Mole Heaven at Casa de Moles "La Tia"

Such is the tale that circumstances can sometimes enable you to stumble upon a hidden treasure while you're just trying to get through your day. Of course, to me, hidden treasure automatically translates to a mind-blowing foodie find. That was the case with fellow blogger, Teenage Gluster, who, by luck, discovered Casa de Moles "La Tia" and did a write-up on his blog. Click here to read that entry. After I read his post, where he was waxing poetically about the unique moles offered by Chef Owner Rocio Camacho at her restaurant like Pistachio, Coffee, Tamarind, Passionfruit, etc., my palate went into over drive. I've certainly had my share of moles in the past, with the most unusual one being a Blackberry Mole at La Casita Mexicana, but never like the ones I read about on TG's blog entry. I knew I had to go. I knew I had to go as soon as possible. Tonight wasn't as soon as I would have liked, but it was good enough.

Upon my arrival at Case de Moles, the restaurant was pretty much empty, but with it only being open since May, there probably hasn't been enough word of mouth yet. Teenage Gluster was the first to strike that match. Opening the menu, the mole sauce section listed 15 different types of mole sauces. They were all in Spanish, but some I was able to easily translate. Below the mole shopping list were different types of proteins, everything from veal to duck to quail to chicken breast and so much more. While you could mix and match, they also had dishes that they considered to be their specialties like shrimp with coffee mole or their halibut with white mole. Along with the mole dishes, their menu also offered other options like the Cochinita Pibil or Carne Asada.

While I was waiting for the rest of my party, I ordered the Cucumber Agua Fresca, which is my favorite agua fresca drink and found it refreshing. Since I got to the restaurant early, I had asked the waiter, if there was any way that our group could get a sampling of 4 of the more unusual moles before we placed our order. He graciously said yes, so I chose Pistachio, Passionfruit, Coffee and Tequila. As the rest of my party arrived, Cecilia, my co-host for this outing, talked with him further and soon, we were able to include the Poblano and the White Mole as well to our tasting list.

Our waiter soon brought out those first six moles along with housemade corn tortillas and we started digging in. As we started sampling them, we were just in awe. Those 6 moles had very distinct flavors. I think our waiter must have gone back to the kitchen to tell Chef Rocio that she had a bunch of intense foodies in her restaurant, because soon after, 9 more dishes of mole sauces came our way. In all, we got to sample 14 of the 15 on her menu.

My tastebuds went into overload. The flavor profiles were all over the place. Sweet. Smoky. Spicy. Nutty. All of them had such complexity of flavors. Other than finding the tamarind mole a little too smoky, I was in mole heaven. While they were all fantastic, I definitely was leaning more towards the Pistachio Mole (deeply nutty), the Tequila Mole (loved the addition of the lime juice), the Hibiscus (the addition of the red wine was just so unique) and the Coffee Mole (dark and rich). Even with the choices I made, I have a feeling that they could switch up depending on what I'm in the mood for. For example, if I'm looking for something sweeter, how can you go wrong with the White Mole or the Passionfruit Mole?

We could have just sat there all night, dipping the corn tortillas and chips in all those glorious mole sauces, but given their generosity, we ordered additional food. Some opted for salad and soup as starters before their main entrees. I had a taste of the cream of veggie soup and it was light, creamy and delicious. I had the La Conquista, which is made up of fresh baby spinach, queso panela, peanuts, Sesame seeds with a pepita de calabaza dressing. I was a little surprised by the sesame seeds, but was told that it's used in a lot of Oaxacan cooking. The salad itself was pretty good. I liked how they didn't overdress the salad.

When it came to the entrees, four of us ordered mole dishes. I opted for the Shrimp with Coffee Mole. At first, I thought that the coffee mole may be intense for the delicate shrimp, but actually, the sweetness of the shrimp helped balance out the richness of the coffee mole. One little thing that was off for me was that the shrimp was either overcooked or undercooked. It was a little chewier than it should have been. Still, it was the perfect partner for the coffee mole.

I also had a taste of the Venison with the Hibiscus Mole. This was a great match because the wine in the Hibiscus Mole really complemented the venison and would probably pair well with other red meats also. I also enjoyed a taste of the Salmon and Pistachio Mole. We all know tasty pistachio-encrusted salmon is, so it stands to reason this would be a wonderful duo as well. Taking a bite of the Cochinita Pibil, I realized that this was no cochinita pibil I've ever seen before. It was highly spiced, not necessarily spicy, but just strongly flavored. It almost reminded me of chorizo. It just may be a dish to order when you need a bit of a mole break.

