Living it up in LA

I enjoyed a fabulous long weekend in LA. The weather was gorgeous (70-80 degrees and sunny everyday), the scenery was beautiful (I had to stop and smell the roses and the heavenly scent of jasmine everywhere I went), the company was delightful (Jonno was a gracious host) and the food was of course unforgettable.

Brunch, always a favorite, was a testament of sweet strength at Griddle Cafe. This Hollywood hot spot garners long lines of devotees for their hotcakes and french toast. As you can see from the photo these pancakes were as big as my head and they were three deep to boot! The "Golden Ticket" was filled with bananas, caramel and walnuts and of course topped with a huge dollop of whipped cream. I ate maybe 1/8 of the entire dish. Jonno enjoyed the "Peanut Bubba" french toast. Decadent. I had to help myself to several tastings. My dear friend Lauren would be in PB heaven! We also visited Blue Jam Cafe, another brunch hot spot, luckily the portion sizes were more reasonable, and the dishes included more fruit and veggie options leaving me feel like I was making "better decisions". I opted for the Loxex, a salmon and egg scramble, while Jonno feasted on the decadent Kamil, breakfast mac and cheese.

The Outdoor Cinema Food Fest is a weekly event that bills itself as the ultimate picnic, "no basket required". There's a movie in a park (one of my fave Chicago activities), a live band and food trucks galore. With so many options it was hard to choose! We both loved the Vietnamese banh mi at Nom Nom Truck. The sweet potato fries topped with tamarind chicken and cashes from Frysmith was a favorite of mine too (I  happily ate more than half my share). LOVE this sort of festival and am dreaming of the day when we too can enjoy cooking on board food trucks with the viewing of a good movie in the city of Chicago (for those unfamiliar with the city of Chicago's archaic laws, it is illegal to prepare any foods outside of a licensed kitchen. Food trucks in this fair city can only serve up pre-prepared feasts).

Of course there were other dining highlights. We visited Susan Feniger's Street where we ate succulent tempura battered chicken; dined on on tempting bites at a Hermosa Beach festival; sipped Coronas along the beach in Malibu; and of course I ate my fill at Cali fave Pinkberry.

If you've got an LA dining spot you think I need to check out, please let me know!!

Seeing Green

Fresh asparagus & handmade pasta

Finally it's Spring (could someone please tell the Chicago weather that? I'm sick of carrying around an umbrella and wearing my purple rain boots everywhere!) and the fresh produce is here. I went to Chicago's Green City Market on Wednesday AND Saturday. Throw in a happy hour at Old Town Social to benefit the Green City Market's Junior Board and I was most definitely seeing green!

With yucky weather most of the week I stayed inside more than usual and made a bunch of tasty dishes with all my fresh produce purchases!

Saturday am at the Market - Homemade tamales - mushroom yum

Breakfast radishes! I made several of these small sandwiches.
Benison's bread, Brunkow cheddar spread, red cabbage sprouts & radishes!

Fortune Cookie Quotes

I got the most fantastic fortune cookie quote. Yes, I know that fortune cookies are a fabrication of Americans' need to have a sweet cookie at the end of the meal, but the little fortunes themselves have become a treat I look forward to (don't we all?)

"Life to you is a dashing and bold adventure." Fabulous. I love it and couldn't agree more.

Have you had an memorable fortunes you'd care to share? Please don't get too dirty here ;)

Looking back on a Michelin Dining Experience

Beautiful Piedmont!

The Michelin Guide launched here in Chicago last November with much fanfare. I still don't think that the little red book has that same sort of clout here in the states that is does in its native Europe where it's been part of the culture for nearly a century. The guide was originally published as a means to help drive car travel (yes this Michelin is the same as the tire folks). Isn't it interesting how these things evolve? The guide awards one to three stars to a limited number of restaurants of a very high caliber. One star indicates a "very good cuisine in its category", a two-star ranking represents "excellent cuisine, worth a detour," and three stars are awarded to restaurants offering "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey".

Look at all those glasses. Serious meal underway.

Back in my International Kitchen days,  going to a Michelin star restaurant on a familiarization trip was almost de rigeur (how fabulous right?) It was pretty special and definitely something I miss. On my last trip to the Piedmont region of Northern Italy (known for its wines and truffles) I was treated to an elaborate lunch at a 2-star Michelin restaurant. Anyone who knows me understands that I want to try every morsel on my plate. I physically could not eat any more of this divinely decadent meal and it pained me NOT to finish!

