On Superbowl Sunday, my roommate , her friend, Justin and I wanted to go somewhere to watch the Superbowl, especially since her friend was out of town. After doing a bit of research (we are, after all, still LA newbies), we decided to visit Library Alehouse in Santa Monica. It has since become one of my favorite places to go to in LA (even though Santa Monica is not technically in LA, but that’s a minor detail )

Pictures abundant, along with details, underneath the cut

Two things that made me fall in love with Library Alehouse: extensive selection of beer on tap, and a surprising number of vegetarian offerings for an alehouse/pub. The latter feature wouldn’t normally be a make-or-break feature, but being that I’m still on my vegetarian stint, it’s certainly a convenience.

I started off my meal with an Old Rasputin, a stout with notes of coffee and cream. Delectable!

I ordered the portobello sandwich, which consists of (as stated on their website): a marinated and grilled portobello mushroom with fontina cheese, red onion, tomato, arugula and basil aioli on rosemary bread). It was quite tasty, and a great reminder of how effective mushroom can be in replacing the texture and mouthfeel of meat. The proportion of aioli was just right, and I have to say that I love arugula (it’s probably one of my favorite leafy greens!).

Justin’s usual go-to is fish and chips, so it’s no surprise that he decided on that, here, with cod fish. He says it was delicious. The amazing part about it is the bed of fries it comes with–that whole basket is filled with them! It took us all evening to finish the fries, and even then, we had to take some to-go. They were well-seasoned, though, and remind me of curly fries from Jack-in-the-Box

After the game (hooray for the Saints!), we decided to get some dessert. Initially I wanted to try Jin Patisserie, but it was closed by the time we got there, so instead we went to N’iceCream on Abbot Kinney. It’s been awhile since I’ve had gelato (the last time was probably in the Bay Area, a year ago!), and personally, I like gelato more than frozen yogurt. Perhaps it’s because it’s been awhile, but it was quite tasty at N’iceCream!

We ordered one scoop of the stand-by stracciatella, and one scoop of chocolate and hazelnut in vanilla. Superb!

All in all, a wonderful way to spend Superbowl Sunday. For me, it couldn’t really get any better than good food, good beer, good dessert, and especially good company ♥

I was immediately taken in by the style of the place–it was literally like a coffee bar. You get in line, you glance at a little (beautifully designed) cardstock menu with a very strict selection of coffee and tea–no frappes, blended iced drinks, smoothies. Then, when he or she is available, a barista kindly asks for your selection, you walk to the side to wait for it and pay, while they painstakingly and craftily make your coffee, right in front of you. We ordered cappuccinos–for me, the Black Cat, and for her, the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe.

We sat down in one of the corner benches–seating is arranged to surround the coffeebar–and looked curiously at our drinks.

One slow, cautious, careful sip, and I fell in love. It was delicious! The last time I had such a memorable coffee was at Barefoot Cafe, in Santa Clara. I do apologize for giving such a gushing review and not remembering the flavor profiles–I have the worst technical memory–but, it left a lasting impression on me. The flavor was so robust, so rich, so plentiful, that my tongue was doing its best taking in every single note. And this was after I had had a cappuccino at Rose Cafe with my brunch! (As such, I would like to blame me not remembering the specific flavors on me being completely and utterly wired after it all )

Needless to say, Intelligentsia will see me again–perhaps, on a day when it hadn’t just rained

P.S. Everyone should check out this video on espresso, which interviews a barista from Intelligentsia. It is informative, and, incidentally, beautifully made. Thanks to Geoff for sharing!

Anyway, I delight in finding the most random things and trying out new snacks and food whenever I make a Nijiya run. The Mountain View location is right by my work, so it’s definitely not an inconvenience, and if anything, it’s a nice break from my (albeit very colorful) cubicle.

On one of these Nijiya runs, I was hurriedly going through the aisles to find something, and my eyes met this:

Instant pasta?! At 307 calories a serving? I’m down!

