Lake Tahoe: Red Hut Cafe

Fresh pow! No, not really. Sadly the weekend I went to Tahoe this winter with Ben, Ahrhan, Justin, and Frank turned out to be one of the warmest week in NorCal. Boarded Saturday and guess what, freaking snows overnight so on Sunday, Tahoe was covered by a white and pristine blanket of snow. Lame.

Of course coming to Tahoe meant that I had to try something that's a little unique, and ended up going to Red Hut Cafe in South Tahoe. Red Hut Cafe is actually a really really popular breakfast/brunch place and it has done so well that there is actually 3 locations in and around Tahoe. There's even a new swanky location close to Heavenly but we decided to go to the original, located just a little bit south of South Tahoe. Again, thanks to Carolyn for pointing this spot out!

Red Hut Cafe

2723 Lake Tahoe Blvd

South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

www.redhutcafe.com

Small spot.

The OG Red Hut.

History of Red Hut (click to enlarge).

The breakfast menu! I really wanted to try everything.

Since 1959. Crazy.

After around 15minutes, I finally decided on the French Toast with sausages. Thick slices of toasts with this awesome egg batter. So simple but man it was good. Perfect with the breakfast sausage as well.

The Waffle Sandwich, which comes with eggs, sausages or bacon, and a piece of waffle. Perfectly cooked sunny side up. Ben expected the thick Belgian waffles but I actually prefer these style of waffles more. Would've been even better it it was crisped a little more like Roscoe's.

Strawberries, not fresh since not in season, for Justin's sweet tooth. Perfect with waffles, pancakes, or French toasts.

One of their most famous, The Usual. So many people order it that they just call it the Usual. 2 eggs, hasbrowns, and biscuit & gravy. This is what you call hearty. I love the white savory gravy and can't imagine eating this every morning but man it was good.

I love the whole history and the feel of this place. Not to mention, I'm a sucker for breakfast foods. Even though it's nothing special, Red Hut does what they are known for real well and definitely coming back here next winter!

Los Angeles: The Foundry on Melrose

For Valentine's this year, it fell on a Monday which meant that 2011's Valentine's dinner for Diana and I had to be pushed back due to scheduling conflicts. That also meant that we got to skip all the stupid prix fixe menu hoopla restaurants make you do on these holidays. Usually it is overpriced and you may not even get what you want from the regular dining menu! Celebrating Valentine's on Valentine's Day is overrated, or at least... food-wise :P

I decided on The Foundry on Melrose, in Mid-City, this year since it is helmed by chef Eric Greenspan, who's somewhat of a celebrity chef now, having competed on "The Next Iron Chef" and several appearances on other Food Network's TV shows, and I've been wanting to try out The Foundry for awhile. Turned out to be a good choice! :]

The Foundry on Melrose

7465 Melrose Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90046

www.thefoundryonmelrose.com

The Foundry. And yes it is located on Melrose Avenue haha.

The menu (click to enlarge).

We weren't seated in the patio like I requested but we did get to sit right in front of the semi-open kitchen. It was hilarious and extremely entertaining since chef's are known to have a really dirty mouth, and the whole time we were there we heard the F-word being dropped constantly. It's also cool to watch them work and trying to guess what they are making from the ingredients they are adding to the pan or pot. The chubby one is Chef Greenspan!

Some of the wine selections. Hmmm gotta check out this wine company based in LA!

Three Saints Cabernet Sauvignon. Can't really go wrong with cab.

Sweet Tea Vodka. Sounds nice but didn't taste that nice! Needs to be sweeter!

They give out small bread dishes throughout the meal. Bread rolls with Parmesan cheese.

Forgot what this was, but I think it was some sort of foccacia. It came with this awesome balsamic vinegar spread!

I decided to order a la carte from the menu. Endive and pear salad with goat cheese, tarte tatin & black pepper vinaigrette. Ridiculously good.

Love that flaky crispy tarte pastry on the bottom!

Grape glazed pork belly with eggplant (boo), almonds, and garlic chips. Only got it cause it was pork belly. Great glaze but no on the eggplant :P

Eggplant I can do without, but what a glorious piece of pork belly. Sweet & salty from the glaze!

The famous grilled cheese sandwich!! Taleggio in raisin bread, with apricot-caper puree. You can choose to add short ribs, which I did. Seriously, best grilled cheese ever! it was on the "Best Thing I Ever Ate" show and I can see why!

I'm still craving for more of that creamy, melty, savory goodness :9

More small bread dishes! Biscuits!

Diana decided to order off the Market Menu, which is a prixe fix. You get three courses for $39. Actually it's a really good value!

Started off with shellfish and pork belly ragout in herb pistou & with rouille toast. A must for shellfish lovers.

Crispy skin salmon with sunchokes, grapefruit, and arugula. Cooked perfectly with the middle being medium rare. I need to learn how to crisp the fish's skin like that!

Chocolate bread pudding with caramel ice cream. I love bread budding and even more when they make chocolate bread just for this dessert. Dedication! That caramel ice cream is good enough by itself too.

Since we had to wait for awhile for the grilled cheese to come (forgot our order), they comped us a free dessert. I even heard Chef Greenspan said "COMP THEM" before the waitress came over and told us hahah. I picked the spiced donut with persimmon chutney and ginger whipped cream.

