Hot Pink Manolos

My Own Domain

hotpinkmanolo — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:55:06 GMT

I have enjoyed several years here on Livejournal...even before HPM I was blogging under another username...

BUT it's time to move on...you can now find Hot Pink Manolos at HotPinkManolos.com

I hope you will all make the move with me!

Please make sure you update any RSS readers and bookmarks!!

XOXO,
Christina

Hodori

hotpinkmanolo — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:35:32 GMT

Okay if you check out the Yelp reviews for this place, or even the Urban Spoon reviews, it's kind of mixed. But the one thing everyone seems to agree on is that this place is the place to be if you're 1) Asian and 2) Drunk out of your mind.

Now normally I find these kinds of generalizations slightly off-putting, because I feel like once you bring race into ANYTHING it becomes polarizing. BUT, I have to say, we walked in to Hodori at like 2am and it was filled with drunk asians. Yup. We walked in 3 latinos and a white dude and felt oddly out of place.

There are also tons of reviews about the horrible service. Didn't really notice except it did take a long time for our server to come over to us. But maybe it's because the place was packed. With unruly drunks. And as a server in my past life, I can tell you, trying to get through an order of 15 drunk 20-something year-olds is unbelievably difficult.

But here are the good things about Hodori. it's 24 hours. and I enjoy finding 24 hour places that aren't...Denny's...or IHOP...

Plus the food is pretty good. I enjoyed the stuff we had. Oh, and if you can't tell by what we are wearing, I've had this post sitting in my queue for awhile....

Hodori Menu:

Mool Man Doo (Steamed Dumplings):

Yook Gae Jang (Hot Spicy Shredded Beef Soup):

Galbi (BBQ Pork Rib)

And the happy eaters!

(213) 383-3554
Koreatown
1001 S Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90006
www.hodorirestaurants.com

Polkatots Cupcakes

hotpinkmanolo — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 10:12:50 GMT

I should note that PolkaTots is less than 5 minutes from the home I live in, and HAVE been living in for 3 years, and yet, until Great Chefs of LA I didn't even know it existed!!! A shame too, because I would have been eating these cupcakes a a long time earlier.

Polkatots opened in 2008 and has been quite a success - these gals have received plenty of press and rightfully so. Their cupcakes are not only delicious, but artfully designed.

I'm not going to lie, it's a little funny to see a designer cupcakery in the area that they are in. I mean the Bev Hills area Sprinkles is in makes sense. The Old Town Pasadena Dots makes sense. Even the original Dots on Arroyo makes sense. The Frosted Cupcakery on La Cienega makes sense. But Polkatots??? Let me explain: On the corner is a center with a 7-11, a Puebla Tacos taqueria, an AutoZone, and a Subway. Polkatots is in the next center over from the corner with a Greek/mediterranean fast food place, and Slaw Dogs (which has achieved some foodie attention as well). But there's also a ton of fast food places (a McDonalds, a Carl's, a FatBurger, a KFC, a Burger King) a Roscoes, and frankly, while it's no South Central (oh wait, I'm sorry "Central Los Angeles") the area is still a little scuzzy. I mean I only live a few blocks away, and I regularly hear shots fired in my neighborhood.

Despite this, there they are - a beacon of frosted, yummy cuteness. We stopped in, and I was delighted to discover that most of the place is painted in bubble gum pink, what part of the wall is not, has the Polkatot signature swirls…and contains a metro rack with the cutest and colorful candy and cupcake themed retail items. Everything about this shop just exudes "cute."

The display is well organized and clean and the cupcakes simply yet beautifully frosted so that they grab your attention. We decided to get a few.

The Dolcissimo: Award Winning Renown...Dulce de Leche Cupcake with Dulce de Leche Buttercream. This was a dream, but I'm a little partial to all things Dulce de Leche…

Strawberry Shortcake: Strawberry Cupcake with Strawberry Buttercream

Caffe Latte: Vanilla Cupcake with Coffee Buttercream

Lemonade: Lemon Cupcake with Tangy Lemon Buttercream

They even include this adorable card with pictures of all the cupcakes and their descriptions so you can remember what you brought home (because I know we've all gotten home with an assortment of cookies and go, "Damnit! Which one's which?!") and on the reverse side it has "Cupcake Handling Instructions" - Number 5 happens to be my favorite, "And finally, Enjoy, Pig Out and Have Fun!" Pretty much my motto for life…

They do mini and standard size cupcakes. Minis are 1.50 per, and 16.50 for a dozen. Standard size are 3.00 per and 33 a dozen.

Check 'em out. Even if you're not a cupcake fiend, it's good to support your small local business owners! :)

720 North Lake Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 798-3932

Angel Thai House

hotpinkmanolo — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 05:23:08 GMT

I like to drag everyone into this crazy food blogging thing that I do, which includes my family. I’m surprised anyone is still willing to go out to dinner with me, but the beauty of family is that they have to like you, no matter what. Sort of. Okay, well they put up less of a fuss at dinner when I whip out my camera than other people…I just get a lot of exasperated sighs.

But truly I am blessed to have a wonderful family that I honestly enjoy spending time with. So when my sister was home from college for the holidays I made it a point to spend as much time with her and my pops as possible. This included dinner out a couple times.

One night I was desperately wanting to go to Hakata Ramen Shin Sen Gumi so I dragged my dad and sister down to Rosemead. When we got there, though, the line was ridiculously out of control. My pa being the (extremely loveable) curmudgeon that he is, was not about to wait in an hour line for “ramen.” So the three of us walked around the strip mall to see what else there was. – not a ton, including a C grade pho place which had no customers and seemed a little sketchy.

BUT what we did stumble upon was Angel Thai House. I like Thai food…I don’t know a ton about the cuisine, or whether what I’m eating is even close to being authentic (the way that Panda Express is not authentic Chinese, ya know?) but I do know that 1) I like lime – thai food uses a lot of lime and 2) I LOOOOVVVVEEEE cilantro…and Thai food uses a lot of cilantro. Good enough for me.

The place is clean and bright, and has a rather large menu – although there were a couple of dishes we had wanted we did not get to try since apparently a large party had just been in and sort of cleaned them out.

We started with one of my personal favorite: Tom Kha Kai – spicy and sour coconut milk soup with chicken and mushrooms.

We also ordered beef satay – I was mildy unimpressed by their satay. Their peanut sauce was a little too…peanut buttery. Like they had scooped some JIF onto the plate. Beef was a little over done. But the peanut sauce was good with the toast that came on the plate! LOL!! (Sometimes I crack myself up….)

And what’s Thai food without a little curry? Panang curry is always a good stand-by and Angel House’s did not disappoint. Chicken with bell peppers, red curry, and peanut sauce and coconut milk.

We also ordered the Garlic Shrimp and Scallop – but it ended up being just garlic shrimp – since apparently the big party had cleared them out of scallops – sautéed in garlic herb sauce, with black pepper and onion. This was pretty yummy!

I would have to say the best dish of the whole evening was the Pla Neung Ma-Nao – steamed sea bass with garlic, ginger, green onion, chili and lime. They bring it out in this steaming, boiling thing over sterno – not only is it visually impressive, but it is absolutely delicious.

Overall a pretty good meal. If I’m in the area craving Thai food, I’d definitely stop by again.

Angel Thai House
8450 E. Valley Blvd. Suite 116
Rosemead, CA 91770
(626) 288-1183

Happy Valentine's Day!!

hotpinkmanolo — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:18:21 GMT

"I love you like a fat kid loves cake"

Wait...no...

Ah...thanks, Cake Wrecks! A very worthwhile "Sunday Sweet"

Apparently the photo (and cake?) credit goes to http://www.tortentante.blogspot.com/

Ever Wondered What to Eat at Disneyland?

hotpinkmanolo — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:09:50 GMT

AN: Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season – restful and full of family and love. I’m making it a resolution to blog more this. We’ll see how that goes. Hopefully you can all keep me on track! And now to my post:

Let me preface this post by saying 2 things. 1) I am a Disneyland fanatic. If I had time and money I would go every day. I LOVE Disneyland. 2) At best you can say I am a creature of habit. At my worst, some who know me well might go as far as to say I am obsessive compulsive. When it comes to going to Disneyland I am no different. Since the advent of California Adventures, if I get park hopper passes, California Adventures is ALWAYS first. We arrive as early as possible, and then immediately head to Hollywood Tower of Terror and ride it like 3 times in a row – then usually followed by California Screamin’. Then we usually do the Toy Story ride, and sort of meander around the park seeing if there’s anything else we want to do. If we’re in the mood we’ll do that hang glider ride, or something else, but there’s no any real sense of urgency to ride those rides.

Then I head over to Disneyland where the routine is always the same, regardless of whether or not I’ve been to CA Adventures. Pirates is ALWAYS first, followed by Haunted Mansion. Then I make a point to do all the coasters if possible, and Small World. A picture in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is a must as well. Everything else is sort of secondary.

The point of all this is that I almost never vary from this pattern. Almost.

This last visit to Disneyland I broke the mold. Sort of. Of course we got into CA and did TOT 3 times in a row…but then it turned into a foodie visit. It started with my obligatory churro. Can’t NOT have a churro at the DL parks.

We were also there during the Food and Wine Festival –so there were all kinds of places to try beers, wines, and see food related seminars/demos. However I’ve head they cancelled the F&W Fest for ’11 and ’12 because of construction.

Then I stumbled upon a food truck! What? Okay not a real one, but I’ve heard that the Green Truck has a deal with the park and they’d been serving there – woah. How do I get in on that? Someone tell me how to get the BG Truck into DL/CA!! But the point is, I can’t seem to escape the trucks. Even at DL.

Then I discovered some interesting things I did not know were there before. How I missed this stuff, I have NO idea. I was just never paying attention in my OCD euphoria I guess??

First: did you know that Mission Tortillas has a “factory” on site? Yeah – it has working machinery making fresh tortillas RIGHT THERE. You walk through an educational type display of digital dioramas explaining where tortillas come from (duh) and the history of how they’re made. Then you walk into a HUGE room and there are the machines, just making tortillas! It’s actually quite cool. And of course they hand out samples.

