For The Love Of Umami Burger

My favorite burger place “Umami Burger” has opened it’s doors in Thousand Oaks, I can’t be more excited to not have to drive to LA anymore for it.  Although driving to LA has it’s perks, I could spend all day looking for cute little coffee shops or cupcakeries with a nice unique charm about them.  Shouldn’t that be the reason most places open it’s doors?  Everyone wants to visit a place that has a little twist to make it stand out…right?   This is what makes Umami Burger very special too me.  Chef Adam Fleischman takes these burgers to a whole new level, the idea of making something different to stand out from it’s competition is what makes a business succeed.   Everything is good- I do mean everything on that menu right down to a cheesy tator tot and you have to really think about that, how can a tator tot be different? Creamy cheese is hidden in there.  I love it when places hide stuff that is so simple yet incredibly tasty in my food.  My latest burger discovery by this incredible chef  is the “Korean Galbi Burger”-oh and there’s kimchi hidden in there. If the picture doesn’t make your mouth drool than maybe your just not ready for Umami.  If your a foodie, take the plunge!

The Beet Salad is perfectly made with the right amount of dressing and condiments that compliment each other.

Cheesy Tots….I mean to say….big plump creamy cheese tots with a nice crunchiness to the outside.

This is what brought me back to this place time and time again….”The Truffle Burger” It is sweet, salty and medium rare.   It took me awhile to get away from this burger to venture onto the rest of their menu but I’m glad I did because now the Korean Galbi burger has taken 1st place in my heart.

Read Full Post »

3Twenty Wine Lounge in Los Angeles

So after the Lakers took a terrible loss to the Clippers my depressed mood needed a pick me up and we made our way down to 3Twenty Wine Lounge in Los Angeles.  We called in advance to let them know we were heading over after the Laker game and we arrived just before they closed their kitchen at 11pm.  They made sure we put our order in and they gave us a complimentary wine tasting with our meal which I thought was really nice of them.   This is a really nice place to come and do a little wine tasting with a group of friends or with your loved one.  I like places with dim lighting, it sets the mood for a nice romantic date or a nice atmosphere when you’re having wine with friends.  They serve Tapas style food here, so you order several dishes to share.  Great place, service, food, wine and there is out door seating as well.  I will be back again soon. (Don’t forget to click on the pictures for a better view)

2 Wine Tasting Machines both with different wines- all set up for you to do your own tastings of the variety of wines they have on display. You can also keep track of how much your spending during your tasting as it all goes on a card you hold on to and you go as many times as you like to the machines and it gets tacked on to your meal at the end. Pretty cool!

They gave us a Complimentary Wine Tasting of this really good wine-

The meat was nice and tender and melted on my tongue….I don’t like meat any other way, I highly recommend this dish.

Tender and cooked to perfection – The Scallops with Asparagus in a nice Olive Oil Pesto Sauce.

This next dish had interesting flavors- it was lamb meat with feta cheese and  mint over thinly cut fries with a salty finish.

Read Full Post »

Barcelona, Spain- Part 1- Architectural work by Gaudi And Tapas 24 Restaurant

Our final destination stop in Spain was Barcelona and though it was not my favorite city due to the amount of tourists it attracted, we still had a pleasant stay in the city.   It was definitely very crowded and reminded me of New York with how the crowds all flocked to the same places.   The food as usual was incredible and I enjoyed the farmer’s market and loved seeing the works of art from Antoni Gaudi.

I know this is a bad shot, but I wanted to give you an idea how crowded this city is with tourists and locals.  The one thing I really enjoyed while roaming the city streets was all the musicians playing their instruments at every corner.

This is really impressive, the work started on this Cathedral by Paula Del Villar in 1882.   One year later, the modernist architect Antoni Gaudí took over as lead architect at the age of 31. From that moment on, Gaudí devoted most of his life to the construction of the church.  He passed away and this Cathedral is still till this day being completed and is said that it will be completed in the next 20 years.

In this picture you can see where they have added on to Gaudi’s work

Click on these pictures so you can see all the detail put into his work

Everything depicted here is from Gaudi’s sketches.

Inside this magnificent Church

The ceiling-

Zoom in on Ceiling on next picture

Spiral Staircase, stain glass window

Gaudi is known for his work of art being very deep and somewhat disturbing as in this sculptured piece that is on the outside face of this Cathedral. A Man slaying children.