 Piccolo Lago sits on Lake Mergozzo in Stresa. The views are phenomenal and the food is creative, modern and fun.

This tremendous plate of desserts? It was all for me!!

French Gourmet on the Go

It's probably no surprise that I love Whole Foods. Lately I would even dare to say obsessed. It's bad because it's obviously a wee bit more expensive, but it's probably a bonus because I tend to eat healthier when I shop there. It's a visual parade of products, colors and scents. What's not to like? On those days when it's not all that busy (that's a rarity) I can peruse the aisles for new goodies. It's here I discovered St. Dalfour's Gourmet on the Go tins.

I have to admit it was the adorable packaging that first got me. The compact tins come complete with it's own sporky utensil, salt, pepper and even a little sauce. There are no preservatives either which is a nice change of pace from most packaged foods. I think these would be ideal for travel but I enjoyed eating them at work...they just felt kind of fancy. Sadly I can't always find them at my Whole Foods, so if you see them stock up!

Flavors include:

• Couscous - veggies & beans
• Tuna & pasta
• Whole Grains & beans
• Salmon & veggies (comes with a really nice honey)
• Pasta & veggies
• Three beans & sweet corn

Cooking for Passover

Matzo Ball Soup - aka Jewish penicillin

Ooh, I do love cooking especially for the Jewish holidays. Passover is wrapping up now, but I had a great time preparing for the holiday. I won't give a historical account of the holiday (if you want a bit of an education click here), but basically you can't eat leavened bread. No bagels. No cereal. No pasta. Bascially think about what you can eat everyday and eliminate half of that. Little things you might not even think have flour products do. It's really surprising.
So, a few weeks ago I took a Passover cooking class at The Chopping Block in Lincoln Square. The menu was really inventive and included some new dishes that I'll be adding to my cooking roster including curried matzo ball soup, sephardic haroset (traditionally chopped apples, nuts and cinnamon) and a bitter herb quinoa pilaf. My brother-in-law is also a great cook and took on some of the cooking duties for our Passover Seder (the traditional holiday meal) and we had quite the feast! I made my grandmother's traditional matzo ball soup (she said it was very good so that's a compliment!), a braised brisket with paprika and raisins (it smelled wonderful but somehow I managed to cook it a bit too much on the outside?) and a Martha Stewart walnut cherry torte (this looked AND tasted impressive).
It was a truly wonderful meal and I had a happy belly and delicious food memories to boot!

Are You Cheeky Enough to Chow?

Champagne tasting in Epernay, France

Sometimes an opportunity presents itself that seem to good to be true. It seems made for you (OK, specially  made for me, this is my food blog after all right?) It's exciting, your heart skips a beat and you pray silently "pick me". Well, there is a competition that was created by two Chicago entities (Mike and Chao and Cheeky Chicago) to select a guest food writer to travel to San Francisco (shockingly I have not been) and write a guest column to appear on their newly launching Cheeky for San Fran. Jeez I just submitted the application and you'd think I'd won something right? Nothing yet, but it's the prospect that is so enticing...

I had to write a 200 word essay on a food adventure I've had. If you've been reading my little blog here you know I've had many. I haven't much detailed my past work though at The International Kitchen and thought that would be a good foray into my food psyche for such a short blurb. Below is what I sent out...fingers crossed!

I used to have one of those amazing jobs one when you tell people about it upon meeting them they are floored. Sometimes I can't even believe it. I worked for The International Kitchen, a company specializing in culinary travel specifically with trips to Italy and France. It was indeed amazing and I had the opportunity to visit many cities and have experiences I probably never would have sought out on my own. We as Americans have all sorts of notions and apprehensions about food, especially with fare we don't deem edible here in the US.  Always an adventurous eater, I stuck with this idea and ran with it when I traveled, eating anything and everything that was put in front of me. Sure I had my apprehensions, but I figured if locals were eating it and enjoying it I probably would too. It was with fond memories I found myself sitting in a Paris café just hours after my overseas flight. My stomach craved carbs, perhaps some warm French bread, yet I found myself face to er, head with a plate of tete de veau. The calf’s head was delicious and the best gastronomic introduction I can remember.