Posted November 12th, 2008 by Meg
I was in Whole Foods produce section when out of the corner of my eye I saw a giant lime. Or maybe it was green orange. Was it St. Patty’s Day already? Or is Whole Foods selling fruit that has grown thick layers of mold, renaming their moldy oranges to “furoranges” and seeing how many yuppy suckers will buy it; Furorange will reduce wrinkles, cause weight loss, fight cancer, and will help you find happiness!
Although my imagination was running wild, I was quickly brought back down to Earth when I read the sign that said it was Cocktail Grapefruit. Sadly there was no mold or promises of happiness. But, like a good yuppy sucker around a novelty fruit item, I put it in my basket.
I tried it this morning without doing any research. I assumed it was part of the grapefruit family and that it would be sweet, tart, and acidic. My taste buds were pleasantly surprised to find it to be just juicy, sweet, soft and lacking that grapefruit bite. My research has found that this green delight is not even a grapefruit, but a cross between a Frua Mandarin orange and a Pummelo. Whatever family it comes from, I wouldn’t discriminate because it tastes wonderful. I would love to use it in a cocktail, but alas it is 6:36am.
Posted October 9th, 2008 by Meg
I finally got a chance to check out Rush Street with both my boyfriend and my roommate (they are not the same). Rush Street is named after the northbound one-way street in the Near North Side (1 of 77 well defined community areas) of Cook County, Chicago. It is approximately a mile long. It was named after the Declaration of Independence signator Benjamin Rush (who lived in Pennsylvania and went to Dickinson College). Rush Street is part of one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country. It is particularly known for it’s nightlife (supposedly especially on the northern side). But I digress.
The owners of the Rush Street restaurant in Culver City are Brian McKeaney, who grew up in the bar/restaurant business (his family owns thirteen establishments on and around Rush Street!), and partners Ken Kaufman, a successful television and film producer, and Tom Patchett, an Emmy winning writer (Carol Burnett Show) and producer and co-founder of Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station Art Complex. The Executive Chef is Dave Northrup. I have never been to Chicago, so I had no idea what to expect or how to judge. Fortunately, my roommate is a native. One thing I have learned about Chicago is that is raises the bar on everything, especially food. (Side note: How much did you love Top Chef in Chicago?)
Walking in, you immediately notice the high arched wooden ceiling, which I was told helped give it the Chicago feel. There is an upstairs bar/lounge/private area, but I did not go up there. We were told we would have to wait 45 minutes for a table, but could hang out at the bar. Even though I was ridiculously hungry, we agreed to the wait. While looming around the bar and taking pictures, within 5 minutes they seated us. Boo yah!
For the love of gin, I ordered their rendition of the Aviation (bombay sapphire, fresh lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, creme de violette) to drink from their Vintage Classic Cocktail menu. Let’s discuss this creme de violette. Wiki tells me that it is another name for liqueur de violette, which is a generic term for a usually French liqueur with natural and/or artificial violet flower flavoring and coloring with either a brandy base, a neutral spirit base, or a combination of the two. I have no idea what brand Rush was using, but it was not common in the States until mid-2007 when Haus Alpenz began importing Rothman & Winter Crème de Violette from Austria. The drink was delicious. I could have had 5 more, but at fourteen dollars a pop I kept it to one.
Although they have Pizza on their menu, it is not Chicago style. They only offer Chicago style on Monday nights as a special. However, our waitress (who lived in Chicago) explained that it is not great Chicago style pizza; they are still perfecting their recipe at Rush. This was a great warning. I still have never had Chicago style pizza. Tears. Our waitress did recommend the Macaroni and Cheese, which my boyfriend loves. So I ordered it for the table to share. It came looking almost too cute to scoop into, but the taste of it made the destruction of beauty worth it. Like my cocktail, I could have probably eaten several of these pots. Fortunately, we had more food coming.