Since we had gone on D’s birthday we got a whole pack! There’s also a demo kitchen area where a woman is making example stuff you could make with Mission Tortillas. They also have free recipe cards you can pick up with Mission tortillas as an ingredient. Cool thing here: Cocina Cucamonga – right behind the factory – uses these fresh tortillas for their menu items.

Then right next to that is a tour of the Boudin Bakery!! Again, basically just a walkthrough, but they have this room where you watch a video first (with Rosie O’Donnel and Colin Mochrie), and then you walk through with more video explaining the leavening process, and all the steps afterwards. Oh and there are samples here too. And they’re yummy.

The cool thing about this, is that the Pacific Wharf Café (basically where you exit) uses the loaves for their bread bowls, so you know it’s fresh. Apparently you can also purchase loaves (they even have some shaped like Mickey heads!) at the café or a fruit stand which is nearby? I have not confirmed this information though.

Cool info about Boudin that I pulled off AllEars.net: “The Boudin Bakery in San Francisco has produced sourdough bread for over 150 years. The "mother dough" was developed by French baker Isidore Boudin in 1849. The bacteria found in the mother dough is unique to San Francisco and has the scientific designation lactobacillus sanfrancisco.”

We decided that this would be a good opportunity to eat more of that delicious bread so we had lunch at Pacific Wharf.

We had the phenomenal Monterey Clam Chowder - From the menu: "Creamy, rich and chock full of clams, this chowder features diced potatoes, celery, onion and peppers." This was soooooo good!!!

And we also had the delicious Santa Rosa Corn Chowder - "Plump corn kernels simmered with potatoes and roasted red bell peppers in a zesty chili bisque, then topped with chives and diced ham."

Moving on to Disney Land we continued to gorge ourselves. Outside of the Tiki Room we had Dole Whip floats. If you’ve never had Dole Whip, please please please have one when you go to DL next. There are VERY few places outside Hawaii that serve Dole Whip, and the stand outside the Tiki Room is one of them. It’s cold, creamy (although it has no dairy I think), pineappley, whipped goodness. My understanding is that it is lactose free (which is excellent for me), cholesterol free, and fat free. And while that may be accurate, it doesn’t describe the wonderfulness that is a Dole Whip. Cold, fruity, refreshing. Plus the float comes with Dole pineapple juice and a fun umbrella!

One of the “nicest” places you can have a meal in DL is at the Blue Bayou. There are a few places in CA but I think in DL it’s the only sit down, full service, metal flatware, type restaurant in the park I think. (Outside of Club 33 – but how many of us have memberships, huh?) It can be found next to the exit of Pirates of the Caribbean, and you can see the diners eating merrily as you float by in the beginning of the ride.

While I have to say that Blue Bayou does put out a good effort, and I remember REALLY liking it as a kid, the last couple times I’ve been somewhat disappointed. The ambiance is pretty cool- it’s basically like sitting in a quiet outdoor restaurant out on the bayou – crickets and all. It’s kind of a romantic setting, which is probably why it’s popular for proposals. (Actually two times ago, we ordered the trio of creme brulee or what not and it comes with this box made out of sugar, which the restaurant created specifically for putting engagement rings in. Otherwise it's just a nice souvenier...)

Here is a photo from Davelandweb.com so you have an idea of the romantic atmosphere I'm talking about - posted here with Dave's gracious permission:

However, the food here is rather mediocre. I read on some Disney blogs that this is a relatively new development, so I’m wondering if they had a chef change? But the menu isn’t all that innovative – I think they’ve been serving the same recipes for a long time. Really there isn’t any excuse…is there?

Either way, D and I both had the Gumbo as a starter which was probably the best part of the meal – but there wasn’t enough of it!

I had the Bayou Surf & Turf - From their menu: "A succulent, sweet petite lobster tail from the Pacific Northwest, paired with an expertly broiled filet mignon, sauce bearnaise. With Blue Bayou potatoes and seasonal vegetables" – nothing notable. Steak was OK. Lobster was overcooked.

D had the Cajun-Spiced Salmon " Blackened, with citrus crawfish beurre blanc. With Blue Bayou potatoes and seasonal vegetables." DEFINITELY better than my surf and turf, but also not crazy remarkable.

I’ve heard the Monte Cristo is pretty freaking amazing, but I have yet to try it. Still the lack of culinary inspiration is made up for – at least for me – by the experience. It’s hard to get in so you feel kind of special, and it is kind of romantic and fun. Plus they gave D a free birthday dessert! ☺

Then we stumbled across Pooh Corner – and more specifically Pooh’s Hunny Spot – which had an amazing sweets counter!! Inside we could see a chef working on dipping something in caramel. Everything in the display cases looked so delicious!! Cookies, cupcakes, pretzels, rice krispies, chocolate covered strawberries, fudge, smores, OH MY!

Of course we couldn’t resist so we bought a couple of marshmallow “tails.” We got a Cheshire Cat tail, and a Tigger (T-I-Double Guh-ER) tail – and thoroughly enjoyed both. A nice lady saw us trying to take pictures of each other eating them and offered to take one of us together because she thought we were funny!

So as you can see there are so many food stuffs to eat and discover in the Disney parks. I’m not saying any of it is necessarily good for you, but there’s more culinary goodness than your average theme park. I gotta say, the F&B guys at Disney know what they’re doing. I can’t wait for my next food centric visit to the parks!!

And to conclude, some gratuitous pictures of baby ducks that we saw by Sleeping Beauty Castle:

For more Disneyland Food Fun:

Los Angeles Foodie: http://www.la-foodie.com/blog-posts/top-ten-disneyland-foods/

Associated Content: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1586517/10_best_food_items_at_disneyland.html?cat=16

Mice Chat: http://micechat.com/forums/disneyland-resort/75612-best-worst-food-disneyland-resort-3.html

Club 33 (on my bucket list – would kill to go at least once –and WITH a member so I could ride the Lilly Belle!!): http://www.disneylandclub33.com/

Great Chefs of LA - National Kidney Foundation

hotpinkmanolo — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 10:06:49 GMT

Yes I know everyone else has already posted about this, but y'all know I'm always behind, and then I develop a backlog of posts that quickly becomes overwhelming, so sometimes I end up forgoing posts altogether. BUT I really wanted to post this since some of the stuff is pretty cool.

Great Chefs of LA is an event which benefits the National Kidney Foundation. It was held at the CBS Radford Studios in Studio City. Last year Mary Sue and Susan were the chefs of honor, so we were of course going to participate this year. Dino and I got to head over there with the truck, and I got to spend the day serving people tacos, eating food, and hanging out with Chef Mary Sue and her son, Kieran, all for a good cause! I am so lucky sometimes!

Loteria was serving up some awesome empanadas - and this year's Chef of Honor was Jimmy Shaw

Chaya LA - and the randomness is the girl on the right, Mary, now works for us! :) She's super cool.

Mary Sue's son, Kieran, getting some sushi! Yum!

Napa Valley Grill

Pom - Pomegranate Sorbet: Look how cute the little servings are!!

It is a CRIME that I didn't know until very recently that Polkatots is 1) delicious and 2) right by my apartment:

and of course - as usual I run into Josie at these things

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Pops:

And of course...SWAG...since it would not be right of me not to disclose any items I have received and might potentially review:

Happy Thanksgiving!

hotpinkmanolo — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 08:35:24 GMT

Yes I know that technically now Thanksgiving is over, but since I've spent the whole day prepping and then subsequently gorging myself I hadn't had a chance to wish you all, dear readers, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have full bellies surrounded by family and/or friends and most importantly love. I hope you took a moment to reflect on all the blessings you have in your life whether or not you have few or many.

There are many things that I am thankful for. I'm thankful that I am healthy, employed, and that I have a full stomach and roof over my head. I'm thankful for the loving and supportive family I have. I'm thankful for my boyfriend of almost 3 years who makes me feel beautiful and special every single day. And these are just the basics!

I am also thankful for YOU, readers! Yes YOU! Without you this blog would be nothing! I'm so thankful I'm going to share with you the most bestestest (yes a real word) turkey recipe ever - which my Uncle has at this point pretty close to perfected. The turkey is juicy and moist and has TONS of flavor.

This year's turkey:

This is a recipe that he has taken much from Alton Brown, a little from a couple other celebrity cooks, and a smidge of his own research:

Uncle Manolo's Super Duper Awesome Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe (with gravy!):

I’m definitely a proponent of:
• Cooking a modest sized bird – from 12 to 14 pounds.
Having experienced ‘birdzilla’ nightmares, smaller is always easier to manage and ends up cooking better. As men have been saying throughout the ages, size isn’t everything. This should be enough to feed ten folks or so. Or two with lots of leftovers. Or something in between.

• Brining the bird at least overnight prior to cooking. Taking advantage of osmotic forces truly makes for a moister bird (who’d have thought the things I learned in high school & college actually had any practical value in feeding me). BUT the key thing is to brine for an appropriate length of time. In the first phase of brining, moisture is actually sucked out of the bird so leave it in the bath at least 8 hours.

• NOT using a Kosher or ‘self-basting’ bird. This isn’t anti-Semitism; Kosher birds are highly salted and the brining creates an unpalatably salty bird. Self-basting birds are typically injected with saltwater that also result in nightmares of inedible salinity.

• Not cooking a stuffed bird. Either the stuffing doesn’t get cooked to a safe temperature and threatens everyone’s health (which may not be a deal-breaker for some families) or the stuffing gets cooked to a safe temperature but the bird ends up the consistency of bad leather left in the desert (which is always a deal-breaker).

• Making gravy. Canned & jarred varieties are useful in a pinch but nothing says cooking like making a pan sauce.

• Not being sued. Use this recipe at your own risk. If you get sick, don’t blame me. Use of this recipe is an implicit agreement that the user (that’s YOU) agrees to hold me (that’s ME) harmless from and against any and all liabilities, claims, suits, actions, demands, settlements, losses, judgments, costs, damages and expenses to the extent that they arise out of or result from any use of this recipe. If you can’t agree to that, then stop reading now.

SO, on to the brining:
1. Combine
- 1 gallon (yes, gallon) of vegetable stock or water
- 1 cup of kosher salt
- 1⁄2 cup (or a little more) of light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of whole black peppercorns
in a large (gallon, remember?) stock pot & bring to a boil. Make sure the sugar and salt are completely dissolved. You can add other spices if you like but I prefer to keep it simple.

