The Unvegan

2/9/2012 Reviews Breckenridge

Winter Grilling at Coppertop

In dire need of lunch at the base of Breckenridge, I skied on over to Coppertop Bar & Grill to meet up with the fiancee while she was on a little break from ski school. Realistically, very little is expected of ski mountain food. The restaurants have a captive audience, jack up the prices and provide more warming and high energy foods than truly good food. So when I moseyed on over to the food area at Coppertop, my expectations were quite low. But wait…did I just see a dude walk by with curly fries covered in cheese sauce? Scratch that, my expectations hit the roof.

Bacon Breckenridge Burgers Colorado Hamburgers Restaurants Skiing Travel

2/7/2012 Reviews Breckenridge

Dehydrated Deep Dish at Giampietro

Sicilians (if they are real) are not happy about this.

For those of you unfamiliar with places of high altitude, allow me to explain the results of finding yourself far above sea level. The first thing you’ll notice is a shortness of breath, when a short walk up the stairs leaves you breathless. Next, you’ll find yourself in a constant quest for water, as the altitude saps the water from your body and leaves you dehydrated. Such is the case in Breckenridge, Colorado, sitting at 9600 feet above sea level. While I had previously thought such altitude issues only applied to humans, a pizza from Giampietro taught me this was just not the case.

Breckeridge Colorado Giampietro Italian Pepperoni Pizza Travel

2/3/2012 Beers

Beer Me Some Breckenridge Agave Wheat

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.

Agave Wheat Beers Breckenridge Breckenridge Brewery Colorado Denver

2/3/2012 Reviews Breckenridge

An Engaging Dinner at Michael’s

Well, you must have known the day was gonna come eventually. You know, the one where that lady I often refer to as “the girlfriend” in my reviews becomes “the fiancee.” Yes, I’m sorry for not consulting you wonderful readers of mine ahead of time, but it was something that had to be done. So, while in Breckenridge, Colorado for a bit of a ski trip with the family, my parents decided to take everyone out to dinner to celebrate the engagement. We picked out a mid-range Italian place called Michael’s, thinking it would be a great place to make everyone happy.

Breckenridge Colorado Italian Michael's Restaurants Travel

2/2/2012 Reviews Culver City

Electing to Eat at Lukshon

A while back, Sang Yoon opened up a place called Lukshon in Culver City. For some, this was a time to rejoice, as this was the man behind the Father’s Office burger. But for me, it was a time to…well…consider trying out Lukshon. You see, if you know me, you know my disdain for the Father’s Office burger. So it took until dineLA’s Restaurant Week to get me out to Lukshon. I went with a sizable crowd, collectively known as the Suppah Club, and we had ourselves a seat at a massive table on Lukshon’s patio in Culver City.

Asian Chinese Culver City DineLA Father's Office Indian Los Angeles Lukshon Malaysian Restaurant Week Restaurants Sang Yoon Sausages

1/31/2012 Reviews West Hollywood

Palihouse Goes All DineLA

Well, it’s that wonderful time of the year again – dineLA’s Restaurant Week. Yes, it’s the time of the year where I spend too much, eat too much, and still feel happy about it. Unless, of course, I’m eating at Katana. This time around, we went with a couple friends to Palihouse in West Hollywood. I’d been to Palihouse once before, late at night when it was trying to be a bar/club. It’s also a hotel. But on this night, it was simply a restaurant to us.

DineLA Los Angeles Palihouse Restaurant Week Restaurants Steak West Hollywood

1/30/2012 Reviews Burbank

Overloading on Larry’s Chili Dog

Up in Burbank is a classic-looking hot dog shack called Larry’s Chili Dog. They have an awesome neon sign that looks like it was built in the 1970s at the earliest, but likely goes back even further. The true age of the joint is bit difficult to ascertain, for while another, smaller sign says “SERVING BURBANK FOR OVER ’50 YEARS,'” I’m not really sure what 50 years amounts to when you put them in quotes. Whatever the case, this place was definitely old and old school.

Burbank Chili Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Hot Dogs Larry's Chili Dog Los Angeles Restaurants

1/26/2012 Reviews Los Angeles

FuRaiBo Knows

Oh, Little Little Tokyo, the gem of the LA’s west side. Aside from Little Ethiopia, there’s really nowhere else that you can be driving along regular LA streets, suddenly find yourself in a foreign country for two blocks, and then pop back out into regular LA again. There’s a pretty steady stream of awesome restaurants and stores in this foreign territory and for this review a group of us headed to FuRaiBo. In order to be seated immediately, we had to sit in their floor room (like a tatami room, without the tatami). This meant sitting on the floor. While this sort of seating is not common in modern Japan, it certainly still exists. The trouble with this seating at FuRaiBo, however, is that their floor seating gives a distinct lack of leg room, such that my legs couldn’t even get under the table. Nonetheless, while seating played a role in the meal, it didn’t define it. This is how liv pure works.

Chicken Wings Fried Chicken FuRaiBo Japanese Little Little Tokyo Los Angeles Meat Restaurants

1/25/2012 Reviews Los Angeles

At Home at Victor’s Meats & Delicatessen (CLOSED)

I must confess that I have lived quite literally two minutes (by foot) from Victor’s Meats & Delicatessen for the past six months, yet had not once set foot in the place until this past weekend. “Why?” you ask. Well, the answer isn’t simple. It’s also not difficult, because there is no answer save for my foolishness. And it is pure foolishness because Victor’s is a dream come true.

While part of the place is straight-up butcher, Victor’s also serves up sandwiches and assorted pre-cooked foods and salads and such. I was in for a sandwich, but I got more than I expected.

Delis Los Angeles Meat Palms Pastrami Sandwiches Victor's Meats & Delicatessen

1/24/2012 Reviews Los Angeles

Wing Time at The Irish Times

Pop quiz: What are the only five-letter sovereign nations that contain two Is? If you and five of your best trivia-playing friends can’t come up with India and Haiti, you probably don’t want to be at The Irish Times in Palms on Tuesday nights. You see, every Tuesday is Trivia Night and begins sometime between 9 and 9:30, but were it simply a bar with trivia it would not be worthy of meat-blogging. Fortunately that is not the case, because every Tuesday also means $5 buffalo wings. And while they have a full kitchen and a decent bar food selection, there is really no other option in my mind.

Backstage Bar Food Bars Buffalo Wings Irish Los Angeles Palms The Irish Times Trivia

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