Flotsam and jetsam
Wow! So much to talk about… Where to start…
So, my Rudy’s BBQ order arrived last Friday. Totally would’ve grilled over the weekend were it not for Felt Club in LA. (Felt Club deserves its very own post, which I hope to get to after wrapping up this post.) I’ll be giving the “sauses” a try tonight though, and let y’all know how it goes.
Yay! I just ordered Adobe Design Premium CS3. SO can’t wait to start working with it.
I had cause to visit this site today, and thought it deserves a mention. Considering my love for most things tiny, it’s no wonder I’ve been a fan of Minimus for some time. Granted, I’ve never ordered from them, but I totally heart the concept. They even have a blog, should you desire to stay on top of the latest and greatest… or, uh, tiniest.
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but… How is it I only now found out about yelp? I stumbled upon it when prepping for LA this past weekend.
(ceiling of the tiny patio at the not-open-at-10:15 a.m. Scoops)
O. M. G. From now on, if I am EVER in LA, Scoops is forever a must-stop. A.Ma.Zing.
Stopped in after Felt Club on Sunday. It was especially special because I got to chat with the owner while waiting in line to get in to Felt Club and Scoops is never open on Sundays, but agreed to open JUST for FC.
AND, Sunday having been National Ice Cream Day and all, I can’t imagine a girl getting any luckier.
After departing the sauna that was the Ukranian Culture Center, I joined the legions lined up to enter the tiny little ice cream shop. Chatting with the folks in front of me, I gathered important intel. “The flavors don’t often reappear; they are constantly changing. But Brown Bread is one that is always around. It has caramel and Grape Nuts sprinkled in it!”
(After seeing a program a few years ago on how Grape Nuts are made, the moniker Brown Bread made perfect sense to me.)
I was also tipped off that the single scoop for $2 was a very generous portion AND that you could request two flavors for the single scoop. No question then what I was going to do! Just a matter of picking 2 flavors. AND they let you sample any of ‘em.
I knew FOR SURE I was getting the Almond Horchata. But what for my second flavor? Strawberry with lavender water, green tea with ginger, pistachio with rose water, mascarpone, …? Then I spied the Guinness chocolate. After tasting a sample, there was NO question. Out of this world amazing.
Tim, Sofie and I drove down to LA Saturday and stayed at the Westin Bonaventure.
Westin: home of the Heavenly Bed and, as I discovered, the Heavenly Crib!
(It was a good place to stay, except for the rave we could faintly yet unmistakably hear in our 21st-floor room going on gawdknowswhere until 2:30a.m. Tim suggested that maybe we are really Cylons. When I again awoke to the sound around 2a.m., I seriously pondered the Cylon concept.)
I had thought about attending the Modern Day Fables reception on Saturday (thanks for tipping me off, Becky), but fate had other plans.
As we approached the hotel, I saw THE sign: Ciudad. Why, that’s the Border Grill’s folks’ other restaurant! But it looked like it was probably closed for the weekend… you know, in one of those classic cement-strips-only-open-for-the-downtown-business-crowd-on-weekdays buildings.
Once settled in our room, I figured I’d call, just to see… I’d've never forgiven myself if I hadn’t. Anyway, they were OPEN! and could seat us. Needless to say, we headed immediately across the street.
I LOVE Border Grill, and was excited to check out Ciudad for the first time. Where BG is Mexican-influenced, Ciudad is South and Central America, as well as Spain.
We started off with pomegranate margaritas. (I refused the salt rim, but requested sugar instead. Highly recommend!) Then some delectable Argentine Empanadas, stuffed with wild mushrooms and served with a warm chipotle sauce. Also some heirloom melons with serrano ham, topped with spicy ground hazelnuts.
For dinner, I had another margarita and the Argentine Gaucho Steak, which, well, hell, I just gotta give you the whole scoop, copied from their website:
Argentine Gaucho Steak
caramelized jalapeno and roasted garlic stuffed all natural beef rib eye served with an herb and garlic chimichurri sauce, bacon mashed potatoes, and a warm black bean, corn, and spinach salad
I think Tim had salmon, but I honestly don’t remember. I was too blissed out with my meal.
We were too full for dessert, but not stupid… We ordered a slice of the 12-layer rum cake to go. Take a thinly sliced layer of vanilla cake, soak it in rum, dip it in dark chocolate… and repeat 12 times. Served with strawberries, dark chocolate sauce and crema fresca.
YET, none of those delicacies were the BEST PART. That would go to my Cuban latte served with a small pitcher of house-made piloncillo syrup. My new love. (I asked for the remaining syrup to-go.) I’d never heard of piloncillo before. My friend Google informs me that it is a Mexican brown sugar. This stuff at Ciudad though also tasted of cinammon, allspice, and other spices. Nirvana.
(MUST FIND PILONCILLO SYRUP RECIPE.)
Topping off the wonderful outing: While I went to change Sofie before leaving, Tim was chatting with our friendly waitress and mentioned it was our first “nice dinner” outing with Sofia. The waitress stepped away and returned with two vouchers for free dessert on our next visit. Awww. :)
Well, unexpectedly, Tim just brought me a Mandalay Martini. (What a guy.) It’s best consumed chilled. Duty calls.
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GP #8: It’s official, Scott…
It’s better than I could’ve imagined… and I love the sadisticness of Dark Doc Ali.
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