Knott's Berry Farm
Company Picnic
8039 Beach Blvd
Buena Park, CA

Another day, another catch up post. I'm getting used to this, gaining momentum...hopefully I'll be able to post about things that happened a lot more recently soon. But for now, let's look at some GROSS things I ate last July...namely, food that I'm sure came from a bin and heated up and fed to the masses. I'm talking about COMPANY PICNIC FOOD!!! Awww yeah!

We were invited to go to a Company picnic that took place at Knotts Berry Farm. I hadn't been to a company picnic in ages (the last one I remember was when I was a kid, for my dad's old company), and even further in my memory was a picnic that took place at an amusement park.

So Knotts. Oh how I hate you. Their parking situation is horrible, all the people clamoring to get there blocks up all the streets and heaven forbid Knotts invest in SIGNAGE to tell people where to go. So after a few hair pulling mishaps, we parked in a far away parking lot, opting to walk the perimeter of Knotts than to brave the streets again. So this is the kind of mood we were in, going into the picnic grounds. And sooo...we wait in the food line...to find....THIS.

OMG! "Burger" patties that have never even touched a grill, yet, have grill marks! I love that these are swimming in a warm pool of disgusting meat juices. This makes me feel like I'm back in elementary school, chowing on something that I'm SURE was made and formed in the 50's, and reheated for human consumption (prison, public school, whatever!) Oh yes. I ate one. I'm not happy, or proud about it. I'm probably still digesting parts of it today. With THAT in mind...
...let's move on to Knott's Berry Farm's "famous" fried chicken. Or, should I say in this state, frozen, then fried, then steamed in this container so by the time it reaches your mouth, it's a mushy gloppy mess that makes the insides of your mouth feel like a caterpillar. I admit, I've had Knotts fried chicken before (long ago, at the beginning of my stay in Los Angeles) and it isn't bad, so the complaints mainly stem from the fact that the chicken is served in this container that steams everything to keep it warm. Still destroys any kind of good chicken though.
Now what could this be....more unidentifiable BINS of stuff...they might as well be pig troughs. Upon closer study...
(tilt your head sideways, everyone...still have an issue with rotation of pictures on here)...oh, look, it's BEANS. And not just any beans, too! I think the crust of one half of the beans is in a war with the other half of the not as crusty beans...forming a BEANMONSTER of EPIC PROPORTIONS.

This is the saddest thing of all - if anyone knows me, they know that I love fake nacho cheese. I can't say I know why, but I will almost always order it if a place offers it. But...look what this nacho cheese has become - a tectonic plate of a crusty, old nacho cheese river. I can't even bear it. Poor nacho cheese.
Here's the cold food section...you got your mayo laden stuff....your other mayo laden stuff...this meal is straight from the 50's! The watermelon slices in the far distance at least tell me that there was an effort for health. I think the slice that I had was..ok..but not very sweet.
Nothing horrifies me more than corn that has been steamed so long that it wants to commit corn suicide.
And here's a plate of all this stuff, as nice as you can display it. It almost looks edible! Almost...
And finally, to wash it all down - here are slices of their "famous" boysenberry pie. I don't think this pie deserves the acclaim...the crust was too heavy and dense, the boysenberries too tart and mushy. Disappointment city. Probably could have been vastly improved if ice cream was around.

Well Knotts, thanks for disappointing me again. I was sorely disappointed when I went to Knotts Scary farm a few years back, and I was willing to give them a chance again for this...but again, failure. At least they're consistent. Oh, the highlight though was the company I was keeping. You guys rule! This food didn't!

Houston's

various locations across Southern California, but the one I went to was at:
2991 Michelson Dr, Irvine, CA 92612

As a testament at how backlogged I have become - I am blogging about food I ate ALMOST HALF A YEAR AGO. Talk about paying my dues. I am determined to slog through this, luckily, I remember a lot after seeing the pictures I took, and sometimes, when the food is good enough, it's that memorable. Like when you pick something out of your teeth that has been bothering you for the whole evening...uh, yeah maybe something a bit more glamorous, but I definitely have a huge satisfactory feeling that almost rivals a good meal. Or accompanies one. But onwards!

Patty's birthday dinner location choice was Houston's, a CHAIN restaurant (all you food snobs, together with me - SCOFF! SCOFF!) I usually hate and avoid chains if I have to - but be it sacrilege or not, I like Houston's. The decor is always really clean, contemporary, I like their wood block tables, the service is usually sterling. they make a mean arnold palmer. As far as I know, there are no Houston's in Northern California, so I never got to experience one in my younger days.

