Bagel Lover

After waking up, my dad follows a very specific ritual each morning.  He goes downstairs and sits in front of our Apple computer on the kitchen table to watch his stocks go up and down.  This coincides with his two cups of coffee and bagel with cream cheese.  Although sometimes he may have some scrambled eggs, or on a special occasion, huevos rancheros, you can almost always count on a bagel popping out of the toaster.  This is then followed by him yelling "Gail, where is the cream cheese?", when it is on the first shelf in the fridge.  Now my family is very picky when it comes to bagels, bread bagels from the grocery store or Starbucks won't cut it.  Instead, we stock our freezer every week with fresh bagels from the Eltana bagel shop on Capitol Hill. They start by boiling the dough in honeyed water.  And then wood-fire them to perfection.  This gives them that sweet yet smokey taste. Their chewy and crunchy outer shell goes perfectly with simple philadelphia cream cheese any day of the week (and sometimes locks, when we have them).

The only bagels I have found to remotely enjoy since moving to cali are those from Western Bagels.  I've been to to the one in North Hollywood, and the location by my aunts house in Calabassas.  Western Bagels offers the original, but best, bagel flavors along with a few specials (I noticed they currently have pumpkin bagels and spread).  I've tried their cream cheese and lox, pretty good.  And their wild berry cream cheese, good when you're in the mood for something sweet.  Must say my favorite is still the everything bagel toasted with cream cheese.

Everything bagel toasted with plain cream
cheese and a Naked Orange Juice.

This weekend my mom and I stayed the night at my aunts house in Calabassas.  We had to wake up early to drive back to school for my dive meet on Saturday morning.  We stopped at the Western Bagels right by the freeway entrance and got our breakfast for the drive back down south.  Just hit the spot.  I was feeling like something salty rather than sweet, especially because I had my meet in the next hour.  Didn't want to load up on sugar.  I decided to get my favorite.  Although it was ready quite quickly, I would have liked the bagel to be toasted a little more. It was still basically room tenperature. They do glob on the cream cheese like you haven't had it in months. When I was younger I used to put half a container on one bagel, but I've leaned to use it more sparingly as I entered high school.   I definitely think this is ok every once in a while, but with a good bagel, you even need that much. Here's my pre-competition breakfast:

Whole Foods sells Western Bagels.  I will definitely have to start buying packs there because the bread bagels they give to the athletes for free aren't up to par.

MB Post

This weekend, my mom came down to visit her family and watch the swim and dive meet versus Arizona and ASU.  Thursday morning she flew down from seattle and visited her family in the Valley.  Then, after my second practice of the day, she met me at my apartment.  After catching up for an hour or so, we made our way to Manhattan Beach.
Our reservations were for MB Post.  My mom made them months in advance, but it must be very popular because they still didn't have an available table until 8.  We decided to pass the time by shopping on Manhattan Beach Blvd.  After passing though a few cute boutiques, we decided to check out Free People (one of my favorite shops).  I've been looking for some new fall and winter clothes, with the cali weather slowly starting to change.  2 years ago I would have been disgusted with myself (thinking that 60 degrees was cold weather).  But hey, I'm a cali girl now.   I am especially in need of a big comfy sweater, and Free People always has a great selection of such items.  Although I didn't find a sweater, I did get two really cute pairs of jeans (on sale!), a long sleeve thermal, and a pair of earrings.  I knew we did some damage on the credit card when the registrar had to call the credit card company and confirm my mother was at the store (she bought some Hanukkah presents too, so I wasn't just me).

Tuscan Kale and Quinoa Salad,
roasted beets, pinenuts, tomato,
drake farm's goat cheese.

We walked to MB Post, just a block away, and were immediately seated by the hostess.  The decor had a dark modern feel, with industrial type furniture (the restaurant was the original post office of Manhattan Beach).  The waitress seated us immediately at our table for two at the booth.  I love how this restaurant has community tables, that is something I will definitely want in my own restaurant one day.  When we were seated there was an envelope on our table addressed to "Pinczower".  I assumed that it was the the name card reserving our table, but inside were our menus!  The waitress explained to us that all the menu items were meant to share, so we should order a few and then they will be brought out once ready.  We started with the kale salad, recommended by the table next to us.  I'm usually not a big fan of kale, but it was light, and the olive oil dressing almost sweetened it up.  The thin strips of the leaves made the dish less earthy tasting.  The goat cheese was creamy but not overwhelming.  I left the beets for my mom, never have liked them.

Spaghetti Squash, Garijet
Yam Puree, cider gastrique,
pecans, apple chips.

