All posts filed under: Restaurants

Crab and Sweet Potato Hash

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Last year my parents and I ate at the fabulous Blue Water Grill in Union Square, NY, and my dad has been trying to recreate one of the dishes we had there since.  Over the holidays, my dad made his creation, and I must say–he nailed it!  It was so delicious and easy to prepare!  Follow his recipe below for an amazing crab and sweet potato hash that makes a perfect appetizer as well as dinner! Blue Water Grill‘s Crab and Sweet Potato Hash with Brussels Sprouts 2-3 TBSP Olive Oil 1 Large Sweet Potato, diced 1/2 Cup Carrots, diced 1/2 Cup Onions, diced 1/2 Cup Celery, diced 1/2 Cup Yellow or Orange Pepper, diced 1/2 Cup Frozen Corn 1/2 Cup Frozen Edamame 12-16 oz Lump Crabmeat 1/4 Cup White Wine Salt and Pepper to taste Blue Cheese for garnish In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat Saute sweet potato, carrots, onion, celery, and pepper until slightly soft, 4-5 minutes Add corn and edamame and cook for 3-5 minutes, covered Fold in crabmeat …

Opening of Celebrity Nutritionist Kimberly Snyder’s GLOW BIO

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On Wednesday night I attended the opening of GLOW BIO, celebrity nutritionist Kimberly Snyder‘s 100 % organic bio-food smoothie and cold-pressed juice emporium in West Hollywood.  GLOW will be an oasis of health, beauty and detoxification, and will feature her personally formulated benefit-driven recipes.  Snyder has guided celebrities such as Drew Barrymore, Hilary Duff, Josh Duhamel, Fergie, Minka Kelly, Kate Mara, Teresa Palmer, Mark Ruffalo, Abigail Spencer, Ben Stiller, Dita Von Tesse, Vince Vaughn, Kerry Washington, and Owen Wilson with her lifestyle program, which promotes ongoing detoxification to cleanse the body. At the opening, we had the chance to taste some of the cold-pressed juices and smoothies on GLOW‘s menu. My favorite was the detoxifier, which would make a great post workout drink or just a refreshing drink! Celebrities who attended the opening were Ben Stiller and wife Christine Taylor, Dita von Tesse, Abigail Spencer, Katt Sadler, Dancing With the Stars Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Kali Hawk, Kate Mara, Jenna Dewan-Tatum (whose husband Channing was just named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive) and Drew Barrymore. Celeb pictures …

Yxta Cocina Mexicana “Dia De Los Muertos” Celebration

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Happy November 1st!  For my readers in the Los Angeles area, I wanted to pass along an awesome event.  Tonight, Yxta Cocina Mexicana & Sino Tequila invite you to celebrate “Dia De Los Muertos” (Day of the Dead) with them.  Visit the restaurant from 9pm-1am for DJ, dancing, and food (9pm-12am) & drink specials!  See below for the details! $5 Sino Blanco Shots $6 Sino House Margaritas $6 Jamaica Margaritas $3 Tecate $10 Day of the Dead cocktail (drinks by Mercado mixologist Gilbert Marquez $2 tacos al pastor, tinga de pollo, carnitas $7 two tamales with rajas and queso oaxaca (food by Mercado executive chef Jose Acevedo Yxta Cocina Mexicana 601 S. Central Avenue Los Angeles 90021 213.596.5579 Stay hungry…

Los Angeles Food and Wine Festival-Part 1

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Today we are not having Meatless Monday…I am going to finally tell you about the this year’s Los Angeles Food and Wine Festival in downtown Los Angeles.  This is the main gist of the Festival, you drink a lot of wine and champagne from amazing wineries and you eat a lot of delicious food from world-class chefs.  A pretty perfect afternoon if you ask me!  I am dividing the experience into 3 parts; main dishes, desserts, and a Q&A with Delta wine sommelier Andrea Robinson. The wineries represented were from some of the best in Napa Valley, Sonoma, Mendocino County, Santa Barbara, and more.  Chefs were from the most exclusive Los Angeles restaurants, sought-after resorts, and included many Bravo Top Chefs.  Below are images of my mouth-watering menu and descriptions, with a few of my favorites starred. When you walk into the Festival, the first thing that you grab is an empty wine glass, then you are thrown into a huge tent with hundreds of vendors.  My plan was to survey the vendors and pick which ones …

Gotham Bar and Grill

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Last week, I was in NYC for a bit of work and a little bit of play!  On Saturday night, my family went to our favorite restaurant to celebrate my birthday.  Gotham Bar and Grill is located in Greenwich Village at 12 E 12th Street, in between 5th Ave and University Pl.  Every time my family or I visit NYC, Gotham is a must-visit, so I knew I wanted to have my birthday dinner here.  As always, it was delicious!  See below for pictures of our meals. Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad (tangerine, toasted hazelnuts and shaved fennel citrus vinaigrette).  I love beets.  I love goat cheese.  I love citrus.  I love hazelnuts.  And, I even love fennel.  Put them all together and I LOVE this salad!!  I have made a goat cheese and beet salad before, but I am definitely going to attempt combining all of the Gotham ingredients into this salad! Yellowfin Tuna Tartare (Japanese cucumber, shiso leaf and sweet miso Asian ginger vinaigrette).  My mom doesn’t like raw fish, so more …

