I learned a lot about myself tonight. That I can sit next to a bunch of strangers at dinner and find something to talk about. That I regard myself as “shadowy” and “cool” and my friends as “time bandits” with “tiny hands.” And that I can actually enjoy a meal of roasted rabbit. Thus was…
Category Archives: Dining
Cupcake Challenger #3: Lucky Devils
Flickr Shot by dotsara Taste tester #3: Valerie. Qualifications: Valerie is the creative genius behind a much lauded remodel of the traditional food pyramid. Her innovative approach favors beer as the primary starch/grain, and incorporates cookies and pie instead of fruits and vegetables (regardless of whether the pies have fruit in them). She attributes her…
Cupcake Challenger #2: SusieCakes
Flickr Shot by dotsara Taste tester #2: dotsara. Qualifications: She likes cupcakes. Cupcake challenger #2: SusieCakes in Brentwood. dotsara said of the cupcake store: “The employees were great! They asked when we would be eating the cupcakes and since it was going to be the next day, they saran-wrapped the box so the cupcakes could…
Cupcake Challenger #1: Buttercake Bakery
I decided to undertake an ambitious task: eat cupcakes from six of L.A.’s best cupcake stores in one sitting to find out which is the bestest of the bunch. So I enlisted the help of five cupcake-crazy friends for this special taste test. We had to retrieve a red velvet cupcake, a chocolate cupcake and…
Ghetto Fabulous: Ghetto Gourmet Improv Dining
Flickr Shot by Vera Devera Sick of restaurants and all their rules? 1) Must sit with your own party, 2) Must sit in a chair, 3) Must order from the menu, 4) Must talk amongst yourselves…. So many rules! For a completely different dining experience you might want to look into Ghetto Gourmet, for “improvisational…
Dainties Cupcakes: A Different Kind of Cupcake
While strolling to Zankou Chicken for lunch, I was cutting through the alley when I noticed a sign behind Winchell’s Donuts for Dainties Cupcakes. Despite the fact that the entrance didn’t look like a store front at all, let alone one that sells cute cupcakes, but rather a sketchy office entrance, I was drawn to…
Breakfast at the Firehouse: The More Things Change, the More They Suck
When I lived near Venice, the Firehouse on Rose and Main used to be one of my favorite breakfast joints. Great service, great coffee, great breakfast sandwiches and great big glasses of iced beverages that were perfect for thirsty Muscle Beach bodybuilders. But I haven’t gone there in maybe a year or so. Yesterday though,…
The Village Idiot: Not the Brightest Pub on the Block
When I first heard its name, I just had to go. Most of the online reviews cover the Village Idiot’s gastropub fare, but of course I had to check it out for its liquor selection. They tout their wine selection, their brews on tap…maybe they had specialty cocktails, too? And on a boulevard crowded with…
SusieCakes: Off the Beaten Sprinkles Path
OK, just when I thought Sprinkles was the only cupcake bakery for me, I read about SusieCakes, “an all-American homestyle bake shop” in Brentwood. From Gayot.com: At SusieCakes, Susan Sarich is baking all-American desserts using her grandmother’s recipes. Think butterscotch toffee pudding, chocolate wafer icebox pie, iced molasses snap cookies and frosting-filled cupcakes in flavors…
XOX: Sprinkles Cupcakes' Valentine Special
Sure, there are a lot of cupcake stores now (there’s even one in Santa Monica Mall food court) but Sprinkles will always have a special place in my heart. Why’s that? Because they know how to celebrate the holidays. For Valentine’s Day, “the Original Cupcake Bakery” is offering something that’s even sweeter than the standard…