All in all, the food was nicely presented and was really delicious. I heard nothing but praise around the table. With us winding down after such an extensive mole tasting and our good-sized entrees, dessert wasn't even in the ballpark. Of course, that was until I heard what they were and that changed everything. Ending our meal were the following:

• Rice Pudding with raisins soaked in tequila and sitting on green tomatillo marmalade
• Plantains with Tequila Sauce
• Flan de Tunanbsp;
• Cactus fruit flan
• Cocoa Flan
• Ancho Chile Flannbsp;

Of the five, the rice pudding was one of my favorites, which was surprising. Green tomatillo going anywhere near rice pudding seems a bit strange to me, but I actually liked the lemon-herbness of the green tomatillo when eaten with a bite of the rice pudding. It added a different dimension to a dessert that can sometimes seem too milky-sweet. The ancho chile flan was also a hit. Considering that ancho chiles have a slight chocolate/coffee bitterness to it, it went well with the flan, which is basically a caramel custard dessert. The addition of the tuna (cactus fruit) syrup added to the Flan de Tuna a fruitiness that I wouldn't normally associate with flan in general. Again, something unique.

Overall, our meal at Casa de Mole "La Tita" was simply unforgettable. It affected me so much that normally when I blog about a restaurant, it could be days, weeks or even months after I've visited it before I write about it, but my dining experience at Casa de Mole was just so exquisite, that I wanted to share it with even more people. So if you get a chance, run, don't walk to this ground breaking restaurant. You definitely won't regret it.

Casa de Moles "La Tita"
4619 E. Cesar Chavez Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90022
(323) 263-7842
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At last! A restaurant that serves my favorite "Filipino" food that is actually "Sicilian!"

So I bet the title of this particular blog entry has you wondering what the heck I'm talking about, huh? Well, simply, when I first came to Los Angeles from the Philippines, we lived in this small apartment complex on a street off of Melrose. One of our neighbors that my Mom got friendly with was a Sicilian woman and unfortunately, I can't remember her name. However, it's because of her teaching my Mom to cook one of my favorite dishes, that I will always remember her with fondness.

As a young child, I considered anything my Mom cooked as a part of Filipino cuisine. The fact that Philippines adopted spaghetti and made it their own made it even more fitting that I would think that a dish that actually has Sicilian roots would be part of my home food. By the way, just a brief note about Filipino spaghetti. It's definitely different from what you'd get from Italy. Our spaghetti sauce tends to be sweeter. Some recipes call for the addition of the Filipino banana ketchup and I've even seen one or two recipes where sugar is added. Apparently, in the Philippines, you can even purchase a sweet-style spaghetti sauce. Also, don't be surprised if you see hot dogs. Yes, chopped hot dogs are always part of the recipe. Ok, enough about Filipino spaghetti.

With my love for full-bodied flavors, you might be surprised that one of my favorite eats is Pasta Con Broccoli. It's a very simple dish, containing only 3-5 ingredients, two of which are optional. Basically, it's a dish made up of the pasta of your choice, fresh broccoli, extra virgin oil with the option of adding lemon and grated cheese. There was just something about the simplicity of the ingredients that was so appealing to my palate. Of course, now I know that there's definitely nothing Filipino about this dish, but it doesn't make me love it any less.

As an adult, I've done my share of dining at Italian restaurants, but never in my culinary travels, did I ever see Pasta Con Broccoli on the menu. Of course, that meant, I'd have to make occasional puppy dog eyes at my Mom so that she'd have enough sympathy to cook it for me. One day, I walked into Villa Italia in my hometown of Duarte, opened up the menu and almost fell out of my chair. Oh my goodness! I saw Pasta Con Broccoli on the menu or actually, it was referred to as Casareccia. So of course, I had to order it.

As I was sitting there, I asked the owner why I've never seen this dish on any Italian restaurant menu. Her response wasn't too surprising. Apparently, Pasta Con Broccoli is one of those dishes that are just simply cooked at home by Sicilian Mamas for their family. Upon reflection, I remembered my Sicilian neighbor having a family with young children. By teaching my Mom this dish, I think she was just sharing a little part of her culture.