Del Coronado Dip

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For my last birthday, my parents planned a trip to San Diego for us.  Besides visiting the San Diego Zoo, and the fisherman’s wharf, we visited Coronado, an amazingly beautiful resort city just outside downtown SD.  We drove beach side and dined at Hotel del Coronado for lunch.  The hotel has three restaurants and two bars to choose from, but we chose Sheerwater, the outdoor dining area.  The beachfront location has a “Fish by the Sea” menu and focuses on fresh and sustainable seafood. While enjoying the scenery, my family also enjoyed eating and sharing Sheerwater’s Signature Baked Goat Cheese, Hummus and Slow Roasted Tomatoes, Turkey Burger, and Spinach and Pear salad.  While everything we munched on was great, the most memorable part of our meal was the Signature Baked Goat Cheese.  We licked the hot dish clean!  It was served with sun dried tomatoes, basil pesto, roasted garlic, and toasted ciabatta bread.  Right now my mouth is watering just typing this!  When we got back from our vacation, we couldn’t wait to try to …

Wood and Vine

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Hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day! A few weeks ago, 2 of my friends and I went to see Wicked on closing night at the Pantages Theater in LA.  Before the show, we went to Wood and Vine and shared plates.  I took pictures and wanted to share the meal with you! Market Salad with apples, almonds, burrata cheese, and picked onion.  If you haven’t had burrata cheese, you must try it!  It has a similar texture to mozzarella.  Refreshing, but a bit heavy on the dressing. Seared Halibut with sunchoke puree and sugar snap peas.  This was my second favorite dish of the night! Grilled Flat Iron with parsnip puree and broccoli rabe House-made waffle, fried chicken, maple glaze, and sage butter.  If you go to Wood and Vine, this is a MUST ORDER!  My friends and I were debating ordering another Chicken and Waffles instead of dessert, but we decided to go with dessert for something different.  We should have ordered another Chicken and Waffles!  The waffle wasn’t soggy and was still …

An amazing meal with a friend, continued

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On January 27th, I posted the first half of my meal with one of my best friends at Eveleigh.  Click HERE to read the first half, and read below about the rest of the amazing meal we had! Confit Duck Legwith buttered beluga lentils and sour savory cabbage Polenta and Hen of the Woods with fontina cheese and fra’mani salumi (salami from Fra’mani Handcrafted Foods in Berkeley, CA) French Fries with Truffled Aioli This was such a good meal I can’t wait to go back again! Stay hungry…

An amazing meal with a friend

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One of my best friends came to visit LA last weekend, and she was finally able to spend an entire weekend in LA instead of just one day!  I was so excited to show her the city (she is a New Yorker) and I wanted to take her to some LA-specific places.  My boss suggested I take her to Eveleigh for a dinner, and suggested some dishes to try. The restaurant was amazing…wooden floors, a dining room with a retractable roof, a menu that highlights and embraces seasonal food from local farms and ranches, and much more.  (It is also a great place to people watch!) We ended up ordering 6 small plates to share and had an amazing time.  We were a little concerned that we ordered too much food, but it ended up not being overwhelming and didn’t leave stuffed.  Here are the first three meals that were our dishes for the night! We started with roasted cauliflower with sherry vinegar, fried capers, picked peppers, parsley, and roasted almonds. Followed by Crisp Squash …

A Must Dine!

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Last night, RappAround PR, had our holiday party.  Not the kind of holiday party at the office, but a holiday party at an amazing restaurant, Fig and Olive.  I had dined at the Meatpacking Fig and Olive, but had not been to the LA one yet.  My boss had been, and we were both dying to go back.  We decided to share our way through dinner, and were completely satisfied when the meal was over.  We had crostinis, carpaccio, mixed olives, tartlet, lamb, and a little dessert to end the meal.   Here are a few pictures and what we ate! From Top to Bottom: Copa, Goat Cheese, Honey, and Almond Prosciutto, Ricotta, Fig, Olive, Walnut Mushroom, Truffle Artichoke, Parmesan Would order all again, but our favorite was the mushroom, truffle artichoke, parmesan Then, we had a beef carpaccio (filet mignon, 18 year old balsamic vinegar baby arugula, tomato, parmesan with Truffle Olive Oil) and a Fig Gorgonzola Tartlet (Warm gorgonzola, prosciutto, fig, walnut arugula, tomato, scallion on a fine puff pastry).  There are no …