One of Gaudi Sketches and the front entrance to the Church as the following sculpture to his sketch

We also visited the house Gaudi designed for himself that is just really nice- this is a picture of the outside of it

I wish my pictures came out better as there are some more amazing rooms to this place that my camera did horribly because of the lack of light

Outside way top of his house

So…..onto the food part of this trip

We stopped for a bite to eat at Tapas 24 and it was simply delicious, every bite of everything was just not enough to go around that table of ours.

Eggplant cooked to perfection!

Damn this was good, I can almost taste it again…

Okay so we ordered two plates of this stuff…..there was just not enough to enjoy between the 4 of us.  Salted Chocolate sitting in EVO!  I’m so making this…  This restaurant was located in what our area would be “Rodeo Drive”- as they had the fancy Cartier and Ferrari stores just down the street from here. I got in trouble for taking a picture of this in store Ferrari model….. ;/

I’m going to finish this Barcelona trip on a 2nd post as there is so much more to cover…

Read Full Post »

Toledo, Spain- Medieval Architecture and Meson Palacios Restaurant

We took a train out to visit the city of Toledo. This was one of my favorite Cities that we visited along with Seville and Granada which I have more to share with you in my upcoming posts.

Interesting facts about the City of Toledo-

It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive cultural and monumental heritage as one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire and place of coexistence of Christian, Jewish andMuslim cultures, as well as the place where harsh religious persecutions were held against the Jews.

Many famous people and artists were born or lived in Toledo, including Al-Zarqali, Garcilaso de la Vega, Eleanor of Toledo, Alfonso X and El Greco. It was also the place of important historic events such as the Visigothic Councils of Toledo

DON’T FORGET TO CLICK ON THE PICTURES FOR A BIGGER CLEARER VIEW.

This is the Gate entrance to the city which is really cool, like something from the movies with the knights men and their horses would go charging in at.  I couldn’t get a good shot because we took a bus up the steep hill, which couldn’t be done with kids because of the climb.  This is a very off center shot…  You can look it up on google, it’s pretty cool.

The detail put into the sculptures on these Cathedrals is just mind blowing.

The inside Ceiling Dome shape with this painting in it and sculptures all around it.   Beautiful!

The night time photography on my camera sucks, but I tried to capture the whole piece leading up to the ceiling dome.

At the end of this hallway lead to another room showing a really beautiful dome ceiling artwork as well..

I’m moved by the the detail emphasis on the ceiling art piece.

All of the streets in the city of Toledo were this small…only scooters and tiny cars roamed through here.  My kind of place

Yeah….that’s me and my little girl

Stopped for a bite to eat and I had some fantastic Paella and a Spanish Omelet At Meson Palacios.  I highly recommend this place if your in the City and judging by the reviews I’m not the only one that agrees.

Couldn’t leave without ordering a cup of Cafe Con Leche….you know how we are about our Starbucks here, well their little cups of coffee you can get almost anywhere was my addiction.

After roaming around the city we found this mouth watering bakery and discovered the sweet tooth addiction here to try in Toledo, Spain is called Marzipan- the freshly made stuff melts in your mouth it is delicious and you can get it with fruit fillings, egg filling or just plain the way I liked it best.  We purchased this from San Tome Marzipans store.

I really wanted to buy a sword after seeing them in almost every store window.   I think I would’ve caused some mayhem at the airport though if I even attempted to bring it back….  I was being a little kid the whole time whining to my man how much I wanted one. hehehe….I didn’t win in the end….I didn’t get one…

Read Full Post »

Madrid, Spain- Favorite Tapas Bar and Architectural Beauty

I just spent the last week in a half in Spain, and it is the most beautiful architecturally astounding place I’ve ever seen.  There is so much art to this Country in all 5 cities we visited and I’m thinking Spain to be the place architects would flock to for inspiration.  After a long 9 hour straight flight, we landed our feet onto the soil of the beautiful city of Madrid.  The narrow streets weave you in and out connecting you from one alley way type of street  to the next as little establishments such as coffee bars and tapas bars surround you at every hidden corner.  I really loved it that the tourists where extinct here this made me love the place immensely, I wanted to surround myself around the locals and indulge in their food.  I avoided Starbucks the entire time on my vacation trip and took interest in their little coffee bars.   The first thing I noticed while riding in the Shuttle bus on our way to our Apartment was the engravings on the buildings and Cathedrals or the statues engraved into a sort of monument and even the streets are paved into a picturesque beauty that you find in paintings that you never knew such a place could exist.  The people are so kind, they smile and help you without you even asking, they take interest in you.

