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Pizza Romana - Fairfax

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Pizza Romana - Fairfax

“All of our dough is fermented for 24 hours in the traditional Roman style. We then hand-stretch and bake all our pizzas in authentic Italian wood-fired ovens. We use produce from the farmer’s market and our own downtown garden, organic and pesticide-free whenever possible; meats raised in a humane manner and without the use of antibiotics.”
— Pizza Romana

I just want to immediately say how amazingly delicious the food was at Pizza Romana. It doesn't get anymore authentic than this. Almost all the ingredients used in this restaurant is imported from Italy. We are talking from the tomato sauce to their water used to make their pizza and lasagna pasta sheets.

615 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036

There's plenty of seating from indoors to outdoors. They also have wine tasting every Thursday night which you will definitely find me there pretty soon. Pizza Romana also carries an extensive wine list. I highly recommend you ask about their wines to pair perfectly with your tastes.

Salumi & Fromaggi Plate

Pizza Bianca served with the Salumi & Fromaggi. Super thin and killer crust.

Super simple, but having all cheeses and salumi imported from Italy just makes it that much more exquisite. These were so delicious to eat. I mean, there isn't any other way to really describe how tasty these were. We have Speck, Capicola, and Mortadella. Served with some dried cranberries, apricots, cashews, and 2 types of cheeses. The cheeses were mild, but complex. Nothing gamey about them which I can appreciate. I'm not a huge fan of stinky cheese as it takes over everything. Their pairings were spot on.

Mom's Lasagna

This is better than Mom's lasagna. This is quite frankly the best lasagna I've ever had in my life. The bolognese sauce is made with 3 meats: pork, beef & veal. Layered with bechamel and mozzarella, this rustic dish deserves to be put at a 5 star restaurant. Each bite was luscious with a beautiful bite from the elasticity of the handmade pasta sheet. For $8, there's definitely nothing to complain about. No sharing on this one.

Margherita

Simple Margherita pizza with an amazing crust and chew. The pizzas are light and airy. The dough is also easy to digest. What really stood out from the pizza was the cheese. Amazing quality. With the delicious tomato sauce and fresh basil, I could sit by the beach and eat this while watching the sunset.

Buffalo Mozzarella with arugula and Prosciutto

There is absolutely nothing that tastes like this. Nothing. You have to get this. The prosciutto was amazing. The creamy Mozzarella was to die for. The pizza dough. Just everything is perfect about this. The saltiness of the prosciutto paired with the cheese and the lingering peppery arugula... this has changed my life.

Pistachio Gelato

When we think of Pistachio ice cream, we think of mont green. I grew up eating Thrifty's ice cream from Rite Aid, but never understood what tasted like pistachios in that ice cream. I loved it though and has always been one of my favorite go to. The gelato from Pizza Romana is actually imported from Sicily. How f'ing cool is that right? This tasted nothing like Pistachio made here. This is the real deal. Sweet and subtle. Has a faint flavor of roasted pistachios. An amazing treat to end our amazing meal.

I highly recommend you check this place out for many reasons. One big reason is how it made me felt like I was traveling. Each item on the menu has a story from where the ingredients were sourced. Ask about it. They have something great going on here. The other reason, and I really want to stress on this, is how affordable the items on the menu are. Even their bottle of wines are less than $40.

Map it now: 615 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Buon Appetito!

 

 

 

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The Counter Burger - Pasadena

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The Counter Burger - Pasadena

I've been going to The Counter Burger for over 7 years now. I would also add that it was my first gourmet burger I've ever had. Now that I work up the street on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, The Counter is literally within my reach whenever I want it. It's crazy. And I've been on this burger diet last year where all I ate was mostly that. I'm not sure if it was a phase. But I think it's just all the people telling me how crazy I was to eat burgers constantly. Get this straight. There is no judge zones when it comes to eating. If I want a damn burger, I will get me a damn burger!

Their new menu no longer comes in a binder. It is now as you can see, a laminate menu printed on both sides. The build your own burger is still available, but they cut down on the ingredients that were available to make the building less complicated, and more realistic. Like really, do you really need 10 items on your burger? Might as well go down the street to Souplantation if you just want to fill your cup. Make it quick, make it simple.

The Counter Burger has other locations, please click "Here" to find one near you.

Tater Tots with Pimento Cheese and BACON

If you've never had Pimento Cheese, obviously you need to try it. But to have it served with tater tots becomes a whole new ball game. You definitely want to eat these with a fork to get the biggest bite possible. Portions are great to share.

Sweet Sriracha Chicken Wings

The first bite is sweet, spicy, and tangy. The heat will slowly creep up. And next thing you know it, you are craving for the next one. It's not as spicy as you think they'll be, but they do pack a good punch of flavor in each bite. Don't worry about napkins. It's all finger licking and sucking at this point.

Crab Encounter

This item is also on their new menu. Monster lump crab meat, diced eggs, bacon over bacon, roasted red peppers, green onions and spring mix to make you feel better about yourself. Served with a honey mustard dressing, but of course you can always ask for something else. This was $18, but well worth it. I'll say it again, HUGE lumps of crab. I also loved the diced eggs and tomatoes. This was very fun to eat.

Southern Fried Chicken

They put the chicken in a buttermilk brine. Served with jalapeno jack, tomatoes, sliced Jalapenos, coleslaw, honey dijon all sandwiched between a brioche bun. Jalapenos are frightening. There are days where it wouldn't do much, but there are days it will totally destroy my stomach and bottom after a few hours. This was spicy when I had it, just the way I like it. If you want to give it a spicier punch, ask them for buffalo sauce or something instead of honey mustard. A bleu cheese dressing sounds delicious too.

