peppermintbark

I cannot believe it’s yet another lakers vs celtics matchup in the nba finals. Growing up I vaguely remember magic johnson vs larry bird in the 80′s……this rivarly has so much history.  I passionately love the los angeles lakers and passionately hate the boston celtics….from their stupid ‘beat l.a.’ chant to their hideous green outfits.  I am aware that people love to hate on the lakers especially kobe bryant. But nobody can deny his talent and greatness on the court.  I’m excited for the nba finals although it would have been awesome to watch kobe vs. lebron.  I must say that despite my dislike for the celtics, rajon rondo is pretty damn good….not as good as kobe but still good

Anyway, hope everybody is enjoying the long weekend.  I had a staycation celebrating my newphew’s 100 day party, friend’s birthday and checking out new places to eat on the westside with my eating buddy.  Anybody tried Rick Bayless’s new restaurant Red O? I’m very curious about it and wondering if it’s good.

Check this video out. It’s kind of long but worth it. I found it very interesting.

http://www.charter.net/tv/tvonline/play?vid=277730&vendor=hbo

There’s a new chain coming to l.a. from seoul.  bi bim bap on the go!  hence the name bibigo.  wonder if it’s gonna be any good.

On my big 3-0 birthday I knew exactly where I wanted to go for dinner. The dining room at the Langham Hotel.  This hotel happens to be on the way work for me and I’ve been wanting to try the food for a long time.  I am a huge fan of top chef and a huge fan of Michael Voltaggio.  He is so talented, hot, can be a jerk, intense and actually really nice!  I coerced my brother into buying me dinner here.  I made reservations a month and a half in advance and waited oh so patiently!  I had heard and seen pictures of people going to the restaurant and being able to meet the chef and take pictures.  I was hoping this would happen to me but at the same time never thought it would actually happen to me.  The food was probably the best I have ever tasted but also food and flavors like I have never tasted before.  Everything was so good. We did a 4 course meal which included 3 savory and 1 sweet.  The flavors are so interesting (in a good way) and creative.  He is so talented.  I’m totally smitten.  So after dessert, I noticed the table next to us which was a family, got up and followed the waiter back into the kitchen.  I knew they were going back there to meet the chef.  So I demanded my brother to ask our waiter if we could meet the chef since it’s my birthday and all   The waiter said, ‘I can ask but half of the time he says no and half of time he says yes.’  So we waited FOREVER (it was probably 10 minutes) for the family to come out.  Then our waiter comes to our table and nods his head and says ‘come on.’  I jumped out of my chair and we followed him into the kitchen and there was the hottie voltaggio!  I had the biggest smile on my face  and I felt so retarded but I couldn’t help it and honestly didn’t care!  He was the nicest guy!  We chatted with him briefly, took pictures and the kitchen crew sang happy birthday!! tomato jelly with basil and caviar puff pastry
langoustinegarden harvestblack truffle briochearctic char (the black slate above was our 3 different butters for our bread.  Salted, goat cheese and unsalted butter)black sea bass

wagyu short ribslambgreen tea ice creamfrozen chocolate soufflebaba au rum (coconut and pineapple) passion fruit candy with edible wrappers, chocolate macaroons and dark chocolate

so happy!

I finally got to check out the much talked about and hyped-up restaurant Rivera in downtown l.a., walking distance from the Staples Center. The restaurant is very modern and hip and has a cool vibe….very dim inside.   The food is Latin food with a cool twist.  The bar area seems nice and you can watch the chefs do their work.  They are known for their drinks and tapas.  Everything was pretty good except I thought the fish was sub-par. Their appetizers were delicious and so were the desserts. I ordered a few appetizers instead of a main dish.  This restaurant is a good place if you’re looking for a great ambiance with good food and cool drinks.the menu

tortillas florales (homemade toritllas)caballito de sopas dobles (two different soups)
playa bar ceviche (tuna)
chile pasilla relleno (stuffed with burrata cheese)fletán (halibut with tomatillos)
carne churrasco (rib eye with onion foam)ensalada españolababa cachacatorta xocolataestudio en flan

It was probably the most romantic and prettiest wedding I had been to. It was overlooking the ocean on a gorgeous clear afternoon in la jolla. The weather was perfect and by dinner, the sun was setting. I tagged along with my roommate and enjoyed the wedding, the food, the candy/dessert table and drinks!  Aside from sitting next to the most annoying person ever when drunk and sober, Van Kim, I had a great time.  Congratulations to H and M!

I’ve been watching the winter olympics…picking and choosing which events to tivo like the men’s short track and women’s figure skating. I must say, like all of the koreans, kim yuna is so amazingly graceful on the ice. She makes ice skating look like a piece of cake. While I was watching the finale for the women’s figure skating, I was so nervous her.  I would clench my teeth every time she did a jump. I was very proud she won the gold. I watched her performance 3x! I cried the first two and got teary eyed the third time. I’m such a wuss ><

My fellow food loving friend and I have been wanting to try dim sum for a while now.  However, we did not have the confidence to go sans a mandarin/cantonese speaking-dim sum experienced eating friend.  So, we asked our sweet friend J. Very glad we went together.  We went to New Capital Seafood in San Gabriel and upon arrival at a very early 10:30 a.m. on a Sunday, I walk into a very large crowd of people waiting in a fairly small waiting room with a loud microphone and a lady yelling out reservation numbers in multiple languages.  I felt like I was at an auction.  You can’t hear yourself talk, can’t really move.  All you can do is stand next to the lady with the microphone, if you’re not there to respond with your number she’s already moved on to the next number.  After our number was called, we walk out of the small waiting area into a huge dining hall filled with more people.  It was quite an experience….almost overwhelming.  The food was really tasty…so many different things to eat.  Some of it looked good and some looked interesting.  We had 1000 year old egg porridge, turnip cake, shu mai, rice rolls, chinese broccoli, many different type of dumplings just to name a few.  It was delicious!  Can’t wait to go back…with J of course.  Food was very inexpensive and service was good.  Sorry for the lack of pictures…too busy eating!

We celebrated S’s birthday with just us girls, on our well deserved president’s day holiday.  The birthday girl wanted breakfast so we headed over to Marston’s (happy to have found out they served breakfast til 2pm that day)  We had a delicious meal. The birthday girl couldn’t decide what to order…pancakes, french toast, eggs….or all? I think she would’ve if she could   I really like their french toast but I ordered an omelette.  They aren’t my favorite breakfast foods but I was drawn to the fact that it had avocados.  I love avocados.  So after breakfast we headed over to my favorite nail salon in Pasadena and called it a day.  Happy Birthday S!

Seems like every other day is somebody’s birthday this month.  Monday was Angela’s, Wednesday was Sarah’s (celebration to follow) and Today is Amy’s!! Happy Birthday my dear friend!!  Time flies way too fast!