As an attempt to mix up the sandwich scene from the usual Quizno’s and Subway, I took a ride out to Jersey Mike’s Subs in Hawthorne. The inside of the place was pretty similar to the typical sub place, so I was a little disappointed. I hoped that the sandwiches would at least be different. I had heard they had great Philly Cheese Steaks despite being from Jersey, so I was planning on getting one of those. It wasn’t easy, though, because they had some really good-looking sandwiches.
This year I got biblical for Valentine’s Day. No, not like that you sicko. Instead of having a boring, fancy meal with my girlfriend, we decided to get cooking. And not just any kind of cooking, we decided to use Lobel’s Meat Bible, which was sent to me by Chronicle Books a few months ago for free. I knew this book would be incredible just based on the cover, but the back cover really sealed the deal for me because it says, “Armed with Lobel’s Meat Bible, carnivores will find themselves with more delectable meaty choices than ever before.” Mmmm meaty choices.
For a night out on the town with the family, we decided to head to I Cugini at the recommendation of their concierge. This hardly pronounceable restaurant was in Santa Monica and had a pretty cool setup with an outdoorsy patio-esque seating area. The menu offered some pretty good-looking food, but the menu wasn’t as robust as a typical Italian place. Nonetheless, I was transfixed by an item on the menu that I had never seen before. It was called a “Bomba” and was mixed up with the pizzas, so I knew it had to be somewhat similar to pizza.
Once upon a time there was a group of people called vegans. Among other things, these people claimed that their diet was better for the environment than eating meat. Had they been right, the world would be a much different place, but luckily for us, they were wrong. In fact, they eventually learned that their diet was actually worse for the environment than eating meat.
For a nice little seaside lunch, we headed to Moonshadows in Malibu. I couldn’t stop myself from humming Cat Stevens as I pulled my car up next to the Pacific Coast Highway and headed in for my meal. Although the outdoor seating area was full, we found ourselves a nice little ocean view window with a door open nearby so we could get a little taste of the ocean breeze. I took a look at my menu and immediately knew what I had to order.
Okay, so the Winter Olympics aren’t the most interesting sporting event in the world. I understand that, but let’s be honest: has anyone not watched any of the Olympics this year? If you haven’t, you are truly missing out. When else can you watch snowboarding, curling, and bobsledding? All these sports typically bore me, but once every four years, I enjoy their existence. Which brings me to Shaun White.
So in the middle of dineLA’s Restaurant Week, we decided to pay a visit to Upstairs 2 for some dinner. This little restaurant hangs out above the Wine House in West LA and if you didn’t know what you were looking for, you would probably never find it. Luckily, we knew what we were looking for and found it just fine. After parking on the roof, I found the restaurant to have a pretty swanky atmosphere that was just light enough to read the menus.
JR’s BBQ sits in a little nondescript building at the corner of La Cienega and Fairfax in Culver City. Despite the many many times I’ve driven by there, I still had no idea the place existed until a buddy of mine suggested we check it out. Once I found the place, we went inside and found an old timey place with a bunch of stools set up and a little dining area in the back with mismatched tablecloths, chairs and tables. It was actually pretty cool to be in a place that seemingly cared a lot more about their food than the scene it would be eaten in. We were the only people there, so we took our seats in the dining room and started looking at the menu.
While I disagree with the way they chose to spell “Zac,” that is far less important than the things in which I agree with Zac Brown Band. Since the band has been catapulted into the spotlight with their song, “Chicken Fried,” PETA has tried to capitalize on their fame by trying to convince them to give up meat. Good thing the Zac Brown Band isn’t some boring celebrity ready to roll over for the radical group.
Larchmont in Hollywood is a delightful little street that is a nice change from what you would typically consider Holywood to be. There are some great restaurants and shops that usually treat me pretty well. My most recent visit to that street, however, only led me to a meal of disappointment. This came at the hands of the Avocado Grill, a pretty simple Mexican place that reminded me a bit of places like Qdoba.