This is an example of typical conversation when I take a friend to Pitfire Pizza for the first time:

Friend: “What’s good here?”
Me: “The Burrata Pie.”
Friend: “What else is good?”
Me: “No idea. That’s the only thing I’ve ever had.”
Friend: “Well, do you want to split something?”
Me: “ Err…no. I want my burrata pie. And I want all of it.”

So, although I wish that I could take you through the entire menu of Pitfire and tell you how wonderful it all is, as you can see, I can really only tell you about the burrata pie. However, I can say with absolute conviction that it is worth going to to Pitfire for. Even if you’re not in California, you should find a way to get here. You’ll thank me later on this one, trust me.

Here’s the breakdown of this delicious pizza. It has crust of course, crust that is thin in the center but has big, puffy edges so it satisfies both thin-crust & thick-crust lovers. On the crust is a layer of their tomato sauce that is then topped with caramelized onions. I considered asking them to hold these off but am infinitely glad that I decided to be brave, because these onions are sweet and sugary without even a hint of the typical harsh onion flavor. Then of course, there’s the burrata cheese. In case you’re wondering, burrata cheese is mozzarella cheese that has cream in the center of it, which makes it extra creamy when melted. Why more people don’t put it on pizzas will forever be a wonder to me. I could honestly be fine with this pizza as it is now, but then the guys at Pitfire go and cover the whole thing with fresh arugula and drizzle it with a hazelnut pesto. Hazelnut pesto!

Chase tried a roasted pumpkin pizza that he swore was delicious, but I was too busy attending to my meal to take any time out for his. I get a little self-centered when it comes to good pizza, to the detriment of this review,  but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Oh, and if you’re still debating giving this place a try let me just say this: they have fresh watermelon lemonade. Yeah, that’s right, you heard me.

I guess you could say that the food truck culture has officially taken its grasp on LA and is here to stay. It seems like every bar you go to in this town, right outside a  food truck is waiting to tempt you with menus that easily compete with any brick and mortar restaurant around. No longer does a food truck mean a roach coach serving up scary meat that you don’t want to think about. Now it means breakfast at all hours of the night, or grilled cheese, chinese peruvian food, and of course, the founding father of the truck food: Korean tacos from Kogi BBQ.

I mean, it shouldn’t surprise anyone. There’s a ton of culinary talent in this town; food trucks have given those talents, who lack huge start-up money and a year get it off the ground, an opportunity to shine.

I first heard about the popularity of the Banh Mi from a friend living in New York.  And then soon after read an article in the New York Times about them.  So when I heard there was a Banh Mi truck in LA called Nom Nom, I was lured quite easily, and kinda smitten by the name.

When I mentioned going to the truck to Caroline, she suggested I watch this video. I can SO get down with watching animals eat. I wish I ate that cute. I guess there IS something I could learn from hamsters.

Anyway, when I saw they’d be near where Ryan and I work, we decided to head over there.  We’re both mildly terrible with directions so it took a lot longer than we had initially anticipated, and since it was lunch they were parked in the back of Playboy Enterprises. We didn’t let the weirdness of the location stop us and were actually psyched there wasn’t a long line.

(Instant Pho gets me pretty excited)

Right when we got there I noticed that they were sold out of tofu and was scared for Ryan, and felt kind of bad for taking my temporary vegetarian friend (he gave up meat for the month of November) to a temporary non-friendly vegetarian truck. They ended up being very accommodating and made an all vegetable Banh Mi for him.  Sounded kinda lame to me, but I’m a omnivore so whatever.

I got their lemongrass chicken Banh Mi and it was amazing. I actually got so into eating it that I forgot to take a picture of it. It had all sorts of textures and flavors going on, like any good sandwich does.  But the star of the sandwich was the bread. While it looks like traditional french bread, the roll is quite different in texture; it’s much softer and airy. I also ordered the pork tacos and those were pretty good…just not as amazing as the basil lemonade, which totally stole my heart.  It wasn’t too sweet, too sour or too basil like.  All of the flavors were balanced and the crushed ice made it even more awesome.  I LOVE crushed ice; not sure why, but I think it might have something to do with my love for snow cones. Anyway, Ryan and I on the way home couldn’t stop talking about the lemonade.  Really I would make a special trip JUST for the lemonade; it’s seriously that good, people.