When my order arrived, I savored my first bite and every bite after that. Yes, it tasted exactly like the way my Mom makes. Fresh crunchy broccoli. Pasta that's al dente cooked with olive oil. The slight saltiness of the grated cheese that I topped my pasta with. Delicious! Too bad that the other parts of my meal were just okay. The salad that came with the meal was quite overdressed and the lemon gelato I ordered was refreshing, but was probably more of a sorbet since it was quite icy.

At some of my other meals, I tried their Insalata Mista, a salad made up of olives, marinated mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and romaine, but like the lunch salad was just way too overdressed. Their baked gnocchi wasn't too bad. It could have been lighter and fluffier, but all in all, it was satisfying. Unfortunately, I didn't care much for their Siciliana Pasta, which is a pasta of your choice cooked with fresh mozzarella, basil, onions, eggplant and fresh tomato. It tasted a little bland.

Suffice to say, only the Pasta con Broccoli was the real hit in my book, but that's totally okay with me. I can probably better renditions of those less successful dishes elsewhere, but so far, only Villa Italia can take care of my craving for this childhood dish I grew up. By the way, I actually took my Mom there to check out "her competition" and after one bite, she pronounced it as good as her own recipe. Strong words from a non-Sicilian Mama! :)

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157606505413984/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157606505485454/

Villa Italia

1028 Huntington Drive

Duarte, CA 91010

(626) 357-3938

http://www.villaitaliaristorante.com/

Amazing Afghani Food at Azeen's

It's funny, how I'll go to a restaurant once and blog about it, but then I won't write about a restaurant that I've been to several times even when I really love the food. Such is the case with Azeen's Afghani Restaurant in Old Town Pasadena. Azeen's is the type of restaurant that really needs some spotlighting, simply because it's hidden away on a one way street that's not anywhere near the busy pedestrian traffic on the parallel street of Colorado Boulevard. I only found out about it because I went to a dinner there with friends a couple of years ago. Ever since then, I've been back a few times and I have to say that for the most part, I've never been disappointed with my meal. So let's get into the food,

When it comes to appetizers, I've had most of them and they're quite tasty. For the particular meal that this post is going to reference, my friends and I shared two of them. One was the Pakawara-e-badenjan, which were batter dipped sauteed slices off eggplant. It's at Azeen's that I've ever had eggplant deep fried and being an eggplant lover, that was already a bonus. I enjoyed the crispiness of the batter, but at first, I wasn't quite sure of the yogurt and meat sauce that topped the eggplant. It seemed an odd combination but the tangy yogurt sauce actually married well with the more highly spiced tomato-based meat sauce.

The other appetizer was the Buranee-kadu. This dish is sauteed butternut squash, also topped with yogurt and meat sauce. The melding of flavors was really interesting for this dish. You get sweet, meaty, tangy all in one bite. While we didn't have them this time, be sure to also check out their steamed dumplings, if you decide to make a visit to Azeen's.

One is the Mantu, a chopped beef, onion and herb dumpling and the Aushak, whose filling include leeks and scallions. Both dumplings have slightly differing sauces. The sauce for the Mantu is also yogurt based and the dumplings are topped with mixed veggies while the Aushak has a yogurt and meat sauce, with the addition of mint. What's great about all the yogurt sauces is that they're all housemade, so you know they're absolutely fresh.

When it came to the entrees, we ordered the following:

• Badenjan Challaw - Chunks of lamb cooked with eggplant, onions and tomatoes.
• Gulpi - Cauliflower stew cooked with ginger, onions and tomatoes
• Kabob-e-murgh - Tender chunks of chicken breast

As I said earlier, I've pretty much enjoyed all my meals, except for the occasional dish that didn't do it for me. In this case, I didn't care much for the lamb dish. Compared to other things I've tried in the past, the Badenjan Challaw wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked, plus the lamb was a little too chewy when it should have been more tender. I loved the Gulpi. Cauliflower on its own is so bland, but when stewed with the ginger, onions and tomatoes, it definitely took a flavor life of its own that was very appealing. When it comes to kabobs, the real test for me is chicken. If a restaurant can prepare chicken breast kabob without it being dry, than that restaurant deserves praise. So praises to Azeen's because their chicken breast kabob always comes out moist and tender.

When it comes to the other menu items, you really can't go wrong with any of the side or entree vegetarian dishes. Azeen's really knows how to cook their vegetables. They always have a lot of great flavor to them. The other meat kebobs, beef and lamb, are hit and miss. Sometimes, they're tender and juicy and sometimes, not as much. As for the other entrees, I've always enjoyed the Korma Challaw, a dish with chunks of beef cooked with green pepper, onions and tomatoes. The sauce is so good that I'd spoon it over my rice and eat it, even after the meat was all gone. As for desserts, they serve three different kinds. I always find the baklava and the gelabee, which is fried pastry dough too sweet. When I'm in the mood for something sweet, I stick with their rice pudding, which is served chilled with pistachios and almonds.

