restaurants – Page 2 – Observations Along the Road

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things…

Posted onThursday, July 10, 2014Thursday, July 10, 2014Authorcahwyguy

userpic=levys Earlier today, Mark Evanier did a post where he talks about his favorite BBQ places in LA. We only had two in common: a dislike for Dr. Hogly Wogly’s, and a like for Outdoor Grill (although he liked the one in West LA, and we hit the one in Northridge). In case Mark ever comes to the valley, here are some more he might try:

Mom’s BBQ. Vanowen and Hazeltine. Perhaps the best Southern BBQ around, with loads of good fixins.
Rogers Rib Shack. Reseda and Chase. Not that far from us here in Northridge. Alas, they took the BBQ eggroll (with pork and greens inside) off the menu, but they still have great Q.
The Bear Pit. Sepulveda and the 118. Classic Missouri BBQ, that has been around for ages and ages.
Rosies. Tampa and Nordhoff. They’ve been around a while, but I think they’ve gone downhill a little.
Ribs USA. Burbank. Ate here the other day, and they were surprisingly good (better than I remembered).
Reds BBQ. Simi Valley. Lots of food, but more of a sauce than a smoke BBQ.
Les Sisters. Chatsworth. Louisiana BBQ.
Dickies. There’s one in Northridge now. Surprisingly good fast food BBQ.
My Brothers BBQ. Woodland Hills. Haven’t been there in years.
Famous Daves. There’s one in Simi. We never go there; they use soy sauce in the BBQ sauce.
Wood Ranch. We never go there — too corporate for our tastes.
Kansas City BBQ. North Hollywood. Minnette T. reminded me of these folks. Pretty good, especially before hitting a NoHo Theatre!

So where are your favorite places?

Something To Stew About

Posted onSaturday, June 7, 2014Authorcahwyguy

Observation Stew This has been another busy week, what with trying to get the truth out about the kerfluffle at the REP in Santa Clarita (#IStandWithTheREP), my daughter Erin being in town getting ready to go off to a summer Yiddish program back east, installing and setting up a new password manager, and loads of stuff at work. Still, I grabbed a few articles of interest:

A Real Crappy Job. Here’s an interesting article about one of the dirtiest jobs involved in the construction of the Hoover Dam, and how the city of Boulder City is remembering… the man who cleaned all the toilets.
What’s In A Name? Scientists have discovered that hurricanes with female names are more deadly. I’m not making this up folks, but it may also be a perception issue.
Lechon Asado. Here’s a list of the best Cuban restaurants in Los Angeles. Back when my wife and I got together, I got this book called “Diving Out in Los Angeles”, and it let us to one of the restaurants on this list: Versailles in Palms. It became a favorite, and the desire to write a review for it let to the creation of the newsgroup that became la.eats.
OK, Google. My new phone (a Moto X), supports Google Now. Here’s a list of all Google Now commands.
Checking Out. Tomorrow morning, I’ll do my regular Sunday morning ritual — printing checks off the computer. It seems I’m a dinosaur. Atlantic has an article on the spectacular decline of the check.
Cleaning the Pot Lastly, here’s an interesting review of a product used to clean out those stubborn tea stains.

You Can’t Fry in Space and other Food News

Posted onSaturday, December 28, 2013Authorcahwyguy

userpic=pastrami Earlier today I wrote about the dim sum restaurant that was the source of lunch. Continuing that trend, here’s some additional food news:

You Can’t Fry in Space. Want a deep fried Snickers the next time you go to the Moon. Sorry, you’re out of luck. It’s impossible to fry foods in the Zero-G of space.
You’re a Fathead. As we’re talking about fried foods, here are 9 lies about fat that might have destroyed your health.
Steaking It Out. Of course, a great place to get fat and cholesterol is at your local steakhouse. But the face of the old steakhouse is changing: it’s not the same meat and potatoes of yore. And as we’re talking about steakhouses, the college football players of Iowa and LSU, combined at 5,000 lbs of food at Outback Steakhouse at the annual Outback Bowl Welcome Dinner.
Reading the Signs. As those football players were in a restaurant, perhaps they observed a different type of hand signal than they see on the field, for it turns out that restaurants have their own set of hand signals.
Sweetening the Pot. And for dessert, we have coffee or tea. Would you like artificial sweetener in that? Be careful, thought, even the natural Stevia may not be as safe as you think.

