Viewing entries tagged
lamb

The Olive

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The Olive

Located at the new Downey Promenade, you will find The Olive. This restaurant is not only beautiful but serves up amazing Mediterranean cuisine. I've only had a few Mediterranean experiences, but nowhere to be on the higher end (except Momed), but this place was extraordinary and I'm pretty impressed.

I would say that everything we had was as made in-house as you could imagine.

Fresh pita made to order with a side of spicy green crack sauce (it's that ridiculous).

Perfect brew with a nice froth. I'm a coffee type of gal instead of mimosa.

A little more about the restaurant:

“The Olive’s distinct and unique craft cocktails, created by Carlos Morales, feature the Downy Godfather or Chili Pepino and could easily be found in the best resorts. Comfort staples like babaghanouj, sweet African peppers and wonderful spicy Hummus ride alongside shawarmas, seafood, chicken and steak entrees and specialties including Cornish hens or a mixed grill feast for 6 at a bargain $88. Wraps, soups and a wide variation of salads along with paninis, flatbreads and vegetarian options round out the menu with desserts, Italian sodas, coffee. And, of course, cocktails, high end spirits and aperitifs from the full-service bar are also available.”

8830 Apollo Way Ste 104 Downey, CA 90242

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Pier Del Sol - Special Olympics 2016

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Pier Del Sol - Special Olympics 2016

The Special Olympics Southern California offers year-round sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. More than 26,006 athletes in 11 Southern California counties train and compete in 12 Olympic-type summer and fall sports. There is no cost for athletes to participate in Special Olympics.

I'm extremely excited to support Special Olympics Southern California at the 20th annual Pier del Sol fundraiser event on October 9th at Santa Monica. It's a fantastic event hosted once a year with family fun events featuring rides, entertainment, food, silent auctions and more.

 

Below is a little more about the mission and vision of Special Olympics Southern California:

“The mission of Special Olympics Southern California is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community. Our vision is to provide sports and training programs for any individual with intellectual disabilities who chooses to participate, thereby improving their lives and the lives of everyone they touch.”
— Special Olympics Southern California

Here are all the awesome food that I got to eat. For $175 a ticket, you get spoiled with some of the best restaurants of Los Angeles, meet the athletes (even sing with them), go on rides (for free), get 12 game tickets, and knowing that all proceeds goes towards the programs.

Oysters from Providence / Connie's & Ted is always a favorite stop.

Live music to celebrate the 20th annual Pier Del Sol. 20's themed.

One of my favorite games! Watching awesome special Olympic athletes play.

Children are super competitive.

12 tickets, 12 chances!

Can you guess who won?

Can you guess who won?

Yup..

My brother wins!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Maximiliano - Highland Park

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Maximiliano - Highland Park

Maximiliano is another restaurant concept by Andre Guerrero. Many of you LA natives are familiar with one of his famous restaurants in Eagle Rock called The Oinkster. With their famous pulled pork sandwich to their highly talked about Belgian french fries with garlic aioli that changed the world. Honestly, their french fries here are killer. It was my first time and many others of having a twice fried potato. It's pretty genius, but Oinkster's really made it their own.

Maximiliano is a different concept than Oinkster's. Practically being the only Italian restaurant in Highland Park, Maximiliano has a full menu that carries a wide range of Italian favorites.

5930 York Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90042

Raspberry Bellini.

To get started right away, I ordered a raspberry bellini with a cup of Intelligentsia coffee.

It was raining a little bit on this day, so a little Prosecco definitely helped with the gloomy weather.

 

Preview of the items we had to taste.

I am happy I get to share with you a wide variety of the items on their menu.

Smoked Salmon Pizza

This was one of my favorites on the menu. The crust was thin and crispy, the smoked salmon was nice and salty, but balanced with the creamy subtle flavors of the Burrata. I would order this again.

Breakfast Pizza

Huevos Rancheros

Better eat this fast or the potatoes will starch up once cold. Delicious fennel sausage with the over easy eggs to really put a dent in your gut. There's nothing wrong about this. Just douse each slice with more chili flakes to get the full experience.

Pasta Carbonara

Hand-Made Linguini, nice and al dente with bacon confit, pecorino and a poached egg waiting like a hot water balloon waiting for you to slice for the ultimate yolk porn. You should've seen it run in all its glory. Pass the chili flakes. Butt fires will be worth it.

Beef short rib hash

Delicious melt in your mouth pulled pork. Sweet, savory, and luxurious with the ooey gooey egg. This is definitely a good breakfast item to order if you are a meat lover like me. So perfect with a sunny side up egg. Break the egg into the short ribs before enjoying.

Seafood Pasta

Another house made pasta. What you see is squid ink linguini served with clams, calamari, scallops, spanish chorizo, mussels, shrimp, jalapeno roasted red pepper served up in a pomodoro sauce. They are not shy of seafood.

Tender fall off the bone Moroccan braised lamb shank. This was served on some curried couscous. Very delicious and slightly gamey without it tasting viciously grassy. With the leftovers, you can always make dumplings with the meat, turn it into a ragu, or even just straight up wrap it in some tortillas. Definitely worth ordering when you come.