Let me end by saying that I eat out a lot and I'm always looking for new restaurants and new cuisines to try. It's rare that I'll return to the same restaurant twice in one year, even when I think the food is excellent. For me, to have gone back 3 to 4 times to Azeen's, definitely shows you more than anything else, how much I truly enjoy dining there. You should check it out yourself one time!

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157606449346691/

Azeen's Afghani Cuisine
110 E. Union St.
Old Pasadena
(626) 683-3310

Shhh...Don't Tell Anyone, But I'm Cheating on My Own Blog!

...but don't worry, I'm cheating on my own blog by contributing content to another blog, specifically, the Menuism Blog. So check it out when you get a chance. The type of stuff I'll blog about there is still related to food, restaurants, etc., but they're different in that my blog posts will not be restaurant reviews. So far, I've written the following and there's more to come, so stay tuned!

The Art of Being a Phoodie
The Ins and Outs of the Kitchen Hiearchy
Korean Food Primer

While you're at it, check out Menuism.com. It's a fairly new site that focuses on user-contributed restaurant reviews. You won't see dry cleaning, automotive, hair salon, etc. reviews there. It's just about the food. If you join, be sure to add me as a friend. I'm also the new Community Manager, so I can also answer questions about the site and anything else you need to know to help you get started. Ok, back to my regular bloggin! :)

One Dish Quickie at Spitz

Don't you have those days sometimes when you're kind of hungry, but not really, when you don't know what you want to eat, but know what you don't want to eat? You know? Those kind of days? Well, I was having one of those days when I stopped by for dinner with a friend at Spitz, self-proclaimed Home of the Döner Kebab in Eagle Rock. For those of you who don't know, the Döner Kebab is a Turkish dish made of meat cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off to order. The meat may be lamb, mutton, beef, goat or chicken. Anyway, after perusing the menu, nothing was really grabbing my attention, but the hollow spot in my stomach wanted to be filled. Finally, I settled for the The Döner Plate.

So what's the Döner Plate? It's practically everything but the kitchen sink. The ingredients were as follows: mixed chicken and half-lamb/half-beef on a bed of sweet potato fries and topped with Tzaziki and chili sauce. It's also served with lettuce, onion, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, Feta cheese, pepperocini, Kalamata olives as well as falafel balls, hummus and two lightly fried pita chips. I'm getting exhausted just reading through all the ingredients. In my head, I was just thinking that with all these choices, I'm bound to find something tasty that would satisfy my hungry, yet not hungry self.

Finally, it landed on my table and my, oh my, what a cornucopia of ingredients. There was a lot to this dish so I decided to just dig in and worked my way from top to bottom. First, the pita chips were light and crispy and dipped in the hummus were a tasty combo, while the falafel, being a bit dry though had some nice flavor, also went well with the hummus. The lettuce was crisp and both the lettuce and tomatoes were really fresh. The salt of the olives and the dill topped Feta cheese mixed well with the veggies.

Before digging my way down, I enjoyed the papery thinness of the chicken and felt it was seasoned just right. Further down into the dish, the lamb and beef were quite salty. At first, I thought it was just me, but my friend had ordered the Classic Döner sandwich with a half beef/half lamb mixture and also found it over salted. I eventually made my way all the way to the bottom where the sweet potato fries resided. Light and crunchy, they were the highlight of the whole dish.

Since this Döner Plate was really made for two, I barely even made a dent in it. What I did have was okay. For the most part, it satisfied my weird on-off physical hunger. Maybe, if there was something extraordinary about the meat, which is really what Spitz's bread and butter is all about, I would have felt my palate hunger for something to tantalize my taste buds realized and it would have broken me out of my foodie funk. Alas, it wasn't to be.

