‘Chicken’


A Night in Province

December 20th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Provincial breads.

And now you may be wondering why an unvegan such as myself would choose to leave sunny Los Angeles for a December weekend foray into the Windy City.  With very good reason, in fact, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of my sister’s birth.  Yes, it makes me feel old to have a sister so old.  But I was delighted at the opportunity to spend a special event with her and a good portion of my family.  For the celebration, we headed to a restaurant called Province in downtown Chicago. Continue Reading»


Following Our Driver to Trader Jack’s

October 20th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Prime real estate.

When we first arrived in the Cook Islands, we asked our airport driver where we should go to get a good meal.  Hoping to get some sort of local insight, he recommended Trader Jack’s to us.  His sentiments agreed with the brief food research we had done before coming to Rarotonga – Trader Jack’s was a must-eat.  It took us until day two to get there, but when we got there we found it nicely situated on the shore of the Pacific with a beautiful view of the mountains in the background.  And after half a day of hiking those mountains with Pa, it seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. Continue Reading»


Surfing and Stuffing at Windjammer

October 19th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Yes, there is some chicken buried in there.

Situated on the grounds of the Crown Beach Resort is a nice, large thatch-roofed building with a restaurant inside.  The restaurant is called Windjammer and in the town of Arorangi on the island of Rarotonga, the thatch roof fits right in.  As with much of the food I would encounter in Rarotonga (which relies heavily upon imported food from New Zealand), eating out doesn’t come cheaply, with main courses hanging out around 30 New Zealand Dollars.  Rather than settling on one dish, the girlfriend and I decided to go splitsies on two. Continue Reading»


Hop to, Choppe Choppe

September 14th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Apples make the world go round.

Despite the insane amount of times I have eaten in downtown Culver City, a few restaurants have still managed to elude me.  And I do mean a few.  Choppe Choppe is one of these restaurants.  Now I can proudly say that I have, in fact, eaten their food, but I can still say that the restaurant has eluded me.  Oh, the twists and turns of life when your girlfriend picks up food for you.  Now, I may not know the full extent of the menu, so I can’t comment on options, but she sure does know me and picked me out something to fit perfectly into my unvegan diet. Continue Reading»


Getting All Fresh in the Box

September 8th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Don't you be getting fresh in my box!

In the search for something light to eat after an afternoon of consuming delicious snacks at work, I found a Japanese place called Fresh in the Box in Culver City.  Now let’s be realistic, who doesn’t want to get fresh…in a box?  And if I told you I was going to some Asian place called Fresh in the Box, you’d probably think I was in for more than just a bite to eat.  Yet, there I found myself at a pretty legit Japanese restaurant. Continue Reading»


Plundering Paradise Cove

September 2nd, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Frequented by humans and seagulls alike.

The coastal land of Malibu is populated by celebrities attempting to avoid the real world and regular people who want to avoid the crowds of LA’s more local beaches.  It’s also sparsely populated by restaurants that want nothing more than to serve a subpar meal while providing a breathtaking view.  Or at least that’s how it usually goes – a great view = decent food.  Hoping to avoid that trend, the Danto family brought back memories of high school and college by taking me, their son’s greatest friend of all time, to lunch.  The Danto clan had chosen Paradise Cove and I was excited to find out what they had to offer. Continue Reading»


Compunding Words at MexiKosher

August 29th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Fun with puns!

Who doesn’t love a good pun?  Or even better, who doesn’t love an awesome compound word.  Combining giant and enormous gave us ginormous.  Combining lion and tiger gave us liger.  And combining terrible and institution gave us Ohio State University (yes, I know that is technically three words, but I stand by it).  Now joining the ever-growing list of compound words is a restaurant named MexiKosher in (surprisingly) Pico-Robertson.  I love a good compound word as much as the next guy, but could this new Kosher Mexican restaurant make a happy unvegan?  I intended to find out. Continue Reading»


Picturesque at Picca Cantina

August 22nd, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Peruvian empanadas?

Not knowing what I was in for, and being led to believe that I was heading out for a night of cheap cocktails and free food, I headed to Picca Cantina on Pico.  Unfortunately, although I had been promised free food, a miscommunication led to food being regularly priced.  But this regularly-priced food still looked quite good and the bartender gave us our first round of drinks for free to apologize for the confusion.  The menu consisted of some great-looking Peruvian dishes with a bit of a tapas flair.  I ordered myself a Cusquena beer and then we got busy with ordering food. Continue Reading»


In Foreign Territory at Mofongos

June 7th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

So that's what Puerto Rico tastes like.

Once upon a time, a friend of mine hooked up with a Puerto Rican lady.  Afterwards, he proclaimed that he was “in foreign territory…literally.”  Unfortunately, as an American he failed to realize that he was not in foreign territory at all.  At least not since 1898 when the US won the Spanish-American War.  Similarly, Puerto Rican food is so different from other regional American food that it almost feels like foreign territory, but after eating Mofongos in North Hollywood I realized this is some regional food I’d like to see more often. Continue Reading»


A Simpler Meal at Tacomiendo

March 29th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Take it easy there.

On a funky little corner in Culver City, there resides a hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint called Tacomiendo.  I originally read about them a long time ago because they served good food at cheap prices.  Finally, after residing on my to-eat list for so long, I got around to taking a ride out to try them out.  Not terribly hungry for this dinner hour, I skipped over the big ticket items like burritos and tortas.  Instead, I went with their namesake, a taco. Continue Reading»


Beer Me Some Breckenridge Agave Wheat

The taste of skiing?

Colorado is definitely a beer state, and not just because Coors comes from the Rocky Mountain State.  No, it is also home to New Belgium (of Fat Tire fame) and seemingly countless other micro and craft breweries.  While in Breckenridge for a ski weekend, I decided I had to at least try one of these, and because it turned out to be the only one available at dinner, my choice happened to come from the creatively named Breckenridge Brewery.  The brewery, by the way, is actually no longer in Breckenridge, having expanded and moved to Denver in 1992.

Continue Reading»