It’s chilly and rainy in LA right now. Yes, contrary to popular belief, it does actually rain here. Truth be told, I love nothing more than being at home on a dark, rainy day, curled up in a blanket on the couch.

On days such as these, one of my guilty pleasures is the show “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” on the Food Network. It wouldn’t normally be the first choice of most vegetarians to watch a show that focuses on greasy spoons, but every now and then I discover a gem like Polka. It’s a family-run Polish restaurant in a tiny strip mall on the outskirts of LA and although it may be a bit of a distance for most people living here, I promise it’s worth the trek.

When you a walk in it feels as though you may have stumbled into your grandmother’s living room instead of a restaurant, as the walls and shelves are covered in chintzy knick-knacks.  Luckily, the hospitality is also something you might expect from a grandmother. The minute you sit down a waitress brings you a complimentary mug of soup. Any place that presents me with a steamy mug of  delicious spinach soup before they even get around to bringing water is something to remember.

For my entree, I had the potato-cheese Pierogi, or Polish dumpling, and Chase ordered a meat-filled version of the same dish. As soon as they set down our plates that were piled high with dumplings and vegetables we realized we should have split a meal rather than try to tackle two of them. The dumplings were delicious; tender without being mushy and flavorful without being overpowering in spice. I desperately wanted to try one of their desserts, but after only two of  my four dumplings I was already worried about how I was going to drive home when I already felt too stuffed to stand up.

At the end of the meal, our check was accompanied with Polish truffles. “Polish chocolate to finish your Polish meal” is what the waitress cheerily told us as she laid it on the table. On a rainy day like today, Polka might be one of the few restaurants that could get me out of the house so that I could curl up in a booth with some more of their dumplings.

When I was nine, my dad was really into making Coke floats and naturally my brother and I were his partners in crime, because to kids there’s nothing better than soda and ice cream in the same cup.  But then you grow up and go to college and trade in Coke for cheap beer, and then you grow up a little more and realize that Bud Light is closer to urine than “real beer”.  And soon after that you develop this weird beer snobbery and scoff at the idea of drinking anything but some fancy schmancy IPA.  Then someone recognizes your new sophisticated taste and thinks to themselves, Man, under all that beer snobbery what you really are is a nine year old in a twenty-something year old body, and what you really need is something that’ll make you feel like the grown-up kid that you are…hmm…I’d say a beer float might do, does that sound right? Well if it does then The Golden State is your place.

Initially, Caroline and I were going to share one pint, but once we got there we totally dismissed that ridiculous idea and instead ordered two. They gave us a pint of Old Rasputin Imperial Stout with cinnamon ice cream (from my favorite ice cream place in LA, SCOOPS) and the second with mocha chocolate.  The Golden State doesn’t just throw in any ol’ ice cream in any ol’ pint of beer; no no, people–they think about this stuff and it pays off.  The float with the cinnamon ice cream has my heart, for reals. The spiciness in the cinnamon ice cream; the sweetness in the ice cream and the bitterness in the beer made for the most unusual and brilliant flavor combo I’ve ever had.  It was amazing.  Caroline is more of a wine gal and NEVER drinks beer and she actually finished before me, so that’s saying a lot.

Since we went only for the beer floats we unfortunately didn’t try any of the food.  But a few days later I ventured over–unfortunately sans camera– and tried their hamburger. It had this heavenly, thick, applewood smoked bacon on it, and it was served with sweet potato wedges, and a hot dog and was pretty stoked about everything.  This is “boy” food at its best and it makes me feel like the cutest tom-boy out there.

]]> http://www.acozykitchen.com/beer-floats-at-the-golden-state/feed/ 5 http://www.acozykitchen.com/scoops-ice-cream/ http://www.acozykitchen.com/scoops-ice-cream/#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:40:20 +0000 Adrianna http://www.acozykitchen.com/?p=687

Like any kid, I had a sweet love affair with ice cream.  It all started with my dad, whom would invite me over, at the ripe age of one, to join him with carton in hand.  I, of course, would quickly crawl my little self over there awaiting a massive spoon of chilly chocolate ice cream.   When I couldn’t eat anymore, I’d sit with a chocolate covered face, totally content… But really the flavors of my childhood only consisted of the typical chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, pistachio, etc.–nothing too exotic.  It wasn’t until I went on a family vacation to San Francisco and visited a little ice cream shop near my aunt’s house called Mitchell’s.  Hands down it totally changed my expectations with ice cream.  It wasn’t a fancy shop–just a little hole in the wall with a make-shift menu which listed out the most exotic ice creams I’d ever heard of.  My brother and I would always get the thai ice tea ice cream on a waffle cone.  We thought it was the most genius thing ever.