Click on the pictures for a bigger view.

The Royal Castle

The Royal Castle

Top of The Royal Castle

Some rain the 2nd day we were there.

I love narrow street shots, my favorite kind of photography.  Loving the street brick type layout.

Saw these masks being sold at a Farmer’s Market in Madrid and thought it was interesting…..hmmmm

The thing to eat in Spain is Jamon Iberico, thinly slices of Ham…..this stuff was so tasty, I think we had it at every Tapas Bar we hit the duration of our stay in Spain.

The food here has taken my palate to a place it has never been and all I can say is the Spainards know how to cook and make food look pretty too.   One of my favorite places we stopped to eat at was Juanalaloca, clearly a locals favorites as the place was just crowded from wall to wall with  them.  The food was incredible, the Tapas and for those of you that don’t know it just means small portions of food meant to be shared at your table with your guests.  Everything I tried left me hungry for more as just trying a bite or two was like teasing me with wanting more but that’s the point of eating Tapas, you try everything and get a great variety in the process.   Everything I tried was exceptional, melting in my mouth at every bite.  There is one thing I learned about the eating process in Spain,  there is a siesta time which means a short nap is taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal so every food establishment closes their doors and it’s hard to get a bite to eat during this time frame which usually runs from early afternoon into nearly 7pm for dinner time.  Breakfast is also not a meal time favorite in Spain as you can’t find a place that offers very much, your average croissant and coffee is what you will find, though I did spot many people having beer at noon in small glasses as like a lunch time stop at an outdoor bar type of setting.   There is no such thing as a TO GO cup, you drink your coffee there or your not having any.  :)  I think we found a place in Granada that had to go cups tiny little kids size starbucks cups and they use the phrase “Take Away.”  Which I thought was cute.

My favorite sweet spot was Valor….chocolate with fresh from the oven Churros……Amazing…

Different Varieties of Chocolate for dipping the Churros in……sweet heavenly….

Read Full Post »

Ink.Sack

Everyone has a favorite on the TV show “Top Chef,” my favorites are Michael Voltaggio, Fabio Viviani and Richard Blais.  I just love their cooking techniques and their personalities that reflected on the show even though each of them are so different and unique in their own way and style.  So, after hearing about Michael Voltaggio’s sandwich shop “Ink.Sack” that opened on Melrose in West Hollywood I just had to check this place out.   I was so impressed, we tried 4 different sandwich’s on the menu and after the first bite of each sandwich our automatic response was…”Oh..Wow.”  So your thinking how good can a sandwich be?  Well, if you haven’t seen Michael Voltaggio’s style of creativity on Top Chef you wouldn’t understand.  He really knows how to play with flavor in his food creations.   We tried 4 different sandwich’s The Ahi Tuna with sweet pickles that I just gobbled up, Bahn Mi- with pork belly in it, loved it, Jose Andres lots of meat and spice flavors and Maple Turkey which melted in your mouth it had a nice salty sweet finish.  Topped it off with some really tasty cookies.  Just amazing….we couldn’t stop eating to say the least.  We wanted to try a variety from the menu so we shared.  I loved that the sandwich’s were on the small size, the perfect size for me, though I got stuffed trying to get a taste of 4 sandwich’s.  It was a really pleasant surprise to meet Chef Michael Voltaggio himself as I was walking around the corner looking for Ink.Sak and I ran into him and couldn’t help but to grab a shot with him.   He has another restaurant just a door down from his sandwich shop opening up this week that I’m curious about.

We actually headed out to eat at one of our Mexican food stops in the Valley and after finding out there was a wait we decided to go and check out Michael Voltaggio’s place in West Hollywood, so naturally I don’t have my nice camera on me to grab some shots for this review, every shot was done from the Iphone 4 and I didn’t grab one shot of the sandwich’s we had.

Located on Melrose in West Hollywood

Spicy Tuna

San Andres

Inside Shot-  2 bar type tables inside to Stand and Eat at, as well as outside.

Read Full Post »

Asaka Sushi in Woodland Hills

I really enjoyed Asaka Sushi in Woodland Hills,  we went during happy hour and got great prices on the half off menu.  We ordered everything from that menu.    I’m using a camera in these shots that I’m not familiar with so excuse the some great and not so great photographs.

Everything we ordered was under $4 bucks on the happy hour menu that goes on daily between 4-7pm. Outdoor seating available too, which is always nice.

