Bi-Rite Creamery

Bi-Rite Creamery is:

• the ice cream shop to the amazing Bi-Rite Market
• organic and local ingredients
• cups and spoons are biodegradable
• tastes done with silver spoons
• made of Strauss Family Dairy
• rarely more than 5 ingredients (nothing artificial)
• daily changing, creative flavors
• delicious

Clockwise from top left: Vanilla Lavender (honey and lavender freshly gathered from nearby Mint Hill), Salted Caramel, Coffee Toffee (made with local Ritual coffee beans), and Creme Fraiche. All were outstanding, but I fell in love with the Creme Fraiche. Yum.

Bi-Rite Creamery
3692 18th St, San Francisco, CA‎
(415) 626-5600‎

Pitfire Pizza

The night before Thanksgiving my boyfriend and I were hungry, but didn’t know where to go. We didn’t want to drive far and we didn’t want to pay too much. We found ourselves at Pitfire Pizza Company in Westwood. Neither of us had been there before and had no idea what to expect. We walked in to a spacious restaurant and quickly realized it would be in our best interest to claim a table to sit at without the help of a server. Within first glance you can tell this place is listed somewhere on the internet as kid-friendly. Every other table was filled with a rugrat sitting in a high chair. Surprisingly, all the children in the restaurant were well behaved. We did get to hear one misbehaving child get his 3rd and final warning from the table across from us. Awkward, but amusing since we were only spectators.

Although they had interesting sounding pizzas and pastas (and later I found out they had a special pizza with pumpkin on it!), in order to share I had to eat one of the only two kinds of pizza my boyfriend prefers: cheese or pepperoni. I chose the latter. He went up to the register, placed our order, took a number, and came back to the table.

As you can see, or rather can’t see, there is not a plethora of pepperoni and those that are there are hiding under the cheese. It was a crusty pizza, but not crunchy more just..chewy. It was good and filling. I also ordered some Fiery Chicken Soup - chicken poached in a spicy red chile broth with red onions, hominy, topped with avocado, roasted corn and red cabbage. Sadly, it came out looking like it does in the picture - spilled over the sides and with a plastic fork. A plastic fork? (WTF.) With a mission statement starting with “Just because it’s a fast world doesn’t mean you have to eat fast food,” and promotion of organic foods in their menu, it made me a little concerned to find a plastic spoon in my soup. If you know me, you probably are aware of my anti-plastic stance. Or just recognize that I try to avoid using it as much as possible. Aside from the presentation of the soup, I found the taste to actually be very slightly spicy and delicious. It has been a long time since I have eaten anything with hominy in it and I found it to hit the spot.

In the end, my boyfriend and I enjoyed the food. We both are willing to come back again. A fun, relaxed atmosphere. Perfect for lunch or dinner. Also, I didn’t find out until the end, but they sell Auntie Em’s amazing cupcakes. I was surprised and excited to find that the cupcakes so close to my heart have made their way to the west side of Los Angeles. Of course they were sold out of Red Velvet, but it was okay because I was way too full from pizza and soup. Besides, Bigg Chill is just down the street.

Pitfire Pizza Company
2018 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 481-9860

Tutto Tutti

I recently read on the LAist that Tutto Tutti on Melrose is the best frozen yogurt in Los Angeles. Those are some brave words! Naturally, I had to check this place out. All their yogurt is organic and from the pyramids of Horizon Organic Nonfat Yogurt tubs (which you can kind of see in the picture) I am guessing that is the yogurt they use. They do not have a website up yet, but here is what I gathered from just being there.

They have six flavors:

1. Virgin - Plain Organic Yogurt

2. Double Wonder - Sea Salt and Caramel mixed in with Plain Organic Yogurt

3. Seven - 7 Healthy Whole Grains Blended with Plain Organic Yogurt

4. Super Bee - Ginseng, honey infused in with Plain Organic Yogurt

5. Freckle Snow White - Black Sesame Seeds and Plain Organic Yogurt

6. White Velvet - Vanilla Organic Yogurt

Along with their unique flavors they also have different toppings: Balsamic Raspberry Reduction, Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce, Balsamic Berries, Banana Nut Berry, Candied Walnuts, and probably a few more that I don’t not remember. No kiddie cups here, one size fits all. The yogurt starts at $4.50. If you add 1 “layer” (topping) you add 1.00 to your total. If you add 2 “layers”, you add 1.50 to your total. If you add 3 “layers” you add 2.00 dollars to your total. Yes, they take credit cards! But, you can’t tip on the receipt, if you’re into that sort of thing.

