Remember The Clay Pit? The Indian restaurant that once was in Brentwood by the Brentwood Court across from the Brentwood Tavern? — It was in the episode of Millionaire Matchmaker where Patti meets one of those lonely millionaires to condescendingly and hypocritically discuss the flaws of the millionaire? No? Not ringing a bell? Probably not because (1) The Clay Pit was practically always empty; and (2) No one watches Millionaire Matchmaker.
It doesn’t matter anyway because it has been replaced by Lemonade, the modern and adorable eatery that is “part lemonade stand, part grade-school cafeteria.” There are several Lemonades in Los Angeles. I had only been to the one on Abbot Kinney in Venice prior to walking into the Brentwood stand-eria.
The only purpose of my visit to the Brentwood chain was for lemonade. As you can see, they have quite a few options for lemonade. However, I daringly opted for the sugar-free peach lemonade that wasn’t listed on the menu nor visibly out in the open but had known about from my visit to their Venice location. I had also learned from my Venice experience that their sugar-free lemonade is the equivalent to drinking lemon juice straight from the lemon. Before the Lemonade employee even entered my order into the register, she gave me a warning about how incredibly tart the drink was, asking me if I wanted to sample it first. I laughed in her face said it was okay — I knew what I was in for.
As expected, the sugar-free peach lemonade was puckeringly tart. (In some ways it is an excellent option for me because I often drink as if I am dehydrated.) I added some Splenda to make it more pleasant. I didn’t choose sugar because the whole purpose was to avoid a sugar beverage bender like the one in the episode of The Simpsons where Bart and Milhouse drink a super squishy made entirely out of syrup. Overall, I think the sugar-free is great. But, I can understand why many would not agree. Especially when the regular lemonade comes in more flavors and tastes delicious.
Lemonade
145 S Barrington Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Phone 310-471-9700
Twitter: lemonadela
Almost 2 years, wow. I’d be lying if I said my life has not significantly changed since the last time I blogged. I’m not going to get into the boring details, but let’s just say I do not have much free time. (I’m still lamenting that I never got to finish blogging about my trip to SF. It’s too late now, I have no idea where my photos are from that trip.) Fortunately, I have a teeny weeny tiny bit of extra time that allows me to hopefully add a few posts. I am spending my summer in a part of Los Angeles that I have never really explored before - downtown! Including, but not limited to: Little Tokyo, Olvera Street, and Chinatown. I am very excited for what lies ahead.
As you might have noticed in the past, as I became busier in my life (not unemployed) my choice of subject matter and adjectives became more limited (everything was either delicious or not delicious). This will probably be the case this summer as well. So, I apologize for my future lack of descriptions now & hope you still enjoy my documentation of delicious, sans details.
Anyway, let’s cut to the chase! (A phrase that originated in the U.S. film industry b/c many early silent films started with obligatory romantic story lines but ended in chase sequences. The first reference dates back to 1927 after the first ‘talkie’ The Jazz Singer. More info on this phrase here.) For my first review this summer, I will start with what arguably might be the best sushi restaurant in the downtown vicinity: Hama Sushi. I bet you’re wondering what Hama means. No? Well, I’m going to tell you anyway. According to one website on Kanji and Romaji the word Hama, aka はま, means beach or sea coast. (This name choice makes sense b/c it implies that the sushi is fresh from the ocean.) Although the restaurant is small and it was getting close to standard lunch time in Los Angeles (1pm), my friend and I were able to be seated immediately and order our little hearts out. And it was delicious. DELICIOUS.
To be honest, I can’t remember everything we ordered. But, it doesn’t matter because everything was great. I am confident that I could order completely differently next time and still give my same lazy delicious approval.
However, there are a few things that stood out enough for me to repeat: Order hot green tea (obv), order toro (obv), order hand rolls (they are cheaper and more filling). There are a few more pictures, but uploading them is not as easy as I remember it to be! Maybe I will add them later…
Hama Sushi (Yelp page b/c I couldn’t find official website)
347 E 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Neighborhoods: Downtown, Little Tokyo
With no better day to celebrate than Friday, I met up with my roommate and my boyfriend at Riva for happy hour.
With my subjective well being high, I ordered the only glass of red available at the happy hour price of four dollars: Sangiovese Vignedileo from the Marche region of Italy.
The attentive waitress brought the bottle to the table and filled my glass in front of me. Delicious.
