The Unvegan

Waffling at Bru’s Wiffle

January 3rd, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Chicken and wiffles?

While “the bun” has undergone many iterations (pretzel, brioche, etc…) and sandwich bread is known for its varieties, there is one bread-like breakfast conduit that still hasn’t really seen much glory as far as being put to alternate uses. It is the waffle, but Bru’s Wiffle in Santa Monica is out to change that. You see, Bru’s thinks that waffles need more of the limelight and they are willing to give it. At Bru’s, you can get a pizza waffle, taco waffles and even “sliders” with waffle buns. Of course, Bru’s offers waffles in their sweet breakfast form, but the savory offerings were really what drew me to Bru’s. Continue Reading»

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Bru's Wiffle, Brunch, Chicken and Waffle, fried chicken, Los Angeles, restaurants, Santa Monica, waffles

An Explosion of Flavor at C4

January 2nd, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Oh Arizona.

Remember playing Cowboys and Indians as a kid? Thankfully, there is a place in the world where that fantasyland still exists. It’s called Arizona, and while not everyone runs around with a gun or bow and arrow, there are places you could picture saddling up a horse just as easily as stopping by in a hybrid. One such place is the Cave Creek Coffee Company, affectionately known as C4 by locals. The facade is reminiscent of Tombstone, but the interior is pure class (not that Tombstone was lacking in class…). Continue Reading»

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Arizona, C4, Cave Creek, Cave Creek Coffee Company, lahvosh, meat, phoenix, Pizza, restaurants, Travel

Heading South with Mayura

December 23rd, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Like a flat donut.

When Jonathan Gold’s latest rendition of the 99 best restaurants in LA came out, I was amazed to find an Indian place basically in my backyard. No, I don’t have an actual backyard because I live in LA, but you get my drift. Fortunately, my body had been craving Indian and I easily convinced my girlfriend that we had to order some carryout from there. While the menu appeared to have typical Indian fare, Mayura actually specialized in South Indian food. With that in mind, I was excited to get down with something new. Continue Reading»

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Culver City, Curry, Delivery, Indian, Los Angeles, mayura, restaurants, south indian

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»

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Chicago, Chicken, downtown chicago, province, restaurants, south american, Travel

Yolk-y with a Chance of Hair

December 19th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Hairless, I'm sure.

In the Windy City for a cold and lovely weekend, some friends, family and other converged upon a brunch place called Yolk in River North. On such a cold day, I was surprised to find such a long line of people waiting to get a piece of Yolk’s action. Despite claiming to have a 20-minutes wait, it was a good 35 minutes until we were seated. It was not a good sign of things to come, but a quick glance at the menu made me immediately forgot the wait it took to get there. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Brunch, Chicago, restaurants, river north, Travel, waffles, yolk

Eating with Ray at San Gennaro

December 15th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

More like San get out of here!

I could read all the food blogs in the world and go to all the restaurants they claim to be great, but nothing really ever beats a personal recommendation. Usually it comes from someone you know and they know your taste better any anonymous or famous food critics. So when my buddy and his lady friend suggested we hit up an Italian place called San Gennaro in Brentwood, I was ready for business.

When we arrived, one look at the menu told me this was not going to be an easy choice. Instantly my eyes met with gnocchi, Italian fried chicken and Ray’s Special pizza. Instead of making the tough decision myself, I asked the waiter to decide for me and he picked the pizza. Continue Reading»

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Brentwood, Italian, Los Angeles, Pizza, restaurants, san gennaro, sausage

Feeding on Curry at Fat Spoon

December 12th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Just keep swimming...

Apparently some place called The Lazy Ox downtown is a big deal or something. I wouldn’t know because I haven’t been, but supposedly the guy behind it, Michael Cardenas, is also a big deal. Such a big deal, in fact, that he took it upon himself to open another restaurant, called Fat Spoon. The new place is down in Little Tokyo and is conceptually a Japanese curry house. As a man with a fair amount of Japanese curry experience, I definitely wanted to check the place out, and it didn’t hurt that I had one of those Blackboard Eats 30% off printouts either. Continue Reading»

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Beef, Curry, Downtown LA, fat spoon, Japanese, little tokyo, Los Angeles, restaurants

Artsy Noodles at Tsujita LA

December 8th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Artisan or artesian?

Have you ever looked upon a meal and thought it was just too pretty to eat? It happens to the best of us, and to be perfectly frank, a pretty-looking meal is often disguising a lack of flavor or creativity. So when my buddy and I decided to head to Tsujita LA in West LA for lunch, I was a little concerned that their claim of “Artisan Noodles” would make for a pretty meal, but little else. But when we showed up and found an obscenely long line of people waiting to get a taste of the noodles, I thought again. Continue Reading»

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Japanese, Los Angeles, ramen, restaurants, soup, tsujita la, West LA

A Pad of Krua Thai

December 7th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Crudite?!

Did you know there was a big Thai contingent in the valley? And I’m not talking about a string of Thai restaurants, I’m talking about a spot in the north end of North Hollywood where signs for auto repair shops and dry cleaners are both in Thai as well as English. Here, on a stretch of Sherman Way is a restaurant called Krua Thai, which Jonathan Gold once claimed to have the best Pad Thai in LA. Continue Reading»

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Los Angeles, north hollywood, pad thai, restaurants, Seafood, Thai

Mantee, not Manatee

December 5th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Yes, I would like meat in my hummos.

When my buddy recommended heading to a place called Mantee in Studio City, I was really excited to eat a sea cow and hoped the manatees were farm-raised (because we all know they are endangered in the wild). But he quickly corrected me, saying that the restaurant was lacking that all-important second “a” and was actually Mediterranean. And one look at the menu showed this was not your typical Mediterranean. There were no schwarma wraps to be seen here and instead items like that were replaced by unique Lebanese, Turkish and Armenian delights. Continue Reading»

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Armenian, lebanese, Los Angeles, mantee cafe, Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, restaurants, studio city, Turkish

Rants and Raves

A Theory I Can Get Behind

June 3rd, 2009

While perusing the blogosphere (with the help of Google Alerts) I came across a great blog entry by a guy named Jeff Erno. In it, he theorizes on why people should eat animals rather than plants. A lot of this theory stems from the fact that animals are simply a safer food to eat.

He explains, “If you are an animal then evasion seems a great way to avoid predation. Run faster. Climb higher. Fly…” These are things that plants simply cannot do. Instead, for the most part, plants became toxic or poisonous to avoid predation.

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.

‘restaurants’

Waffling at Bru’s Wiffle

An Explosion of Flavor at C4

Heading South with Mayura

A Night in Province

Yolk-y with a Chance of Hair

Eating with Ray at San Gennaro

Feeding on Curry at Fat Spoon

Artsy Noodles at Tsujita LA

A Pad of Krua Thai

Mantee, not Manatee

Rants and Raves

A Theory I Can Get Behind

Beer Me Some Breckenridge Agave Wheat

What is this?»

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