Every time we were about to visit San Fran, my brother and I would always look forward to Mitchell’s; sadly it closed down years ago and I thought that was my last taste of that type of ice cream, until…SCOOPS!!  Scoops has a pretty amazing reputation; people rave about it left and right, so when I finally ventured over there I was surprised about it’s humble dwellings and totally blown away with the variety of flavors, which change daily.  The flavors are overwhelming and it took me a solid 10 minutes to decide.  I finally chose two scoops per cup (pretty awesome!) of black sesame and rasberry white chocolate, and rose water vanilla with cardom and….(wait for it!!) coconut thai ice tea!  Yes, people, I was finally reunited with thai ice tea ice cream.  When I couldn’t eat anymore, I sat there with a bunch of orange ice cream covering my face, totally content…

When I think of trends, what usually first comes to mind is stuff like Von Dutch trucker hats, faux hawks…and, uh, wearing your pants backwards (for all my 90s kids). Basically, stuff that I want nothing to do with–so when I heard about the lines spiraling around the block for this Korean taco truck, I was a bit reluctant to check it out.  But it’s a relentless little truck and seeing it EVERYWHERE–including last month’s Bon Appetit and Food and Wine– started to whittle me down and soon I couldn’t deny the take over of Kogi. So I decided it was time.

I started following Kogi on twitter where they send out daily tweets letting everyone know where they’ll be that evening.  It worked out rather perfect because that night they were going to be at Cahuenga and Sunset, which is pretty close to my house.  Since I went there with the expectation of waiting a long time, the line didn’t end up feeling that long.  Sure I waited for an hour and half but I brought my friends along and ended up talking to the people next to me–it ended up actually being fun.

When we finally got up to the line, I decided on the Korean Short Rib Burrito, Veronica got the Korean Short Rib Tacos and Johnna ordered the Korean Tofu Burrito.  I tried all three and think mine took the cake. The warm tortilla was filled with seasoned hash browns, shredded short rib meat, a sort of cabbage coleslaw and lettuce.  The beef was marinated in a sauce that made it sweet, tender and spicy all at the same time.  The flavors are distinctly Korean, but the delivery service, i.e., burritos, tacos, quesadillas, make it very “LA”.

With any good meal, the experience never relies solely on the taste of the food. Food brings people together and we can’t forget that it is most often the people in which you share the food with that truly make the meal. Trend or no trend, my Kogi chase has reminded me that good company is a vital ingredient to every meal. Love it or hate it, it was a night to remember.

A few weeks ago Caroline and I competed in the 7th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational. Our sandwich didn’t win but the real treat was getting a look (and mostly just a look) at the hundreds of delicious grilled cheese variations. After our portion of the competition we strolled around in hopes of getting our hands on some samples. Quick tip: If you plan on attending the GCI in 2010, be sure to get there early. The line to get in can be brutal. And be prepared to muscle your way through a small mob to get your hands on a competing grilled cheese…Needless to say, I wasn’t having much luck scoring a sample slice. After an hour of watching by bigger and buffer attendees take down one gooey sandwich of goodness after the other I needed to resort to Plan B.

My friend, Johnna, had mentioned a great exotic grilled sausage place nearby in the heart of LA’s Historic District called Wurstküche. Don’t ask me how to pronounce the name. You’re guess is probably better than mine. The menu offers a lot to get psyched about with wild varieties of sausages, Belgian fries, homemade dipping sauces, twenty-four imported beers on tap, and a gourmet sodas for the non-drinkers. I tried the sun-dried tomato chicken sausage topped with spicy peppers and a side of fries that came with an amazing truffle ranch dipping sauce. Suddenly, the last thing I was thinking about was grilled cheese. Complete heaven.