Westside Tavern

Finally!!!! The Westside Tavern opened! I've been waiting for this restaurant to open since last year when they said it was going to open. Now I can officially have the "dinner and a movie" combo (and the list of cocktails and beers were quite impressive). It's located downstairs from the best movie ( its because of the couches!) theater in west LA; the Landmark Theater.

My good friend (my only other LA friend who gives me the scoop on whats really cool to do in this city! )and her boyfriend met us at the new restaurant for dinner. We ordered the Baby Artichoke Gratin with sourdough toast (good, but not enough to satisfy) and the Crispy Blue Lake Green Beans with meyer lemon aioli (excellent!!-just enough crispiness, reminded me of tempura). For our entrees they ordered a Grilled Prime Flat Iron Steak with Kennebec potato fries and bearnaise sauce and Prime Beef Short Rib Pot Roast with glazed carrots and buttery mashed potatoes. Both looked delicious and smartly decorated. I had the Spit-Roasted Lemon and Mustard Chicken with wilted garlic spinach which I was very pleased with. Not only did I get practically a half chicken but the flavors were bold and juicy.

And, of course, we can't go without dessert. The Strawberry Shortcake was good. There was marscapone cheese on top with vanilla bean ice cream. The dough was crispy and flaky with big sugar crystals on top. We also sampled the Hot Fudge Pudding cake plated with Tahitian vanilla ice cream and candied walnuts- yum!!

Overall, the food was definitely worth the wait. The prices were fair for the amount of food you get but expect to spend quite a bit if you want to indulge in the full flavors of drinks and food from the Westside Tavern.

Rush Street

When Rush Street first opened up it was the new heart of Culver City's nightlife. It's got a great, energetic atmosphere with an inside-outside eating area (with heaters, of course!) and a fabulous bar that pretty much encompasses the whole first floor. The booths inside are large and cozy and the small loft upstairs could be a site for vips. I can't say that I'll visit during rush hour but I did join them for their brunch recently. I can proudly say that I had my very own "brunch burger" called the red eye burger-cheddar, apple wood smoked bacon, carmelized onions, arugula, fried egg and spicy hollandaise. All I can say is.....YUM!! and I got to choose a side of garlic skinny fries, sweet potato fries or tater-tots (tempting...). The other things looked good on the menu too! My friend ordered the Rush Street dry aged burger with fries (applewood bacon, shoestring onions, cheddar and confire sauce...she got the tater-tots!) The brunch, lunch and dinner menus look fabulous. Next time I'll have to order drinks too!!

Metro Cafe

I don't know why I dont live at this place because everytime I go here I am absolutely amazed by the quality of the food. I can't say enough good things about the Metro Cafe except that these pictures will make your mouth water. We took our friends here for dinner and everyone's food looked and tasted amazing.

The Goulash with Mushrooms had great flavors and had a heaping pile of mashed potatoes and tender meat. The Salmon Spagetti was a surprising favorite among us as well. The Chicken Bolognese was great too. I just love the big shavings of parmesan cheese on top! I'd have to say that next time I go I'll have to get the Vienna Schnitzel (which someone at our table got) because it was sooooo good! Not only did it come with scrumptious fries, but the way they prepare the battered schitzel took me back to Octoberfest! I also have to recommend the Steak Rigatoni which came with the juiciest cuts of steak on a bed of pasta -sorry, no pics :(. But if you do stop by, this place is a jewel for excellent food.

http://www.metrocafela.com/

LA's 2009 Cupcake Challenge

Welcome to Tour De Cupcake! If any of you were lucky enough to get into the sold out cupcake show down March 29, please tell me that you are still wallowing in your sugar coma like me!? Guilty as charged! I had the most fabulous time at the cupcake challenge at Hollywood's Renaissance Hotel. I can't begin to tell you how excited I was to attend, and how much it succeeded my expectations. I was happy to see a great variety of original flavored cupcakes such as peanut butter and jelly, sweet potato pie, dulche de leche, wild berry, lavender, pumpkin and my favorite Casanovas Kiss (chocolate-hazelnut with pistachios).

Classic local bakeries from la and Orange county compeated for a place under Best Original, Best Traditional and Best Overall. If you wanted to sample the best bakeries close to your town, then this was the place to be. I was particularily happy to see the West La bakeries representing the sweets! Since I've started my Cupcake tour, I've only been to Sprinkles in Beverly Hills (and I have a very biased opinion on their cupcakes which I'll have to write in another post) but I was so excited to try the other bakeries I've heard so much about. Hotcakes Bakery, Buttercake Bakery, and Blue Cupcake were just a few in my local area of west La. My favorite flavors were: Red Raspberry Velvet by Two Parts Sugar, Sweet Potato Pie by Southern Girl, Casanovas Kiss by Sugar Jones, Dulche De Leche by Pokadots, and Red Velvet from Cuppacakes. So when is next years?!