Los Angeles County, Mary

eating in la: broome street general store / silver lake – los angeles, ca

Our post-felting class excursion led up over to Silver Lake to Broome Street General Store. We passed right by it without even seeing it since the sign out front was angled weird – you could pretty much only see it if you were heading down the street in a particular direction. Very odd.

Broome Street is named for a street in Manhattan where the owner once lived. It’s filled with various vintage kitchen items and sundries and various artisan goods (such as pickles, sauces, spices and other items).

I bought some smoked sea salt from Wales. It sounded really interesting. I have yet to actually try it though.

Alyssa and I browsed through the whole shop before heading over to the front counter to look at the ready to eat goodies they had for sale.

There were various tarts, yogurt and granola and brownies on this side.

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Atwater Village, Los Angeles County, Mary

eating in la: the village bakery & cafe / atwater village – los angeles, ca

Time for another road trip! This time to hang out with my cohort, Alyssa.

I drove up on a Saturday morning to her house just outside of Downtown LA. I always go up Saturday morning because Friday afternoon traffic makes me very, very sad. There was a slight drizzle when I left and I encountered no traffic on my way up. I got to her house just under 2 hours. That’s the way to go!

After I got there, we got ready to head out for the day and went out for breakfast. We were taking a felting class in the early afternoon and gave ourselves enough time for breakfast and a little window shopping before our class started.

Our first stop of the day was to The Village Bakery and Cafe in Atwater Village.

This is what we looked at while we stood in line to order, trying to decide what we wanted to eat for breakfast. This case contained cupcakes, tarts, and various brownies.

We’ve only scratched the surface! There were also all kinds of muffins, cinnamon rolls, mini pies…

Cookies and cakes…

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Downtown, San Diego County, Mary, Little Italy

dinner and a show at anthology / little italy – san diego, ca

I was recently invited to Anthology to try out their newest menu items by Chef Todd Allison. I’d always been interested in going to see a show at Anthology. This proved to be a stellar way to try out some new eats and to catch a show all in one.

Anthology is set up with three different levels – the main floor near the stage, a second level with just a few booths, and a top level. There’s also an upper level GA admission area with no view of the stage and monitors instead.

Laura and I arrived well in advance of the crowd and snagged some nice seats up front on the floor, near the stage. Getting there early was nice since we were able to chat and eat most of our food before the show began. The waiters are pretty good about letting you have your space when the show begins and only come by to check on you when necessary.

I had picked a date arbitrarily and we ended up seeing a band called the Robert Glasper Experiment – a mixture of jazz, soul and a little hip hop all thrown into the mix. I can honestly say it was like nothing else I had heard before with the mixtures of genres all rolled into one. It didn’t quite make me a new convert, but I enjoyed seeing them and experiencing something new. I’ll leave the music reviews to others.

[Sake Steamed Black Mussels – Ginger, Mint, Basil, Hearts of Palm]

We started off with these steamed black mussels, which our waiter told us were locally grown from Carlsbad. I had never had mussels before, but I was feeling adventurous – and I’m glad I was because I ended really liking these! The flavors of the ginger, mint and basil all showed through giving them a really deep and wonderful flavor. The mussels reminded me of oversized clams – similar texture with a nice, sweet flavor.

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Mary, Kearny Mesa, San Diego County

cafe hue / kearny mesa – san diego, ca

First things first. If you visit the blog on a regular basis, you’ll see a couple of minor tweaks. I’ve been wanting to redo the blog and rename it for awhile but didn’t really feel like actually having to hassle with it and move it, so I just did a few minor tweaks – oh, and gee, changed the name of the blog. No biggie. You like?

Onto the food!

Last week Jake and I were going to go Downtown to check out a new stand-up comic, but I ended up not being in the mood to traverse Downtown. Instead, we went to get dessert. Dessert makes me happy. Trying to park Downtown does not. Dessert wins!

Cafe Hue is a little cafe over on Convoy Street in Kearny Mesa. They have a few different offerings, including waffles, crepes, gelatos and coffees.

Jake, T and I sampled a the lot of them. We tried the taro, honeydew, nutella, green tea, and even the black sesame gelato. I didn’t like the green tea at all – I just don’t dig that flavor. The sesame was really surprising – it tasted exactly like roasted sesame seeds, but creamy. It kind of freaked me out a little.

Also, trying honeydew RIGHT AFTER sesame is a bad idea. Ugh.

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San Diego County, Mary, Banker's Hill

bankers hill restaurant / banker’s hill – san diego, ca

Bankers Hill Restaurant has been on my “to-visit” list for quite some time. Ever since I took a pie making class last fall with Rachel Cayhill, the pastry chef there, I’ve been wanting to indulge in her desserts again. I was finally able to come in for a visit with a few friends (Laura and Heather) in tow to check out Bankers Hill for happy hour!

I totally drove right by the first time. It sort of looked like any old building as I was driving by, but that’s not really the case. There are multiple crazy doors you can open in the front and the whole restaurant has a bit of an industrial feel to it. I dug it.

I came in early and snagged this table in the back, near the bar and this fun table with this awesome wine glass chandelier thing. The decor was very simply stated and I really enjoyed it.

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San Diego County, Mary, Downtown

roy’s restaurant / downtown – san diego, ca

I sometimes wonder how I get invited to certain things.

I was recently invited to come to Roy’s Restaurant for a media event with wedding professionals. I don’t do wedding stuff (anymore, I used to write for San Diego Wedding Insider) and I’m not a planner or anything. But, I’m not one to turn out the prospect of trying new things. I dragged Jake with me and warned him beforehand about it, but there was no worrying needed. There was a nice bit of food laid out, a dessert table, and hot appetizers were floated around the room. They also had some pretty tables set up with potential wedding decor as a sample of what they could do. And I have to say that hosting a wedding or reception here would be great just for the view alone. Check it out below!

This was the first thing I saw. A table filled with CHEESE.

I smiled gleefully at Jake. I’m pretty sure he rolled his eyes at me. I’m such a sucker for cheese.

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Miscellaneous, Mary, Recipes

homemade bacon is totally worth it

Not too long ago I spotted this post on Indirect Heat about how to make your own bacon at home.

“Oh my god. We could make our own BACON!” I thought to myself. It didn’t look to be that hard. And I knew that I could get my dad on board to do this. I emailed him the link and said, “We – or rather you – should make this.”

He replied not too long later. “Get the ingredients. We’ll do it.” YES!

My dad did all of the work and we got the reap the benefits last weekend when he smoked the first slab of homemade bacon using apple wood from the tree he cut down in the backyard last year.

[Smoked Pork Belly]

Is there no finer usage for pork belly?

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San Diego County, Mary, Downtown

monkey paw pub & brewery / downtown – san diego, ca

I’d driven by and seen the Monkey Paw a few times when Jake and I have headed Downtown for something. It’s right on the corner when you get off the freeway from the 94. It used to be a sketchy looking dive bar but it’s been cleaned up a bit and been given a way cooler sounding now. The Monkey Paw just sounds like a place I’d like to visit.

[Peek of the interior]

Pretty simple setup. Menus are available tableside and the bar is up in the front for drink ordering. Jake and I visited about noon on a Saturday and no one else was in the place, so the bartender gave us tableside service and let us know where we could order food for munching on (a little window in the back of the bar was where you ordered).

There’s another handy wall menu near the back in case you forget your order. Not quite the full menu, but close!

[Beer Candy Naked Wings – 1lb. – $9]

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