Autumn is upon us! I am trying to coax out one last strawberry crop from my backyard as I harvest my pumpkins…
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California Ekiben by n/naka (West L.A.). Loved it!!! The best damn California roll I’ve ever had (with dungeness krab crab)…
Saba bo-zushi by Sushi Kaneyoshi (Little Tokyo)… Mackerel be getting fattier now.
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An homage to the Bún Chả Obama, made famous by the “unannounced” presidential visit to Bún Chả Hương Liên in Hanoi, and featured in Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown”. This version was meticulously made with love by Chef Nessa at DishDivvy, and it rocks.
Chef Nessa’s SE Asian shrimp and octopus garden bowl with puffed jasmine rice and vinaigrette was also a hit.
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I need this. Do you order through her website and pick up? Where is pick up location?
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When your best friend has dreams of a Japanese meal during a pandemic birthday…
Remedy Liquor (Glendale) -
Thanks to @beefnoguy, we came up for a quick visit. She found some sakes to she wanted to try with our planned takeout meals. We had previously had the Yuki No Bosha junmai ginjo, but they had a yamahai version she picked. There was another bottle…which we had with her birthday meal that I forgot to make note of.
Sushi Kaneyoshi (Little Tokyo) -
How gorgeous is this counter and restaurant?! Thanks to @J_L, @PorkyBelly and others for their great instructions on what to do after you park the car! We followed the instructions and the buttons on the elevator and then the signs in the basement. It was almost an adventure to find Chef Yoshi and his sous chef Andrew.
I had inquired earlier in the week, but Chef Andrew informed me last night that their saba was not up to Chef Yoshi’s standards so bozushi would not be in the cards for us today.
Futomaki -
Honmaguromaki - akami, chutoro, otoro (my best friend loves tuna and Chef offered this as an option to help celebrate her birthday and to perhaps make up for the lack of bozushi)
Both were fantastic. My best friend loved the honmaguromaki…and had never had futomaki filled with proteins before…in her experience, it’s only been filled with vegetables. I was impressed with the flavors and textures of both…the shari was so very good.
Sugashita (Arts District) -
For birthdays, I call Chef James Sugishita. He put together a bento box with chirashi. A friend of his caught a great bluefin and gifted it to him. So anyone who ordered today got bluefin as a surprise.
Chirashi: chutoro zuke, jabara toro, buri-toro, kuruma ebi, kasugo, kinmedai shioyaki, kinki shioyaki, yaki-rendon, shin shoga, ikura, atsuyaki tamago
Bento: kinmedai yuan-yaki, kinki shioyaki, yaki-rendon, agedashi nasu, wakamomo, kasugo, atsuyaki tamago, buri-tataki, yomogifu, satsuma imo-ni
It was a fun way to celebrate her birthday…which is usually done at omakase with Koi in Seal Beach. But just not this year. It was still wonderfully delicious.
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I’ve been ordering from Chef Nessa for about a month now. Very high quality, she has worked in some of the top kitchens including Water Grill, Spago, Ortolon, and Minibar in DC. She knows what she’s doing and we’re getting her cooking at a fraction of what it would cost in any of those places. Her dishes have an Asian bent and are quite refreshing.
DishDivvy is an interesting model where home chefs prepare food and you pick it up at their house. That’s what Nessa is doing so there’s virtually no overhead. The Uber of cheffing…
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Amor y Tacos - Cerritos
Had surf n turf with excellent fried squid to start the meal and of course, their amazing short rib taquitos!
Then some Dos Equis beer battered fish tacos, extra crunchy.
Make sure y’all slide down to Amor y Tacos, uncle Snoop says so
https://www.instagram.com/p/CG_OlijhJ51/?igshid=vui3rumh9733
Amboy - Chinatown
Picante burger and fries, really enjoy the sear on the burgers and the pickled peppers were damn spicy, which was a breathe of fresh air as they were true to their description of this being picante. Fries were excellent, not too salty this time.