Ricotta Pancake

One of the best pancakes I've ever put in my mouth. Once it comes out straight from the kitchen, the aroma from the lemon curd will make you salivate almost immediately. The pancake had a nice crispy crust, hot, melting the lightly dusted powder sugar before dousing a large scoop of curd goodness. We had to share, but in reality, I would want this all to myself.

 

Make your reservations if you have not. Go in a group so you may try more things.

Also, here's a snip of their drink menu (Beer & Wine)
 

Maximiliano is also Craftsman Brewing Company’s Official Tasting Room! Join them every Monday & Tuesday for their awesome Beer Flight Nights where you can try Five 5oz pours of North East LA’s finest Craft Beers for just $12. I'll definitely be here for that.

5930 York Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90042

Click here to visit Maximiliano.

Cheers!

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Mondo Taco - Santa Monica

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Mondo Taco - Santa Monica

I have to say, Tacos has come a long, long way here in Los Angeles. I lived in Glassell Park most of my life. If you don't know where Glassell Park is, it's basically where gunshots are fired around 11pm or 2-4 in the morning, Ice Cream trucks at noon - 3pm - 5pm, Elote man around the same time, and tacos covering every proximity you can put your hands on. Back to the days when tacos were $1 a pop, and they just had that flavor you can only find on the streets. If you know what I am talking about, just close your eyes for a minute to relive it.

I remember there was this one stall, serving up all kinds of cuts you can imagine on a comal bola grill. Every meat fat you can imagine, melted and cooked as one. You can't find that anymore nowadays. Or not as easy as it was just a few years ago.

But tacos has evolved into something more multicultural. That's the beauty of living in LA. We don't see each other differently because we are so exposed to the different cultures that we are surrounded with. It's really beautiful if you think about it. I remember when I went to visit some friends in Arizona, I literally stood out like a sore thumb being asian. Nothing wrong with that, but you just know when you are in a town where your existence is minimal. Tacos, right.

I was luckily invited to a taco tasting out in Santa Monica the past weekend. And boy, tacos are my thing. So are burgers. There's just some kind of pleasure I find eating food with my hands. Mondos Tacos provide a more contemporary take on tacos than what you would find at the corner of your local neighborhood in LA. Their tacos travel around the world meaning they do flavors like Italian to a further leap like Indian.

Mondo Taco - 2200 Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90404

6 Tacos to try with one Watermelon Agua Fresca (delicious!).

Chips and Salsa with a side of Guacamole. A must! Good portion of avocados in the guac. It wasn't super loaded with tomatoes either. A perfect starter. I even whipped some of the guac onto my tacos. You know you want to do it too.

Angry Chicken - $3.50 crispy chicken - hot sauce - blue cheese. Finger licking hot sauce that will make your eye wink. So be careful who you are sitting in front of. Don't want to be sending the wrong signal when you are just enjoying your taco. The blue cheese was tasty and added a nice musk to cut through the tartness of the sauce.

Southern Decadence - $3.75 fried chicken - bacon - BBQ sauce - ranch dressing - diced tomato. I loved this! Yummy BBQ sauce with fried chicken strips. I had the slighted memory of eating chicken nuggets from Wendy's. Not like there is anything wrong with that, because everything about that is utterly amazing.

Fancy Fish - $3.50 grilled fish - poblano - pico de gallo - cilantro crème. The name says it all. The fish was delicate and was complimented by the poblanos and creamy cilantro creme.

El Greco - $4.75 grilled lamb - tzatziki - diced tomato. If you love lamb, this will definitely deliver. The gaminess of the lamb really shoots through. The tzatsiki and tomatoes really help cutting through the strong flavors of the lamb. Great portions of lamb.

Taj Mahal - $4.75 coconut shrimp - curry sauce - diced red bell pepper. Surprisingly one of my favorites from the 6. The shrimp was very plump, cooked perfectly, and the creamy curry sauce pairs perfectly with the light flavors of the shrimp and the sweetness of the red peppers. I really want to order 2 of these next time I come, but there are just so much to try from.

Crazy Fish - $3.50 panko crusted fish - pico de gallo - 1000 Island. Another tasty taco. Loved everything about it. There's nothing I love more than a fried fish taco. This was also one of my favorites. Simple, and flavors were well executed. The fish was fried perfectly.

If you think the condiments are a bit loaded, you are WRONG *BUZZ* The portions of these tacos are larger than you think. The protein is packed, so the amount of sauce and toppings you see doesn't overwhelm the overall taco.

For dessert, we were able to try their Blueberry Panna Cotta. Don't think about it. Just order it. It's delicious and I've had many Panna Cottas. It's so decadent, I can't believe it's in a plastic container! For $3.50, it is definitely a steal. I would honestly drive the 23 miles to get this again. If you've never had Panna Cotta, just imagine a soft cheesecake. Mild, not as sharp. Creamy. Silky. Soft. Like a baby's butt. 

Plan your next visit, there are plenty of things to do out here. We visited MUJI afterwards around the corner-corner.

Until Next time.

D


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