800 Degrees

After adventures in Seattle, Whistler, Los Angeles, and Hawaii, winter break slowly comes to an end.  I enjoyed my vacation at home and skiing in Whistler with the family, and my hours of training at SC and the University of Hawaii, but back to school it is!  After a long and uncomfortable plane ride I was greeted in my freshly cleaned apartment by my roommate Kate and her mom.  After unpacking, showering and doing some laundry, they generously invited me out to dinner with them.  It has almost become a ritual, as one of our parents comes to visit, they treat my roommates and myself out for a nice meal.  Knowing that I am the "restaurant connoisseur" of the group, they asked me for a recommendation.  They definitely weren't looking for anywhere too fancy, but I still took this opportunity to cross off a place from my wish list.

Kate, Andrea, and I at 800 Degrees!

I take my Urbanspoon account very seriously.  Along with being sure to check into all the restaurants I visit in order to keep my "dine line" up to date, I also keep a wish list.  That way I can remember all of the places I want to try.  Whether reading about them on blogs, hearing reviews, or simply walking past them on any of my adventures, I am always sure to add them to my list.  

I suggested 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria in Westwood.  Although we would be crossing into Bruin Territory, the positive reviews I've read on yelp and other blogs influenced me to take the risk.  Besides my diving meets and other sporting events, I will also venture into UCLA for one other foodie addiction, Diddy Reise.  The ice cream cookie sandwiches are too good to pass up.
  

Although I have visited the area several times before, my adventures have always led me to the Diddy Reise side of town.  After parking and walking to the restaurant, I noticed much more upscale vibe to Westwood.  Passing Palomino and other nice restaurants made me want to come back and try out some of the other places Westwood has to offer.  The Glendon Bar and Kitchen particularly caught my eye.  Add to wish list: Check.

The pizza line after we sat down.

Gorgonzola Salad
Butter lettuce, walnuts, dried cranberries

Tartufo
Truffle cheese, roasted
mushrooms, caramelized
garlic, and arugula.

Luckily when we arrived there wasn't much of a line and the four of us were able to walk straight up to the pizza bar.  We started by ordering two of the speciality pies.  No sense in making our own, since the professionals know their ingredients the best.  I ordered the Tartufo (a pizza without marinara sauce) and the Vege.  Andrea and Kate also ordered the Carne, but substituted broccolini for the pepperoni.
After checking out the "800 degrees" wood burning pizza oven, we were able for find a table large enough and wait for our pizzas.  To start, we shared the Gorgonzola Salad.  Making sure that there were no strawberries in the dressing (Andrea is allergic), we enjoyed the light and crispy salad.  I especially liked the sweetness of the cranberries and their complements to the cheese.The pizzas were out of the oven within minutes.

Vege
Mushrooms, artichokes, broccolini.

Kates leftover crust.
I think its the best part!

The first slice I tried was the Vege.  Pretty plain tasting, but I loved the thin crust and the sauce to cheese ratio.  I believe those are the two most important factors in any pie.  The crust should be thin, light and crunchy.  And the sauce should have a distinct taste and definitely overpower the cheese.  Not a big fan of Dominos marinara with globs of cheese on top.  Cheese should be used like salt, just to add flavor.  The Tartufo was my favorite dish of the meal.  I love the truffle cheese, and the way that the mushrooms soak up the flavor from the garlic and onions.
Overall the pizza selection was great.  The crust had that burnt flavor that I love and the toppings were unique.  In my opinion, I liked the truffle pizza better at Stella Rosa on Main Street, but we had a great time!     

Hillstone and HIP

Although USC does not have a hospitality school, I am fortunate enough to be a member of HIP (The Hospitality Industry Project).  Because of diving, I have never really had enough time to go to any of the events.  Last year I attended one at the end of the year where a panel of event planners from the Los Angeles area came and talked to us about the industry and their professions.  I thought it was really interesting and could definitely identify myself with the personalities and characteristics that they carried as professionals.  Organized, committed, impatient, energetic, type a (yep, that's me).  But as you can tell from this blog, my true passion is for restaurants.  Today was very exciting for me, I basically decided that my ultimate goal is to either work in management of a restaurant, or own one myself. 

As part of the club, I submitted my resume to the head of HR at the Hillstone Restaurnat Group, and was selected with nine other members for an information session and tasting at the Houston’s location in Pasadena.  I felt extremely fortunate that I was able to be included in this exclusive event .  We were greeted by the head of HR and operations manager, who gave us a detailed overview of the company as a whole. and the main focus of their restaurants.  I love how they pride themselves on having the freshest ingredients delivered everyday, and how everything is made completely from scratch.  They only have one small freezer in the entire kitchen, but it carries the most important food group of all-ICE CREAM!  Of course I was the one to answer that question.  We were then given a tour of the dining area, kitchen, and garden outside.  They grow enough arugula and mint for the entire restaurant.  And I must say, the arugula had the most distinct taste to it.  It was almost spicy!  After learning about the internship opportunity (which I will definitely be applying for), we were seated for lunch.

