Spago - Beverly Hills

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One of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles. We dined here recently for Angela (Brother's fiancee) birthday dinner. We were seated promptly and complimentary bubbly was poured all around. No better way to start a full tasting.

I've been to Spago once, so this will be my second time. Spago was serving a special Akaushi wagyu that was just imported from Japan that night. Literally, the whole cow. That was one of my highlights from our meal.

Without further ado, below is the giant tasting menu we had.

I am ready to come back in summer.

True Food Kitchen - Santa Monica

Not going to lie or try to be swift about it. We came to Santa Monica to play Pokemon. The good thing about this game is how hungry you get from all that walking. There isn't really a time where we declined the chance to eat something. And that's when we stumbled upon True Food.

It was a hot day. Even by the beach, it was extremely humid. Humidity alone does it for me. I don't care if we are in the high's, but being drenched in your own sweat is not the same as a gorgeous pork roast based in it's own fat. It's just not a good look on me. I needed to find shelter, fast. And cool down before I start having weird body beach odors that I never knew I could achieve.

The restaurant was packed, but they were quick to accommodate. In hot weather like this, make sure you hydrate yourself with tons of water. I had a huge migraine from heat exhaustion and even popped a midol just for relief. But it also turned out that I was hungry. After ordering, it wasn't long before our food arrived.

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Wild Mushroom Pizza

Pizza is topped with mushrooms, asparagus, roasted garlic, and taleggio. A light pizza to coast through the day without feeling overly guilty. Vegetarian pizza does that to you. It just makes you forget about the carbs all because there's green stuff floating around. Still a delicious pie that I would order again.

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Grass fed burger

My brother, David, was bummed they no longer carry their bison burger. John was also disappointed since David was raving about it. If you've been here for the bison burger, we found out that their supplier couldn't meet the demand. Makes sense. But this burger did not disappoint. The burger is piled with umami mushroom, caramelized onion, arugula, parmesan, mayonnaise, sandwiched between a flax seed bun. The burger had a delicious beefy flavor with a nice crust. The sauteed mushrooms really added that extra level of umami to the burger. And there's nothing I love more than a burger that has arugula wedged in between. This is a upside down burger to eat to make sure it doesn't break apart.

I'll be back to try more items and have a cocktail or so.

Pan Roasted Asparagus, Fried EGG, lemon everything, Oro del Tempo Piave Vecchio

This dish is SUPER easy to make. So cancel all your plans, and grab yourself a bunch of asparagus, lemons, eggs and Cheese! Because there is no excuse. It was hot as hell this week in LA and I still managed to cook, so put on that apron or that one cooking outfit you know you haven't washed in weeks.

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Beautiful Citrus Asparagus Egg - But... you should see how my kitchen looks after...

This dish is so decadent, you will look like you were in culinary school for years. I am SO hooked on this dish right now, and it doesn't take much at all. Tell your friends you had this in Italy.

Recipe (for 3 people or one... lol)

• 1 pound of asparagus - try to get the thicker stems for more texture and flavor.
• 1 Lemon - juice and zest
• 3 eggs (Happy Eggs)
• Cheese: A lot of people use Parmigiano Reggiano, but I am using Oro del Tempo Piave Vecchio, which can be found at Whole Foods. The flavors taste like a matured Gruyere. ABSOLUTELY SHAAABBAANNGG.
• red chili flakes.

Ok. First thing FIRST. I started heating the pan on high while I shave off the ends of the Asparagus. Please do not skip this step, unless your asparagus still have a beautiful elasticity on it. Also, cut off the dry ends. No one wants to have a hard, dry chewy bottom, not even your dog. When your pan is hot enough, throw in your asparagus and coat them with the olive oil. Once they start charring, I tossed in some Kosher salt. On a separate nonstick pan, I started frying up an egg.

And next thing you know, it feels like so much sh*t is going on because you didn't prep anything. *runs for cheese*, *oh sh*t the grater*, *omg the asparagus!* *THE EGG!*. Please get your prep together, unless you can work extremely unorganized like I do. When the asparagus has a good char all around, remove it away from the heat and start plating.

Zest your lemon over the top of your asparagus and put some in the pan for the oils to release. I then squeezed half a lemon into the pan to pick up on any excess flavor. After about 15 seconds, pour your light dressing over the asparagus.  Top the egg, dazzle with some red chili flakes (or black pepper if you prefer), and shave loads of cheese.

Please show off to your friends, and tell them I taught you. But if you destroy the recipe, tell them someone else taught you. Make sure your eggs are sunny side up. Crispy edges is a major plus. GOOD QUALITY EGGS ARE A MUST (I used Happy Eggs).

Enjoy. And let me know what you think. Lastly, don't cook your asparagus to death.

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It must look like this.

Cheers!

Daiisies