And for the last word, it is important to remember the words of Alton Brown back in 2005:

Here’s what it comes down to kids. Ronald McDonald doesn’t give a damn about you. Neither does that little minx Wendy or any of the other icons of drivethroughdom. And you know what, they’re not supposed to. They’re businesses doing what businesses do. They don’t love you. They are not going to laugh with you on your birthdays, or hold you when you’re sick and sad. They won’t be with you when you graduate, when your children are born or when you die. You will be with you and your family and friends will be with you. And, if you’re any kind of human being, you will be there for them. And you know what, you and your family and friends are supposed to provide you with nourishment too. That’s right folks, feeding someone is an act of caring. We will always be fed best by those that care, be it ourselves or the aforementioned friends and family.

We are fat and sick and dying because we have handed a basic, fundamental and intimate function of life over to corporations. We choose to value our nourishment so little that we entrust it to strangers. We hand our lives over to big companies and then drag them to court when the deal goes bad. This is insanity.

Filling a Dim Sum Hole

Posted onSaturday, December 28, 2013Authorcahwyguy

userpic=levys Back in June, I wrote about how our usual dim sum palace, Empress Pavilion in Chinatown, had given up the ghost. This wasn’t that much of a loss, as Empress had been going downhill. Still, it necessitated a hunt for a new place.

During the summer, we foreyed out for dim sum again. I had gotten the Zagat list of top dim sum palaces in the city, and had selected NBC Seafood. Why? First, we had eaten there once before and I had good memories. They got decent reviews, had carts, and had a lot of parking. I had a whole chain of reasoning that, looking back, I never wrote down where I could find it again :-(.

A few days ago, a friend of my wife called and wanted to go out for dim sum. Our daughter asked her friend for suggestions, and he found the KCET list. They pushed to go to Seafood Harbour in Rosemead, which lots of folks thought was the best. Although I indicated I would prefer NBC Seafood (or even trying A&W Northridge, which is right around the corner), I was overrulled. So this morning we trudged out to Rosemead and Seafood Harbour.

My opinion: I don’t think we’ve found the Empress replacement yet. Seafood Harbour certainly isn’t it.

Let me start with the positives: the food was good. There was some dim sum we hadn’t seen before, and the quality of what we had was excellent. Perhaps this is why it is highly rated.

Now for the negatives: parking was tighter than NBC, and due to the fact the restaurant was smaller, the wait was significantly longer (we got there at 10:30am, and were not seated until after 11:30am). There are no carts — you have to order from a picture menu, and you can do two rounds. I prefer carts — first, you may discover something new that looks tasty; second, there is less of a tendancy to over-order. More significantly, some of my favorites — plain BBQ pork and lemon tarts — we not on the menu. Further, it was harder to special order and obtain gluten-free items for my wife. I also felt that the bill total was a little high.

I think that next time we’ll either go back to NBC Seafood in Monterey Park, perhaps try Ocean Star in Monterey Park (which is up the street from NBC), both of which are honorable mentions on the LA Weekly list. Perhaps we’ll try the local A&W in either Northridge or Granada Hills. Another possibility is Empress Harbor, which was on the LA Weekly list. Elite, which is also on many lists, is out for being cart-less. For those reading this in Southern California: Do you have a favorite place you want to recommend?