I sampled and enjoyed all flavors, but one really stood out for me. Call me boring, but I ordered the White Velvet with Balsamic Raspberry Reduction and Banana Nut Berry (more of just Bananas and nuts). The White Velvet is creamy and thick. Out of all the yogurt places I have tasted, this is on the more custard side of textures (which I love). The vanilla is sweet and subtle, but stands out (especially in comparison to the other flavors made with plain yogurt). I greatly enjoyed the balsamic raspberry reduction and thought it worked well with both the bananas and the yogurt. I hope to go back again. It is organic, delicious, and they have a parking lot! Don’t be fooled though, there are approximately 8 parking spots with 10 minute only signs AND the lot is shared with a California Chicken Cafe. So it might be one of those just go at night when street parking is free places. They also have organic coffee, but I forgot to look at that menu because I was so excited about frozen yogurt. In the end, I cannot say that it is the best frozen yogurt in Los Angeles, but I can say it certainly does rank high in my book. It’s worth checking out.

Tutto Tutti
6803 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Get Directions(323) 939-9424

Silver Lake: Local

Seriously, the name of this restaurant is Local. Even though it is not local for me, Local is worth the trip. Local has been open since September 2nd, 2008 and was only breakfast and lunch until a few days ago, now they also serve dinner. Local was opened by the executive chef behind Cobras and Matadors, Jason Michaud. Through internet research I have found out that Michaud is one cool guy; along with working in restaurants for the greater part of his life he was also a drummer in the metal math bands Spilth and Men of Porn. Metal math is experimental rock that is mostly guitars and drums and is complex, atypical rhythmic structures including irregular stops and starts, angular melodies, and dissonant chords. The mission statement behind this restaurant is genuine: committed to using local, organic products as much as possible. Local goes beyond just food and also uses antiques for furniture, energy efficient lighting, glassware (no plastic table cups), and the food for takeout rides in biodegradable plastic plates, bowls, and cups (made of potato and/or sugar cane, like these!). Bad ass.

It sits somewhere between Silver Lake Lounge and Dusty’s on the other side of the road on Sunset. I made my visit on a Wednesday at approximately 12:00pm. For lunchtime it wasn’t as packed as I thought it was going to be, but there was still a good number of hip Silver Lakers (or is it Silver Lakians?). It is the type of restaurant where you order at the counter, take your number, find seating and wait for the food to arrive. However, there are servers around to refill your water, get you silverware, napkins, condiments, or anything else you might need. It is a small/medium sized restaurant. Everyone that was working there (which were all guys) were above and beyond friendly and were obviously passionate about the restaurant. I think this is important to stress because when people show that they are invested and care about what they are doing (in general, not just food), it makes the whole experience much more enjoyable for everyone involved. Good tingling feelings. I was told that it gets packed on the weekends - I hope that they are just as friendly and outgoing under crowded conditions!

As you can see there is an organic salad bar. The fact that this salad bar is organic makes it a million times better than any other salad bar I have been to before (Whole Foods). After getting the recommendation for my meal of “everything is good”, I decided upon the Rocky Jr. Free Range Chicken Sandwich and an Iced Coffee. On the menu, there is no description of what is in the Rocky Jr. Free Range Chicken Sandwich, so it was an exciting surprise! Rocky Jr. is a free range, younger chicken that weighs on average three and half pounds and roams in spacious growth houses (not outside because they are young and partially feathered). The chicken is cooked with herbs and joined with fresh, perfect tomatoes, daikon sprouts, pickles, and sprinkled with salt. It sits between a bun that I don’t recognize but tasted like Hawaiian bread (yellowish insides) with sesame seeds on top. It was a big sandwich, one that requires two hands to eat. At first intimidating,  after the first bite it becomes a challenge you want to take on and conquer. Instead of fries, I opted for a salad with a roasted red pepper purée on the side. It was all delicious. The salt really made the flavors in the tomatoes and pickles pop out. I would order it again. The iced coffee is made from Alessandro beans. Unfortunately, I cannot find anything on the internet about Alessandro coffee; let’s hope it’s organic too! (Free refills on Iced Coffee).

In regards to what is organic and what is not, it varies week by week because large shipments of organic food is not common right now in the restaurant world. The guy I talked to about organic food said that they try their best and want to go completely organic, but at this point in time they have to make do with the situation. The price of organic food is high, thus the prices on the menu are higher. My meal totaled to be around 17 dollars.  I know, pricey, but it really is not too much more than most trendy Los Angeles breakfast/lunch places, so I don’t think it should be a big deal if you go to other expensive places already. If you look at it as being preventative maybe it will make you feel better: paying extra now so you don’t have to pay later in health and medical bills. Go to Local!

Local keeps things interesting; check out what I found in the bathroom! The statue/boy definitely scared me at first, but then I laughed about how creepy it is.

Here are some poor quality pictures I took of their menu (like all my pictures, click on them to make larger):

Local
2943 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 662-4740

Hours
Breakfast and Lunch: 9am-3pm
Dinner: 5pm-10pm
They take credit cards!

