La Vie Restaurant (San Gabriel)

In a little nondescript strip mall in San Gabriel is a little gem of a French restaurant. You would never guess that it's there but it's a hidden treasure. The hubby and I found out about it from his sister. She'd never been but her friends had told her about it. I have to say that this is one of those neighborhood places that you hear about but never go to because you don't believe that it can be that good. I'm glad that we threw caution to the wind and gave it a try.
Here are some of the dishes that we've tried: escargots; shrimp and avocado salad; duck dish; filet mignon; rack of lamb; lamb roast; sea bass; rabbit stew; coq au vin; trout meuniere; creme brulee and souffle.
The names are not all correct but I haven't been for a while now so I'm trying to give the best description.
Escargot: cooked in butter, butter and more butter. There's also garlic. The sauce is great for dipping the bread that they serve. This is a must-try dish!
Shrimp and avocado salad: The dressing tasted like it was thousand island. The dish was good but you don't have to order salad since your entree is served with soup, salad and tea or coffee.
Duck: Mon dieu! For those of you who like duck, you will love this dish. The skin comes crispy and the meat is tender. The sauce has a hint of orange, not too much and the entree is served with haricots vert, carrot puree and pommes de terre dauphinois. The potatoes are like scalloped potatoes only richer.
Filet Mignon: The steak is good but not superb like a steakhouse steak. Don't come in expecting Ruth's Chris or Morton's quality.
Rack of Lamb/Lamb Roast: Both lamb dishes are good if you like lamb, but if you don't you may want to try something else. The lamb is very lamb-y (for lack of a better term). The rack is served with the meat sliced off the bones already the pre-requisite French sides (haricots vert, carrot puree, potatoes dauphinois).
Sea Bass: This was a very disappointing dish. It was one of the specials of the night. My hubby is a huge Chilean Sea Bass fan and decided to try it. He commented that it's really hard to mess up sea bass but they managed to do it. We know to not order it in the future.
Rabbit Stew This was also surprisingly good. The rabbit is fall-off-the-bone tender and was a little on the salty side for me, but I think it was just an off night.
Coq au vin: I ordered this the last time we were there. The sauce was delicious and although I have nothing to compare this to I trust my friend who is a French aficionado. She had some of my coq and she said that the taste was very authentic.
Trout Meuniere: This is not on the regular menu and is available as a special only whenever they have it in stock (which is not very often). I don't normally order fish in non-Asian restaurants as they tend to not be very fresh. I was very surprised at how fresh and tasty the dish was. I had a whole trout that was deboned and the brown sauce was very good.
Creme Brulee: Nice and creamy but not too heavy. It has just the right amount of sweetness. This is always a good choice and La Vie does not disappoint.
Souffle: Even if you're not a big souffle fan, you have to order this. Lots of restaurants offer souffle but not all do quite as authentic a job as La Vie. There is only one flavor (Grand Marnier) and you must order it before your dinner is served since they make this from scratch. It is light and airy and just sweet enough. The texture is different from the other souffles...it is not heavy at all. They serve this with milk poured into it and it is FABULOUS!

The place is very non-pretentious and not very fancy. There are lots of repeat customers (the restaurant has been there for 8+ years) and their wine list is limited. But, although the list is limited, they do not gouge you with the price. All their wines are not super marked up and that's very nice since you don't find too many places like that anymore. Give it a shot if you're in the area and want to try something different.

Cafe Ba Ba Reeba (Las Vegas)

