Movies in a plate: The March Of The Penguins

I recently channeled Steve Carell from "Dinner for Schmucks" and started working on a series of pictures depicting famous movie posters in vegetarian dishes: a true food nerd experiment.

My first food poster was done right after my trip to Japan where I had an incredible culinary experience. When I returned home I headed straight to the local Japanese supermarket and bought some of my favorite vegetarian ingredients like daikon, seaweed, pickled cucumber and sticky rice.

It was enough to work on my project and eat a decent meal.

I was inspired by the contrast of the black seaweed and the white rice and "The march of the penguins in a plate" wad created. And it didn't taste that bad even though that was a lot of daikon for one small plate (the clouds were made out of daikon). It wad hard to destroy it and eat it, but it was a better alternative than just letting it rot away.

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."