2. Remove the brine from heat, allow it to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for a couple of hours (You may notice that this whole process requires time and patience).

3. Using a vessel large enough to hold and refrigerate the bird & brine, combine the brine created above with:
o 1 gallon (yes, gallon) of ice water
o The aforementioned modest sized bird–completely thawed in the refrigerator for the last two days or so – placed with the breast into the deeper part of the brining solution.
and leave in a cold place for eight to sixteen hours. While some use a camping cooler or some such thing as a brining vessel, as brining has become more fashionable, it has become easier to find ‘brining bags’ in cooking stores. These are very convenient and allow you to put the brining bird in the fridge. Depending upon your particular arrangement, turn the bird every few hours to make sure it’s getting the full effect of the brine.

Preparing the bird for the oven:
1. Remove the bird from the brine, rinse with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
Throw away the brine. Don’t let it be mistaken for any kind of useful stock or anything like that. That would be a bad thing. And you can’t blame it on me, anyway. You read that part. If not, go back and read it again.

2. Depending upon your oven’s configuration, remove all racks except the lowest. While it seems obvious, do this prior to preheating your oven. Otherwise, you have to take a hot rack out of a hot oven and all kinds of reality-TV worthy wackiness ensues. Then, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Yes, 500. I’m not crazy. This really works.

3. While stuffing is avoided (and better replaced on the table by ‘dressing’), that big honkin’ opening in the bird is useful for introducing more flavor. So in a large bowl, combine:
• 1 apple (sweet rather than tart), roughly cut into quarters
• 1⁄2 onion (again, sweet rather than pungent), roughly cut into pieces matching the apple
• 1 cinnamon stick
• About a cup or so of water
and nuke for about 5 minutes on high.

4. Put the bird on a flat rack and in a roasting pan and put all the hot stuff from the microwave (well, except the water) in the bird’s cavity. Also, to the bird’s innards, add:
• A couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary
• About half a dozen fresh sage leaves
Make sure this isn’t packed so tightly that hot oven air can’t move around inside the bird. It can be full – as the apples and onions will shrink creating more airspace – but it shouldn’t be packed tight. If the bird’s cavity is too small, leave out some of the onions and apples out.

5. Take a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil and fold into a very large triangle – shiny side out (yes, it makes a difference but probably not one that’s big enough to cause worry lines). I’ve found the best way to do this is to tear a sheet of foil from the roll twice as long as the roll is wide, then fold the corners to the center of that length. I use a roll that’s 12 inches wide so I tear off a piece 24 inches long and then create a isosceles triangle with a base of 24 inches. It doesn’t have to be perfect since foil is malleable.

6. Coat one side of the foil triangle liberally with canola oil (which has a higher smoke point that others). Taking advantage of the previously mentioned malleability, form fit the foil triangle to the bird’s breast meat (oiled side against the bird so it doesn’t stick). With the point of the triangle at the bird’s caudal opening and the long base at the top of the breast, form it to cover basically all of the white meat. Once you’ve fitted the foil breastplate, set it aside and save it for later.

7. Package the bird for thermodynamic uniformity. Tuck the wings back under the bird so they don’t flop around and, if necessary, tie the legs together with trussing twine. The bird should take on a lump-like quality rather than bird-shape. Give the lump-shaped bird a nice canola oil massage. Be generous with the oil. It promotes that nice golden browning that makes people go, “Ooh,” and sometimes, “Aah!” Add some Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper and it’s ready for the oven. By the way, if your bird has one of those absurd plastic pop-up things, leave it in but ignore what it tells you. If you take it out, it gives bird juices a place to gush out of the bird. If you listen to it, it’ll overcook your bird (a contrivance of attorneys working to protect the turkey industry).

The actual cooking process:
1. Put the turkey (on the roasting rack in the roasting pan on the lowest rack) in the 500-degree oven. The screaming hot air is searing the oil soaked skin for that Ooh-inspiring color. After 30 minutes, take the bird briefly out of the oven to:
a. Reduce the oven to a more reasonable 350 degrees
b. Place the pre-formed, pre-oiled foil on the bird AND
c. Place a remote probe thermometer (You do have one of those, don’t you?) in the thickest part of the breast but NOT touching the bone.
All of this allows for the cooking of the bird to a safe temperature without drying it out AFTER having created that golden brown skin. The additional bonus is that the seared skin seems to contribute to sealing in the bird’s moisture (but that could be just my imagination).

2. Set the thermometer alarm for 155 degrees. Return the bird to the oven and declare the oven off limits for the next few hours (2 to 21⁄2 hours depending on your bird’s size). While some use the velvet rope approach to keep interlopers from peeking in on the bird, I recommend a liberal application of crime scene tape. Peeking to see how the bird is doing allows the temperature to fluctuate too much. Instead of meddling in the kitchen, encourage the watching of football, the family togetherness, the planning for the winter holidays...

3. Once the alarm goes off, remove the bird from the oven, remove the roasting rack (with the bird, of course) from the pan, remove the foil triangle from the bird but leave the thermometer(s) in place (lest all kinds of juices gush forth). Put the bird in a non-drafty place for at least 15 minutes but closer to a half-hour if you can hold off the masses. This gives you time to make other stuff. Tent the bird with foil if necessary (i.e. everything’s drafty) or appropriate (i.e. people keep trying to sneak a piece of turkey). The bird’s temperature should rise to the USDA recommended 165 in that time. By the way, you did read the part about not suing me. Read it again; I’ll wait here.

4. Now that your back: After the bird has rested, remove the thermometer(s). And carve (which is apparently another lost art). And enjoy. And go into a food coma.

For gravy:
1. Put the roasting pan with all of the drippings directly on the range over medium heat. Add:
• 8 ounces of red wine
• 24 ounces of LOW SODIUM chicken broth – This isn’t a health thing, it’s a salt thing.
Remember, the bird from whence the drippings came sat in a salt bath for quite some time. Additional salt is probably not necessary.

2. Whisk it all together and deglaze the pan. Continue heating for another few minutes to reduce slightly and allow some of the alcohol to cook off.

3. Pour all of this into a fat separator (which has been known to travel under the alias ‘gravy separator’) and let it do its thing (i.e. separate) for five to ten minutes. Pour off the denser liquid into a bowl and reserve it for Step 5.

4. Pour about 3⁄4 cup of fat back into the pan over medium-high heat (You can discard any excess fat now. You don’t have to; you can keep it if that’s your thing. I don’t judge). If, for some bizarre reason, you don’t have 3⁄4 cup of turkey fat, you can augment it with melted unsalted (see the caveat about salt in Step 1) butter. Add:
• About 1/3 cup of flour and whisk continuously to create a roux – should take anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes depending
upon your whisk arm.

5. Gradually add the liquid reserved in Step 3, continually whisking until you’ve reached your desired consistency. Your desired consistency should be slightly thinner than what you’d expect – the gravy will thicken up once you remove it from heat and put it in a gravy boat (Really? You have a gravy boat?).

6. Flavor with herbs and spices of your choice. This last go-round, I used:
• About 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme (chopped fine) • About 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary (chopped even finer) • Black pepper • Kosher salt – I made the mistake [previously] of adding this PRIOR to taste testing and the gravy
was on the salty side. Please learn from my mistakes.

For a printable copy go to this link: http://bit.ly/5EGLP

Last year's turkey:

Blogger Prom 2010 - and My First Official Video!

hotpinkmanolo — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 06:43:53 GMT

Am I day late and a buck short? Maybe - but still worth posting about!

Blogger Prom this year was even more high class and more exclusive than last year. The list was limited and invitees were asked to dress in their Golden Age of Hollywood Glamour and appear at the most exclusive blogger event of the year at the famous Yamashiro Restaurant. Obviously for me this meant planning WAY in advance to get the evening off...

Of course this theme is totally up my alley - in case anyone remembers my outfit from last year. I was so geeked and decided to invite my girlfriend Vanessa. We were talking about this well in advance and yet I still managed to not buy my outfit until like the day before. Some might call me the world's best procrastinator?

Regardless, we dolled ourselves up (I had pincurls in my hair all day long - in honor of the festivities!) and managed to get ourselves there and had a great time. The Blogger Prom committee got some really great food sponsors this year (including, once again, the Cheese Impresario), wrangled some awesome gift bag sponsors (see below) and scored a really amazing and theme appropriate venue. What made it even better this year, was that in order to attend, all invitees were required to "purchase" a ticket by making a donation to Operation Frontline Los Angeles (the regional OFL program at Share Our Strength) and all proceeds from this went directly to the organization, resulting in a final contribution of $2400. Amazing!

But enough of the boring details onward to the pictures! First - Friends and Fun:

Me and my Vanessa | Me and Esi

With Anisha | and with Nastassia

Sam Kim | Kathy and her Hubby

Adri | Greg and H.C.

Josie | Danny

Yamashiro's Chef Brock provided an interesting taco bar:

And some more Noms...

The full outfit:

My date:

The official after-party was held at Test Kitchen LA:

This is also where we filmed our post blogger-prom wrap up. Check it out:

Of course because we were starving after all that partying - on the way home we grabbed some tacos from my favorite taco truck in Pasadena - on Fair Oaks.

But now the moment you've all been waiting for. You wanted to see what kind of free stuff I got THIS year!! I think the best part of this year's swag was the actual bag. It's SO cute! And y'all know how much I love ALL things Disney.

I drank the metro mint water which was...um...not good. :( And I've already used the unite hair products which I liked, except for the smell. But they did wonders for my hair! I also like the oil blotting sheets from ProActive, although I used their face products before and I'm not crazy about them. The chipotle chocolate was super interesting. And way spicier than I thought it would be!! All other items are still pending trial :)

Thanks again to the Blogger Prom committe for putting on a great night. But I gotta say, the best part of my whole evening, was Greg of Sippity Sup asking me why I don't write more. He said I have a presence and people like me so I SHOULD write more. Best thing I've ever heard about my blog. And Greg I am making every effort to try and blog more - clearly I'm not doing my best - that pesky job thing gets in the way. But I've totally taken it to heart and I love you for it!!

Chef Jeremy Tummel

hotpinkmanolo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:30:18 GMT

With all the hubub of my promotion and all the loco-ness in the company of turning Ciudad into Border Grill Down Town I haven't been able to get much blogging done. But I figured since Ciudad is ending, now was as good a time as any to post something that is like a MILLION years overdue.