As the main course I ordered the also recommended Mesquite Turkey Burger and Fries - applewood bacon, cheddar, shoestring onions, avocado, and confire sauce (confire is French for “to preserve”). I just started to eat turkey burgers recently and am becoming a big fan. It is a different taste and makes me feel a little bit healthier. Although there are a lot of toppings on it, the mesquite turkey dominates, but still plays nicely with others. I would order it again. However, they have a bunch of appetizers their that all sounded very… appetizing. Hah. (I really need to work on my burger photography)
I had no control or discipline at this dinner. Nobody else wanted dessert, but I ordered it anyways. It was a Chocolate Mousse cake. I don’t know much about cakes or mousse, but I do love chocolate. I usually can tell how good a dessert is by how quickly I can feel my blood sugar change. I felt warm and tingly about half way through, but it was so rich that by the end I had to reluctantly put my spoon down. A great dessert to share with people.
In the end, I would go back to Rush in a heartbeat. It’s a little pricey, but if you go in a group and share food it probably would lessen the blow. I would love to go to their Brunch that caters specifically to the hungover crowd. Sounds like it would be perfect for a lazy Sunday.
Rush Street
9546 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 837-9546
Posted September 12th, 2008 by Meg
The Hungry Cat is a cute / hip seafood restaurant in Hollywood (Sunset and Vine, behind the Borders Bookstore). My roommate and I went in the mid-afternoon to have a peaceful lunch outside. The service was smooth and the staff friendly. The main purpose was to try their cocktails more than anything else. And that we certainly did, trying 5 out of the 8 cocktails offered. On their drink menu, the Thirsty Cat Menu, they offer both “Classic Cats” and “Seasonal Cats.” I have added * next to our cocktails that were Seasonal Cats.
We Drank
*The Hot Tamale - Reposado tequila (rested tequila; 2 months to 1 year in large vats or oak barrels), lime & orange with fresno chili simple syrup
*The Slice - Boomsma gin, watermelon, basil & fig vinegar
Cucumber Martini - Hendrick’s gin, cucumber juice & fresh lime
Greyhound Proper - Plymouth gin, fresh grapefruit juice & candied grapefruit
* H. C. Sazerec - Sazerec rye whiskey, dash of H.B. Pastis, Peychaud Bitters & lemon
I enjoyed all the cocktails. My favorite was probably The Greyhound Proper, The Hot Tamale, or The Slice. The Cucumber Martini started off weird, but as the ice melted the drink became exponentially tastier. The H.C. Sazarec was also good, but I am a new whiskey drinker, so I let my roommate drink most of it. The main point is that you can’t go wrong ordering a cocktail from their menu, especially from their “Seasonal Cats” section.
We Ate
1/2 lb peel n’ eat shrimp - we paid a few dollars less for them because we peeled them ourselves; interactive eating!
Oysters - From Rhode Island and New Zealand.
Marinated Mussels
The Pug burger - with bacon, avocado and blue cheese
My favorite was the shrimp, but the mussels and oysters were also exquisite. I preferred the Rhode Island oysters over the N
ew Zealand, but they were both yummy. Since I am new to shellfish, I enjoyed the fact that we were able to order them in whatever quantities we pleased. We initially ordered two of each type of oysters and two mussels, but loved the mussels so much that we ordered more for the table. The Pug burger was good, but too well done (we asked for medium rare, but there was nothing pink about it). It was also a vertical nightmare to eat, requiring burger surgery (burgerioplasty) on the burger in order to get a decent bite.
The owners, David Lentz and Suzanne Goin, know what they are doing; they also own these other hip Los Angeles restaurants: AOC, Luques, and Campanille. Suzanne is opening up a new restaurant in Brentwood, which I am crossing my fingers to be just as amazing as the other restaurants. 
In the end, the seafood and cocktails were delicious and I can’t wait until we go back.
The Hungry Cat
1535 Vine St
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Get Directions(323) 462-2155