Review of the product, complete with pictures, underneath the cut

After carefully reading the instructions (a.k.a. reading the pictures), I opened the box to see what madness awaited:

Left to right: sauce packet, empty box, pasta bowl.

The pasta in the pasta bowl was actually fresh. That isn’t too big of a surprise, considering the abundance of instant fresh udon bowls and other non-fried instant noodle bowls, but for whatever reason, the fact that these were fresh pasta noodles made it somewhat more surprising

So, I peeled back the seal to the dotted line, poured in the Pasta Sauce, resealed the thing, and put it back inside the box. An interesting procedure–this was the first time I’ve had to put a sealed bowl of some sort inside another container. I’m assuming it helps with heat retention or something, but who knows. I’m not a scientist

After figuring out what wattage our microwave puts out, I set the timer accordingly, and within minutes, I had myself a nice, piping-hot bowl of neopolitan spaghetti!

Ground pepper for the final touch. I keep a pepper grinder in my cubicle

Overall, I found it to be surprisingly tasty. If you’re into Japanese-style spaghetti (somewhat sweet, but not overly so; light in flavor), this is actually a pretty good product to have. I can’t say much for its nutritional value, but it’s certainly a lot better for you than instant ramen (what, with the blanched noodles and overly salty seasoning packets (not that I don’t love it anyway)). The sauce packet contains actual bits of tomatoes and mushroom! If you really wanted to, you could probably slice up some hot dog and add it to the concoction

For living in Berkeley for three years and being a fifteen minute walk away from one of the world’s best restaurants, you’d think that I would have had the opportunity to stop by and eat at Chez Panisse, right? Or, maybe you wouldn’t, considering that all college students are broke and poor and couldn’t afford such a luxurious meal … or so the stereotype goes, anyway.

For myself, it wasn’t the restriction of finances that kept me from going (hellooo credit debt!), or the nearly and seemingly impossible nature of holding a reservation for the place (must call exactly one month in advance, no sooner, at exactly 9 AM when the lines open, and with any luck, you’ll reach someone to take your reservation by lunch time), but rather … well, I have no excuse. Time, maybe? I was too busy being a rambunctious college kid to set aside time for Chez Panisse.

In any case, what better opportunity to go there than for your lover’s birthday? Well, I’m sure you could rattle off a few other incentives, but I phoned in a month in advance for a Saturday date, and of  course, no way in hell was I gonna get that, so I settled on a Tuesday night reservation, the day after Justin’s birthday (and, being that his birthday, which was on Monday, happens to coincide with Bastille Day, that was probably the best option). We officially are no longer Chez Panisse virgins, and quite proudly so!

Preface:
Chez Panisse is a restaurant built on Alice Waters’s philosophy that good food is simple–it is grown locally, fresh, and organic. Therefore, the restaurant uses mostly locally grown and organic ingredients. They never use anything off season, and the only thing in their menu that came from a far away place is wine. The atmosphere reflects this wholesome philosophy, as well–it’s rustic, comfortable, and charming, not stuffy, stiff, and sterile. It takes its French influence qiute seriously and, in addition to offering French cuisine and naming their restaurant a French name, they have old illustrated posters of French films hung at some places. The rustic quality traces itself in every aspect of the interior decoration–it almost feels like there’s a lot of wood/brick going on, instead of concrete and plastic. The fabulous philosophy behind this restaurant goes as far as its dinnerware–the plates are from Heath Ceramics, which is located in Sausalito, and the drink menu offers many brews from around the area. Of course, I have to acknowledge that I am extraordinarily spoiled; living in California makes it absolutely easy to buy locally and love it. The wines of Napa, the breweries of San Francisco, the artisans and craftsmen of all over, the farmers of San Joaquin Valley and most of Central California–seriously? We’ve been described as an economically self-sufficient state, and with good reason, too.

On top of all this great philosophy/value, Chez Panisse still manages to uphold a certain level of culinary expertise and craftsmanship that earns it a spot in the top 50 restaurants of the world, at #37.

