Divine Culinary Moments in Los Angeles

Cube Cafe, with their super fresh ingredients and wonderful combinations of flavors, creates an incredibly satisfying dining experience.As well as appetizers, pastas, main dishes, and sides, one can order cut meats and cheeses. Above is a gorgeous pile of Bresaola. Extremely tasty and sliced to order.

Mimmo’s burrata - charred market radicchio, aged balsamic, spiced walnuts, house rosemary focaccia. The burrata was rich and creamy and with the radicchio and walnuts, oh what a perfect bite!

Leek and braised bacon raviolo - ricotta, egg yolk, brown butter, parmesan. Wow. This dish was so very satisfying. The boldness of the filling flavors and the somehow light butter sauce was wonderful with the egg yolk and fresh pasta. We cleaned the whole plate till it was white again.

English pea tortellini - prosciutto brodo, pea tendrils. Fresh, fresh, freshness. We were amazed at how much fresh pea flavor was packed into each tortellini. The pea tendrils still had bite to them. The broth, well, I couldn't get enough of it. It felt like it could cure anything. 

With our meal we enjoyed a Frascati, which I was quite surprised to see on the menu and at only $30!

Niman ranch pork t-bone - braised black lentils, sauteed spinach, roasted garlic & thyme
vinaigrette. Perfectly cooked pork. I am going to use the word fresh again here as this seems to be the real key word here. Everything tastes like it was just picked, never frozen and it is all treated with respect in the kitchen.

Black magic cake - cream cheese, chocolate sauce. Indulge yourself and dive into this chocolate lover's must. It's all about dark chocolate with a touch of sweetness.

615 N. La Brea Avenue, Tel. 323-939-1148 x1
Tuesday-Saturday: 11am-11:30pm, Sunday-Monday: Closed

Santa Barbara Sausages

The Wurst in Santa Barbara is a wonderful little gem. Brought to us by the owner of Blue Agave and located in the alley next to it, this little window serves up delicious eats. They make sausages, brat, and other hot dog creations. When I tried them out they weren't making their own sausages yet, but were in the process of perfecting their recipe. Their pretzel buns are fresh and full of flavor. I chose a chicken sausage with grilled onions and sauerkraut. I put loads of mustard on top as I love spicy mustard with sausages. Each bite was a nice balance of sour and sweet and salty.
Just for fun, I also ordered the tomato soup. Very fresh and tomato-y.

You can get it to go or can sit outside at a few tables prepped for those with a little time to savor their choices. Plus, they stay open super late for those late night cravings. I'll be back.

20 East Cota Street, Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. and Friday-Saturday, 11 p.m.–2 a.m. Call (805) 899-4694

Sacramento Eats, Part Deux

Eating out in Sacramento is something I look forward to more and more the more I discover what wonderful establishments this city has to offer. The restaurants that are popping up are proud of and respect their ingredients. They are creative without forgetting the integrity of a dish. To top it off, prices are so very reasonable! This trip, we discovered a few gems...

The Press - 1809 Capitol Avenue - Mediterranean cuisine

 Clean, simple wooden tables and airy ambiance.

 Great variety on the wine list. This Corbieres was quite lovely and affordable!

Crispy prosciutto, asparagus, and arugula with a poached egg. This dish is done often, but it really comes down to the quality of the ingredients and these did not disappoint.

Grilled calamari over white beans, roasted peppers, and arugula. No chewy calamari here. Tender calamari in a bite with the brightly dressed white bean salad and arugula = yum.

Chicken piccata, fingerling potatoes, arugula, lemon caper butter sauce. Perfectly cooked chicken and balanced flavors between salt and acidity.

Linguine with clams, garlic, white wine sauce. Super fresh pasta with that lovely al dente-ness only truly achieved through fresh pasta. Loads of garlic yet the subtle clams still came through.

The Press serves what I consider elegant home cooking...well, a Mediterranean home. The ambiance is warm, the staff very friendly, they have a great happy hour, and the food is fresh and delicious and the prices are extremely reasonable for the quality coming out of the kitchen.

Magpie Cafe - 1409 R Street - New American cuisine

I LOVE this place. Magpie serves seasonal and local fare full of color and flavor! Check out this beet salad with swiss chard!!! Holy color fest! The flavor was insane too. Super fresh golden beets, high quality olive oil, fresh ground black pepper, and vibrant chard. Seems simple, yet I consider this a masterpiece in showing off ingredients.

I ordered 'The Special' - grilled cheese and soup. How beautiful is this grilled cheese served with housemade sweet pickled zucchini and pickles. The soup of the day was vegetable. I cannot even express to you how delicious this all was. Incredibly fresh ingredients. The bread on the grilled cheese came from Acme bread which is local - in Roseville.

The vegetables in the soup maintained their freshness even when in a soup and the broth tasted like those vegetables had been in there for days as the flavors were vibrant and amazing. Talk about antioxidant rich food! They say you should eat colorful foods to help fight carcinogens...well, go to Magpie to get your fix. SO MUCH FLAVOR!

