cello

new york, ny

website

at the end of a long day at the office, sometimes you just want a drink. food becomes a secondary consideration. such was the case last week when jenny and i met up at cello. the short wine list seems to change frequently, but they generally have the basic grapes with a couple of is-that-the-grape-or-the-name-of-the-region choices. fortunately, the owner let me taste the cote du rhone before purchasing a glass. not good. i then tried the super tuscan, which was pretty good. jenny thought her riesling was okay.

for "dinner" we had the meat and cheese platter. we liked one of the 2 cheeses (the comte) and one of the 3 meats (no idea) and tried to order more of each. but no one could figure out what we had ordered and we ended up getting more of the 2 meats that we didn't like. eh, whatever. by that point jenny and i were each on our second glass and were therefore quite, um, amenable.

nbc seafood

monterey park, ca

link to yelp

solid traditional chinese banquet. started with a plate of cold meats (roasted duck, soy sauce chicken, slices of beef and pork, and jellyfish). ended with red bean soup with gingko. in between somewhere there was lobster, yang chow fried rice, sliced mushrooms that looked like abalone, sea cucumbers, honey walnut shrimp, peking duck (pictured), and seafood tofu soup.

it's hard to give a review of this place because it's highly unlikely that you're going to walk in and order all that food. so, just going to say that it was good food and a lot of fun.

soo won galbi

los angeles, ca

link to yelp

wow - this was quite a lunch. jinny and kurt found this place on yelp. there's an odd "valet" system where a guy stands near the restaurant, parks your car for you in the small lot that you just drove into, and then halfway through your meal, gives your keys back to you and asks for money. whatever - the food was amazing! i'm glad my brother chris drove an hour into the city to join us and he seemed pretty happy as well.

this was better than any korean food that i've had in new york and it was half the price of our usual k-town bbq meals. the highlight? the BEEF BACON. we're pretty sure that it's brisket, but somehow the thinly sliced pieces of meat sizzle on the hot grill right in front of you to the point where it starts tasting like bacon. but with beef. yum. this restaurant also provides flat rice noodle and sliced daikon wrappers to wrap your meat in. so good. i'm glad i went, but my visits to 32nd street k-town will never be the same again.

acadie french crepes

santa monica, ca

CLOSED

i wandered into this little place near the farmer's market in santa monica. a perfectly light fluffy crepe (i like mine "plain" with butter and powdered sugar) and a good cup of coffee. sat at the bar with a nice view of people walking through the market.

i know i typically do two paragraphs, so here's the second one. not much more to say about this place and i still have two more places to post about!

in-n-out burger

los angeles, ca

website

okay - as i mentioned in my previous post - i was HUNGRY when i got to LA. after hanging out with my friend cindy c's very cool LA friends at father's office for a while, we headed back to cindy's apt. en route - we saw an in-n-out. we had to stop. yes, that's two burgers in one night. i blame jetblue.

the entire meal for cindy and i - two burgers and two drinks - cost less than a single shack burger. sigh. but for some reason, i got a gigantic piece of lettuce. eh, it's a good burger. it's definitely california style with fresh, but cheap ingredients. cindy says its like something you'd put together in your backyard barbecue. good burger for the price, but i really don't understand the people who prefer in-n-out to shake shack. to each their own, right?

father's office

culver city, ca

website

this burger was highly recommended by puri. indeed, he said it was his favorite burger. some caveats first - i went directly from the airport to father's office in culver city (thus, not the santa monica original). second - other than a small bag of jetblue cashews, i had not eaten for 11 hours. finally - i don't like bleu cheese at all, which is what father's office's burger comes topped with.

with all those caveats -- the burger was freakin' amazing. the meat - amazing flavor. the onions were juicy sweet goodness. the sub-style bun was perfect - buttered and toasted and just substantial enough to hold everything in. and i love arugula. even though i don't like bleu cheese, it matched the rest of the ingredients. i think if i wasn't so hungry, i would have been more bothered by the bleu cheese. but i inhaled this burger.

boqueria

new york, ny

website

lovely tapas place recommended by opal. it's a bit crowded and loud on a thursday evening, but it definitely quieted down by 10 pm. again, i love small plates and my favorites here were the meat & cheese platter that we started with and the churros dipped in chocolate that we ended with. sorry for the fuzzy photo - my berry was running out of juice...

in addition, the service was awesome. our waitress regaled us with unique food and wine recommendations and funny stories about devious grapes. boqueria is spanish tapas, as opposed to the italian small plates of alta. but again, two bottles of wine, a dozen plates of good food, and excellent company make for a great night out.

basta pasta

new york, ny

website

the highlight here is the "spaghetti con prosciutto e parmigiano." they have a giant hollowed-out half-block of cheese that they wheel to your table on a cart. inside the cheese is your spaghetti. on a plate are paper-thin slices of prosciutto and shredded basil. the waiter than swirls your pasta around inside the cheese, collecting small gooey gobs of cheese in the process. then out onto a plate, with one more scoop from the cheese wheel collecting the cheesy liquid and gooey gobs. it's then topped with the prosciutto and basil and served to you. despite all the cheese, it's actually a rather subtly flavored dish - more infused with cheese flavor than covered in actual cheese.

derek managed to catch a nice action shot of the noodle-swirling. his homemade fettucine with bolognese sauce was just as tasty. if it wasn't so darn hard to get a reservation, derek and i would eat here all the time. this is definitely a call-at-least-the-day-before-if-not-a-week-in-advance kind of place. an interesting tidbit - it's an italian restaurant run by japanese people so there's some interesting japanese-italian fusion pastas on the menu which i have not yet tried...

zarela

new york, ny

CLOSED

one of my favorite close-to-work spots and possibly my favorite mexican restaurant in the city. the cuisine is apparently authentic oaxacan, but all i know is that it's yummy. my go-to dish here is the chicken mole enchiladas. best mole ever. note that it appears as an appetizer on the dinner menu but is definitely enough food for an entree. if the waiter balks because of the $15 table minimum, just assure him that you'll make up the difference in alcohol. unfortunately the enchiladas didn't translate well with my blackberry camera so i took a picture of my last flauta and a pile of guac instead. sorry.

i have been here a lot, so i also recommend the flautas, tamales, sangria, watercress salad, and arroz con crema. i don't drink tequila, but my friends enjoy the flavored margaritas. definitely save room for desserts - they're AMAZING. the peanut butter pie, the chocolate pecan pie, and the crepes with caramel sauce are the best, imho.

les halles

new york, ny

website

9:30 pm on a sunday night is a difficult time to find a restaurant. fortunately, les halles on park is open until midnight. it's famous for being where anthony bourdain used to cook. solid french bistro fare, although a little pricey. there were two french tourists at the table right next to us. when i received my mussels (pictured), my neighbor leaned over and explained that the proper way to eat mussels in france is to use the empty shells as pinchers to scoop out the rest of the mussels. it was actually quite handy because then you don't stab out the meatiness of the mussels. and those were some meaty mussels. i prefer my mussels smaller and more delicate, but the broth was excellent. derek enjoyed his poulet roti frites (chicken and fries). he had wisely copied what the two french women had ordered.

one of the women told us all about the original les halles in paris which is no longer in paris but is now outside of paris. i think it was some kind of market. i tried my best to understand but we all know i'm not good with accents. halfway through our meal, the ladies left and asked derek to calculate how much tip they owed. once they were gone, i finally put some ketchup on my "frites." i had waited because i didn't want to offend the friendly french women with my crass american ways...