Jeremy was the Executive Chef at Ciudad up until not very long ago, and while I didn't ever really get a chance to spend any significant amount of time working with him, I definitely enjoyed the one event we did together and I learned a lot. What I want to share with you is the dinner that he created that I helped him serve. This family won the dinner at an auction - the auction item was a dinner created by Ciudad/Chef Tummel and served in the kelp forest aquarium portion of the new EcoSystems exhibit in the California Science Center. A beautiful setting, and Chef being a seafood guy, made a beautiful meal. He created the menu to be items you would find in a kelp forest, and actually had a lot of fun pointing out to us in the aquarium what items we were eating!

The Menu:

The Event Space:

Really my only hand in this was because Chef needed a kitchen, and since our new truck is exactly that, I got to drive the truck and help out with the meal. Although I have at my young age, quite a few years of restaurant experience under my belt, my experience is almost entirely Front-of-House. My kitchen experience is limited to the very basic and my own kitchen. Chef was super awesome though about letting me help plate - he would just tell me exactly what to do, make corrections if necessary, and was just super patient. (I have been told by a little bird that he was a teacher in a past life.)

The first course was (if I remember correctly! It's been awhile) featured super fresh sea urchin, seared tuna, a sea weed salad, and those little black caviar looking things? Not actually caviar! Chef made those out of lemon grass? I think they were dyed with squid ink. I'd have to ask him to be absolutely sure, but I remember being REALLY impressed. Chef is also super cool in that he does things like make his own sea salt, and he sprinkled some of that on this dish too. He let me put the seaweed on the plates! :)

The second dish was Blue Abalone with Chorizo Gratin. It was this sort of creamy abalone dish with chorizo spiced bread crumbs all baked in the oven so it was warm and delicious. (Did I mention he did a tasting portion for all of us? *squee*) It was served with pickled veggies and sardines I believe. I got to keep an eye on the abalone in the oven, and I got to put the little jalapeno on the dollop of squid ink! Hehe. I am SUPER useful!

The next course was Chile Glazed Sea Bass, with salt cod and saffron whipped potatoes, preserved lemon and roasted pepper relish, and cilantro sauce. This was delicious! The potatoes were so good, and the fish was AMAZING! The cilantro sauce was a really nice touch. I got to put down the potatoes, and put the relish on the fish.

And because Chef said the menu needed at least ONE land-roving animal, so the next course was Niman Ranch Pork Shoulder Carnitas, white cheddar grits, braised greens, smoked tomato sauce, and topped with crispy fried strips of yucca. These were some of the best carnitas I ever ate, and I don't think I'd ever had grits before and if all grits are like this I want to eat them every day. It was around this time that Chef Susan Fenniger showed up and she helped place the yucca strips and went out and chatted with the family. (I did the sauce, and the greens!! YAY!)

The next course was a super interesting take on a cheese course. It was a Val Deon Blue Cheese Composition with market honey gelee, fuji apples, watercress, and mustard flowers. And a little gold flake for good measure! Let me tell you. Separating those individual mustard flowers was a pain in the butt - but since I was the flunkie for the evening I got stuck doing that. Also, that beautiful looking bunch of watercress? Also a pain in the butt...did that too. :)

Now dessert I didnt take a picture of - there's a reason for that. I forgot. Wanna know why? Because Chef let me plate dessert all by myself. Although I was having a REALLY hard time picking up the flan slices (I think the spatula was getting stuck on the cardboard thing underneath) and Chef started laughing saying I looked like a monkey trying to fuck a basketball!! I almost died, it was hilarious. But he let me sauce the plates and put the berries on it and everything, and he went and had a cigarette. Not gonna lie, I felt pretty cool. Although how much could I have screwed it up? At any rate I was enjoying myself and I forgot to take pics.

Unfortunately for me, Chef left Ciudad for bigger and better things shortly after this meal, so I didn't really get to know him all that well, but from what I know he's super cool and really smart, and if you're interested in tracking him down to eat his food, he's now working as Chef de Cuisine at Stillwater Restaurant at Pebble Beach in Monterey.

Also, if you haven't been to check out the new exhibits at the California Science Center, you should. They are pretty amazing. AND, stay tuned, because I'm going to try and get to Ciudad before it closes since I've never officially eaten there, and want to do a goodbye post for our sister restaurant!

Oh my god, she's alive!!

hotpinkmanolo — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:01:12 GMT

Hey, friends!

I just wanted you all to know that I have NOT abandoned you all. In a sudden turn of events, I was promoted at work! I am officially THE truck manager!! While this is a WONDERFUL opportunity, and I'm so excited about having complete (mostly) control of our truck enterprise, it is also completely and utterly exhausting. I have no time for sleep, let alone blogging, and I have the most horrific backlog of pending posts. In fact, I think I tweeted a few days ago that I need a personal assistant..."Jane? Take a memo...or actually, please type out my blog posts as dictated to you..." Something like that. If anyone wants this position it's available...it doesn't pay, and there are definitely no benefits other than the joy of being my bitch. :)

Anyway, like I said, work has been amazing and exhausting all at the same time. For example...Saturday I got to work at around noon, worked in the office until around 4:30p, then worked on the truck until about 11:00p, then drove back to the restaurant office to do more work there, and had intended to help our sous chef finish tortillas but I never even really finished my work, then around 2am I left, drove to the commissary to pick up our truck around three to have time to make all the necessary preparations to be at the LA Fleamarket to serve by 7am.

Then I worked at the Fleamarket until about 11:00a, when I got picked up by our catering manager who drove me back to my car. I got home by about 1:00p, trying not to kill myself or anyone else since I was so tired. I took a shower, then tried to sleep, realized I had over caffeinated myself in the morning, finally fell asleep around 3:00p woke back up around 6:00p, threw on my chef's coat, headed over to Vibiana for the ET Emmy Party, since it was being catered by Border Grill (which apparently Tara Met Blog was outside of with her press pass! saw her check in on FourSquare!) and handed out Churro Tots until after midnight (which Nathan Fillion rudely ignored when I offered them to him...I'm butt hurt. I took it personal. I'm a huge "Serenity" fan, but Wendy Burch from KTLA news was there and she was SO nice and we bonded about our mutual love of our respective Cavalier King Charles Spaniels AND she took some churros!). Then I drove home and realized I hadn't eaten so I stopped for - of all things - tacos. (You know I worked it out the other day...and even outside of work, tacos comprise almost 85% of all my meals. I think I have a problem) Came home, passed out, over slept for this morning, when I had to drive out to Irvine.

So as you can see, it's NUTS!! But in the best possible way. And in case you are all interested in any tidbits about the truck, we are installing a POS system in our new truck, and we should be taking credit cards VERY soon. Also, our bio-diesel converter is ALMOST finished for our generator, and we are super excited about how very green it's going to be.

And as for a post...I promise I'll get a real one up soon! When I've slept...and eaten a real meal...and had a chance to sit for more than 30 seconds at a time!!

Love and Tacos!!! XOXO

Culina - Italian deliciouness...

hotpinkmanolo — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:35:20 GMT

Okay this post has been a long time coming, and I can't believe just how long it has taken me. The place that everyone has been talking about since before it even opened, is Culina, the Italian restaurant being led by Chef Victor Casanova, in the Four Seasons, Los Angeles.

I'm not going to lie - the price point at Culina is a little out of my price range. But like a lot of things you get what you pay for. Vanessa and I went over there to have a little yummy dinner...okay a lot of yummy dinner.

First? Decor...the front walkway to the restaurant? All imported materials, costing somewhere near $90,000. The restaurant was supposed to be designed as a enotecca - wine bar - with the crudo bar in the middle. The glass bulbs that hang over the dining room? There are 3000 of them, hand-blown czechoslovakian glass, each individually hand strung. The wall out on the patio is both water and fire and planted with succulents. You walk to a beautifully set table, and bread service consists of a fresh housemade rosemary foccacia, served with Monini olive oil - which is specially made for Culina - and you can buy a bottle for $25.

We started off our meal with drinks...we ordered the housemade limoncello - made with everclear, lemon peel, and lemon juice - aged for 30 days. Sweet, lemony and delicious.

Then we ordered from the crudo bar...we had yellow tail, salmon and tuna. All fresh, and exactly right. We also had the kumamoto oysters which were delicious in and of themselves (have I mentioned my oyster fixation?) but also come with the delicious optional sauces: spicy limoncello mignonette, black olive citronette, and the spicy sundried tomato pesto. We finshed a half dozen...meaning I ate 4 and V ate 2....and then ordered more because I have an oyster "problem." Hehe.

Then we had our entrees:
Ippoglosso - Halibut , leek fonduto, pea shoots, pea pesto, and proscuitto bread crumbs. It was awesome- fresh peas are amazing. And the problem is...peas are out of season and this is no longer on the menut that just tells you how long it took me to write this pinche post. So I'm just teasing you with this really amazing dish. Sorry!

Lamb Papardelle - braised lamb with San Marzano tomato sauce - which, in case you didn't know, is a type of tomato grown in volcanic dirt - mint and parmagian. It doesn't help that I really REALLY like lamb...have I mentioned that before?

At this point I ordered another drink...the Aprile - white wine, St. Germaine, Culina Limoncello, and soda water. I really like St. Germaine...I use it in a lot of things like, margaritas in place of like a Triple Sec, so I enoyed this.

Gnocci di Patate - housemade gnocci, lobster knuckles, pea tendrils, truffle butter and truffle shavings and truffle oil (and I LOVE truffle)...and as Vanessa says...love.

Lombatina Capricciosa - pounded bone in veal chop, parmagian and panko breaded topped with arugula, sweet 100 tomatoes, parmagian, and lemon vinagrette. I remember thinking this was AWESOME.

And of course we had to follow all the decadence with more decadence. I mean, duh…well actually I mean dessert!
Torte al gianduga(hazlenut) - flourless crust, chocolate hazelnut mousse, candied hazlenuts and blood orange granita. Good, but not my favorite.

Neopolitan cassata - has neopolitan flavors but isn't presented in a traditional way - it has an airbrushed white chocolate coating and is served with a piece of biscotti. Simple but very nice.

