Fair Oaks Pharmacy

This is a one of a kind trip back to the past. Where in southern California can you still find an old fashioned soda fountain with a real working soda fountain?? --At the Fair Oaks Pharmacy in South Pasadena, CA. It's a ice cream parlor, cafe and gift shop all in one! We luckily stumbled upon it on our way back from the Huntington Library. We recognized not only the line of people outside but the famous sign we has seen on a Diner, Drive-In and Dives (I'm an avid fan of the show) on the Food Network.
We were lucky to get a seat at the counter because the place was extremely busy. The service was frenzied, but friendly. We had the magnificent All American Banana Split! Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry ice cream with hot fudge, strawberry and pineapple sauce and a split banana. Wow! it was awesome! Definitely a place to visit again! And don't forget to check out the gift shop with neat gifts!

Ketchup

If you have a chance to go to this place, you NEED to visit. Ketchup on Sunset Blvd has a trendy atmosphere with an indulgent and satisfying menu and cocktails. It's a gourmet twist on childhood favorites like mac n' cheese and burgers. What makes Ketchup so fun is their 5 homemade ketchups. I recommend ordering the "threesome" (garlic parmesan, sweet potato and cajun fries) thay way you get to taste all of the delicious ketchups! Another popular menu item is the barking dogs: 2 mini kobe beef hot dogs, classic kobe beef chili, melted cheddar, and homemade ketchup. And those are just appetizers!!

We ending up getting the Mac N' Cheese with white truffle and dungeness crab! wow!! soo rich and sooo incredibly good!
For the entrees, my husband got the "Grand Daddy". It's a 12 oz special blend of USDA prime beef and short rib burger, smoked applewood bacon, shallot confit, heirloom tomato, baby arugula, Irish cheddar and served with truffle fries (tossed in white parmesan and white truffle oil). YUM!!! The burger was juicy, well marbled and the bacon was delish!
My dish was fabulous too! I had the summer truffle sausage risotto: grilled mild sausage summer links, sauteed onions and peppers, in a mild summer sage truffle sauce, over saffron risotto.

And I ALWAYS have to gets dessert! Coconut pound cake with salted caramel ice cream. I love salted caramel ice cream!
I highly reccomend Ketchup for a fun evening out. The menu was creative and inspiring while the music of rock n roll definitely set the party mood! Prices range in the mid $20s for entrees and $15-18 for appetizers. The service was friendly and cooperative too.

Wurstkuche

This place was totally awesome! Located in the artsy part of downtown, lies one of the most unique and yummy places to have a quick bite! Wurstkuche has a wide variety of exotic sausages with toppings, sauces and 4 different mustards (yay!) Choose any sausage from the Classic (brats and italian), Gourmet (Mango Jalapeno and Green Chile & cilantro) or Exotic (Buffalo, Aligator & Rattlesnake). They don't mess around!! The vibe is very casual and the back seating area is really set in thought of a German Oktoberfest haufbrau house. And don't forget to try the french fries in truffle oil! So yummy! And the price is decent too, weiners run from $6-7.75.

Chocolate Mint cupcakes

So I actually made some home made cupcakes this time! This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book that features some of the most delicious and easy-to-make recipes I've seen. Some of my favorites include Tres Leches, Pecan Banana, Caramel Salted and Red Velvet. I changed the recipe a bit to fit my time slot and my novice cupcake baking skills. I even added a bit of chocolate shavings at the top. I had lots of fun!!

The Hungry Cat

For my special b-day dinner, I got to eat at The Hungry Cat in Hollywood, right across from the Arclight theater and Amoeba (some of my favorite places to go in LA). Specializing in a seafood raw bar with a spectacular presentation, but be prepared to open your wallet and enjoy some de-lish fish! We started out with some great cocktails and seared tuna (not on the regular menu). I had the butter braised halibut with parsley potatoes, morels, fava beans, ramps and creme fraiche ($25). The halibut was defintely moist, one of the best pieces of cooked fish I've ever had. But I have to say that my husband got the best deal. He had he ohpakapaka fish with remesco sauce, lamb bacon and baby clams. It was fabulous!!! The lamb bacon was delicious, I love bacon! Even though it was my birthday dinner, his meal definitely was my favorite, and it was cheaper too, only $22. The dessert was a surprise hit- a yummy peach crisp with a flaky crust on the top with the hot fruit inside. My husband even liked it, and he's not too fond of peach.

A very cool place to check out when you've got money to burn in Hollywood. Make sure to get reservations though, it gets crowded fast, even late an night too!

Joan's on Third

Joan's on Third is an awesomely busy food market/deli/bakery/restaurant filled with savory and sweet smells!! They had the most tempting cheese and dessert displays ever! And it seemed that everyone was also scarfing up their freshly breads.

We stopped by for lunch and luckily we were able to get a table. We were overwhelmed by the yummy food in the counter. So many vegetable dishes, they looked so good! (this is the one time it wouldn't be so bad to be a vegetarian). We ordered a MUFFULETTA (soprassata, mortadella, provolone, fontina and New Orleans olive mix on a Rustic Roll), PRESSED CHICKEN, BACON & BRIE with carmelized onions on French baguette and we felt brave a decided to order the Toasted Israeli Couscous (which was fabulouso!!!)

And we cant forget about dessert!! They had an impressive array of cupcake flavors ($3 each such as: chocolate cupcake, vanilla cupcake, coconut cupcake,
chocolate cupcake with coconut topping, vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting, vanilla cupcake with raspberry filling, marshmallow cream filled chocolate cupcake, peanut butter filled chocolate cupcake, snickers cupcake, carrot cupcake (yea, just a bit, haha)

And they were decorated so cute, not alot of gimmick topping but just enough like the chocolate sprinkles, or the snickers bar crumbled on the top, or the enormous mound of marshmallow on top.

We tried the cupcake special, vanilla lemon and the marshmallow filled cupcake.

Definitely blog worthy!

Hotcakes Bakes

Yay! Finally, a cupcake post! I went to check out Hotcakes Bakes in Culver City on Centinela. They had a great selections of cupcakes and bars, but I was only interested in the cupcakes. They have a variety of cupcakes that are available everyday and then they have a few specials too. I bought a cookies n cream, English toffee (both $3) and raspberry chocolate mousse ($3.50). I was very impressed with the quality of the cupcakes. The frosting was very smooth and not too sweet (which is sometimes a problem). My favorite frosting was the English toffee. It had little crumbs of heath bar on top and the flavor was light a creamy (unfortunately I ate this one before I could take a picture, I got too excited!!). And the cake was the moistest cake I've ever had! The cookies n cream was good too, good flavor, but choc. cake was too dry. My favorite cupcake was the raspberry choc. mousse. The frosting had the perfect fruity butter cream, the and the thick layer of chocolate covering the cake was the best part! Something definitely to try again! Check out their website, lots of yummy pictures!