Get Fat Date with Afek

Junior year TOLO date.  Right after
winning my first state championship
title

Afek Kodesh is one of my closest friends from high school.  Although we both chose USC, my busy schedule with diving, and his demanding classes in the engineering school make it difficult for us to see each other as often as we would like.  When we have the chance, Afek and I like to go on what we call "get fat dates".  We catch up on our new and exciting lives at SC, and reminisce on the good old days at Overlake at exciting new restaurants (usually of my choice).  So far, we have visited Finn McCool's, an irish pub on main street in Santa Monica, and Umami Burger (he's absolute favorite-which I will sure to post about soon.)

The best thing to ever pass through
my mouth and into my stomach.

Our most recent voyage involved a late night trip to Venice Beach, one of  my favorite neighborhoods in LA.  Besides the beach, skate park, boardwalk, fascinating people and culture, the restaurants and food are phenomenal.  Although I eventually see myself ending up in San Diego, if I were to permanently live in LA, Venice Veach is where you would find me.

Originally I wanted to take him to a mexican restaurant called "Mexikosher" in West LA, but unfortunately it is only open for lunch.  Us both being Kosher, him a little stricter than myself, it is a place we will eventually have to try.

Our reservation was at a small latin american spot off Rose in Venice.  Now I have been here twice before, but always for brunch.  I must say that their huevos rancheros were as good as my last trip to mexico, and the grilled salmon tacos were delicious as well.  Whenever asked my favorite food it is a no brainer for me, fish tacos.  The meal I will eat before I die are the fish tacos at the Kilauea Fish Market on the island of Kaui.  The salmon tacos at Oscar's were some of the best I have had in LA, but still do not compare to the freshness of the fish and tortillas from the Market.

Although brunch was never a let down, I wanted to try the trendy cuisine for dinner.  Our reservations were for 7:30 thursday night.  After hitting awful traffic west on the 10 we arrived around 7:45, but still had to wait another 20 minutes for our table.  The spot was completely packed and loud (which afek doesn't prefer.  He complained about it at Finn McCools.. maybe he just really wants to go on a romantic candle lit dinner with me at some fancy french restaurant?  Not really my forte).  When finally given the choice to sit at the bar, or wait a little longer, we were starving and immediately took our spots on the bar stools.  Sitting right on the counter was really fun to watch the chefs prepare all the authentic creations and side dishes.  One dish I noticed constantly on a skillet was some sort of Brussel sprouts.  Dish is the Brussel sprouts with applewood smoked bacon.  I'm sure its delicious (minus the bacon).

When looking at the menu, Afek and I were both starving, so everything sounded good.  For me it was between the salmon tacos (I know, I don't like change) and the Chicken enchilada with mole.  Afek and I both went for the enchilada.  I've had mole a few times before, different experiences each time, but our waitress said it was becoming more and more of a popular dish, so I felt pretty confident with my decision.

Organic Chicken Enchilada with Mole
(Sesame seeds, peanuts, raisins, chile ancho,
chile poblano, raw cocoa) Served with
Ajillo rice. 

While we waited for our meal, Afek and I talked about where we see ourselves living after school, (me-somewhere in cali, and him- in some city... maybe NYC?) while we watched the whirlwind of a kitchen behind the counter.

Once our food arrived, we devoured it.  The mole was delicious.  Mole I've had in the past has always had somewhat of a smokey taste to it, something I've never been too fond of mixed with the coca underlying tone.  This mole was sweeter, a great combination with the shredded chicken and hidden peanuts and raisins.  The Chile ancho and poblano gave it that extra kick that tied the whole dish together.  The simple rice was a perfect side to clean your palate in between the rich bites.  Although the two enchiladas were not extremely large, the thick sauce filled me up pretty quickly.  But that doesn't mean there wasn't room for dessert (it was a Get Fat Date after all).

Instead of ordering a desert at the restaurant, I wanted to walk around and show off Abbott Kinney to Afek. Although I was just planning on going to N'ice Cream with him, we ended up on the trendy street during food truck friday. Probably around 40 or so trucks were lined up on either side of the street, with many dessert options to choose from.  Because Afek still hasn't been to Diddy Riese, I wanted him to experience the ice cream cookie sandwich magic. The Chunck-n-Chip truck first caught my eye and we immediately checked out the selection.  Although their interesting combinations of unique cookies and ice cream flavors (blue lavender and french toast stuck out the most), the line was too long and moving too slowly for our non existent patience.  Instead we went to the belgian waffle truck.  The line wasn't too long outside the Crispy Waffle & Frite truck.  Although the fried chicken and fries delivered in cones didn't look too appetizing, I couldn't help but notice the hot waffles coming out the back side of the truck.  I specialized my order with a Liege Waffle with vanilla ice cream and Ghiredelli Chocolate sauce.  Afek just got a waffle with strawberries and the chocolate.  Although they put a little too much ice cream on top (can't believe I'm actually saying that), I was able to finish the whole thing!)  Afek on the other hand, was defeated by the massiveness of the waffle.  Even though he argued that I didn't finish all of my rice at dinner, I won the fat date.  Celia. 1.  Afek. 0.

We finished off our date by going  back to my apartment and watching the most recent New Girl on Hulu, and then I drove him back to his apartment on campus.  All together I would say it was definitely a successful date.