And finally the dessert to take all desserts. This is the Lamborghini of desserts: the Affogato - vanilla bean gelato, with a giant tower of cotton candy over which you pour a shot of espresso making a sweet espresso-y deliciousness. It's served with pignoli (pinenut) cookies.

I was lucky enough to be able to get a brief tour of the kitchen. The far side is the Culina hot line and the closer side is the line for the hotel (like for room service) and the lounge. It's kind of huge and amazing.

The staff was so unbelieveably nice....although, I can't comment too much on service from an objective view because everyone knows Vanessa and were probably extra friendly because of that.

I was also lucky enough to be able to go out for drinks not just with Vanessa and a couple of her co-workers, but also with Chef Casanova, and I have a picture to prove it, although I might not be allowed back into Culina if I post it...while not incriminating in anyway, he does look super goofy!

The crew hanging out at El Carmen:

The restaurant will be rolling out some new dishes - today I believe - including a bone-in ribeye grilled and served with a simple Sweet 100 salad on top, a panzanella salad for two - featuring a vinagrette made from fresh tomatoes, and a panacotta dessert which is promising to be a good contender for the affogato (which I don't believe because the affogato is pura fiesta in my mouth).

They are open for lunch and dinner. Sunday dinner also offers Tutti Famila style pre-fixe dinner for $35 a person. If you get an opportunity you really should check out the restaurant. The quality of food and service is amazing. I know I'll be back to check out the ribeye...

300 S Doheny Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90048

(310) 273-2222

And the Winner is....

hotpinkmanolo — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:42:40 GMT

Okay friends...I KNOW you guys have been waiting for this, and I know I took my time getting to this, for which I apologize. Just so you have an idea how crazy my life has been...I took an extra day off 2 weeks ago, and I still worked overtime hours...how that's possible I don't know, but oh well. At any rate I apologize for the delay!

Now for the more important information...

Using Random.org to generate a random list of numbers, and using the #1 pick, out of 16 unique commenters, number 12 is the winner. Winner will be notified via email as well.

Congratulations! And thank you all for entering! I hope you continue to check out my blog, and tell your friends about it!

Eat My Blog Charity Bake Sale

hotpinkmanolo — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:23:11 GMT

So if you live in LA and you like baked goods, come check out the Eat My Blog charity bake sale, TODAY!!! It starts at 10am, and goes until 4pm at Tender Greens in West Hollywood. Founded by fellow food-blogger, Cathy Dahn, author of Gastronomy Blog, this is the SECOND Eat My Blog event, and proceeds go to benefit the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

From the press release:

About the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank

The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank is a nonprofit charitable organization that has been mobilizing resources to fight hunger in the community since 1973. The organization is at the heart of a charitable food distribution network that includes nearly 900 agency sites in Los Angeles County. For more information, visit www.lafightshunger.org

About Tender Greens

Tender Greens is a privately held company, started in June 2006, which aims to provide sustainably produced foods to its guests in a relaxed, eco-friendly space. The company continues to expand its environmental business practices and impart a sense of responsibility in the community by leading example. Tender Greens currently has four locations (Culver City, Hollywood and West Hollywood in Los Angeles and San Diego, California), the company plans to expand further within California in the coming year. Tender Greens WeHo is located at 8759 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. It is open from 11:30am until 10:00pm Sunday through Thursday; 11:30am to 11:00pm Friday and Saturday. Phone is 310-358-1919. www.tendergreensfood.com

If you go, be sure to check out my beautiful Chocolate Sparkle Krispy Treats!! All items will be priced between $1-$4. A great deal, a great cause and LOTS of yummies!!

Happy Anniversary to ME! - GIVEAWAY!

hotpinkmanolo — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:35:27 GMT

Yesterday, June 15 was my official One Year Anniversary of working with the Border Grill Truck. And let me tell you something, it has been one heck of a ride. I figured this post would be in conjuntion with my (VERY) belated blog-iversary (which was in March) since I didn't really start blogging seriously until around the time I started working for BGT.

This year has been completely out of control - lots of ups and downs, and as with any new business, there were times I felt were more downs than ups. BUT, I've learned a lot, and I'm proud to be representing such an interesting and fun company, and I'm glad I got to get in on the ground floor of something so unique. There's no where left to go but up, and I work with some really great people and have made some amazing friends.

And boy have I had my share of um....experience....helping start the truck from nothing has really been interesting. And I've probably seen some things I should have NEVER seen. I worked long and crazy hours, and to be honest, shed a tear or two. But I can actually see the results of my work in front of my eyes and that has been great.

While there are definitely times I feel like I never get to see my friends or have time to socialize, and my friends feel like they never get to see me either, the truck has presented a great opportunity for people I know to come visit ME! I can't say there are a lot of jobs where your friends can visit you at work and then have them say REALLY nice things about you on the internet afterwards, but working for Border Grill Truck is DEFINITELY one of them. And friends and aquaintances have visited and said some REALLY nice things about me and my job!

Nastassia, Let Me Eat Cake: "Tacos in Sight, Afternoon Delight"

Starry Eyed Foodie: "Hosting the Gov2.0 LA Lunch with Battledish and Border Grill!"

Uncouth Gourmands: "Neighborhood Profile: Exploring Venice in the Rain

Shauna, The Minty's, Yelp Review

Caroline on Crack: "Blog Bite: Border Grill Truck's Churro Tots"

And working for Border Grill has definitely provided me with opportunities I would have never been able to have like going to Jonathan Gold's Gold Standard Event, had I not been working for them.

I know I promised you all a giveaway, so here it is. In celebration of my 1 year anniversary, my boss lady, our COO, has graciously allowed me to give away a $50.00 gift card to the restaurant! The winner should be able to use the gift card at either of the Border Grills in Santa Monica, or Las Vegas, and I believe also at our sister restaurant Ciudad. Unfortunately since our current trucks are not set up with an electronic gift card system you cannot yet use it on the truck.

To enter, comment here with your name and a way to contact you if you win. You should also become a fan of Hot Pink Manolos on Facebook if you are not already, although becoming a fan doesn't increase your chances of winning. I'm just trying to blatantly self promote. :)

Also be sure to tweet if you're on Twitter: Enter @hotpinkmanolos giveaway for a chance to win $50 to Border Grill!! http://bit.ly/bcXeoy

Contest will run through the end of the month and the winner will be selected at random using one of those random number generators. Winner will be posted in an upcoming post, and will be contacted using the info provided in the comment.

Best of luck to all who enter! And be sure to come visit me on the truck!

Photo Courtesy of Nastassia Johnson, Let Me Eat Cake

For Freddy - I miss you...

hotpinkmanolo — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:41:30 GMT

I haven't really been writing lately. With everything that's been going on I just haven't been in the right frame of mind to be able to do so. More specifically, a friend of mine passed away a couple weeks ago. Then the following week my grandfather had to have triple bypass surgery. Then the week after that, my boss went on vacation for a few days for his birthday, leaving me to hold down the fort in a week where I worked over 60 hours and got almost no sleep.

None of these things is conducive to writing. Things are a little different now. I've gotten some sleep, and I'm looking forward to a very light work week. My grandfather's surgery went well, and he is recovering nicely. The only thing left is that I miss my friend. A lot. I find myself thinking about him all the time.

I think part of the reason I've been taking this so hard is that I've never been close to someone who's passed away before. I'm lucky enough to still have all my grandparents, and although the situation with my mother has been very difficult, she is still with us. The grief that accompanies death is completely new to me in this way, and for me compounded by the guilt over the fact that I wasn't as good of a friend as I could have been in the months before he passed. So if nothing else...I dedicate this post to him.

Freddy was a bartender at Marix in Santa Monica for something like 20+ years. I was a manager that basically passed through for about a year. But he became a friend in a way I could not have predicted. He taught me many of the things I know about being a restaurant manager, and more importantly many of the things I know about life and relationships. He saved my ass on more than one occasion, and if there was something I didn't know I generally deferred to Freddy. When I ended up left more or less alone to run the restaurant, he was one of the only people I could trust to come in and cover me if I needed a morning off. He would stay late when I was closing so I wouldn't be alone, counting money, by myself, and walk me to my car. He would check in with me constantly and make sure that I was doing okay, and that I wasn't too stressed out, and would talk me through difficulties. He was always there with a hug and a comforting word.

Marix may have been owned by Mary Sweeney and Victoria Shemaria, but it belonged to Freddy Torres. He was more than just a bartender, he was an institution. Regulars came in just to sit at the bar and hang out with him, or when he was serving on the floor, just to sit in his section. There wasn't a single customer who didn't like him, and he even got his own mentions in Yelp reviews. He was vibrant, friendly, funny - full of life and love.

And then he got sick. To be completely honest, I'm still not even sure what happened. He had a stroke, and lost his vision. That was the first thing. I heard it was a parasite that had gotten into his brain. I'm not sure how true that is. Because of his new disability, he had to stop working. The restaurant let friends use the space to hold a fundraiser for him to pay his medical bills, but it wasn't enough. According to his son's Facebook, he had several more strokes in the last year, and then finally he had a stroke which was one too many and now he rests with God. I heard they found a pretty significant mass in his brain. Again, not sure how true it is, but it doesn't even matter.

I dont know how he did it, but even while he was struggling, he managed to keep a sense of humor. Every so often he would give me a call, or give D a call, just to talk to one or the both of us. He'd make jabs about what the heck was taking us so long to get married and have babies, or tease that I needed a real man, like him. That was a favorite of his. Even when we were working together he used to ask me jokingly all the time when we were going to get together. I usually just rolled my eyes. Thinking about this now brings a smile to my face. I even heard that he had gone out with his son, and he basically sweet talked some girl to the point where she gave him her phone number - while she sat with her boyfriend! Always in good spirits and always with hope, one of the bartenders that was brought on to work after Freddy left, told me when he met Freddy, Freddy told this new bartender, "Don't worry...I'll be back soon."

The guilt I struggle with now, is that every time Freddy called he asked when we were going to come visit. We always said we would make time, and we never did. He would crack the same joke every time, "Oh you probably won't come see me until after I'm dead." Those words just ring in my head over and over.

