FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Beach Day: Left Coast Edition

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In all of the gazillion LA trips I’ve made over the past few years, can you believe I’ve never done a beach day?!  Yeah, neither can I.  But today that changed as we headed to Ariel’s favorite seafood spot, Malibu Seafood.

At first sight, it reminded me of a souped up Crab Shack.

But when our food arrived, I realized Malibu Seafood is in a league of its own. EVERY single thing we ordered was fantastic.  From fish sandwiches to fish tacos to ceviche to lump crab…  All yum!  And each table was outfitted with malt vinegar and Tapitio, which made for an even happier Kristin.

And then we headed out, full bellied, for some cave exploration.

We were in awe of the rocky goodness – so beautiful!!!

When it came time to brave the rising tide to get to the other side, we sent the boys out first.  If they made it unharmed, we’d follow.

The caves were amazing!  If only there was a way to bring your beach gear with you without soaking it, we could have hung out on the cave side a while longer.  And overall, it ended up being a pretty easy exploration.  So easy, that on our way back I announced to the group how much easier I thought our return was going and instantly ate it.  Luckily, my whoop whoop backwards dive only resulted in a scraped up toe.  I’m still confused, but thankful, of how that happened.

I Found You, Miss New Breakfast

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Val and I have started a new Friday ritual: going out for dinner and A drink and staying out for entirely too many A drinks. And although fun (very, very fun), it leads to a pretty rough Saturday.

The usual rough Saturday brunch spots are Pink Flamingo or Datz.

But this weekend, we decided to deviate from the usual and check out a long time local favorite that neither of us had been to – Pach’s Place.  We surely didn’t have expectations other than to appease our growling bellies, but I think there was a 3 to 5 minute shock factor going on as we plopped ourselves at the bar.

Like…  Who is Bob Hatton?  And is he cool with me drinking his coffee?

All speculation subsided when our food arrived.  Val ordered the Pecan Pancakes and I ordered the Eggs Florentine sans hollandaise.  My eggs arrived with a boat load of spinach and I was glad.  Putting green stuff in a hungover body instantaneously makes me feel a little less terrible.

And then the check arrived.

You’ve got to be kidding me!  Our entire order totaled just under fifteen bucks?  Looks like we’ve added a new spot to our rough Saturday rotation!

Thai Temple

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Between wedding season, races, and Healthy Living Summit planning, Meghann has been a busy little chickadee.  We hadn’t hung out since Rasa-Lila in April and a meet-up was long overdue.

A Thai Temple Sunday for a couple of foodies = an almost perfect plan!

We headed to the flower/veggie tents right away.  I think she and I were both on the same ‘flowers are fun to take pictures of’ page.  I also think we both wished we had greener thumbs and were capable of sustaining such pretty plants.

When we approached the food tents, I was sooooo hungry.   I wanted to order coconut custard right away, but Meghann suggested we walk around and look at everything before diving in.  That idea may seem like common sense to you, but to me, it was genius!

I’m often guilty of food buying remorse in situations like today, but walking around most definitely prevented me from spending entirely too much money on stuff that didn’t taste nearly as cool as it looked.

It only happened once.  I’ll give you a hint, it’s green.

We spread out our Thai smorgasbord and dug in.  And… within ten minutes , we were defeated by full bellies and June heat.

We chatted about how nice it would be to come back with a large group (i.e. larger smorgasbord) when it cools down – cool enough weather that it wouldn’t be torture ordering soup!  But we later established that if we are craving Thai Temple any time soon, that bathing suits are a must so we can dive in the pool the second we get home.

A Happier Hour

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Robbie, Val, and I had happy hour on the brain since mid-morning.  We headed to Mad Dogs & Englishmen after work and scooped up an outdoor table.  It seemed like such a great idea, but it was a tad on the swampy side – even our drinks were sweating!

Our drinks went down super easy and the hummus went down even easier.  Mad Dogs serves their hummus with warm naan, which is never a bad thing.  It hit the spot, for sure.

Val and Robbie ordered some meaty sandwiches that were served with ridiculously tasty  sweet potato fries.  And amongst the meaty menu choices, I was able to find some veg-friendly dishes.

I ordered the Crisp & Fresh salad which was shredded cabbage, jicama, apples, asian pear, basil, pecans, and apple cider vinaigrette (i.e. perfect salad).  But the side of toasted almond and golden raisin basmati, although photogenic, was a little on the dry side and overall so-so.  I wasn’t too disappointed though, because the hummus and salad filled me up quite nicely.