I had to go to LV for a client meeting and decided to stay the night to visit my little sister. So we made plans for dinner...ok, it was more like "where do you want to go (me)...I don't know, where do you want to go (her)...well, you live here so you suggest (me)...well there are lotsa choices (her)" and so on and so forth for about 30 minutes before we settled on Cafe Ba Ba Reeba.
It's outside of the mall on the Las Vegas Strip and it was a busy spot. We were seated promptly and the server was very knowledgeable and made some really good recommendations. We ended up order the following: padron chilies with coarse sea salt; bacon wrapped dates; platter w/manchego cheese, serrano ham and chorizo; sausage platter w/morcilla, chorizo, salchichon and butisfarra (I think); seared ahi tuna salad; beef empanada; and a couple of pitchers of sangria.
I know it sounds like a lot of food but the plates were small and it really was not that much food. Let's start with the details...
The padron chilies were not spicy for the most part until you hit one of hot ones that was maybe 1 out of 10.
The bacon wrapped dates were very good...sweet and salty and you couldn't eat just one.
The platter with manchego cheese, serrano ham and chorizo was good as well...I love manchego!
The sausage platter was very yummy but heavy...the sausages were all cooked in quite a bit of oil and you could see that at the bottom of the platter.
The seared ahi tuna salad could have used a little bit more dressing and ahi...I counted 3 slices of ahi.
The beef empanada was another favorite. it was baked and not fried like some other empanadas and the filling was very flavorful.
As for the sangrias...they were great for washing down all the little plates. We ordered the Black Raspberry and when that was all gone we ordered the Sparkling that was made with cava, licor 43 and another alcohol.
Both were good! My sister liked the cava since she's into bubbly at the moment. I thought they were both refreshing but I like my own sangria (I think it tastes way better...but that's just my opinion).
Overall, a good location, decent food and we will most likely go back and try the other stuff on the menu.
I saw paella and some other "a la plancha" items that sounded good...until next time then.

Grace Restaurant (Hollywood)

So, my hubby and I celebrated our anniversary last night at Grace Restaurant. We arrived early for our reservation and had drinks at the bar/lounge area. He ordered a Rooftop Garden (Ketel One, thyme and mint) and I the Eenie Meenie Miney (Prosecco w/fruit syrup). The rooftop garden was very refreshing and my eenie was very bubbly of course.
We were then led to our table and we sat by the window. It was nice and cozy. The menu was simple...not too many crazy choices and all looked very yummy but the hubby and I had heard about the tasting menu at Grace and we wanted to see what they had for the new season. The Seasonal Tasting Menu looked good enough but the Chef's Tasting Menu sounded intriguing. There was nothing listed...it was the chef's whimsy. So we had the waitress ask the chef how adventurous he was feeling and his response was that he's always adventurous. Right on!!! We decided on the Chef's Tasting Menu and we had the wine-pairing that complemented the food. It was a great choice. We let the chef know what we wanted to try from his regular menu and he totally indulged us.
First Course (separate): mine - Crab Salad with English Peas and Citrus. his - House Cured Canadian Halibut Sashimi / vinho verde from Portugal
Second Course: Fried Frog Drumsticks with Morels and Pea Tendrils / sauvignon blanc from Germany
Third Course: Seared Day Boat Scallops topped with Foie Gras on a bed of Nettles and Raisin Caper Sauce / gewurtzraminer from Alsace
Fourth Course: Bacon-wrapped Rabbit / qupe grenache - central coast
Fifth Course: Wild Boar Tenderloin with Oven Roasted Baby Carrots and Orzo Perlata / I forgot
Sixth Course: New York Steak with Wild Onion Flowers and Burgundy Snails on a bed of Eggplant / cabernet
Seventh Course (Dessert): Crepe filled with Lemon Curd, Cream Cheese Ice Cream and a Coffee/Chocolate Parfait / sounded cinq du monde

The dishes were all great. The only one that really didn't do much for me was the rabbit because I thought it was overcooked (too dry) and the bacon overpowered the rabbit. The dessert was to-die-for!!! The lemon curd was a little too tart but it was delish nontheless. The Cream Cheese Ice Cream was fabulous...my hubby is not a cheese person and he totally loved the ice cream. And the coffee/chocolate parfait was HEAVENLY! OMG...I was totally full but I couldn't stop eating the parfait. The top layer was light creamy deliciousness, followed by the middle layer of a slightly heavier creamy deliciousness and the last layer was like a perfectly baked brownie! I like chocolate but I never crave it...this dessert I crave!!!

Definitely give this restaurant a shot if you're celebrating something special. The service was top-notch and the food was amazing!