Would I go back based on this one dish? I wouldn't make a special trip to Spitz, but if I was in the neighborhood and if I was in a better foodie mood, I might stop by to give it another shot. This time, I would definitely go for something much simpler than the every ingredient Döner Plate.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157605446395641/

Spitz
2506 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
(323) 257-5600

www.eatatspitz.com

No Standing Ovation for the "Cooking by Hand" Dinner at Ford's Filling Station

I don't often go to special restaurant events just because generally the cost of attending one is equivalent to several dim sum and/or ethnic food outings, which tends to be my foodie passion anyway. However, thanks to a friend's kindness as well as a little good karma that came my way, I got invited to the "Cooking By Hand" Dinner at Ford's Filling Station with a menu designed by Chef Ben Ford, Chef Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD and Chef Gino Angelini of Angelini's Osteria and La Terza. Impressive line-up, don't you think?

The "Cooking by Hand" six-course menu was created with the idea that all the food would be primarily handcrafted using strictly seasonal ingredients. By handcrafted, it's mortar and pestle instead of an electric grinder and it's a hand-cranked ice cream maker as opposed to an electric one and so on. Apparently, this back to the basics kind of cooking was intended to inspire discussion which the chefs were supposed to lead about what it means to taking cooking "slow" and literally putting a little bit of muscle into it.

Unfortunately, the discussion didn't happen. While Chef Ford gave a little speech about the theme of the evening before the meal, no inspired discussion really followed. I think it just had a lot to do with the crowd. They were more here to grub than chit chat about the food's preparation, but at the very least, if the menu itself had a description about what hand craft methods were used to create the dish, that could have at least been a subject for discussion at the various tables.

By the way, just a quick backwards, before we even sat down to our main dinner, we were served 3 different appetizers first: a tomato soup, a sturgeon confit on toast and steak tartare on housemade potato chip. The tomato soup was at room temperature and the crouton inside the soup was a bit jarring or should I say hard? I'm not sure if the soup was meant to be hot or not, but regardless, it was too tangy for my taste. The other apps weren't memorable in flavor, but at least had a nice presentation.

So let's get on to our six course menu that started with Chef Angelini's salt cod served two ways: one as a Baccalà Mantecato and other with Tomato, Arugula, Roasted Pine Nuts and Raisins. The Baccalà Mantecato is salt cod fish that's creamed with milk, salt, pepper and other ingredients. It was a nice starter dish that was light and creamy and not too fishy. As for the salt cod salad, although I found it overdressed, I surprisingly liked the slight chewy texture of the fish itself and with it being a pretty mild fish, it paired well with the peppery arugula.

Next up was Chef Ford's Summer Cassoulet, which was made up of beans, Tuscan black kale, duck confit and bread crumbs. First, I really liked how the kale was fried. It had crispy, slightly bitter taste to it that I enjoyed a lot. As for the cassoulet itself, I felt that it was just okay. Not bad. Not outstanding. I appreciated how the duck added a nice hit of fattiness to the beans, but other than that, everything felt a tad under seasoned for my taste.

The highlight of the meal for me was our next course, a family recipe of Chef Angelini's, and that was the Lasagne Verde "Ommagio Nonna Elvira". Ingredients for this dish included fried spinach, spinach lasagna with a beef and veal ragu. Liked the fried kale, the crispy texture of the fried spinach was a definite hit. As for the dish as a whole, it was perfect in every way. The pasta was just right, not too firm, but also not too soft. The beef and veal ragu added a meaty richness that balanced well with the fresh flavor of the spinach. Of everything we ate that night, this is the one dish that I hope to actually show up on the Angelini Osteria menu (if it hasn't already), just so I can have a second chance to enjoy it.

As for the next couple of dishes, both came from Chef Fraser and unfortunately, I was not a fan. First up from him was his Pig in a Box, so called because it was cooked in a La Caja China Box earlier in the day. The pig was portioned out and served with spaetzle in a peach mustard drizzle. My disappointment mainly had to do with me getting a more fatty section of the pig plus I didn't get any crispy skin. The meat, while moist, was way too chewy. I did like the peach mustard because it gave a nice zing of fruity-spice to the meat and thank goodness, since it was quite under seasoned.

Then out came the Beef Cheek Daube with seasonal mushrooms. The meat was meltingly fork-tender, but that was the only thing I really liked. What bothered me was the sauce. It had a strange tangy/bitter after taste that I couldn't get past and the flavors didn't work with the woodsiness of the mushrooms. One of my dining companions mentioned that she thought that there was orange zest in the sauce and that may be that was contributing to the tangy/bitterness I was tasting. Our waitress confirmed the orange zest, but regardless of whether the orange zest was the culprit or not, this was my least favorite dish of the night.