For food, we ordered the House Made Meatballs ($6) and the Margherita Pizza ($8). So yummy. I especially enjoyed the pizza’s thin sourdough crust.
You can find happiness at Riva on weekdays from 5:00-6:30pm. However, I must recommend that it is a great restaurant to eat at any hour.
Riva
312 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310.451.7474 (RIVA)
Brentwood is not the same as it was when I first moved here. And that is a good thing. For quite a number of months, I have watched the slow transformation of a Hamburger Hamlet (a restaurant I have never been) turn into a beautiful hot spot, Tavern (a restaurant I want to go to everyday). Tavern (and Larder) is the product of renowned restaurateurs Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne. Their other amazing restaurants include A.O.C. and Lucques. Also, Suzanne Goin and her husband, David Lentz, own the delicious Hungry Cat.
A few weekends ago, my roommate and I decided we would go for drinks and appetizers at the bar. We went around six, which was early enough to avoid the dinner crowd. The stools at the bar counter were full, but the chairs and tables surrounding the bar were still available. The bar is beautiful. The design of the bar (and everywhere else) is well thought out; fluidly chic from the lighting to the upholstery on the chairs. The service was also excellent and consistent even as the place progressively became more crowded.
First drink: I had a glass of Cabernet. Instead of writing down the exact wine or trying to memorize what I ordered, I thought I could just go online and check their wine menu. Sadly, they don’t have it up. So I don’t know exactly which one I ordered.
Second Drink: Lucques Gimlet - Hangar One Vodka, fresh lime juice, and mint. Delicious. In my humble opinion, I prefer the cocktails to the wine. And in no way is that a criticism to the wine list, but instead a compliment to the cocktail menu. All their cocktails are creative and delicious. I would order any of them and be satisfied.
While I was there to just have a few drinks, my roommate ordered some bar food which I was fortunately able to sample:
Steak tartare with quail egg - It is hard to believe that I was a vegetarian for eight years, because I could eat this perfectly seasoned tartare with quail egg everyday. And part of me wants to only to catch up on the lost carnivorous years.
Gougères with french radishes - A gougères is a choux pastry (light pastry dough made from butter, water, fllour and eggs) filled with cheese. I think Tavern follows tradition and makes their gougères with gruyere cheese, but I could be wrong and plan to return soon to taste again. A French radish, also known as French Breakfast Radish, is an elongated red-skinned and white root base. I only had one, but that is all I needed to fall in love. It’s a cheese pastry in a ball form that you can pop into your mouth. What’s not to like about it?
The Tavern and the Larder (marketplace/café) are wonderful additions to my neighborhood. I love that in a short walk I can be consuming tasty drinks and amazing dishes. I plan to go back in the future, repeatedly.
Unfortunately, I have had a “cold” for almost a week now. It sucks. It just won’t go away. My best friend is Sudafed Severe Cold.Thus, there was very little Easter celebration other than taking a stroll through the Brentwood neighborhood. It’s okay though, I don’t really enjoy ham and don’t need the chocolate in my life. I did make this Bunny to send to my parents though!
I don’t know BBQ well at all. I rarely eat it. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, it just never happens. My boyfriend however loves it and even stated that it was his favorite “food.”
We were on the hunt for dinner and driving down Pico when we saw Mr. Cecil’s tin can shack and thought it was probably the best bet for the night. The place is very small and has pictures of pigs all over the walls which honestly make the whole experience a little conflicting; cute happy piggies on the wall and dead, delicious piggie on the plate. Sorry, I didn’t take pictures of the walls. I was too sad.
I avoided this porcus conflict by ordering the Samara’s Southwest Salad - grilled chicken, salsa, corn, on a bed of lettuce with bbq ranch dressing. The salad was good, but not worth 13 dollars.
In order to make my experience more bbq-ey I also ordered a single beef rib. I don’t know anything about beef ribs, but I did know that this giant rib had more fat on it than it did meat which was a little disappointing. Maybe that’s just how it is supposed to be though and that is the wonders of beef ribs. The bbq sauce is nice, but both my boyfriend and I agreed that it wasn’t the best ever. Would I go back again? Sure, it was fine. But, I would also like to explore other bbq places in Los Angeles first…
Mr. Cecil’s California Ribs
12244 West Pico Boulevard,
Los Angeles, California 90064
310-442-1550