Anyway! The style of this restaurant is based on two kinds of restaurant in one: The downstairs “Restaurant” and the upstairs “Cafe.” The Restaurant serves prix-fixed dinners that change everyday to reflect the season’s best offerings. It’s a little more formal, a little quieter, tends to be more expensive, and more difficult to get reservations for the Restaurant portion. The Cafe upstairs is a little more casual, the menu style is a la carte (meaning you can pick and choose what you’d like to order), the mood a little more excitable.

Tonight, we dined in The Restaurant. Today’s menu was somewhat special–it was an all-fish menu

Local halibut crudo with avocado and cherry tomatoes
The halbut was thinly sliced, dusted with minced chili, parsley and chives, doused in a sort of olive oil/vinegarette mixture. It was sooo soft and melted in my mouth. It came with a side of cilantro + avocado + cherry tomato salad. I’m not sure what dressing they used, but whatever it was, it did WONDERS. One bite of the cherry tomato and all this flavor just came bursting out! I’m not sure if it’s the tomato, the dressing, or both, but whatever trickery they used, it was quite effective

(No picture for this dish because I hastily dived into my dish, oops :X)
Tuscan fish and shellfish soup with wild fennel
Soothing, comforting, subtle–the flavors of lobster, crab, and scallop meld together in harmony, without one being stronger than the other, and the BEST BEST part of the soup? The sliced baguette with garlic aioli that was floating in the center of the bowl. The garlic aioli was out of this world. I don’t know how they made it, but each bite was like a piece of heaven TwT Even Justin, who abhors the taste of shellfish + crusteceans, took a liking for this one. Good job, CP

Yellowfin tuna grilled over vine cuttings; with porcini mushrooms and fried herbs
The main course. The tuna was cooked to perfection, the porcini mushrooms sauteed and flavorful, the fried herbs (onions?) delectable, all held together by a delicate sauce that I can’t explain because I suck and am not good at this yet. Well, actually, it’s more like I was too busy enjoying the food to extrapolate and dissect all the flavours, as I normally try to do

Santa Rosa plum tart with muscat sabayon
The dessert. My least favorite of the meal. It was absolutely tart. I’m not sure if it was supposed to be this tart, or maybe I’m not used to the taste of plums, but in any case, even the muscat sabayon (which looked/tasted like wine-based sweet cream to me) didn’t do a good job of balancing out the flavors. Sad. Luckily, dessert is my least favorite portion of any meal in general I prefer coffee for dessert plzkthx.

The check came, along with two truffles (hazelnut!) and two wild strawberries.

The two of us HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUSTIN <3And with that said, I am stuffed silly and absolutely exalted.

While we’re talking about fine dining, here are some restaurants I want to try out eventually…

• The French Laundry (this should be saved for a really special occassion though) – Always in the top 3 (they really need to redesign their website though!!) TOO MUCH FLASH PLZ.
• Bouchon the baby brother of The French Laundry
• Manresa (#35 in 2005)
• Emiles
• Kaygetsu – Apparently the Bay Area’s finest Japanese restaurant
• Bouchee and/or L’Auberge Carmel

I really, truly do love food ;_;

Why am I going on a vegetarian diet?
I just feel like it. I always wanted to see how long I could go without turning back, and always felt like it was easily doable. But really, the real reason why is because I read Kevin’s Xanga about his quest to become a vegetarian and how it’s helped him not crave meat anymore and such–and I became inspired!

This is only going to run until I go to Vegas on July 19 (it would be an awful waste to be a vegetarian at buffets!), so we’ll see how this holds out. I’ll be logging my intake and such here … and also my feelings and other stuff regarding this little “challenge” of mine.

Anyway, today I had:
- Vietnamese coffee (Espress and condensed milk);
- Mami Thai instant noodles with 1 egg and ketchup added;
- One vegetable croquette;
- Half a bowl of vegetarian Bun Bo Hue.

I can’t wait ’til morning, I’m freakin’ starving right now