Cube

Apparently, Cube Marketplace and Cafe has a special Lasagna Lab on Tuesday nights.  When I went, I didn’t really care, because it was my best foodie friend’s send-off dinner, and I was so depressed I couldn’t even eat one bite. …NOT. 

But, it was Carina’s last day in LA, and she was on a mission to visit some of the places she hadn’t been yet, so when she said Cube, I jumped, having no idea what to expect, except a great time with a great friend.

I got there at the same time as Noelle, and my new foodie BFF Kayne found us as soon as we snagged a booth.  Once the woman of the hour arrived, our foursome was complete and dinner was ON.

We started with a bottle of People white wine, which led to a slew of bad “we’re People lovers” and “we’re people who love People” jokes for the rest of the night.

And the rest was a delicious blur…

 

Nothing beats a nice, fresh, mozarella and tomato salad…the peaches didn’t even bug the shit out of me like I thougth they would.  I approve.

There was some confusion about what kind of greens these were, but they were so tasty I didn’t really care.  Garliky, vinegary, salty, and crisp. Do it.

 

 The corn pudding was nice.  Sweet enough to be a desert, warm, and comforting.  My picture of it, however, not so much. …don’t forget I take all these SOB’s on my Iphone, and by the 2nd bottle of wine, well, neither she, nor I are professionals any longer.

 

My favorite part of the evening–gegenbrauer braised bacon.  Don’t ask, because I don’t know wtf a gegenbrauer is.  All I need to know is I want more.

 

At some point, I had to get up and move my car–THIS was delivered to the table at that point.  Thankfully, my friends left me some spoonfulls and the cheezy mac didn’t dissapoint.

 

The star of the night–the Lasagna Lab.  Sorry I didn’t take better notes…it was good, though…with…um…cheese…and…there was some eggplant…?  It was light, airy, not too cheesy…served in a pan…which was cute…

 

I LOVED the salad that came with the lasagna.  Nice, light vinnegrette and bleu cheese that cut right through the cheesy pasta.

 

The Chocolate Hazelnut Tart was my idea.  Give me a Nutella-ish option and I’m all over that sukkah. 

 

Cookie dough ice cream trio.  Properly laden with big fat chunks of cookie dough.

Apricot Tart Tartin. Salty, sweet, cruchy, gooood.

 

And we finished up the night with a cobbler trio with some huckleberry in it. Top that, beeeches. 

It was a good night, fun people, good food, good (cheap) wine, and nothing to do but relax. 

ahhhh…thanks Cube!

Senor Fish

Want a big, fat, healthy, fresh, filling, seafood burrito for 7$? Want a fish taco and beer happy hour at 9am? Want to eat really good food in a place that looks like a warehouse filled with cops, both undercover and uniformed? Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. But when I do, Senor Fish in Little Tokyo is the place.  Deeheeheelish.

 

Little Dom’s

A great thing to find, is a place with good food, good drinks, close to the office, and either small enough, or big enough to get lost in, to disappear into, with your friends.

Little Dom’s is one of those places for me.  Whether it’s a lunch break that transports me from Downtown LA to Lil’ I’aly, or a happy hour that suspends the world outside on a string until I’m ready to tackle the 60E, the food, the vibe, the…”it” that is Little Dom’s is “it” for me.  I mean, they have a BREAKFAST PIZZA, for christssakes.

Go there.  Eat it.

 

 

 

 

Red O

My brother-in-law’s birthday was cause for celebration, and since he’s so dramatic, it’s fitting that finding a reservation for a table of 14 on a Sunday night in LA proved to be less than easy. The first two restaurants we tried were inexplicably closed, and a third was catering a private party. Everything else was either too “unique” to be appropriate for a crowd spanning from 23-74 years old (I can’t even IMAGINE my father-in-law’s reaction to anything at The Bazzar, including the decor). So, we took a chance, and when Rick Bayless’s new Red O told us they had a table at 9, we slept in on Sunday morning, and afternoon, and headed out around 8. Boy am I glad we did.

In MY humble opinion, service was great. Guy, our waiter, was perfect. A few in our crowd were more than irked when the bar shut down service at 11:30, but for me, it was a confirmation that God himself was listening to my whisperd prayers (pleasenomoretequila, pleasenomoretequila, pleasenomoretequila…) I mean, it was SUNDAY at 11:30 PM and I have to wake up at SIX!!! sheesh…

I enjoyed the food completely, but my husband still thinks Javier’s is better. Maybe I just like LA so much more than the OC that to me, food tastes better out here. Either way, we’ll be going back.

Shredded Creekstone Beef Short Rib Sope with roasted tomato-green chile sauce – $9

Gleason Ranch Pork Belly Sope with black beans, salsa negra, sesame – $8

Mazatlan Blue Shrimp Cevice with mango, red onion, chipotle chile- $13.50

Bacon Tomato Queso Fundito, with  serrano chile, cilantro, tequila – $7.50

Smoked Mary’s Chicken Taquitos with avocado-tomatillo salsa, watercress – $8

Slow-Cooked Sonoma Duck Taquitos with tomato-arbol chile sauce, arugula -$8.50

Pollo en Mole Poblano with
grilled Mary’s young chicken, homemade mole poblano, black beans, watercress salad
$23

Cochinita Pibil
tortilla-fed, Gleason Ranch suckling pig, achiote-marinated & slow-roasted in banana leaves,
black beans, pickled red onions, roasted habanero salsa
$26