I made D take the day off to come to the funeral with me, even though he was feeling so guilty, he didn't think he should go. I told him if he didn't at least go to say goodbye, he would regret it. There were so many people. The tiny chapel was so full, that people couldn't even fit...they spilled out into the vestibule, and then out onto the breezeway, and then the lawn. No one could even tell what was going on. There were so many people that they couldn't even finish the viewing because they ran out of time before the service. Friends and family were there, of course. But what touched me even more was how many of the regulars from Marix showed up! Think about the businesses you all work in. How many of you can say that your "customers" or "clients" would show up to your funeral? Talk about an amazing man.

I've never been so impressed by someone's strength as I was by his wife's. Lorena opened up by saying, "Don't judge me, but I'm not going to cry. I can't. I need to be strong for my children." If something ever happened to D I would be a mess - kids or no kids. She admitted that this has been so incredibly hard for her, but it brought her peace to know that her husband, whom she loved, was no longer suffering. What an incredible woman. I want to be like her. I want to know my friend is in a better place and I want to be comforted by that. All I know is that he was someone I loved, and that he was taken from this world too soon.

Here's the thing - like I said, I'd never really been close to someone who's passed away before. So when I found out, I didn't know what to do. I of course immediately got online and ordered flowers for the funeral. But what are flowers? The only thing I know, and the thing that my whole life revolves around is food. And something about funerals and death cries, "Bring food!" I think making food for someone is such a huge act of love. It shows time and care - that you want to feed and nurture another person. You can't make food without putting at least a little love; a little of yourself into every thing you make. I didn't know how to express my sympathies, except to make food. So I did. I found a recipe for a really simple macaroni and cheese in "Paula Deen's Family Cookbook" and made two pans worth of mac and cheese. I handed it to Jonathan, Freddy's oldest child, and hugged him and just told him, I was sorry for his loss, and honestly, I didn't know what else to do. He just told me he was glad I could come.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/2 lb uncooked elbow macaroni
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
1 lb (4 cups) grated Cheddar Cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 2-quart flameproof baking dish. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the macaroni according to the package directions.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together the butter, eggs, milk, sour cream, salt, pepper, and mustard.
3. Drain the macaroni, transfer to a large bowl, and stir in 2 cups of the cheese. Add the egg and milk mixture and stir to combine. Pour into the baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, or until set. Top with the remaining 2 cups cheese and put the baking dish under the broiler until bubbly and golden brown.

What make this a good giveaway recipe (ie. you can cook it and give it away), is that you can undercook this a little bit, cool it, and then top it with the cheese, and then give it to whomever and have them bake for the remaining time. The cheese won't brown in the same way, but it will still get melty and taste good. And it is still filling and warm, and shows you care, which ultimately is what matters.

Chocri - meine Schokolade

hotpinkmanolo — Thu, 20 May 2010 22:10:07 GMT

When Eleonora Steenken emailed me last November (yes I am never timely on pretty much ANYTHING) I was excited to test out Chocri. Their product had not yet been marketed in the US, and they were trying to expand. They asked me to try out the site and create a chocolate bar for myself for free to see what I thought. And then I immediately forgot about it because of work and life. 4 months and several emails to Carmen Magar later, I finally got around to creating my bar.

What Chocri offers is fully customizeable chocolate bars. At this time they have 4 kinds of chocolate (milk, dark, white, and a milk and white combo) and a plethora of toppings. Have you ever wish that your chocolate bar could come with dried strawberry and bacon bits? or goji berries and gummy bears? gold flakes and corn flakes? Well you can order it that way at Chocri!

Since I'm all about the pretty I decided to make my bar look like the night sky. I got gold and silver "pearls," star decorations, and mini bananas that looked like crescent moons. According to the site this would cost a little over $10.00. A little pricey, but as it turned out, this would be totally worth it. In the interest of full disclosure, I remind you, that I did get to try this product for free, however, I would be totally willing to pay for chocri as a gift for a friend/family member on a special occasion.

Considering how far away it is being shipped from, my bar got here quickly and completely unscathed. I was very impressed with their service (I never waited long for a response to a single email, and my questions were always answered), the speed of delivery, and the ease of use of their site. They even have an option for you to "name" your creation. Their packaging is simple, and clean. They give you a code on your packaging for easy reordering. And the chocolate was DELICIOUS!! I had a hard time making this last...

It's here!!!

A lovely note from Carmen!

oooohhhhhhh! Aahhhhhhhhh!!!

Literally translated: "chocri in the mouth, there one remains healthy."

Pretty Chocolate!

Thank you to the lovely people at Chocri for letting me try their product

www.createmychocolate.com

LudoBites 4.0 at Gram & Papas

hotpinkmanolo — Wed, 19 May 2010 01:32:21 GMT

Okay, well I wanted to write this while it was still relevant. I went on 4.27. Today is 5.18. LudoBites 4.0 ends on the 28th. (God sometimes I'm so lame...) And so far it has been a smashing success. I was lucky enough to get reservations this time, instead of having to crash the party, and so I invited my 3 of my best girlfriends to have a night out of good food. Vanessa, who is a crudo chef at Culina; my friend Elise who works for Surfas; and my friend Lorie, who just likes to eat. Also known as Elise, my hetero life partner; Lorie, my ninja chicken; and Vanessa, who everyone thinks is my girlfriend. Yup.
LudoBites 4.0 at Gram & Papas

Vanessa and Me:

Lorie and Elise:

I'm pretty sure we tried almost everything on the menu for the night we were there.

Appetizers
The Burgundy Escargots with Garlic Flan, Green Jus, and Violet Flowers was nice. Lorie had never eaten escargot before so now she can say she has! I don't think she was disappointed either. :)

The Brie Chantilly Napoleon with Honey Comb, Frisee Salad and Balsamic was amazing. I think Elise described it as "little angel pillows" in her mouth.

Snapper Ceviche, with Heirloom Tomatoes, Jalapeños, Red Onions, Meyer Lemon Paste, and Olive Oil - I thought the heirloom tomatoes were a nice touch. I liked that that the flavor was not too heavy, that the fish came through. Some places over marinate their ceviche, but this was nice and light.

White Asparagus Veloute, Mozzarella Mousse, Fennel, Candied Olive, Salmon Roe - although, Vanessa thought it was more vichyssoise than veloute, but why argue? I think it was mostly the fact that we didn't taste any fat from the butter that is required for a roux (and um...asparagus stock?) but Ludo, I don't care...it was delicious. And I don't know if I've told you guys just exactly how much I LOVE ikura. I mean, throw some ikura on an old shoe, and I'm sold.

Marinated King Salmon, German ButterBall Potato, Red Wine Vinaigrette, Creme Fraiche Um I can't think of anything to say here. Not the most memorable dish, I guess?

After hearing such raves about the Black Foie Gras Croque Monsieur (here with Lemon Turnip Chutney) there was no way I could NOT try it. And it did not disappoint. I love foie, so...

Entrees
Apparently we were lucky enough to get the very last order of the Roasted-Poached Cod with Vanilla, Chiogga Beets, Balsamic Aioli and Mustard Leaves for the evening. Lovely presentation, and I love when your food looks as good as it tastes....or perhaps the other way around. I dunno, it's 2:30 in the am. I remember thinking the mustard greens were REALLY tasty.

The Squid "Carbonara" with Pancetta, Poached Egg, Parmesan Snow, and Chive Flowers was a winner as far as what to order with myself and Vanessa because she loves runny egg yolk, and I love anything with pancetta..."You had me at pancetta"

Steak "au Poivre" with Shallots, Polenta Bone Marrow, Roasted Eggplant Puree - not going to lie, this was the least interesting of the main dishes. However the polenta bone marrow was an interesting touch.

Rack of Lamb with Fresh Goat Cheese, Smoked Eel, Artichokes, Potatoe Mousseline, and mint Let me say the lamb was so delicious, us fatasses ordered it twice. Yeah. THAT good. Good enough to face the embarassment of our server looking at us like we were CRAZY for ordering this dish again when she was ready to offer us dessert. And I'm not going to lie the potatoes were absolutely amazing as well. I think the gals were licking the bowl the potatoes came in. The only thing I thought was weird was the that eel seemed like an afterthought to the dish. I'm not sure I "got" it, but perhaps that is why I am not a chef.

Dessert
Macaroons, Organic Strawberry, and Chantilly - I wish that there had been a bit more chantilly or more macaroon to balance the strawberries...they were a little sour. A nice fresh dish though.

Dark Chocolate Soufflé with Black Pepper Ice Cream and Hot Chocolate Cream: This was a work of art. First, it was a perfect soufflé. The black pepper ice cream was bold; the perfect accompaniment for the soufflé. This didn't last long at all.

And of course LudoBItes is BYOB, and we decided to go all out. What we were drinking.

In case anyone was curious, I thought the Saddle Rock syrah was nice, and the House Wine was nauseating.

Now my opinions on the dishes individually is irrelevant since food is such a subjective matter, but if you're curious about my thought on the eating experience as a whole: The dishes are delicious when you eat all components together. There were very few dishes where I felt like each component was good enough to stand on it's own. Not necessarily bad, but not necessarily good either. I think Ludo puts a lot of thought into the flavor profile of his dishes and I think that is wonderful. But for example, unless you took a bite of the carbonara WITH the pancetta, it just felt like the bite was lacking. Or the strawberries without the macaroon and chantilly, just wasn't that great. And I'm not sure how I feel about that.

And now for what I DIDN'T like. Ludo, listen up. While you are the amazing, talented, brilliant chef of utter French hotness, with the amazing, intelligent, hottie wife, I have a question:

Why is no one in your kitchen wearing something to cover their head?! I can't believe this didn't occur to me when Josie "sous-chefed" for you the last time I made it to a LudoBites, and she walked out with her naked hair. Where are the hair nets, or hats, or head scarves?! Not only is it unsanitary, like when I saw the little asian girl brush her bangs out of her face and then handle food without washing her hands, but isn't that a health code violation?! Ludo!!! You are not only a well known chef, but you are good at your job. WHY would you overlook something like this??? I know that the hair nets and head scarves and hats are not always the sexiest. Believe me - I am the queen of knowing what is not sexy. I don't think I can make myself any less sexy while working on the Border Grill Truck, but Vanessa and I both found this very off putting. [/end rant]

Other than that, I had a wonderful time. The food was amazing, innovative, and delicious. The service was great. As usual Ludo and Krissy were so wonderful, and to top it off, I nearly fell out of my chair when the one and only Jonathan Gold walked in. As you may already know, I have something of a professional "crush" on Mr Gold, and for me, seeing him is like a pre-teen girl spotting one of the Jonas Brothers. What ensued was much sneaky picture taking on Lorie's part (mostly because I didn't have the balls to do it myself) and not a single "good" picture of the man.