Last but not least, 2 milkshakes to put out the butt fire. Strawberry Banana and Nutella. YUM. I love milkshakes. They really do make me feel like a kid because we didn't grow up drinking these. So to have it was definitely a treat.

There are also a few new items on their menu. Feel free to ask the staff about them.

Pasadena:

140 Shoppers Lane, Pasadena CA 91101

 

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C.O.D Restaurant - Seafood & Raw Bar - Beverly Hills

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C.O.D Restaurant - Seafood & Raw Bar - Beverly Hills

8408 W. 3rd Street Los Angeles, CA 90048

8408 W. 3rd Street Los Angeles, CA 90048

C.O.D hasn't quite officially opened yet. They are still undergoing their soft opening which means open to service. Fortunately, most of the menu items were available with some added additions not on the menu. The added additions are normally chilling with the others at the raw bar. It wasn't long before our tasting started. My drink of choice was a glass of red wine.

Minter Sweet Oysters

These were incredibly fresh and creamy. These were plump, sweet and had a slight lingering faint mineral taste. It was pretty much how it was described on the menu.

What I fell in love about C.O.D is the amount of items they had on their menu. You didn't just get seafood, but there were also other items like braised beef cheeks. See the whole spread below:

I was a huge fan of everything you see. Just to dance around the food, the spicy tuna crispy rice wasn't too spicy, but the rice was perfectly crispy with a nice soft chew from the rice. I'm not a fan of overly crispy rice cakes. This was nice and crispy on the outside and hot and fluffy on the inside.

I also loved the crispy pork belly. It was actually one of the favorites on the menu. I recommend ordering a beer to wash this done. It's sharable, but do you really want to? It's fine if you want to try a bunch of other dishes. This is a definite must order. The lobster roll was also extremely freakishly delicious. The lobster was perfectly cooked and jammed packed into a nicely crusted brioche bun. There's nothing better.

Then you have entrees like Braised Beef cheeks served over a creamy quinoa. This was definitely $$$$ quality and NOT something I would expect to find here. So delicious. I've never had quinoa prepared like the way it did here. Very decadent and definitely the show stopper. The uni pasta was also very unique. They use a nori fettucinni which causes the green color. The sauce had mentaiko folded in which is a very classic Japanese tradition used in some pasta dishes. The uni pasta also had truffle, but not over powering. Amazing subtle and friendly to the not so uni friendly crowds.

The desserts were rich and full of flavor. They will be getting coffee soon which will be great to get a jolt of pick me up.

Highly recommend C.O.D if you are looking for a place to dine. Beer, wine and sake are available. I believe a full liquor license will be on its way.

8408 W. 3rd Street Los Angeles, CA 90048

Cheers!

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Kings Row Gastropub- Pasadena

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Kings Row Gastropub- Pasadena

I've been to Kings Row a few times since they've opened doors a few years ago. I've celebrated friends birthday here, graduations, and their famous piggy roast that you can find every 3rd Thursday of the month. It's a great space to hang out and they do offer food to accommodate the savvy eaters.

Besides having food to serve with your drinks, I kind of forgot that breakfast/brunch was something they did here at KRG. Below you will find the slew of most of their brunch menu with a few additions to their main.

Brunch

Mains

And of course, you can't forget the cocktails.

Check them out for Brunch whenever you are looking for a local spot. Nice to not have to dive into Los Angeles.

20 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91105

 

 

 

 

 

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Salt & Straw - Studio City

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Salt & Straw - Studio City

I've met a lot of people in my life. It's really rare to find people who are really passionate with what they do. After meeting Tyler, who we called the Chief Churner Officer (any many other names), we feel that Salt & Straw represents the real passion chasers out there. Tyler was literally traveling in Beijing when he realized where his heart belonged. To be on the literal scale, he packed his bags from Seattle and headed to Portland to attend culinary school. 

It was also a coincidence that his cousin Kim, who is also the founder of Salt & Straw, was then pursuing her dreams of opening an ice cream scoop shop. It took no time before these 2 masters collaborated and worked out something more than delicious flavors of ice cream, but really developed a story into what they do.

I felt extremely privileged to have met Tyler. He was smart, funny, and wickedly genius with his flavor combinations. I would say he's like the Willy Wonka of ice cream. It's amazing how Salt & Straw which was originally from Portland, has made their trademark in Los Angeles with little to no effort at all. They love what they do. And I can honestly say it comes through with their product. Not only are they artisans with their ice creams, but they also incorporate local business ingredients into their creations. An example is their "May Flowers" flavor. One of the creations was called Wild Honey with Ricotta Walnut Lace Cookies. The honey that was used was from  Massey Honey Co, a local Los Angeles/ Orange County apiary where the honey is extracted by hand and strained.

We've tried most if not all of their flavors. Everything we had was delicious. Perfect. And executed without flaws like a perfect round on Chopped. A few of my favorites Stumptown Coffee & Compartes Love Nuts, Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbon, Freckled Woodblock Chocolate, Rhubarb Crumble with toasted anise (May Flower special), Wild Honey with Ricotta Walnut Lace Cookies, and Black Olive Brittle & Goat cheese if you are a HUGE goat cheese fan. These are some of the favorites to name a few.

This here was my favorite combination. Tyler randomly scooped these for us without knowing. Sea Salt with caramel ribbons on the bottom and Stumptown Coffee & Compartes Love Nuts on top. There's no other way to describe it besides DELICIOUS and Decadent.

Studio City is their newest location that just opened recently. I highly recommend you check it out. Easy parking with tons of friendly patrons. I'm hooked. You just might see me there.

12180 1/2 Ventura Blvd. Los Angeles, CA - 10AM - 11PM Daily - (818) 358-2890

**Stay tuned. They will be opening up another location in the Arts District in DTLA**

 

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