Finally, it was time for dessert. To get in the spirit of using handcraft methods to create food, Chef Ford actually had two rotating hand-cranked ice cream makers circulating the restaurant. Almost everyone got a turn at that crank and in fact, contributed to the making of our ice cream with fresh peaches. Perhaps because of the work we all put it into or it there's something to be said for cooking by hand, that ice cream was one of the best I've ever had. Refreshing and oh-so-creamy, it was the best way to end the meal. One thing I wanted to note was it surprised me that the peaches were a little salty, but according to Chef Ford, by adding a little salt to the peaches, it helps balance the ice cream so that it doesn't taste over sweet. It's a trick he learned while cooking in Spain.

Even with highlights like Chef Angelini's lasagne dish and Chef Ford's housemade ice cream, this wasn't the best meal I've ever had. It lacked consistency. It ranged from okay to good to fabulous to dishes I rather would have just skipped altogether. But I got to spend time with two fun foodie friends and sometimes, that's what makes the meal more than the meal itself.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157606175345846/

Ford's Filling Station
9531 Culver Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310-202-1470

Tasting Extravaganza at Glacier Ice Cream & Gelato

When Cecilia, one of the organizers of my dining group went into Glacier Ice Cream & Gelato to see if she could set up an ice cream tasting for Pleasure Palate, little did she know at the time that it was going to snowball into a tasting extravaganza. Apparently, Cecilia came in at the perfect time. Executive Chef Roxanne Gin, of Glacier, had been contemplating adding salads, sandwiches and soups to the menu and what better way to get feedback on her recipes than from a bunch of passionate foodies. So on one of Saturday afternoon, 16 of us walked in and by the time it was all said and done, 16 of us had to be rolled out.

Our afternoon started off simply enough with bread dipped in balsamic vinegar and a couple of basic salads: Caesar and Cobb. While we were sampling these items, Chef Gin gave us a little info about Glacier Ice Cream and Gelato, which by the way, was selected as one of America's Best Ice Cream Stores by Forbes Traveler Magazine. Glacier actually started in Colorado and just opened another location in Manhattan Beach. Lucky us! We also learned a little more about Chef Gin, who has been a chef for over 20 years. Along with ice cream, Chef Gin creates desserts (petit-fours) for cruise lines, the Fresh & Easy stores as well as various high end hotels.

The salads, while fresh, didn't really have any wow factor, but the two soups that followed were quite tasty. One was a roasted veggie and meatball soup, with a vegetable broth that was so surprisingly rich that we all thought it was chicken broth. The second was a refreshing crab gazpacho soup. I enjoyed the chunky vegetables. but would have liked more broth.

Two more salads appeared and gave the wow that the Caesar and Cobb lacked. One was a Pasta Salad and the other was an Potato-Egg Salad. Generally, these are basically picnic salads that are more of an afterthought than anything else, but let me tell you, other than the gelatos, these two salads were the talk of the group. The pasta salad ingredients included basil, tarragon, tomatoes and mini mozzarella balls. What was great about it was that it wasn't over-dressed plus I really enjoyed how the basil added a little pungent hit of flavor. The Potato-Egg Salad was also quite delicious and the addition of tarragon gave it a nice herb-y freshness.

So far, we've sampled bread, 4 salads and 2 soups. Next up were samplings of 6 different panini sandwiches. I'm just glad I hadn't had breakfast. Of the six, two really did it for me. One was the Roasted Turkey Sandwich with ingredients that included housemade cranberry sauce, red leaf, cream cheese and housemade herb mayo (mint, oregano and Italian parsley). I'm not much of a sandwich person, but this turkey one was just scrumptious. The cranberry sauce added a wonderful sweet tartness and being a cheesehead, the thick slab of cream cheese really made my day. I also really liked the housemade herb mayo, which I thought added a wonderful flavor that went well with the rest of the ingredients.

The other sandwich that also appealed to me was the Proscuitto and Salami Sandwich, which also included arugula, pesto and a thick cut sun-dried tomato. I honestly think that arugula should be the new lettuce. The combination of the peppery arugula, the meat's saltiness and the sun dried tomato that had been packed in oil and herbs was the perfect Italian sandwich.

With all this food, I bet you thought we wouldn't have room for dessert, huh? But you were wrong. After a brief demonstration of their gelato-making process, a gelato and ice cream sampling frenzy started with Chef Gin basically letting us sample as much gelato and ice cream that we wanted before choosing what we wanted for our dessert.