White Oak grilled skirt steak,
grilled broccolini, red
 chimichurri

Next came the spaghetti squash appetizer.  This was definitely different, but delicious.  It was a thicker item, that really packed a punch.  The squash was covered in a yam puree, that almost tasted cheesy.  My mom and I actually thought it was a cheese because of the orange color associated with it, until we looked at the menu again.  The cider gastrique (a reduction of vinegar and sugar) gave it an acidic kick, a great way to lighten it up a little.  I also loved the sweet apple chips on top.  I think I ate all of them.  I've never had an appetizer quite like this one.  It was a great way to whet our appetite while waiting for the rest of our meal.  Next came our skirt steak.  Grilled medium rare with a spicy chimichurri sauce and broccolini.  The steak was thick but fiery with the  mustard based sauce.  I definitely had to spread it thinly across each slice, if I didn't want to grab for my water every other bite.  The broccolini was a little tougher than the usual grilled vegetable, which added more crunch to the dish.

Houes made cavatelli, tomato and lamb ragout, feta, and basil.

Our final small dish was the house made cavatelli.  This pasta was similar to a gnocchi type texture with potatoes mixed in.  When it comes to normal pasta, I like it aldente, but I do also love the soft and chewy texture of gnocchi, and this cavatelli (that I was having for the first time).  It was mixed with a light lamb ragout that had the freshest tomato base.  This was definitely my favorite dish of the night.

Buttermilk panna cotta,
first of the season citrus,
almond streusel.

Now we couldn't go home without having dessert.  We ordered the buttermilk panna cotta and the house speciality.  The panna cotta wasn't my favorite.  I did like the almond streusel on top, but I wasn't a fan of the mandarin oranges mixed with the milky flavor of the dish.

The "Elvis" a wonderful
mess of chocolate pudding,
peanut butter mousse
(w/o the bacon brittle).

This dish, the house specialty, is called the "Elvis".  It's a chocolate pudding with a peanuts butter mousse and caramelized bananas.  Talk about a dream.  It usually comes with a bacon brittle, but we asked for the dish without. The chocolate pudding was rich, but because it was milk chocolate I was still able to continue spooning it into my mouth.  I loved the peanut butter mouse.  The mouse aspect made it lighter than a normal scoop of peanut butter, which complimented the pudding texture very well.  Now I want to try and caramelize my own bananas! They were the perfect sweetness and added a little more depth to the dish.  I wish we hadn't ordered two desert dishes of similar pudding like texture, because they didn't compliment each other very well (but I am glad we did order two!).  The gave us the check in a small book where we could write comments about our visits.  I left my mark:

   

Gjelina with GuGu

GuGu and I before going out one night.

Guilana (GuGu) is one of my close friends on the tennis team.  This week she asked if I could give her a ride to Santa Monica for an appointment.  Luckily, midterm season was finally over, so tuesday quickly turned into an adventure.  After finishing up some of her business, near the Third Street Promenade, we decided to get dinner because traffic on the 10 was going to be horrible either way.  Although both of us weren't dressed to attend a 5 five star restaurant (SC workout gear), we were craving some quality food.  Actual Gjelina, was a little out of the price range for our casual tuesday night, but that didn't mean we couldn't enjoy some of the delicious food the iconic restaurant has to offer.
I have been to Gjelina before, once with my family and some friends for dinner.  Completely loved all of the small side dishes we shared with the table.  I believe I ordered a lamb dish for my entree, thinking it would taste somewhat like my mom's baby lamb chops (don't know what I was thinking).

Can see recipe here: http://gailsgalley.blogspot.com/2012/10/best-lil-lamb-chops.html  Although the dish was still delicious, it was a little bit to gamey tasting for me.  I will definitely have to go back and try again, which I am sure I will blog about in the future.  They did have some of the best apple pie I have ever tasted.  I'm pretty sure I ate more than half of my sister LuLu's dessert.
Gjelina Take Away is a restaurant I have visited many times.  With its easy access, somewhat quick service (when there's no line) and consistent delicious options, it is always my go-to on Abbott Kinney. For breakfast I had had the berry scones (moist, soft, but still filling) and lunch I have tried several of the side salads (much better and less oily than offered by Lemonade on campus).  I have also tried a blackened fish sandwich on brioche, that no longer seems to be on the menu, but it melted in my mouth.

GuGu and I were feeling some pizza, so we went with our gut instinct.  I ordered the Margherita Funghi (even though I'm not that huge of a mushroom fan, I love how veggies soak up all the flavors of the sauce on a pizza).  Gugu wanted the spinach pizza, but unfortunately they were out of it for the night, so she just went for the Margherita.

Margherita Funghi.  Three
types of mushrooms,
pomodoro sauce, basil,
mozzarella, sea salt, olive
oil, dried oregano.  

While we waited for our pies, Gugu and I discussed a future business plan. With her love of sweets (she probably has the biggest sweet tooth I have ever come across.  Mad props Gugu), she eventually wants to open up her own candy store or sweet shop of some sort.  As for naming it, she claims that she came up with GuGu's Candy Bar before Dylan Lauren, but I don't think that is going to fly.  Besides the naming factor, if I ever open my own restaurant, we talked about how we could combine venues and she could own the pastry shop or milkshake bar next door, which would also cater the deserts to my place.  We did think its was funny how "Gjelina" is basically a combination of our two names (Giuliana and Celia).  Maybe another inspiration?