Jeff thoroughly enjoyed the beef stew. Boy was it a hardy dish, filled with fresh herbs and perfectly seasoned.

To polish off all this goodness, a cup of coffee and a ginger molasses cookie. Also delicious. I already can't wait to eat there again...and again...and again...

Did I mention all dishes were under $10!!!!
I wish something like Magpie existed in Santa Barbara. We have wonderful ingredients and restaurants that claim the same mission as Magpie, but who fail to maintain high quality, freshness, flavor, reasonable prices, and a smile all at once.

Succulent Cafe in Solvang

After a wonderful night camping at Jalama off Highway 1, we drove through Santa Barbara Wine Country on our road home. Succulent Cafe & Trading Company was our destination, right in downtown Solvang on Mission Drive. What a wonderful, little gem! Amidst the kitch and wrong restaurant choices one can make in Solvang, Succulent stands out in the best of ways. In addition to sandwiches, composed salads, and house cured meats and other goodies, they sell their own jams, pickled vegetables, pepper blends, salt blends, and all sorts of other treats.

The view from inside.

Glass of Triennes rose...not local, but perfect for an 80 degree day.

Creative number displays for your orders.

Fresh cracked pepper anyone?

We shared a charcuterie & cheese board. House made pancetta, coffee smoked duck prosciutto, and ham delighted the palate. The ham was outstanding and my favorite thing we ate. The flavors of thyme and herbs penetrated into the ham and created subtle herbal notes in every piece of the sliced ham. YUM. The Midnight Moon hard cheese with their fresh raspberry jam was stellar. The board came with a little pot of delicious baguette toasts lightly oiled, salted, and peppered.

The ham...mmmmmm...

The PBT hot sandwich. Grilled house cured pancetta, tomatoes, basil, smoked Gouda, and aged cheddar. Could have used a bit extra salt, otherwise quite deeelish! I also tried their iced tea and it was brewed perfectly.

The board was no match for us!

The view of Succulent Cafe from Mission Drive

Only open 5 months Succulent Cafe & Trading Post is already hoppin' and doing a fantastic job. I can't wait to go back already to eat and just to grab a few jars of jam and a pile of ham!

World Famous Jalama Burger

Off of Highway 1 down a windy oak lined road you will find yourself in a most wonderful spot in California known as Jalama. This spot right on the ocean boasts a stunning coastline, amazing surf, great wind conditions for kite boarding, and the Jalama burger. I had heard of this famous sandwich but had not tried it yet and was excited to do so. In the little general store off the camping area, we ordered our burgers. We waited for our number to be called and sat in the small indoor dining area staring out at the view.

82 was called and we raced to the window to get our grub. We opted to sit outside at a picnic table as it was uncharacteristically not windy (hurray!). I dove into my burger and found the bun to be super fresh, the meat tasty, the veggies crunchy, and their homemade special sauce a great addition. All in all it satisfied the craving for a somewhat greasy burger and you sure couldn't beat the view!

Tacos & Tequila SB Style

El Taco Tequila is a lively space for delicious tacos and a whole heck of a lot of kinds of tequilas. We enjoyed a plethora of tacos, not all pictured here. They have Negra Modelo on tap and a great variety of tequilas, like this Anejo made in Mexico, but owned by a local Santa Barbara family. It tasted like dark chocolate, in my opinion.

This simple sounding taco full of mushrooms, cheese, and poblano chili is super mushroomy. The tortillas are freshly made and have the perfect amount of chew and flavor to them.

Below is a pork taco with goat cheese. Yum.

Vibrant colors fill the space with Mexican flare! The young woman who worked there the night we went was very helpful and knowledgeable about the tequilas and guided us in our choices as we wanted to taste a variety of styles.

El Taco Tequila - 14 East Cota Street

New Thai in Santa Barbara

Tap Thai is Santa Barbara's newest Thai food restaurant. Located out of downtown on De La Vina Street, in a simple strip of buildings. The moment one walks in one feels like they are in a big city type of restaurant because of its hip look and quirk. The sketched paintings on the walls of vegetables with touches of gold create a cool atmosphere. I loved the picnic table with the Pyrex pitcher with a light bulb in it.

They have fun little details all around including a nicely folded napkin with the fork tightly tucked in. Their menu states their focus on healthy, clean flavored Thai food.

The chicken satay was prepared nicely. The chicken was moist and flavorful. The little cucumber salad with onions and bell peppers was super fresh and crunchy. The peanut sauce was good, though not the best I've had.

One of their daily specials was a Tom Yum noodle soup - this is a broth based soup without coconut. The spice level was spot on and tasty.

The Pad Thai:

They have wokked dishes such as this Ginger chicken. They aren't kidding about the ginger! Wow!

Overall, everything was fresh and had clean flavors as promised. However, there was a lack of flavor and all the dishes were on the sweet side for me. The hostess/waitress was very kind and efficient, with attention to detail. I think it all comes down to preferences on how you like your Thai food. Definitely go check out and decide for yourself.