Oh and to top it all off? LFC truck parking in the hole that is my commissary... :)

Good times and Good Food. Thanks Ludo!

A Quarter of a Century with Friends (Photo Heavy)

hotpinkmanolo — Wed, 05 May 2010 01:35:20 GMT

Okay, I'm not a big partier, my friends kind of know that I'd rather stay home and, well...sleep. But they also know that at least once a year on my birthday I am down for a night of debauchery. I mean what else are birthday's for? So this means I usually get all my friends together and we go out and do something awesome. So when my friend Lorie told me she had booked us reservations, for just the two of us, and we couldn't get out of it, I was kind of annoyed she was bogarting the whole weekend and I wouldn't be able to do my usual night of awesomeness. But I figured, she knows I'm a foodie, and she was making it sound really great, so we must've been going somewhere pretty awesome.

She told me to show up at her home in Culver City, and I as usual was running on Mexican time (it's a real thing! Just ask Cheech and Chong!!) so we were running late for our reservations. As I sort of blindly follow her into the Westfield mall in Culver City, I'm still completely clueless. We walk into Manna and I'm super confused, I'm thinking, "This is just a Korean BBQ place..." But she tells me she goes there all time time, and sort of waves at the host, and we just walk straight to the back. Where all my friends are waiting!!!!!!!!!

Walking in to see all my friends was so overwhelming! I started to cry...

Erica excited about OB beer

Vanessa and Danny

Me and Lorie - the one who brought it all together

My Buddy Brian

Katie and her friend

Me with Diego

I have never really had anyone throw me a party - except for a Barbie party my parents threw me in 1st grade where Barbie showed up and did magic tricks for me and my friends. And I've definitely never had anyone throw me a surprise party. As for the restaurant...Manna's pretty good. I'm a KBBQ fan, so it's not hard to please me, but this place is fun and the meat is good.

And if you bring in a cake they will bring you a complimentary bottle of champagne!! Oh wait....

The problem is, I figured out what was going on, and tried to run away, except there was no where to run, since the guy with the bottle was on one end, and there was a wall at the other...I tried to go around him, and obviously that didn't really work...I think I punch him at 0:07....oops... I think the most amazing thing about that video is how fast I was moving in stilettos.....

But then I got to have cake so it all worked out. And luckily Vanessa's gift to me happened to be clothes, so I didn't have to stay soaking wet all night.

After dinner we all went over to Rush Street. Since it's in her hood, Lorie actually IS a regular there, and knows some of the staff, so we got in right away, and got hooked up with a deal on bottle service even though it was a a Saturday night and crazy busy. The inside downstairs gets really crowded and ridiculous, although the outside upstairs isn't much better, there is better music, people dancing, and my friends at one point found the stripper pole on the upstairs inside.

It's a good scene and we had a great time. It was a great place to finish off my birthday night.

Yeah....good times....

Manna

6000 Sepulveda Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 397-9901

and

Rush Street

9546 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 837-9546

A Quarter of a Century with Family

hotpinkmanolo — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:08:05 GMT

I like steak. I like steak so much, I will suffer through a really terrible steak just to satisfy the steak craving I very often seem to get. I don't know what it is about red meat, but man...I could NOT function without it. Which makes me in AWE of vegetarians. I really think I personally might die without red meat, so I have a lot of respect for their discipline in diet. (Although in case you haven't noticed I have a lack of restraint in pretty much ALL areas of my diet.)

The point of all this was when I was asked by my family where we wanted to do my birthday dinner, my first thought was steak. And then I remembered that there was a Ruth's Chris in Pasadena. I'd never been, but if you like steak, you know about Ruth's Chris. So reservations were made, and on the day of, we all fancied up and headed out.

One of the nice things about going to a place like Ruth's Chris is that you're almost guaranteed wonderful service. This birthday dinner was about a THOUSAND times better than the last time we went out for a birthday in the family. Our serving team (yes, team) was nice, attentive, and we even got a little bit of Ruth's Chris history when we sat down (eg. The name is because Ruth Fertel originally bought a Chris Steak House - funny, no?)

Ruth's Chris serves all their items ala carte, but for those of you who have difficulty deciding, they also offer a sort of combo menu that helps to narrow down the choices. Between the five of us, we covered a pretty good amount of items:

First Courses
Lobster Bisque

Crab and Corn Chowder

Cesar Salad

Garden Salad (with thousand island dressing)

Sides
Shoestring Potatoes - extra thin and crispy

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Green Beans

Sauteed Mushrooms (which were OMG so good!)

Creamed Spinach (not my favorite, but my uncle really liked it)

Steaks
The steaks you can order with what I think they called "compliments." Things like grilled shrimp, or blue cheese, etc. All COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY since the steaks by themselves are so delicious I may have started crying a little at the table. And said the words "I'm having a small orgasm in my mouth," in front of my grandparents, and my aunt and uncle. So like I said, unnecessary, but very yummy. The following two photos are 1) The New York with Oscar style compliment which is a crab cake, asparagus, and bernaise sauce. 2) The Ribeye also with Oscar compliment

This next one is the filet with the shrimp compliment

Desserts
And just because we were not full (oh wait, we totally were, we're just gluttons...) we ordered desserts. Although for my birthday I was brought a free dessert as well:

Chocolate Lava Cake with chocolate pot du creme:

Creme Brulee

Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

Cheesecake

And I'm not even a little embarrassed to say that of the 5 desserts shown here, I ate 3 of them. I justify it by telling myself that we didn't have birthday cake this year....

I'm pretty sure I had every right to stuff my face on this special day:

369 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 583-8122

How do you cook an Ostrich egg?!

hotpinkmanolo — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:05:44 GMT

So awhile back (long enough for me to NOT want to tell you how far back and thus indicate how far behind this post is) one of my grade school friends - and my first boyfriend EVER back in the 5th grade - who is now in the army sent me a message saying he was going to be on leave and passing through Pasadena. All my grade school buddies decided this would be a great time to get together for part deux of our 10 year reunion. The only problem was that my buddy Brian was going to need a place to stay. Being the wonderful, kind, generous (and modest), person that I am, I offered up an air mattress in my spare bedroom.

So Brian shows up and after a big hug he tells me he's brought me a present. And he pulls out an ostrich egg! He says we'll have to eat it for breakfast. So after a late night out, I woke up the drunken soldier at an early morning hour and made breakfast.

Ostrich egg can be cooked just like a chicken egg, except that there is ALOT of it. This one egg was enough to make scrambled eggs for Brian, D, and me. They also taste just like a chicken egg. The only thing that really stood out as a difference to me was the mouth feel. The texture is almost...chalky. I'm not sure I'm a fan. It's a little off-putting. If it was in front of me, I would eat it, but I'm not sure it's something I would seek out.

Anyway, I didn't do anything fancy since I was exhausted, just scrambled eggs with cheese and heirloom tomatos. Bacon on the side.

The egg sitting in my fridge:

Brian holding the egg before he did the honors of cracking it. Which took awhile. The shell is HARD!

Look how big that yolk is!!

Everybody scramble!!

Breakfast: The most important meal of the day!

And now dear readers, I am curious, have you eaten ostrich egg? And if so what did you think?

Sunday Funday #2 - Annual Browning Oscar Dinner

hotpinkmanolo — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:02:21 GMT

Every year since we were in college together, I've been invited to my friend, Chrissy's, parents' house for their annual Oscar Dinner. Chrissy's dad, Tom, loves inviting me because, well, I'm an eater. And I always love what he makes which Chrissy says is a giant ego boost. It also helps that everything he's ever served me at an Oscar dinner has been absolutely amazing, it's not hard to like it.

Tom starts planning this dinner MONTHS in advance, and spends lots of time researching recipes, working out the menu, the timing of the meal, the wine pairing, and shopping for the right ingredients. This is a HUGE deal in their household. How I became so privileged as to be one of the elite few who are invited to this dinner, I will never comprehend, but I hope the invite will continue to be extended!

This year was especially stressful for Tom, I think, because he changed the menu like the week before the Oscars. From what Chrissy was relaying to me, he was "freaking out." However he seemed so calm and composed when we arrived at the house in Encinitas. I had met Chrissy and her boyfriend, Scott, and we had driven down together. We walked in, hugs all around for Tom, and Chrissy's mum, Monica. The rest of the guest list includes Monica's brother, Doug, and his wife Gerri.

They always set up their beautiful long dining table moved into the den with all chairs on one side, right in front of their giant TV so we can watch the show. We always start off watching E!'s preshow with Seacrest, and this year, our preshow viewing was acompanied by an aperitif. This cocktail was called a "Red Carpet Fizz" and was absolutely delicious! Pomegranate jice, orange liqueur, and champagne. YUM!

Our first course was so good I must have looked dissapointed when it was gone, because Tom then offered me seconds, AND sent me home with a tupperware full of it. It was asparagus soup, with parmesan custard. Now the soup would have been delicious by itself (and it was - the seconds and leftovers told me so!!) but the parmesan custard is what really put this dish over the top. Creamy and salty, it was absolutely perfect with the soup. I ate this so heartily, I'm not sure I even took the time to take a breath!!

The following course was actually more like four in one. Starting from the top left and working clockwise we had carrots with a honey balsamic; black squid ink risotto with a prawn; garlic marinated baby zucchini; and a grilled scallop with coriander butter sauce. ALL exquisite. And isn't the presentation just gorgeous?

And this year's pièce de résistance...baked, salt encrusted striped bass. Alton Brown has done this on his show, and Keller features a similar recipe in Ad Hoc at Home with some rather stunning photos, but this is still quite impressive in person. The fish, and required seasonings (citrus, rosemary, etc) are covered in a thick paste of egg white, water, and kosher salt. The salt paste hardens in the oven and the fish cooks, trapped inside this hard crust. The end result is soft, flaky, flavorful, and surprisingly, NOT salty. He added grapefruit instead of the suggested lemon, which was such a unique twist, making this dish superb.

