The Unvegan

12/21/2011 Reviews Evanston

Giordano’s, for Real This Time

A long, long time ago, I was a fledgling meat blogger just getting his bearings. In a desperate attempt to eat Giordano’s and get it on the blog, I bought a half-baked pie in Chicago, packed it in ice and brought it back to LA to finish the baking myself. The result was delicious, and while I reviewed it, I always felt that it was unfair to judge a restaurant in which much of the cooking was up to me. Since those days, very little has changed, but my desire for Giordano’s has only grown stronger. So on my last visit to Chicago, I made sure to hit Giordano’s for real, or to at least have some of my family pick it up for me in Evanston.

Chicago Chicago-Style Pizza Evanston Giordano's Illinois Italian Pizza Travel

12/20/2011 Reviews Chicago

A Night in Province (CLOSED)

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.

Chicago Chicken Downtown Chicago Illinois Province Restaurants South American Travel

12/19/2011 Reviews Chicago

Yolk-y with a Chance of Hair

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.

Bacon Brunch Chicago Illinois Restaurants River North Travel Waffles Yolk

12/15/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

Eating with Ray at San Gennaro (CLOSED)

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.

Brentwood Italian Los Angeles Pizza Restaurants San Gennaro Sausages

12/13/2011 Heroes and Villains

Herman Cain: Unvegan Hero

The gotcha media folks have been especially hard on Herman Cain. And why? Just to get a good story and learn more about the man who once wanted to be president? For shame. Rest assured, Herman, while you won’t be the President of the United States, I am here with your fallback plan.

Herman Cain Pizza POTUS

12/12/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

Feeding on Curry at Fat Spoon (CLOSED)

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,Â 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.

Beef Curry Downtown LA Fat Spoon Japanese Little Tokyo Los Angeles Restaurants

12/8/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

Artsy Noodles at Tsujita LA

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.

Japanese Los Angeles Ramen Restaurants Soup Tsujita LA West LA

12/7/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

A Pad of Krua Thai

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.

Los Angeles North Hollywood Pad Thai Restaurants Seafood Thai

12/5/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

Mantee, not Manatee

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.

Armenian Lebanese Los Angeles Mantee Cafe Mediterranean Middle-Eastern Restaurants Studio City Turkish

12/2/2011 Rants and Raves

Meet Horse Meat

What’s your favorite type of meat? Is it beef, chicken or pork? Or maybe it’s something cool and exotic like venison or rattlesnake? What about horse? Didn’t think about that one, did you? Not exactly exotic, but also not exactly meat to most Americans. Now, though, thanks to a little slip of legislation, the slaughter of horses for meat has been legalized in the USA.

Donkey Horse Meat Raves

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