Modern Times Stew

Posted onSaturday, September 28, 2013Authorcahwyguy

Observation Stew Now for the rest of the Saturday News Chum Stew. All of these times deal with the changes wrought by modern times…

Wiping It Up. Our society is obsessed with cleanliness. We’ve all seen the effect of overuse of antibiotics, and keeping our children out of the dirt. Here’s another one. Toilet paper, it seems is no longer good enough. Nowadays, people need “premoistened wipes” to get themselves clean. The problem? The wipes, although small enough to be “flushable”, aren’t breaking apart and are clogging the sewer systems. Eschew their use in your sewer systems.
Gourmet McDonalds. Two articles on McDonalds. First, McDonalds is getting healthier — in major markets, McDonalds will soon be providing the option to have salads instead of fries with your combo meals. In many ways, this is demonstrating that McDonalds may not be quite the evil empire — yes, they are interested in profits, but they don’t want the tag of being totally unhealthy. They’ll foist that title off to Burger King. In other McDonalds news, they have invited celebrity chefs into their kitchens to create gourmet food with the ingredients found in your normal fast food restaurant. Why have they done this? Simple — marketing. They want to show they use good ingredients, to draw people in. Remember, Ronald doesn’t love and care about you, he cares about separating you from what is in your wallet.
Signing Books. Here’s another modern times problem: How do you sign an eBook? Apple has the answer. They’ve patented an approach for signing an ebook, and including a picture of you with the author on the signature page. Watch for it in a future version of the Apple software.

From Ground to Grocer

Posted onThursday, September 12, 2013Authorcahwyguy

userpic=pastrami Today’s collection of news chum covers the food field, from the ground to the grocer, with the cleanup afterwards thrown in:

A Pepper Up. Ever wonder how Szechuan Pepper works … that is, how does the spice create that tingling feeling. National Geographic has investigated, and has discovered pepper works by stimulating the same nerves that a light touch stimulates. Similarly, hot peppers stimulate the same nerves that burns effect. Ummm, cool.
Seeing Red. You probably know that much of our red dye comes from crushed insects. Ever wonder what they look like? Here’s a picture. They are very tiny, but produce a safe red dye. The linked article also talks about how to make clothing dye from the bugs.
Fresh and Easy. By now, you know that the Fresh and Easy chain is being bought by Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos. This is great news, because all but 50 stores are staying open (we regularly shop at the one in Northridge). A list hasn’t been posted of the closing stores, but if your store is having a 25% off everything sale, that mean’s it is on the closing list.
Origins in Store. This short article, and accompanying audio piece, explore the history of many of Southern California’s markets, including Ralphs, Von’s, and Trader Joe’s.
Deli Food. Here’s a list that purports to be a guide to the Jewish Deli’s in Los Angeles. I wouldn’t believe it. It doesn’t have Brents at the top of the list. It fails to mention Weilers at all. It fails to mention the Jerry’s Famous chain, the new Uncle Bernies, or Morts in Tarzana. In short, except for Arts, it ignores the San Fernando Valley. Who knows what it omits on the West Side or elsewhere in Los Angeles.
Cleaning Up. When you cook, you’ve got to clean up. Here’s a list of 32 things you should probably be cleaning, but likely aren’t. My favorite: putting vacuum cleaner filters and parts through the dishwasher.

Pieology vs. Pizza Rev

Posted onTuesday, August 13, 2013Authorcahwyguy

userpic=pastrami Recently, a new “build-your-own” pizza place opened up near us, on the edge of CSUN: Pieology. This is competition for the other “build-your-own” pizza place three blocks north, Pizza Rev. So tonight we went over to Pieology to give them a try. I think we’ll stick with Pizza Rev. Here’s why:

