros came highly recommended.


Two eggs, on top of skillet fired tortillas were accompanied with black beans and oozing with white and cheddar cheese. A little chalula sauce and breakfast happiness.

The home fries, most likely twice cooked, fried and baked potatoes were burnt to that crispy perfection on the outside with warm sogginess inside:



The quiche, bacon Gouda and asparagus came with a side of fruit:


Warm and cozy interior, non pretentious atmosphere has dusty's as one of the hoods local eats.





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Zeke's smokin smokehouse

Lip smackin BBQ feasts are what await you at Zeke's, located on Santa Monica blvd in west Hollywood. Brisket, chicken, pulled pork with either mesquite BBQ, smokin chipotle BBQ, or honey Dijon BBQ.... The flavors are fantastic.

Homemade chili sauce: garlic, vinegar, chile and a secret ingredient gives this light Tabasco type of sauce a powerful little kick:



The Asian BBQ pulled pork salad was a great hearty choice: luscious pulled pork an tons of it. Intermixed with greens, sliced Shitake and tomatoes... With a little tang and a splash of smokin sauce.. Delicious...




Finger lickin spare ribs were being eyed from the corner...

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CPK - Pasadena

Haven't been to a CPK place in years brought a pleasant surprise on this occasion.

Multi grain whole wheat crust ad thin crusts are now an option! Plus the assortment of salads and sandwiches is fantastic for a quick lunch.

The roasted veggie salad with vinaigrette dressing has a bountiful of veggies:



Eggplant, squash and corn... Yum.

The thin crusted Parmesan and roasted artichoke pizza with chicken was great. Only thing, would change the chicken cubes to be strips of roasted chicken:




All tucked away in the inner courtyard facing Pasadena city hall...






Sun, pizza and greens and a little vino... Good times
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Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)