The Unvegan

3/25/2010 Reviews Great Neck

Finishing the Cow at Cafe Rustica (CLOSED)

After recovering from my lunch at Shake Shack, I headed to Great Neck on Long Island to see some family. The meal was set for an Italian place called Cafe Rustica. Although the menu was limited for the event, there were plenty of options, including a few different veal dishes. Although I’m not the biggest veal fan for flavor and loosely moral reasons, I still felt like this would be a good way to go after eating every other cow product for lunch. I chose their veal parmigiani since it didn’t come with any vegetables.

Cafe Rustica Great Neck Italian Long Island New York Restaurants Travel Veal

3/24/2010 Reviews New York

Attack of the Shake Shack

On a rainy Friday morning, I arrived in New York City for the first time as a meat blogger with one goal: to eat. Most importantly, I had to eat at the Shake Shack. I had heard much about the Shake Shack from the New York-centric food blog known as Serious Eats, yet there are plenty of good burgers in LA, so I never felt an overriding desire to get a burger at Shake Shack. Then I heard that Shake Shack was run by none other than Danny Meyer, the famous New York restaurateur. More importantly, though, is that Meyer is a fellow alum of Camp Nebagamon, the greatest place in the world (if you don’t believe me, read this). No doubt, his restaurant skills draw upon his experience at Nebagamon and I made sure to get to Shake Shack as early as possible to see what those skills had created.

Burgers Camp Nebagamon Danny Meyer Duluth Hamburgers Lake Nebagamon Manhattan New York New York City Shake Shack Travel Upper West Side

3/23/2010 Reviews Culver City

The Hidden Treasure of Jasmine Market

I’m not totally sure how it happened, but at some point in the last year I heard about a place called Jasmine Market in Culver City. Unfortunately, life happened and it took me until recently to finally get to pay the place a visit. Jasmine Market is unique because it is both a market and a restaurant, but even more interesting than that is that they serve Burmese food. Never heard of a Burmese restaurant? Well neither had I. In general I’ve avoided things related to Burma (Myanmar) for fear that anything I did would seem like I support the military junta there. But you don’t find a Burmese restaurant too often, so I knew I had to try it out.

Asian Aung San Suu Kyi Burma Burmese Culver City Los Angeles Myanmar Restaurants

3/22/2010 Reviews Los Angeles

The Oki Dog of Destiny

From the moment my buddy told me about Oki Dog months ago, I knew that this incredible hot dog concoction would make its way into my belly. After months of driving by the sketchy part of the west side (so close to West Hollywood, yet a world away) in which Oki Dog resides, I finally got my opportunity to consume this behemoth. It happened on one fateful night when an old pal of mine decided he was going to eat his way through Jonathan Gold’s 99 Things to Eat in LA Before You Die. Eating through that list is likely to cause death anyway, especially if it is populated by foods like Oki Dog.

Hot Dogs Los Angeles Meat Oki Dog Okinawan Restaurants

3/19/2010 Reviews Los Angeles

Wanting to Love the Crown Burger

Down the street from my new office in North Hollywood sits a little chili burger stand called Crown Burger. I saw the place from a distance and wanted so badly for this to be a place to fall in love with. I walked five minutes to the place and walked right up to the counter to make my order. The place was run by a group of Asians (likely of the Korean variety), which was surprising since hamburgers aren’t ordinarily associated with people from the east, but I was still excited at the prospect of this burger.

Asian Burgers Chili Crown Burger Hamburgers Los Angeles Meat North Hollywood Restaurants The Valley

3/16/2010 Reviews El Segundo

Fleming’s for Free

For a delicious gift, my girlfriend’s parents gave us a gift card to Fleming’s Steakhouse. I’d never never been to Fleming’s, partially because of the price, but also because I had never really heard much about the place. Apparently, though, they have a pretty good reputation for snazzy steaks. For a nice little date, we decided to go get ourselves some red meat at the El Segundo.

I knew that I would be getting some steak, but I wasn’t totally sure which steak I would need. I looked at the menu and found the biggest Filet Mignon they had and knew it had to be mine. This was called the Main Filet Mignon and sounded delicious. The steak came a la carte, so I also got some of their Chipotle Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese. This sounded like a perfectly delicious unvegan combo to me.

Beef El Segundo Fleming's Los Angeles Restaurants Steak Steakhouse

3/12/2010 Reviews Los Angeles

Swinging Low at Swinger’s

After a vicious night of partying, nothing makes me happier than a grilled cheese with bacon. This desire has only increased as I have gotten older, so after my most recent mess of an evening, some friends and I made a Sunday run to Swinger’s in the Mid-City area. Swinger’s is like diner, but slightly better because they have grass-fed beef and all that jazz. After waiting about 15 minutes for a table, we were finally seated. I took a long look at the menu, which was possible because of the long wait for our waitress and only found Grilled Cheese with Bacon on one of their daily specials. Unfortunately, that day was not Sunday.

American Bacon Diners Grilled Cheese Los Angeles Mid City Restaurants Sandwiches Swinger's

3/11/2010 Reviews Los Angeles

Haute Food at AOC

For the birthday of a special someone in my life, we headed to little French restaurant called AOC. You may be wondering what AOC stands for, and so did we. Apparently it is not some made-up acronym, but actually is the French version of the FDA, which makes it far more pretentious and Frenchier. We had a reservation and were seated immediately, as I would expect from the French. Our waitress, who had an indistinguishable accent that most certainly was not French, brought us our menus so we could figure out some foodstuffs.

AOC Cheese French Los Angeles Mid City Restaurants

3/9/2010 Reviews Los Angeles

Eating the Desert at Nick’s Coffee Shop

For a nice little Sunday brunch, the girlfriend and I headed over to Nick’s Coffee Shop at Pico-Robertson. Coffee shop is kind of a misnomer for this place, since it’s really more of a diner in the S & W vein. The place is pretty small, so there was a bit of a wait, which wasn’t a big deal on the sunny morning. By the time we took our seats, I was hankering for some food. I perused the extensive menu and found an omelet that looked pretty good to me. It was called the Cactus Omelet and the menu described it as being packed with nutrients. This was confusing, but then I saw that the ingredients included Hebrew National Salami and Jack Cheese. It came with a side, so I got myself some grits.

Cactus Cheese Diners Los Angeles Meat Nick's Coffee Shop Pico-Robertson Restaurants

3/8/2010 Rants and Raves

Bacon Beats Sex

While on the subject of Canada, it seems that a new report from the Great White North has some interesting insight into the power of delicious meats. According to the study, 43% of Canadians prefer bacon to sex. Is Canadian sex that bad or is bacon that good? I like to think that bacon is just that good.

Bacon Canada Raves Sex

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