She even set up a little sundae bar, but honestly, the gelato and ice cream, for me, really stood out just on its own and didn't need any additional ingredients. After sampling everything from Manhattan Beach Plum to Cantaloupe to Peanut Butter to Cinnamon, etc. and that doesn't even include the ice creams I tried, I finally settled on the Coconut Stracciatella and the Cantaloupe Gelatos. I actually preferred the gelatos finding them lighter and more creamy than the ice creams, which seemed a bit heavy to me.

The Coconut Stracciatella had a wonderful richness and creaminess to it while the Cantaloupe was just so refreshing. I also ended up taking home a Papaya Sorbet, a Vermont Maple and Honey Ice Cream and one other one that I'm totally blanking on. I thought the Papaya Sorbet was a little icy, but the Vermont Maple and Honey Ice Cream, like the Coconut Stracciatella, was richly creamy.

Overall, it was a fun event and Chef Gin was extremely gracious and generous throughout our visit there. She was also open to all comments, positive or negative and that's definitely a sign of someone who really wants to put out excellent product, which for the most part, she did.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157606137713833/

Glacier Ice Cream & Gelato
1605 N Sepulveda Blvd
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
(310) 545-9730

www.glacierhomemadeicecream.com

One Dish Quickie at El Tepeyac

There's just something I love about fried eggs, especially when it's fried to the point that the white edges are browned and yet the yolk still retains some of its liquid gold. Sometimes a fried egg sandwich on lightly buttered toasted bread is all I need for a satisfying meal. Why all the egg talk? When it comes to dining out, I always seem to drawn to dishes that feature fried eggs, whether it's fried quail eggs on scallops or fried eggs on pizza.

So when I was out with friends to dinner at El Tepeyac, a restaurant icon in East LA, I had a hard time deciding what to order. Finally, something finally caught my attention and made my palate say "Ole!" Do you know what that was? Well, it certainly wasn't taquitos.

My one dish quickie at El Tepeyac were the Beef Enchiladas topped with Fried Eggs. When I finally got my order, I looked down and then I immediately looked around to see who'd be willing to share this dish with me. It was huge, but so were a lot of the other dishes ordered by my companions. I was definitely on my own.

Fork in hand, I cut into egg and enchilada and was happy to see the yolk gushing out. My first bite was delicioso. Granted, your doctor probably wouldn't recommend a steady diet of melted cheese, beef and eggs, but for that moment, I didn't care.

Now is this the best enchilada I ever had, even with the fried egg? Probably Not. Would I go out of my way to return to El Tepeyac just for this dish? Not really. But for that moment, it was tasty, filling and hit the spot. Of course, whenever I go to into a Mexican restaurant in the future, I just might have to see if the chef would be willing to take a special request - fried egg on enchilada, anyone?

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157605604934261/

El Tepeyac
812 N Evergreen Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90033
(323) 267-8668

Korean Fried Chicken Smackdown: Kyochon vs BonChon

Kyochon Chicken, a Korean Fried Chicken chain, has been on my list to try for awhile now. With thoughts of hot and spicy, double-fried chicken constantly running through my head, it was getting harder and harder to resist making the drive to Koreatown just to see what the fuss was all about. However, when I heard that Bon Chon, whose specialty is also Korean Fried Chicken, opened down the road, I knew it was time for a Korean Fried Chicken Smackdown! Oh yeah!

So with a few hardy souls from my dining group, we spent an afternoon checking out both restaurants, one after another. Our first stop was at Kyochon. The first thing that surprised me was that I was expecting to order at the counter, but instead, we were seated and given menus. Even more surprising? A call box. I was definitely not anywhere near Kentucky Fried Chicken

At Kyochon, there are two kinds of chicken: garlic soy sauce chicken and their hot chicken. Chicken options also included ordering them just as wings, drumsticks (referred to as sticks) or as a whole cut-up chicken. We opted for the garlic soy sauce chicken wings and the Hot Sticks as well as rice, pickled radish and french fries.

While the sides came first, the chicken with a side of coleslaw that was topped with mayonnaise and ketchup, soon followed. In front of me was dream to reality so I was more than ready to dig in. I sampled the garlic soy sauce chicken first. Oh my! It was absolutely delicious. The crispiness and crunchiness of the chicken was out of this world. Thank goodness for double-frying! What I liked about this chicken were the subtle seasoning nuances, when combined really made for a flavorful chicken. Yes, I could taste the garlic and the soy sauce, but there were other flavors tripping along my palate that I couldn't quite identify. According to the menu, the garlic soy sauce chicken was made with 20 ingredients. Perhaps they meant seasonings or spices? All in all, it was pretty tasty.