Dole

Chicago Spinach Dip with
chips, salsa, and sour cream.

When the event said that we were getting a tasting, I assumed we would get to sample some of the dishes.  Surprisingly, they catered a full on lunch to us (all on the house)!  We were seated in the back booths, as the rest of the restaurant quickly filled with other friday lunch goers.  Our waiter was super friendly and seemed very enthusiastic about his job.  I asked him how long he had been working there and he said that he's been with Hillstone for 13 years, but serving at Houston's for 10.  I couldn't believe it! That really tells you something about how the company treats their employees. He then said that we might as well call him Grandpa (which I proceeded to do for the rest of the meal).  I usually just order water with my meals when I got out, because I like to keep to keep my palate clean when I am tasting food, but this one drink the waiter described was too delicious sounding to pass up.  It's called a Dole, half lemonade/half pomegranate juice.  The perfect combination of sweet and tart.  
Our waiter then brought us some appetizers to snack on while we pondered the menu.  We started with the spinach dip and chips and the grilled artichoke.  Mike, the co-president of the club loves the dip from previous dining experiences, and said we must include the salsa on the chips too.  I'm usually not a huge spinach dip person, just because how cheesy it is, but this was by far the best textured and tasty dip I've ever had.  It was not as heavy as the usual spinach-cheese concoction, which made it a better appetizer (instead of a complete tummy filler).  The grilled artichokes are delicious.  I've always been a fan of artichokes and dip because my mom makes them at home all the time.  She just roasts the whole thing, but at Houston's they are split up and almost charred.  Gives it a nice smokey taste, which I love.  I actually had this appetizer last time I was at Bandera in Westwood with my mom and two friends, Kate and GuGu.  I was really surprised when a lot of the other club members said they'd never had an artichoke before, and I had to explain to them how to eat it.

Salmon Mango Roll

Coconut Shrimp Roll & Grilled Arichoke

Hiramasa Roll

Here comes the sushi.  I am usually reluctant to order sushi in a non-japenese restaurant, but my mind was blown.  My all time favorite sushi restaurant is the original Katsuya in North Hollywood.  These rolls came pretty close.  We were served the
coconut shrimp roll, the Hiramasa Roll, and the Salmon Mango roll.   Unfortunately I couldn't try the Shrimp roll, but everyone said it was really interesting.  And I didn't go for the Salmon one because there was a lot of asparagus in it, which I am not a big fan of.  The Hiramasa roll, on the other hand, was mouth watering.  I believe it was a spicy tuna roll with yellowfin tuna on top.  Like the best sushi out there, it basically melted in your mouth.  I didn't want to fill up too much, because I had a feeling a lot more food was coming out. I stuck with two pieces along with tasting the other appetizers.
Then it came down to the toughest decision: what to order for our meal.  All throughout the info session, everyone was recommending several dishes and even walking through the kitchen, my nose was bombarded with delicious aromas.  For me, it was between the Famous French Dip and the Crispy Chicken Sandwich.  I took this opportunity to order more of a lunch type dish than an entree because I don't usually dine out midday.  I went with the Chicken Sandwich.  Tambi, the HR rep said it was new to the menu, and very popular.  With fries on the side, this sandwich blew Chick-fila out of the water.  Although it was ginormous, it wasn't too heavy.  The salad slaw on the onion bun was creamy, yet light and the chicken was lightly breaded and grilled to perfection.  The fries were very skinny, and although not my favorite fries ever (not crispy enough for me) they were a perfect compliment to the sandwich.  Of course I ate them all.  House made ketchup and a spiced sort of mayo were included, both great on the fries.  I was able to eat 2 out of the three slices, and got a box for the remaining.

Ding's Crispy Chicken Sandwich with fries.

 The whole meal Tambi kept checking up on us, and continued to recommend the harvest cheesecake. Even though we didn't say anything, everyone was definitely too full for dessert.  But being the best hosts ever, Grandpa proceeded to bring out all three desserts on the menu. Set in front of us was the Warm-Five Nut Brownie, Apple Walnut Cobbler, and Harvest Cheesecake.  All three were great.

Apple Walnut Cobbler

Warm-Five Nut Brownie Sundae

The brownie sundae was rich and creamy.  My favorite of the three was the Apple Walnut Cobbler, not a huge walnut fan, but the apple pie dessert always gets me.  Something about the sweetness with the tart and cinnamon, warmed up with ice cream on top.  Can't get much better than that.  It's like a match made  in heaven.  The Harvest Cheesecake interestingly wasn't made with pumpkin (it was a butternut squash).  Completely original and exotic! Was a great fall dessert and I definitely recommend it while they still have it on the menu (and everyone is still obsessed with pumpkin like desserts).   Overall I had an amazing time at the restaurant.  The tour and session with the two employees was very informative and I officially fell in love with the industry.  The food was amazing and I will definitely have to visit more of the Hillstone Restaurants soon! 

Harvest Cheesecake