Sashimi

Albacore and Yellowtail

Dynamite Roll (really tasty)

Crunchy Hand Rolls

Spicy Tuna Crunchy

Read Full Post »

Kanda Sushi in Thousand Oaks

Kanda Sushi is pretty decent sushi for the area I live in.  The service is excellent, I love the outdoor seating as that makes taking kids easy.   The spicy tuna is not spicy at all nor do they serve it with a spicy sauce  and the Sashimi tuna was okay so I recommend to venture on with Chef  recommendations- sit at the bar.   The fish is pretty fresh and melts in your mouth like butter.  I say stick with your favorite fish pieces to really savor in the freshness of the fish and stay away from the tuna dishes that have lots going on.  Most of the items I tried I thought was delicious.

Appetizer: Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice  (very tasty, highly recommended- not spicy)

Spicy Rocky Shrimp (this had nice spiciness to it, very flavorful)

Pompano (House Favorite)  (very tasty, no soy sauce needed)

Spicy Albacore  (spicy and good)

Albacore (yummy)

Sashimi Tuna

Read Full Post »

Blue Stove @ Thousand Oaks Mall

I love the ambiance, service and food  at The Blue Stove  located at the Thousand Oaks Mall inside of Nordstroms.  All the rave reviews on yelp is what made me want to try this place out.  It’s on the pricey side but the food is really good.  The portions sizes are said to be small and the waiter did mention it is meant to be shared with others at the table and you order several plates, but I think for lunch one plate is perfect to fill one person.

So, we ordered thinking the portions sizes was really small but we got lots of food on our table and our tummy’s really full.  For $60 bucks this is what we got…

Sweet Potato fries with pesto dipping sauce (cooked to perfection) Really tasty sauce.

Chicken Tacos (mini size) The most rave reviews on yelp was about these.  I loved the lime flavors in the dressing on this, my husband thought they were just okay.

My favorite dish is gnocchi so I had to try this dish, and I absolutely loved it!  The combination of flavors worked really good with the gnocchi and though I’ve never had gnocchi seared to a crisp like this before, it really worked out really good with the creamy buttery sauce.

My husband loved this dish, it is a braised beef and a very difficult picture to photograph…lol (it looks like mud I know, but the lighting is dim in this place and it didn’t make it any easier that the dish was really dark in color.)  Incredible flavors in this dish, highly recommended.

The Risotto with seared Scallops and green beans (so insane good!)  I think I’m remaking my Risotto dish I made last week and I’m going to sear the scallops next time as it really adds some nice flavor to the dish.

Nice bar area inside for happy hour

Read Full Post »

Italia Deli and Bakery in Agoura Hills

 Italia Deli and Bakery, is a favorite among us locals! I always find something new to pick up and try in here, and I’m here weekly.  I’ve tried their Ham, Turkey and Cheese on a hard roll sandwich and it is insane good.   Loved their Hot Pastrami Sandwich with mustard and pickles…mmm.  I order the small sandwich and split it with my husband because the sandwich’s are so filling, packed with meat and goodness as they do not hold back on the meat here.  The menu is huge, they carry a large variety of sandwich’s  here and the meat is so fresh you can’t even compare it to those big chain sandwich places like Togo’s or Subway.    They have a nice selection of wines and hard to find Products.   They have prepared meals and freshly made pasta and sauces you can purchase to make your own dishes at home.  The bread is baked fresh daily!  They have these quick on the go desserts that are yummy too, like a small Tiramisu cup or Cannoli’s and cheesecake too.  They also just received recognition from Channel 5 News as one of the top 10 Deli’s around.  This place really draws in the crowd come lunch time, if your looking to try it out, avoid 12-2pm rush hour lunch.  :)  They take orders by phone and they cater as well.  Prices are incredible for what you order here, a large sandwich will run you 10 bucks and it’s bigger than your foot long at Subway and packed with fresh meat and with way better bread too!  The small sandwich is big enough for me and my husband to eat.

 

Half of a small size Hot Pastrami Sandwich on a Hard Roll

Salad With Cranberries, Candied Walnuts and Blue Cheese..Yum

Turkey, Ham and Cheese on a hard roll with extra dressing.  My favorite sandwich. ( Small size sandwich)

This is what I pick up on a weekly basis, Ham, prosciutto, fresh baked bread and cookies…   (so incredibly good)

Read Full Post »