Superba - Venice
Cinnamon roll and chilaquiles
Golden Bird - Western Ave, South Central
Juicy and crispy AF fried chicken.
Johnny’s - West Adams
Johnny Burger
Smoke brisket sandwich
Fries ~ not kennebecs anymore 
Playa Amor - Long Beach
Pulpo
Brussel sprouts
Shrimp ceviche tostadas
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Nice job on the Chef Thomas Ortega bang!
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Zacatecas
in Hawthorne. Outdoor seating.Shrimp
Carnitas
substituting vegetables for the rice and beans.
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Order placed. Picking up tomorrow!! This is my favorite vietnamese dish that I’ve had through my travels in Vietnam. Haven’t been able to find any remotely legit ones in LA. Very excited to try.
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The only things that I missed about working in El Segundo. Zacatecas. Il Romanista RIP. Al Watan. Driving to mid day Monkish releases.
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Those are some great places to miss.
Until they opened for outdoor dining, and until I developed the balls to eat at a restaurant, I sure missed Zacatecas.
Pretty underrated. The service is great!
Hope you can get up there again soon!
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El Grito food truck in Lennox (el_grito_ on IG), Asada Super Quesadilla with mushrooms, zucchini, and corn, pretty good
First time having famous Patisserie Chantilly, black sesame cream puff and cheesecake, very nice
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I do love those short rib taquitos, I always get them! And their outdoor seating arrangement is quite spacious.
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Il romanista announced they were working on a new project so fingers crossed!
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Was in SF over the weekend and stopped by Al’s Place. One of my favorite restaurants in the Bay Area. Singular is the wrong word but it’s what comes to mind. All the dishes seem so similar, especially when looking at pictures, but the highlights and accents are exact and meticulous.
Grilled quince, yogurt, carrot top schug, white pepper puff
Shelling bean broth chawanmushi, fuji apple, pistachio
Brine pickled French fries, smoked apple sauce & Radishes, peanut butter butter, salt & crispy duck parts, Meyer lemon, fermented black bean mayo (some parts already picked at)
Spicy mapo burrata, bok choy, parsnip + pineapple skin mayo
Baby lettuces, herbed avocado, pistachio crumble
Artichoke dip, fried brussels sprouts, yeasted apples, flax seed crunch (bite taken)
Pear curry, black-lime cod, winter squash, poha berry (my first serving from the share bowl)
King salmon, spiced yogurt broth, burnt garlic oil, persimmon
Ribeye, quince-kimchi butter, burnt maple saba
Tagliatelle, lamb bacon, broccoli, giardiniera, goat’s milk gouda
Extruded zucca, British curried squash, radicchio, parmesan
Meyer lemon curd, fig tart, lavender ice cream
Cookie fingers, snickerz sauce, peanut butter meringue
Limed strawbs, matcha rice pudding, black lime puff
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We went and canvassed for the election in Las Vegas this past weekend, and stopped at Suzuya Patisserie, a Japanese bakery on our drive back to LA. I was hoping they would have slices of their mille crepe cakes, but they didn’t have any unfortunately
I got a custard cream puff and a half-size (4") green tea roll cake. Don’t remember the cost of the cream puff but the roll cake was $15.
Custard cream puff. Pretty good! Cream filling was light and airy. No craquelin on this and not too sweet.
The green tea roll cake was really tasty. It had a red bean flavored cream filling with some red bean paste throughout. Topped with a salted caramel macaron, decorative chocolate and crunchy clusters (I think these were chopped almonds with sugar and kinako?) around the sides. The matcha flavor wasn’t strong or bitter compared to other matcha desserts I’ve had. It was rather muted. The sponge itself was soft and not dry. Neither the matcha frosting or the red bean filling was too sweet. All in all, delicious. I ate the macaron by itself and the cookies were nicely chewy although the caramel ganache was a lot sweeter than the rest of the elements of the cake.
They also serve packaged Japanese-style sandwiches, and I got an egg salad sandwich as a snack for the road. No picture, but the milk bread was very soft and fluffy and the egg salad was totally serviceable.
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