Citrus at Social (Hollywood)

So about 3 weeks ago my old buddies and I decided to go out to dinner since we hadn't seen each other in months. Fro gave us 3 options: Akasha, 15, and Citrus. We ran the reviews on the 3 and Citrus was the choice.
We were waiting for Dip and he was super late...he fell asleep and when we called his house, he admitted he had just woken and wasn't going to show...his loss.
So we drive and found our way to Citrus. We walked in and it was very different from what I expected. The room was a little loud but the ceilings were high and the entire place was very airy. I liked the decor...the place reminded me of the cathedrals in Europe except it was a dining room.
Our waiter was very good looking and he came over to take our drink orders. I ordered the Valentino (delish, with grapes and basil!) and my friend ordered something with cucumbers and cilantro...yeah you wouldn't think it went together in a drink but it was good. I still like the Valentino better though.
We ordered our appetizers...I, the mosaic of carpaccio and he the Lobster Begula ( though it was beluga, but no it was begula). The mosaic was very artfully presented...rounds of tuna, salmon, scallop and beef carpaccio with dollops and puddles of sauces. But I have to say that my friend's lobster tin was way better! First off, his food came in a tin! Yes, a tin...like those round candles that come in a tin except his was filled with lobster and chopped veggie bits, butter of course, and topped with these couscous pearls that looked like caviar. The couscous pearls were black and did look like caviar. YUMMY!
For dinner we ordered the Short Ribs and the Lobster Burger.
The short ribs were a little disappointing. I'd read reviews about them and how they were cooked for 72 hours and was really looking forward to it but when my dish came, the outside of the meat was a little dry and the inside was a little cold. The fat had hardened again and it was not very tasty.
My friend had the Lobster Burger which he couldn't finish. The burger bun was made of brioche...so soft and fluffy and cloudlike. The lobster patty was good but put it between the brioche with the ketchup they added and voila...deliciousness!
Both our dishes were served with French Fries which were awesome. I think they were fried in butter. I love potatoes so this was heaven!
We were so full that we couldn't even order dessert after that. Not only that but our waiter didn't come back for a long time so we took it as a sign that we shouldn't order anything else. For a restaurant of that caliber we had to request our water glasses be filled twice...not a good sign.
Recommendation: Go for the drinks and appetizers...dinner, not so much.

Daisy Mint (Pasadena)

OK, so this is the first time I've done this...start a blog, I mean. Sure I write reviews of places on citysearch and stuff but this is my own personal blog to write whatever I want in it. Cool...let's start with the restaurant we went to tonight...Daisy Mint in Pasadena, CA.
Pretty cool place but really small...it was super busy but the vibe was nice. The waitress and waiter were young and friendly...even hip.
I called in for a reservation cuz my hairdresser told me about that this place gets packed and he wasn't kidding. I called in about 20 minutes before our arrival (we were 4) and left my name with whoever picked up the phone (I tihnk one of the waiters). We had a 6:45 reservation for which we showed up about 5 minutes late. I felt bad but the waitress asked if we had called in and changed it to a table for 2. I said no but she kept asking my name even though I told her my name already...no worries, it was loud in there. So we were seated and the table was small...I say it was a tad cozy (you know...cup is half full or half empty deal).

So, about the food. We ordered the Honey Pork, Korean Ribeye, Chilies and Basil Chicken and Pad See Ew Beef. We also ordered the Raspberry/Lychee tea which was cute...cute because the tea cups were so dainty and adorable.
The food was good...Honey Pork was grilled and served with a green apple slaw...this was yummy.
The Korean Ribeye was cooked right (medium rare), although I felt it needed a bit more salt, and served with kimchi and steamed carrots and zucchini.
The Chilies and Basil Chicken was the most flavorful...ground chicken stir-fried with bell pepper and onions.
The Pad See Ew Beef had a great texture...not overcooked, it just needed a bit more "see ew".

Overall, we would definitely go back. The portions were very good sized and they just need to work a few kinks out. The waiter said that one of their waiters had called in sick that night. No worries...$hit happens!

One thing though was that people were bringing in their own wine. There was a table of 8 that brought in 8 bottles! It's a BYOB spot because they don't have their liquor license (per my hairdresser). Definitely gotta go back and take my own vino soon!