Pinkberry Friday (It’s Free!)

Pinkberry is releasing their new flavors today: Coconut and Passion Fruit

To celebrate the new flavors, Pinkberry is giving out free yogurt from 5-9pm. My co-worker and I went at 4:50 and waited about 10 minutes in line. The sample is a size small with 2 toppings.

I chose Coconut with mochi (Japanese rice cake that has gummi like texture) and shredded coconut. Definitely my new favorite flavor. Hope you get your free sample at your local Pinkberry!

Edit: Sad news everyone, but these new flavors have replaced the Green Tea flavor. Pinkberry only serves: Regular (tart), Pomegranate, Coconut, and Passion Fruit. It’s an unjust world.

Rockenwagner Bakery

So sleepy and cold this morning that I stopped at Rockenwagner Bakery for an Americano. The menu said 2.50, but when the guy said “would you like an extra shot?” I answered yes without hesitation. My mistake. For those of you that don’t know, an Americano is espresso and water. No fancy syrups or milk necessary. You would think it would be cheap, but no. My drink this morning cost $3.52. It’s a decent Americano, but I doubt I will ever buy one from them again. Like the drink, the rest of their menu, composed of pre-prepared food already packaged and ready to go, is overpriced and mediocre at best. Another restaurant on 3rd street that I will never say “hey, let’s go there.”

Houston’s

I recently had an hour to kill at the Santa Monica Promenade. I got a glass of wine and my favorite (unlisted) side dish at Houston’s: the artichoke! It’s one of my favorite vegetables ever and I have found Houston’s to be the most delicious. However, for thirteen dollars a plate, I am willing to try to make it at home.

Houston’s - Santa Monica
202 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 576-7558

Where am I?

I’m still alive and well! And very sorry it’s been so long!

laziness + recession + full time job + 5am wake up = foodie blog failure

When I get home from work I am too exhausted to even turn on my laptop (where the magic happens). I know, excuses. I will try my best to post more often. I promise!

But for now -  kitties! (Found on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica.)

Monsieur Marcel @ Farmer’s Market

While running on errands with my roommate today in Hollywood, we decided to stop for lunch at the Farmer’s Market. We chose Monsieur Marcel to eat at because my roommate said that the food was tasty, relatively inexpensive in comparison to most French restaurants in Los Angeles, and other positive reasons that I can’t remember now. Monsieur Marcel’s is a french bistro, wine, and cheese bar found in the corner of the Farmer’s Market near the Sur La Table. Next door to the bistro is the Monsieur Marcel gourmet store, which is a fun little place to shop for a variety of gourmet foods.

I ordered the French Burger: lean ground beef, sautéed mushrooms and onions, and gruyere de come. Not the healthiest of choices, but it sounded wonderful. And it was, but I would not say that it was the best in Los Angeles (F.O. #1). The mushrooms were definitely the most dominant part of the taste, but combined well with the gruyere and beef. It was more dry than I normally enjoy, so I ended up trying different combinations with mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup. The frites were thinly sliced and were accompanied by an aesthetically pleasing trifecta display of condiments. We were promptly seated and waited on relatively well. My only complaint was that my water glass was ignored.

My roommate had the Croque Madame, which is not actually on the menu, but is just the Croque Monsieur (grilled ham, swiss cheese, and mornay sauce) with a fried egg on top. Apparently, the name change comes from the egg making the sandwich look like it is wearing an old fashioned women’s hat. How adorable! Mornay sauce is a Béchamel sauce, a white sauce, with shredded or grated cheese added (such as gruyere and parmesan). I am not a good judge of any type of food that involves ham because it was only until recently that I started to enjoy ham. When I was a child, I always said it tasted “too hammy” in a whiny tone. I did try the sandwich though and found it to have a pleasant ham and grilled cheese taste. I don’t know if I could eat a whole Croque Madame sandwich on my own anytime soon, but I did enjoy the taste enough that I could have had a second bite.

I would definitely eat there again, maybe even visit the one in Santa Monica (although it is located at one of my least favorite places, the Promenade). I would probably prefer eating there at night with a larger group of people so we could open some bottles of wine and get some cheese plates on the table, but I would still be willing to open some bottles and share some cheese with a friend at lunchtime.

Monsieur Marcel - Pain Vin et Fromage

6333 W Third St
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: (323) 939-7792