What can I say, I heart donuts. That ginger whipped cream is amazing. Totally caught us off guard how ginger-y the cream is. Perfect way to end the night :]

Definitely come check this place out if you get a chance. It's a nice place for a date or just a night out with friends. They also have different live music playing on different nights! I for sure will be back for the grilled cheese It's like... there's an emptiness inside me until I eat that damn grilled cheese haha!

Pasadena: Bar Celona

Wow can't believe this is my first post about a restaurant in Pasadena.

Bar Celona is a modern Spanish tapas bar located in Old Town. The trend lately for me has been gravitating towards restaurants serving smaller dishes or plates so a tapas bar fits perfectly. Not to mention, the concept of "modern tapas" intrigued me as a few of us came on a Saturday night to check the place out.

Bar Celona

46 E Colorado Blvd

Pasadena, CA 91105

www.barcelonapasadena.com

Bar Celona's logo.

Started off with a sampler plate of cured meats, cheeses, dried fruits, and nuts. Came with buttered baguettes. Everything's better with butter :D

Don't remember what everything was but it was fun mix and matching different things together while drinking our wine. The best thing is definitely the Iberico ham in the middle next to the salami. Think of it as... a level above prosciutto! The onion mix on top of the cured meats was awesome although it probably masked some of the flavors of the meat itself. Not a huge of fan of the blue cheese...

2007 Rivola Rioja. Not too spicy. Not bad at all.

Fried potatoes with smoked paprika allioli - tasted like a dynamite roll from sushi restaurants from the sauce :P

Spanish flatbread with basil & mint, manchego, figs. Needs more mint! It was good though.

Crispy pork belly, brussels sprouts, fried egg, salbixtada. I have NO IDEA what salbixtada is but this was definitely my favorite. I'm a sucker for pork belly. Was the pork belly crispy enough? No not really but I love how this block of pork belly sits on top of a bed of brussels sprouts that's been softened. I love it when your break the yolk in half and it just runs down the pork belly. It was a beautiful sight.

Meatballs in tomato saffron sauce. Loved the sauce more than the meatballs.

Veggie paella. Ok ok we were dumb and got the veggie paella but we figured we had so much protein already let's go for something healthier! Should've went for other paella and maybe that would've been better cause it was pretty bland.

For a place that was calling itself "modern" I didn't really see exactly what new spin they gave to some of these dishes. Maybe we just ordered wrong. Even so, it's a great place for a date or for a more intimate dining experience because the place itself promotes that sort of atmosphere.

Little Tokyo: Lazy Ox Canteen

Birthday dinner posts part 2!

After dining at C&O Trattoria the night before, Michael and Diana took me out at Lazy Ox Canteen, which is helmed by Top Chef Season 5 cheftestant, Josef Centeno. He's a fairly well-known chef in LA, having cooked at Opus and Lot1, both very fine establishments. Open in 2009, Lazy Ox Canteen has been a hot spot for LA foodies due to the Top Chef fame, and of course, being named as a one of the top new chef in the Pacific Northwest by Food & Wine magazine.

Lazy Ox Canteen

241 S San Pedro St

Los Angeles, CA 90012

www.lazyoxcanteen.com

In Little Tokyo under an apartment complex. Normally you wouldn't think a restaurant would be there, but there's actually 2 pretty hip restaurants there

The sign.

Bar where Michael and Diana started off with glasses of wine.

Stemless wine glasses is a hip trend but I like :]

2009 Batic Winter Rose from Slovenija

2010 Altocedro Malbec from Argentina.

Menu 1.

Menu 2. The items here are served like tapas, more like a global izakaya, except it's American with influences from all over the world.

They have black truffle dishes! And it is actually from Italy! None of that stuff from Oregon or China. Will be back for it next time!

After we were seated, I opted for an Allagash, which is a Belgian style ale from New England. Love the complexity of this beer.

First to arrive, Beef Carpaccio. It has pecorino sprinkled throughout and topped with pickled shallots, micro greens, and mustard oil. Not the biggest fan of it but interesting take!

Poblano soup with pork belly and grape.

Another very interesting combo, sweet and salty at the same time. The pork belly is crisped first so it has a great bite even in the soup.

Pappardelle pasta with pork, beef ragu, & fried egg. Best thing on the menu since I'm a huge fan of hand made pappardelle, and it has meat sauce! When you break the egg yolk and the yolk runs down onto the pasta... that's the best part.

Dashi marinated yellowtail. Sorta like an yellowtail salad except made with avocado rather than mayo, and tonburi is sprinkled to to give it slight pop. The hash brown it comes with is kinda out of place though.

My 2nd favorite of the night, caramelized cauliflower. I love the citrus-y note on this. It looks plain but the garlic, pine nuts, chile flake, and the dressing over it is great.

Fried Chicharron. Pig ears! Being Asian I love pig ears and when it is fried? Yes sir. Comes with horseradish dipping sauce but I like it with just lemon squeezed over it.

Ricotta fritters is drizzled with this saffron honey and saba. It's the slight hint of saffron that makes it unique. More like a dessert dish though!

In preparation for our true dessert, I had to get a cup of coffee. They give you an individual size of French press coffee!

Good coffee aroma and flavor! I should get one of those French press haha.

Butter scotch recommended to us by our server. Holy, that thing is butter scotch to the max! Very sweet and satisfying. The fresh cream on the side is a nice touch.

Again, thanks to Michael and Diana for taking me to check out this spot! I will definitely come back once more to check out the other items, like their famous burgers and save up for a black truffle dish :P