Now let's talk about the Hot Sticks, which are basically drumsticks with the hot sauce. When I took my first couple of bites, I thought it was hot, but not overwhelmingly so. However, the more I ate into my Hot Stick, the heat slowly started spreading from the tip of my tongue towards the back of my throat and then kind of lingered there for awhile. What appealed to me about the hot chicken was the counter balance of sweetness to the chicken's spiciness because that interplay of sweet and hot gave Kyochon's hot chicken a fullness of flavor that I found appealing.

After a satisfying starter meal at Kyochon, let's jump to Bon Chon. Like Kyochon, there is tableside service. We were seated and given menus. Also like Kyochon, they had a soy sauce garlic chicken and a hot chicken on the menu and of course, we ordered both. Now comes the differences. First, at Bon Chon, we were served complimentary iced barley tea and pickled radishes Pickled radishes were $1 at Kyochon. Their coleslaw came out separately from the chicken and was topped with Thousand Island dressing. Also, while our chicken came out fairly quickly at Kyochon, we were specifically told at Bon Chon that our order would take 30 minutes to make and they were definitely right about that.

Half an hour later, our chicken wings arrived and when they arrived, we couldn't tell which ones were the soy garlic and which ones were the hot chicken. They looked absolutely the same. The only difference was the basket liner. One was green and white and the other was orange and white. So we went by the maxim that orange meant hot, which equated to hot chicken and it turns out we were right. Of course, for all we know, the liners weren't specific to the chicken and we were just lucky.

Since it's better to go from mild to hot, I tried their soy garlic chicken first. Like Kyochon, it was crispy and crunchy, but unlike Kyochon, it had a little bit of glaze to it. As for flavors, I actually felt that the soy sauce and garlic flavors were more prominent in the Bon Chon version and being a garlic lover, I couldn't help but applaud that.

As for Bon Chon's hot chicken, I can safely say that it was much hotter than when I experienced at Kyochon. My first bite of Bon Chon's hot chicken reminded me of tabasco sauce and a lot of it. In fact, my lips were even tingling a little bit. Like wildfire, the heat quickly spread from tip of the tongue to the front of my mouth to all over my palate. The spiciness itself was something I could handle, but food shouldn't be spicy just for the sake of being spicy. Bon Chon's hot chicken just seemed one note to me and I didn't really want to play along. By the way, if you have a palate that doesn't handle heat very well, be sure to partake of the pickled radishes that come with your meal, because that will help tame the beast for you.

Overall, what I truly appreciated about both Kyochon and Bon Chon was that their chicken wasn't greasy and also that that the chicken skin was fried to a thin, crackly goodness as opposed to having that flabby layer of skin remaining intact, when chicken is deep-fried, the traditional American way, with batter.

So what are the smackdown results? In regards to the soy sauce garlic chicken, while I enjoyed both, I'm giving a slight edge to the Kyochon version because I enjoyed the different flavor nuances, but I'd also be just as happy with the garlicky goodness that I experienced at Bon Chon. When it came to the hot chicken version, hands down, Kyochon does it for me. Bon Chon's hot chicken just wasn't a hit for me. In regards to the rest of my dining group, the overall consensus seemed to go by way of Kyochon Chicken.

By the way, with all these myriad of spicy, garlicky, savory flavors in our mouth, we ended our foray with Korean Fried Chicken with the refreshing Korean shaved ice desserts at Ice Kiss, right next door to Bon Chon. Fire followed by ice in Koreatown. What a perfect ending!

By the way, to get more detailed info about the Korean Fried Chicken method, click here!

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157605930546090/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157605977562274/

Kyochon Chicken

3833 W 6th St

Los Angeles, CA, 90020

(213) 739-9292

Bon Chon Chicken

3407 W 6th St

Los Angeles, CA, 90020

(213) 487-7878

ADDENDUM: Since having visited the two places above, I also had a chance to visit the Rowland Heights location of Kyochon Chicken. At this location, it's more of a food court atmosphere You order at the counter and either eat at the outside tables or take the food to go. What I found interesting is although they're part of the same chain, the chicken tasted different. At the Rowland Heights location, their hot chicken was actually even hotter than Bon Chon's hot chicken. and their soy sauce garlic chicken was a little saltier and lacked the depth of flavor I found at the Koreatown location. So although the Rowland Heights location is a bit closer to me, I'd rather make the trek to Koreatown.