Starting to crack the crust:

Some video of the crust cracking process:

Cracked and ready to serve:

This was so good!!

And when I say "so good" I mean Scott and I snuck into the kitchen afterwards and stood over the bones of the fish trying to scavenge any little pieces of flesh still remaining. Slapping each others' hands away, we looked like vultures on a Discovery channel special...which everyone else found amusing!

And of course, you can't forget dessert - Chocolate Torte with a spiced blackberry coulis and creme fraiche. WOW!!

Stuffing my face - as usual!

Chrissy and me:

Chrissy and Scott:

Our wonderful, amazing, fantabulous chef!

But the most astounding part of all? Tom has no professional training. He does this because he likes to; it's their family tradition. His real job? He works for Nordstrom!

Sunday Funday-Gold Standard

hotpinkmanolo — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:21:01 GMT

So I realize I'm a little behind everyone else posting about this, but I also have a job with crazy hours that I never seem to be able to get away from. But it's this job that let me be at the Gold Standard in the first place. I don't know if I would have been ABLE to fork over the money for tickets (hey being a taco truck manager is fun, but it's not exactly a high paying job), but our PR team was looking for people to man our booth, so I willingly volunteered. One of the smarter decisions I'd made in awhile.

While it was ABSOLUTELY nuts in our booth -we served around 1000 tacos on a 6 by 12 griddle being heated with sternos (yes, sternos! right?!) since they wouldn't let us use our butane burner- I did get some time to walk around and try all the eats. I was stuffed. Everything was so good!!

Maybe next year I'll be able to enjoy more of the event instead of slaving away in the back! Regardless, I still walked away having eaten way too much food, and at the end of the event, a little tipsy - Hehe! Here are some highlights:

All the people!!!

Jar's little sandwhiches were AMAZING!!

Went over to say "hi" to Krissy and Ludo, who were kind enough to oblige me with picture:

Yummy noms from Mozza:

The folks from Huckleberry and Rustic Canyon...that cupcake was OMG delicious, and let me tell you, anything with burrata will ALWAYS win me over.

Me with our executive chef at Border Grill, Felix Garcia, who I JUST found out, is practically my family. His dad is best friends with D's dad and his aunt is married to D's cousin or something like that, LOL!!

Working our outdoor booth, making up some of our unique and delicious avocado tacos. A Border Grill Truck exclusive...

And my one of my two favorite Uncouth Gourmands (oh wait, there are ONLY two, right? LOL), Josie, came by to check out our booth and say hi. I know she saw more of the actual event so be sure to check out her writeup

This picture, BTW, is how I decided that chef coats are NOT my best look. ::sigh::

And after trying to stalk THE Jonathan Gold the entire event (rather unsuccessfully I might add) our catering manager finally saw him at the end, and came running back out to our booth, and calling me on my cell phone and basically dragged me back in so I could take a picture with him. Now is that being an amazing friend or what?

This was a fun and very successful event for us. In addition to getting the word out about the truck we also got a lot of response for our campaign to bring Border Grill to LAX. Speaking of which, and I'm about to make a totally shameless plug, but if you're interested, please check it out and feel free to fill out the form being sent to the committee here

VIP Harbor Seafood - STAY AWAY!

hotpinkmanolo — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:24:55 GMT

You all know I rarely post negative reviews. Actually, have I EVER posted a negative review? I figure most of the time if you don't have something nice to say don't say anything at all. I figure the best bad review is to not offer repeat business. If someone asks me about a place I don't like, I will be honest, but I have never really felt inclined to put a place on blast in a bad review.

However, I guess there is a first time for everything, and this place, well something needed to be said. My grandma's birthday was a couple weeks ago, and this is where she wanted to go. A reservation was made in advance and they assured us a table would be available to us. We arrived on time, and things IMMEDIATELY went downhill, leading to this tweet.

We were led to our table, only to find it was a tiny folding table and folding chairs!!! I looked at my uncle and he looked at me, and I knew IMMEDIATELY that we were thinking the same thing, and that was "What the fuck?" It's not that the whole restaurant was filled with tables and chairs like this. Actually, the restaurant had some lovely looking, much larger tables, with lazy susans, and some really nice comfortable looking black laquered chairs. I asked the hostess why we were being seated at this table, and she said because it was so busy, they had given our table away and now this was all that was available. I was floored! What is the point of making a reservation if you aren't going to hold our table?! Isn't that what a reservation is?! I mean I would have understood had we been late, but we were ON TIME! EARLY even!! Any other time, I would have immediately turned around and walked out, but it was my grandma's birthday, and she wanted to stay.

We squeezed ourself into this miniscule table - keep in mind there are 6 of us, and it only got worse from there. Our server never greeted us, not even a stop by to say he was really busy, but would get to us, nothing. When he finally showed up 10 minutes after we were sitting, he just asked us if we were ready to order. I wasn't even sure how all the food was going to fit on our tiny table since Chinese food is almost always served family style. We ordered and of course after a lengthy wait the food came out one plate at a time, because really, nothing else would have fit on this table. My aunt was thirsty so she asked for a glass of water from our server. He said okay and then never came back! The hostess came by 10 minutes later and said our water was coming. HUH?! I'm sorry, I say this as a former restaurant employee, but someone asks for water and you GET IT. It's not like she was asking for mixed drinks from a busy bar, or something they had to get special. WATER! Were they were fusing the hydrogen and oxygen molecules on site? I mean really.

Finally a busser shows up with a round of water for the table, and my aunt discovers a fly in my uncle's glass, and tries to take it from him before he drinks it. Now, I dont know if that was in there before they brought it, or if it flew in at the table, but when we called someone over to replace it, they should have done so right away. Again, no one ever came back with a fresh glass for him! Finally my grandmother calls the attention of the manager and he comes over and we tell him we are still waiting on a replacement water for my uncle and it's been a good 15 minutes and no one will pay attention to us. And he gets angry....with US! He is practically yelling at us, that we HAVE to be patient because they are very busy tonight. WHAT?! At that point I snapped. I told him, NO, we do NOT have to be patient because you are understaffed and overbooked. If you can't handle this many people, you shouldn't have filled the tables. It's not OUR responsibility to be patient, it's your job to smoothly handle the business. He just walked away.

I mean, even if he had apologized, something to the extent of "I'm so sorry, we're overbooked, and we're doing our best, what can I get for you" I would have been mildly assuaged, but he was basically blaming us for the terrible service that they were providing! Let me say this, I have managed a couple different food service places now, and NEVER in my LIFE would I EVER say something like that to a guest. A profuse apology, yes. A free dessert for their trouble, yes. But never would I tell a guest they HAVE to be patient.

The food was mediocre at best. I've had better food from a strip mall Chinese place next to a laundromat on Crenshaw south of the 10. The fastest part of service for the night was them getting the check from us. Of course.

Note: Urban Spoon is listing this place as closed, I'm not sure how true that is, unless they've closed in the last two weeks? I'll try to follow up to see. Regardless, it's not like I'm recommending this place to you, so...

VIP Harbor Seafood
11701 Wilshire Blvd
West Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 979-3377

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!!

hotpinkmanolo — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:18:11 GMT

I'm back!! :) I missed you, dear readers, oh most terribly. To my friends I'm following, thanks for bearing with me, and I promise I'll try to catch up as soon as possible.

Anyway I figured on the last day of the 1st month of the new year, I should post, albeit late, a new year's post.

My family is Japanese. Well, half of my family is Japanese - my mom's side is Mexican, and my dad's side is Japanese. I grew up with my paternal grandparents and my father due to my family's difficult circumstances (perhaps a story for another time). Thus, I have some very strong Japanese traditions. One of these is the fact that every year we have osechi ryori, which is a traditional Japanese new year meal. Each food is representative of something, and is supposed to bring luck, prosperity, health, etc in the following year.

Osechi ryori is traditionally served in a jubako, which is usually a stacked, laquered, wooden box. The idea behind osechi ryori foods is that they could be prepared ahead of time, since cooking on the new year is supposed to be bad luck, and kept through the new year, so they are all usually pickled or preserved in some way.

On our first jubako level up we have kuromame, which are sweetened black beans, which represents good health and prosperity since kuromame is a play on words. Mame sounds like another word in Japanese which means good health and hard work. (BTW having my grandpa explain this was really painful. LOL! We were SO not on the same level.)

Next to that we have pickled tako or octupus. If it means something, I dont know, but it's delicious. In the 3 o'clock spot is the kobumaki, which is kombu, a kind of seaweed, tied up with kanpyo, and often filled with burdock root. Again a play on words, it's associated with the sounds in yorokobu which is a word for joy.

To complete this level we have the yellowish kazunoko, which is herring roe, which unsuprisingly signifies fertility.

In this level of our jubako on the left we had hotate which is a kind of scallop, and another shellfish -sazae- which I think is a type of turbo/conch. I will get more info if possible, but I'm not entirely familiar with it. Next to that we have pink and white kamaboko. Kamaboko is a mild but tasty fish cake, and the pink (or red) and white is supposed to symbolize the rising sun, since Japan or Nihon is the "sun's origin." On the right of that we have some pork.

Also served at our meal was some saba, or mackeral, which is like one of my absolute favorite fishes, even though many people don't like it because even when it's fresh it tastes very fishy. It's often pickled and vinegary.

Various ostukemono

Homemade Kohaku Nomasu - julliened carrots and daikon with rice vinegar and a little sugar. My grandma likes to add chirimen.

And finally our o-zoni. There's no real "recipe" for o-zoni, the only common thread is the piece of mochi in it, but I think my grandma makes it best. Of course. A light dashi with napa cabbage, mushrooms, kamaboko, and a wonderfully soft piece of mochi. Light and filling, for me this is always my favorite part.

And just for shits and giggles. NO meal eaten by a Japanese person would be complete without some gohan. Duh.

Sis and Obaasan - and my Ojiisan being the shutterbug in the back

My pops and again, Ojiisan being crazy with the camera. (This is fairly typical of him LOL!)

And of course the obligatory picture of me stuffing my face. As usual.

I hope the beginning of your New Years have been healthy and happy.

For another great osechi ryori post, check out Marc's post on No Recipes