My pizza was hot out of the wood burning oven.  And boy do I love that taste of thin burnt crust.  The mushrooms perfectly soaked up the spice of the pomodoro sauce and the just the right amount of mozzarella was placed on top (there should always be more sauce then cheese, can't stand Dominos).  I got a little excited and took a bite before I could get my camera out. Can't even really tell in the picture though.

I love sitting outside on the crates next to the restaurant on the side of the street.  Sitting under the leaf canopy and watching all the crowds walk past really gives a good illustration of the feel to Abbott Kinney.  After we finished our pizzas, in about 5 minutes, we started heading back to the car.  Even though Giuliana had made a bet with her roommate that she could resist sweets for a whole week, I convinced her otherwise.  Once we walked into N'ice cream, it really didn't take too much convincing.

Biscotti Gelato

N'ice cream is great because it is all organic homemade gelato and sorbet to with unique flavors.  Even though I love ice cream, gelato is better for you because it is made with more milk instead of just cream.  N'ice uses organic milk and their gelato is a little lighter than usual because they use all natural ingredients and less sugar.  Giuliana was quick to ask to sample several of the more chocolately flavors.  Her choice came down to chocolate hazelnut and hazelnut chip.  She said she went with the chip because the chocolate chips really added to the texture.  I wanted to try to the apple pie gelato, which was very fresh tasting, but after trying her flavors I was craving some chocolate too.  I ordered my usual flavor from there, the Biscotti.  Biscotti is actually one of my favorite cookies. I will never turn down a soft freshly baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, but there is something about a classic tea cookie that always gets to me.  I love dunking them in hot chocolate, or my favorite tea (the Market Spice Cinnamon Orange from Pike Place Market).  The biscotti flavor of the gelato mirrors a chocolate chip biscotti dipped in hot chocolate and then frozen.  Still having that chewy taste.  I even found a chunk of a cookie in my cone (it was probably the highlight of the treat).

Overall GuGu and I had a great time on our tuesday night adventure.  Unfortunately we had to head back to campus by 8, me for accounting tutoring and she was meeting some friends to study.  We will definitely have to go on another sweet escapade soon.  (Possibly Sprinkles cupcakes again?)

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.

Call me Type A

When I was younger, I didn't like change.  I liked to stick with what I knew, because that was what always seemed right.  What was comfortable to me.  Whenever my family suggested going somewhere new for vacation, or simply trying out a new restaurant, I always resisted.  I just really wanted to go to Plaza Garcia, the family mexican restaurant up the street from our house.  Even though I did enjoy the spontaneous trips we took to the Galapagos and trying out new restaurants in downtown Seattle, I still insisted the old way was the better way (even when I knew I was wrong).  My opposition to try anything new designated me as the "picky eater" of the family.  I was far from picky, compared to my elementary school friends who refused to eat anything but PB&J, chicken fingers, and french fries.  I did try new foods, and enjoyed them, I still just liked eating food I knew was good.

Eating my first Oreo.
I've always had a sweet tooth.

Part of my critical taste I blame on my mother.  As a amazing chef, a delicious, healthy, and full meal was put on the table every night of the week (besides the days we did decide to go out, or when I convinced the Pinczower clan to go to Plaza Garcia one more time).  Little did I know that her superb cooking every night was something I began to take for granted.  Because 99% of the time the meals were healthy, I would jump on the opportunity to eat pizza at my friends house whenever given the chance.  Now, after living out of the house for almost a year and a half, and being forced to eat in the vile dining halls, my attitude towards a good healthy meal has completely changed. Now, when visiting home, I would rather eat with my family, and then catch up with my friends for just the movie at one of their houses afterwards.  I now know that I would eat my mom's baby lamb chops and cucumber salad any day of the week over some greasy costco pizza and a box of dryers ice cream.  You can drool over some of her delicious home cooked meals here: http://gailsgalley.blogspot.com/.  After years of eating perfectly cooked chicken marsala and a carrot cake you will die for, I unknowingly became a food snob.

Now my "Type A Appetite" has nothing to do with being "picky".  I will try almost anything you put on a plate in front of me (as long as it is somewhat kosher... and nontoxic looking).  Especially with the amount that I work out as a D1 diver at USC, I'm always up for eating.  What I will not waste my time and tastebuds on is food that is not appetizing, high quality, or somewhat distinctive.

Since moving to the vibrant city of Los Angeles, I have spent much time researching and venturing to restaurants all over the area. My appetite is always up for trying something new, and my critical taste will not be afraid to share its opinion.  Here are some of my stories and adventures throughout Los Angeles with friends and most importantly, FOOD.