Sips of Bird Pick

I wish I could be doing more restaurant reviews, especially ones involving alcohol. But, this Sunday I am doing that half marathon thing, which means I need to take extra special care of myself. In the treat-your-body-nicely-so-it-won’t-screw-me milieu, I figured it is a perfect time to review tea. In one of my recent trips to Pasadena, I accidentally stumbled upon a tea shop. I was headed to the parking garage to leave, but two birds caught my eye. Not real birds, but the two birds on the logo of a tea shop called Bird Pick. Looking less corporate than Teavana, but friendlier and more warm than Lupicia, I had to check it out. Immediately upon entering the store I realized how perfect of a store it is for Pasadena; the ambiance of the tea bar fits right in with the Old Town yuppy vibe. The location is also convenient because people will notice it when they are entering/leaving the popular parking garage across the street from the store.

While inside Bird Pick, a friendly soon-to-be freshman at UCLA helped me out. She offered to steep any type of tea I wanted to try along with giving me samples of teas she had steeped prior to my arrival. Everything I tried seemed very nice so I asked if they had any Tie Guan Yin. (My brother spent the greater part of the past year in Nanjing, but has finally returned to Pennsylvania. One notable difference about him from the trip is that he drinks tea more often than ever before. Apparently he became quite fond of a Chinese oolong, Tie Guan Yin.). Although the girl was quite knowledgeable, she was stumped as to whether or not they sold it at the store. She explained that Bird Pick changed the names of some of their teas to make it easier to pronounce and remember. She asked the manager/tea expert guy, who was just as friendly and helpful as the girl. He was able to point out three different grades of Tie Guan Yin, which at the store is going by a very similar sounding, although not much easier to pronounce or remember, name: Tikuanyin (literally translates to Iron Goddess of Oolong). He also explained why they were graded differently; tea grading is very interesting because it is not as much about flavor and quality as it is to do with location/region of origin, garden of estate, elevation, and how it was picked and manufactured after harvest. I found that the Stash Tea website gives a more thorough description of different grades here. I bought the lowest grade of the Tie Guan Yin/Tikuanyin because it was the cheapest. I figure that if my brother likes it, I will buy him a nicer grade the next time I am there.

I only bought tea for my brother, but was given free samples to try out. Two in particular I really enjoyed: Royal One & 1 Green Tea and an Organic Green tea. The former is said to have a bittersweet finish, but I did not taste as much bitter as I did sweet. It was very pleasant and distinct. I was very hesitant about trying the Organic Green tea, because sometimes the word organic is placed on a label just so people will buy it, regardless of quality of the product. In all honesty, I was expecting it to taste like crap, but was pleasantly surprised by a smooth cup of green tea. It is the type of tea I could drink all day. I will probably buy the Organic Green tea and hopefully receive more samples next time I am at Bird Pick.

In regards to the other tea stores I mentioned: I would choose Bird Pick over Teavana any day of the week. However, I will always have a place for Lupicia in my heart (try their Tokio green tea!). It is an excellent tea store, but not surprisingly, more focused on Japanese teas. The Lupicia store is also in close proximity to where I live, making it more convenient for me to visit. If Bird Pick was just as close I would probably choose it over Lupicia because of the cute tea bar ambiance and the welcoming warm feelings.

Does anyone else ever feel guilty for not drinking green tea? I like all kinds of teas, but research seems to make green tea sound like #1 all time best tea for a person. I feel guilty when I drink other teas, even when the other type of teas have their own health benefits. I always think that if I am going to drink tea it should probably be green. Is this unheard of and am I crazy for feeling like this?

Bird Pick

10 South De Lacey
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 773-4372

Lupicia

10250 Santa Monica Blvd
Century City, CA 90067

Teavana

14006 Riverside Dr
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

New Vitamins; New Chapter

I have been taking vitamins everyday for the past 200 days. I know this because I have finished my first bottle of Women’s One A Day. Although I did not experience any negative side effects or had trouble digesting the One A Day’s, I have decided to change brands to New Chapter’s Every Woman’s One Daily. New Chapter is a small company in Brattleboro, Vermont (the second fairtrade certified town in the nation, joining Media, PA) that was founded in 1982.

Even though the cost is almost as bad as a kick to the ovary, I have chosen New Chapter because they do not make their vitamins with chemical isolates or solvents. The vitamins are not synthetic, they are just food. I don’t know much about chemistry, but it just seems like the organic alternative to isolated or USP vitamins and minerals is the better choice. If I’m wrong, put me on the sucker list.

I have a two month supply, so if any major breakthroughs, breakouts, breakdowns, or unexpected breakdances happen, of which I can link to these vitamins, I will let the world know. Until then, bottoms up!