Trustd_1

took another impromptu trip to SoCal over the weekend.

LACMA - LA County Museum of Modern Art (De Young South)



favorite, no nonsense grub spot, Savoy Kitchen in Alhambra



hit our fave dessert place, Salju, afterwards



lunch at Tasty Garden before heading back home. didn't take very many pics this time. was a hit & run trip

Trustd_1

rewind to dinner w/some other friends a couple Fridays ago. went to Chapeau. first time at their relocated spot. it's much bigger and nicer. food is still very good.

duck salad



scallop risotto



seafood main dish, similar to cioppino



some sort of tropical fruit dessert. was pretty good

UnkieTrunkie

It was great to finally meet and talk with you in person last night!

Thought I'd interrupt the thread with that killer burger suggestion.

Parkfield Cafe.

However, do NOT use Parkfield-Coalinga Road. Use Vineyard Canyon Rd. or Cholame Rd.

. . . while you're in that part of the world, there's Paso (but that's yet another road trip).

Also, for French in SF, there's my suggestion, but be forewarned, it's very authentic, and short on the grand presentation. That said, the snails are tasty.

Trustd_1

thanks for the tips, UnkleTrunkie! was nice chatting w/you at Joey's, btw. cool to see others not afraid to put mileage on the s2ks and enjoying the open & backroads too. :thumbsup:

i'll definitely check out Parkfield Cafe someday. That French place in SF sounds nice too.

oh, to you and others, don't be shy about sharing your own adventures or suggestions. this is "my" thread, but that's the reason i created it... to share and hear about others'

Trustd_1

had a pretty eventful weekend, to say the least. will try to share a lil bit later. busy day already tho.

Trustd_1

taking a late lunch, but not really eating anything, as we're going to be eating some pretty filling stuff later tonight. lemme throw up a few pics to get my mind off my hunger. actually, this prob will have the opposite effect. oh well... LOL


finally decided to try the revamped Joe's of Westlake, last Friday. food aside, the remodel did WONDERS to the place. couple of my friends used to swear by the old spot, but imo, it was just that.... OLD & decrepit. the new joint is fresh and has an old school, hipster vibe to it. reminds me a lot of several LA eateries. the food is better too, but i'll add a few comments about that below.



the Goose (and cranberry) was loose. drinks are pretty dang cheap there! well, relative to how things are today, esp in SF. only $8 for my vodka cranberry. would be about twice that in any Johnny Come Lately foodie place in SF, esp downtown.




fried calamari was pretty good. we liked the consistency, as every bite was crispy, and the coating was just right, not too heavy. it seemed to lack a little flavor tho. the cocktail sauce was the same.



gf had the bbq ribs and spaghetti. she was actually too full after eating the calamari and sourdough bread, so she only had one rib. she liked it. i thought they were really good. they were tender, and the sauce was a nice combo of sweet and tangy/spicy.



i had the ribeye and ravioli. the steak was cooked perfectly, medium rare, as i ordered, but it coulda used a lil something too. to be fair, i didn't get any of the optional sauces, like the peppercorn, or others that i didn't really notice. i don't like a lot of goop on my food, esp steaks.



the cream cheese and butter cake was YUMMY! i'm not really a cake person, but it was pretty awesome, moist and not to sweet.

all in all, we were pleased. the service is a little uneven. the waiter we had was very friendly, but he disappeared a lot and took a while to bring us things we requested (cocktail menu, straws, extra fork, check). hopefully, it'll be better next time.

Trustd_1

gf's friend/my buddies' sis gave us another pair of her Club Level tickets, so went to Saturday's game vs the Rockies. Cueto was pitching again. he's my fave Giant now. he's a warrior and has a definite love for the game and some flair.



pre-game - rain or shine, AT&T Park is THE BEST park in the L!



of course we had to get some ballpark eats, corned beef/beef brisket/turkey sliders, corned beef & cheese tater tots and fish & chips.



i'm not about to incriminate myself, esp on the internet, so here's the only adult beverage pic i'm gonna post. let's just say that i picked that day of all days to get a little frisky and had almost as many beers as there are innings (regulation game). all but 2 of those were w/in 40 mins too. the game went into extra innings, 13, and well, it was A LONG/short night afterwards.

anyway, it was another AWESOME game! Cueto didn't get the win this time, but we came back to tie the game at 1-even in the bottom of the 9th. i forget who had the game winning RBI, but everyone in the stands was on pins & needles (most wanted to go home cuz it was COLD & rainy)

Trustd_1

Sunday was, of course, Mom's Day, so I treated her right. We hit the Top of The Mark for their champagne brunch. was a while since I've been there, but it's one of the longest running. The Carnelian Room, Fairmont, and a few other perennial, special occasion brunches and restaurants, in general, are all gone.



round 1



round 2



no disrespect, but gotta be real. view & ambience >>>> food quality. that's the case with most of those types of joints tho. but Mom was happy, so it's all good.




round 3



i was actually still a little "affected" from Saturday's Giants game festivities, so i took it a little easy during brunch. i can put it away like no one's business. i always have. it's a gift. i called off the dogs after about 4 plates tho. this was dessert, which was a little disappointing. nothing was really worth mentioning. again, the setting and service was nice, and my Mom liked those aspects. she's actually way more picky about food than i am, so it's hard to please her. she's a pretty simple person, but i guess she's used to eating well from her corporate days.

Trustd_1

and, just because they are/have been my squad for YEARS and through thick and thin, here are shots I just took of my completed sets of the 3 Kobe bobbleheads that commemorate his retirement. they're the OFFICIAL ones, straight from Staples Center (not sold in stores). they were given away at 3 of his last LAKER games. we flew down for the first one, but i couldn't make the other two because they were on weeknights. i ended up getting the other 2 bobbleheads on Ebay. i'm not into collectibles, but i HAD to have these!


sorry for the douchey watermarks, but i spent a lota effort & $$$ getting these. i'm pretty territorial too. LOL