Both have gluten-free crusts (important for my wife). But Pizza Rev has sauce for gluten-free crusts in separate squirt bottles, with a separate utensil to spread the sauce, and separate trays for cooking. Pieology uses shared sauce and shared spreaders. Bzzzzt, you lose, if you are celiac.
Pizza Rev has a greater variety of sauces: olive oil, red sauce, white sauce, BBQ sauce. Pieology has red sauce, herb butter, and olive oil.
Pieology optionally spreads olive oil on their crusts. Although this results in a browner crust, it also results in a greasier pizza.
Pizza Rev has a greater variety of cheese: mozzarella, reduced-fat mozzarella, feta, bleu, ricotta, and vegan cheese. Pieology: mozzarella, ricotta, parmesian, and gorgonzola.
Pizza Rev has a greater variety of protein: pepperoni, spicy pepperoni, beef pepperoni, Italian sausage, sweet fennel sausage, spicy chorizo, crumbled beef meatball, canadian bacon, crispy bacon, grilled chicken, and anchovies. Pieology … quite a lot less: pepperoni, sausage, meatball, chicken, ham, bacon.
Pizza Rev has a greater variety of veggies: Pizza Rev: mushrooms, red onions, green bell peppers, tomatoes, pineapple, black olives, kalamata olives, basil, spinach, garlic, pepperoncinis, jalapeños, fennel seed, arugula, capers, artichoke hearts, and sun-dried tomatoes. Pieology: black olives, mushrooms, red onions, green peppers, artichokes, tomato, pineapple, jalapeños, basil, cilantro, and garlic. The only thing unique to Pieology is cilantro, whereas Pizza Rev is the only one with kalamata olives, spinach, pepperoncinis, fennel seed, arugula, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes.

The pizza at Pizza Rev was about $1 more, and I think it tastes better. It will be interesting to see which wins in the long run. It all depends on the fickleness of CSUN students.

Saturday News Chum Stew: On The Outs

Posted onSaturday, July 20, 2013Authorcahwyguy

Observation Stew It’s Saturday, and you know what that means. That’s right — it’s time to go to Games Day 55. So while I’m playing games, you can enjoy some tasty news chum stew:

Draining Out. Ever wonder what would happen if you were to drain the oceans? Wonder no more.
Diving Out. Here’s a guide to some iconic greasy spoons in Los Angeles. I’ve eaten at quite a few of these. I tend to like Raes, Panns, and Apple Pan.
Driving Out. Alas, it looks like the Petersen Automotive Museum on the Miracle Mile is changing its focus and getting rid of a lot of its collection. This makes me sad. But then again, it may actually be taking moves to improve its collection. On the third hand, there are those that think it is violating the museum’s trust. OK, now I’m just confused.
Going Out. For my friends in the San Francisco Bay Area — go see this for me. A theatre in San Francisco is giving the musical Camelot a very gritty makeover, moving it back in time and making it much more rough. Quoth the director: “It’s a favorite of mine, but I think ‘Camelot’ has always been a troubled show. The music is brilliant, but the book definitely leaves something to be desired. So I’d always wanted to try to reinvent it. I wanted to make Camelot a lot grittier. We’re setting it farther back, more in the Dark Ages, more ‘Braveheart’ – I’ve cut all the references to shining armor and that kind of stuff. These knights are a pretty rough bunch, like bikers with clubs.” Having seen an attempt at a bare-bones “Camelot”, I’m really curious whether this one works or doesn’t.
Out at School. Here are 40 signs that you went to Berkeley. I already see a lot of them in my daughter.
Out Above The Audience. Here’s an interesting article on how they make Mary Poppins fly… in a 6 acre, 10K+ seat open air amphitheatre (e.g., the Muny Opera).
Outing Stupid Government Employees. The latest Freakonomics podcast sheds light on a very interesting government document: The Encyclopedia of Ethical Failure [you can get it here (2013 additions here)]. It is an ethics guide for government employees, full of true stories about epic screw-ups. Sounds like interesting reading.
Out of Sight. Here is a list of the final resting places of a large number of childhood icons. Yes, Howdy Doody is here (he was a little before my time), but also numerous others that were not.
Out of Bed. I’m an early riser; the rest of my family sleeps in. Here are 14 things us early risers know that that late risers can only dream about. While they are sleeping. In the morning.
Pigging Out on Fruit. Here is an interesting article from the Atlantic on a number of different types of fruit that are even more awesome than what you typically find at the market.

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