"Tender" Steakhouse - Las Vegas

A little more than a month ago my mother flew from France for two weeks to visit me. Since we hadn't seen each other in a few months we decided to do something fun together to celebrate my birthday and we bought tickets to Las Vegas at the last minute to gamble some money, drink by the pool and enjoy a good celebration meal. After looking at all our options we took a nap and headed straight to the Luxor and give their Steakhouse a shot. 

When we got to the restaurant they told us there was a 10 minutes wait. It seemed long enough to go buy a pack of cigarette, sit at a slot machine for a few minutes to get a free beer, play a few dollars and chain smoke about ten cigarettes in a row. One hour later we walked up to the host again and sat at our table, sneaking in a drink from the casino in my mother's purse. The steaks looked gigantic and the decor was inviting.

Here's what we had for diner

soup tasting trio: split green pea and smoked ham hock soup, Maine lobster bisque and wild mushroom soup

Angus beef carpaccio

surf and turf sliders 16

Kobe and foie gras meatloaf sliders and Alaskan king crab medallion with truffled onion and artichoke aioli  

wild game tasting, broken arrow ranch, texas 36

Nilgai antelope osso buco, axis venison medallion and wild boar loin with farro, fig chutney and cranberry demi-sauce

Creme Brulée

Everything was delicious and I surprised myself wanting more of the soup that my mother had ordered. They were all succulent. I was a bit disappointed that the waiters didn't attempt to sing "Happy Birthday" when they brought my desert but it was so good I forgot about that mishap 

See more of their fabulous menu on their website

http://www.luxor.com/restaurants/tender.aspx

"On the waterfront Café" - Venice

This weekend was beautiful and sunny and we enjoyed every minute of it from enjoying some time on the beach to eating great BBQ, it was filled with spring fun and peppered with savory munchies. After going to the Farmer's Market to eat crêpes we strolled down the boardwalk and gazed at the meditative activities along the bike path before getting to one of my favorite beer garden on the boardwalk: "On the waterfront Café"

We sat down at one of their long tables out on the patio where you inevitably meet other beer drinkers who have to share their table with you. They have great German beer and a diverse food menu with delicacies form Germany, Switzerland and the good ol' USA

Since we had just devoured a delicious lunch we decided to get a small snack with out drinks and opted for their giant pretzel that comes with a sweet honey mustard sauce. It is moist on the inside and crisp on the outside and should definitely be shared. This bar is great for people watching or to enjoy a sunset with a date.

Enter through the gift shop at "Royal-T" - Culver City

It's always nice when Livingsocial sends you an offer you would actually enjoy instead of a manicure in some obscure nail salon in Gardena. So when they had a special coupon for Royal-T, I didn't hesitate to jump on the offer since I really enjoyed going there in the first place.

After smoking a few joints during the morning, I jumped in the car to go get brunch on a Sunday, two days after buying the coupon. Needless to say, it wasn't the best idea since they had sold quite a few of these offers so there was a thirty minute wait before being seated. The good thing about this place is that it is not just a coffee shop. It's also an art gallery and has a fun gift shop with overpriced but unique items from around the world. The art is never great but it's a strange mix of pop art and modern art and is definitely catering to the younger crowds. After tripping out in the gift shop, we finally sat down and stared at the menu. My eyes were going back and forth between the delicious items on the menu and the delicious waitresses in the restaurant dressed in maid uniforms. I was drooling at one point but I don't know if it's because I was very hungry or very horny.

We ended up having their signature Tea:  "ROYAL/T MILK TEA" blend of black tea with rose petals, pieces
of fruit and vanilla, brewed in soymilk. You can share small pot with one person and it is an exquisite mix of spices (I usually don't like tea). We shared a Kobe Beef burger and a French toast with berries (They are made with brioche). They do have mimosas on sunday but we did not try any

Everything I've ever tasted there was good and the dishes are filling. Royal-T has all the ingredients of a cool spot for the local hipsters, and that's why I love it.

http://www.royal-t.org 

"Waitresses dressed in playful maid uniforms with a Lolita-esque touch, serve guests a menu of French- and Japanese-inspired cuisine with local California style."

Renaud's Patisserie - Santa Barbara

The quiche Lorraine was delicious and perfectly cooked, they had a few tables outside where we enjoyed a breakast out in the cold of Santa Barbara that morning. The pastries were delicious and the chocolate croissant was  filled with a lot of chocolate. It's always a pleasure to find some good french comfort good after a morning walk.

Breakfast at "The Wood Café" - Culver City

You know I've been living in America too long when my drink of choice is Dr Pepper, when I dream in English, and when I wake up with a craving for biscuits and gravy for breakfast. This dish is usually easy to find at the small diners around town like Rae's or Pantry's and it always brings back good memories like the time my boss' wife cooked us breakfast before we hit the slopes during our trip to Mammoth (Warning: Eating too many biscuits before snowboarding makes it very hard to bend down to strap the bindings).

After discussing our options with my mother who is in Los Angeles for a short vacation, we decided to go to "Green Peas" which is a great restaurant in Culver City with great healthy and vegetarian options and orange or cucumber infused water. However, it seems like every time I try to take my mother to a restaurant, it's either closed on that day or it doesn't exist anymore. Do I learn my lessons? Do I call ahead to see if the restaurant is open? Do I try to make reservations? Nope.... "Green Peas" was being remodeled and we had to jump in the car again to look for another restaurant.

We ended up not far from there at "The Wood Café" in Mar Vista. It's a lovely restaurant with a fire pit outside for dinners and late drinks. Their breakfast menu was very enticing and the colorful dishes on the tables around me looked flavorful. The best part: they even offered a "Southern Biscuit" (eggs, biscuit, sausage and gravy). Their menu says (No Side) but strangely enough you do get a choice of potatoes or salad. After ordering my Arnold Palmer (Iced tea and lemonade for those of you who didn't know what that was) I started stressing out a little because my phone was slowly running out of battery (I never learn that lesson either) and I thought I wouldn't be able to take a picture of my delicious breakfast. As soon as my biscuits came, I took my pictures and started devouring my breakfast. It was probably the best biscuits and gravy I've ever had at a restaurant and the service was great (I ended up with two glasses of Arnold Palmer at the same time at some point when the waitress saw how thirsty I was).

For more information go to their website: "The Wood Café"

Chocolate Crepes

Last night I had the worst craving for some chocolate but the closest thing that resembled chocolate in my house was a bottle of Hershey's Syrup. I am not a big fan of that syrup but going to buy something else was a little out of the question since my car was out of battery and I couldn't walk anywhere so I decided to make the best out of a bad situation by making crepes.

So I pulled out of a bowl, took 4 eggs out of the fridge, mixed them with 1 cup of milk and one cup of flour, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of sugar, and since there was no way I was going to wait an hour before making my first crepe I added a little bit of beer in the mix so the dough would settle faster.

I heated up the pan (I used a regular pan but you can buy a cheap crepe maker online)
 and greased it with butter and when it was warm enough the nigh turned into a crepes party...and of course I ended up eating too many of them

Omelet Bolognese

One of the things I truly hate doing is having to throw away food that has gone bad in my fridge. so when I started breakfast and realized the ground meat in my fridge was one day away from its expiration date, I decided to cook it before it was too late. I made a bolognese sauce so I could use it in pasta later and I remembered a delicious brunch I had in an Italian restaurant where I had a bolognese omelet so I decided to make one. I added some parmesan on top of the omelet.