Posted July 7th, 2009 by Meg
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)
Posted June 26th, 2009 by Meg
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.
Posted April 15th, 2009 by Meg
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!
Hop, hop, hop.
Posted March 3rd, 2009 by Meg
Posted January 22nd, 2009 by Meg
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
Posted January 15th, 2009 by Meg
I am hesitant to post about how much I love my Made By Hank handmade bag because I know these bags (and anything else Katie Henry makes) sell out immediately after she posts them (if not before!). But, it really is one of my favorite things in the world. So here is one of several pieces I have in my Made By Hank collection. I highly suggest checking out her bags on her website and then ultimately buying one (for me :P) on etsy if you can. Also, Katie Henry is from Philadelphia. And she owns an adorable pug! 