We started off with drinks - oh I love the glasses they use for drinks! A square-ish shaped bottom tapering up to a wide circular mouth, perfect for holding any cold liquid. I got my usual Arnold Palmer. We decided on a favorite of Owen's...

...spinach artichoke dip (excuse the blurriness and rotation, for the life of me it won't adjust the other way). This was a really really good dip - the spinach even tasted really fresh. Salsa and sour cream also accompanied this dish, which....
...tortilla chips were liberally used to scoop everything up. A great start to an even more exciting meal...
Patty got one of her favorite things to eat here - seared ahi tuna with tricolor cauliflower, and tomato with basil and balsamic vinegar on top. First of all, amazing presentation - how could you lose with a color palette like that? It was like the skittles dinner - all colors of the rainbow (incidentally, also the name of Brad and Patty's macaw - I don't usually get "pun"ny but I guess there's a first time for everything). In any case, Patty seemed to enjoy her meal thoroughly.
Brad stuck with his favorite - a Hickory Burger with canadian bacon on top, cheddar, onion and hickory sauce. We had our choice of sides, and he went with the loaded baked potato. I had one too, more about the spud later. He basically licked this plate clean.

Paul got a set of BBQ ribs plate, with cole slaw and fries. We all "ooooh'ed when one of the waiters set this down in front of Paul. He rocked this plate and left no scraps. I tried a little, it was fall off the bone amazing.

Finally, to me and Owen. I decided on their special - crab cakes. I had a choice of 2 sides, which left me with a problem. I love fries, but I desperately wanted to try the baked potato. And I wasn't going to have fries AND a baked potato - tater overload. Owen nobly stepped in and wanted a baked potato too - so I ordered 2 loaded baked potatoes! Yikes! This plate looks like oval shaped things overload! Once I handed Owen his baked potato, the plate seemed a bit more manageable. So how did everything taste? This crab cake was one of the top 5 crab cakes I've ever had in my life. Big lump crab meat, SWEET crab meat, I'd like to add...with a bit of crunchy browning on top and a kick ass sauce. The baked potato was potato heaven. Not to be missed for anyone able to go to a Houston's. Owen got a fried chicken salad, because where there is bacon and avocado, there will be Owen. Namely, he loved it. This salad was huge, I don't think he finished it, even with me pecking at the sides a bit.
Another special of the night - strawberries, with a bit of balsamic vinegar drizzled over the top, with fresh whipped cream. These extremely sweet and fresh strawberries were everything you could have wanted out of a berry. Owen can't help himself. When it comes to their warm chocolate brownie, with nuts and vanilla ice cream on top, he can't resist. He has to get this every time he comes here. I'm not much of a sweets person, but I admit this combination is pretty great. I ate 2 bites of this, and went into chocolate overload.

I really had no complaints that night. Everything was spectacular, from service to food, to ambiance and great company. Go!

Coffee Company
8751 La Tijera Boulevard
Westchester, CA 90045

Having a decent coffee shop around the corner is a big deal. Breakfast is so easy to make but it's all about having a place to go on the weekends, and there's just something so...I don't know, uniquely leisurely about having a convenient place to go down the street.

Sooo, Coffee Company it was. This place gets SUPER crowded on the weekends - especially on Sunday, when folks head there from the church across the street. There's sometimes a line out the DOOR but they keep things moving along here, and you usually are seated before you know it.

We usually start our meal with a glass of their orange juice...I think it's fresh squeezed or some of the best quality store bought stuff that they could find because this stuff is seriously delicious...
...and sometimes a coffee. They keep the coffee cup full here...I mean, it IS called the coffee company for a reason, right? They have the huge containers of sugar here (where you just tip it over and see that huge LINE of sugar pouring out), but I try to stick to Splenda nowadays.
This was Owen's french toast plate, with bacon and eggs over easy. Good, but not great, diner food. This isn't THE BEST french toast, but it's definitely tasty. They're really fast, too. Oh, and I know they're not shown here, but they have THE BEST biscuits. Fluffy, well flavored, good crusty outside. I'm not a biscuits and gravy kind of person but if you're into that, this is the place to go. (Honey's Kettle has got the market cornered on sweetened southern style biscuits, but this place has the more savory country style. Just wanted to clarify)
I wasn't in a breakfasty mood for some reason, so I got a club sandwich with fries. Maybe I should have stuck with breakfast, cuz this club sandwich didn't have...I dunno, DIFFERENTNESS. Like, I could have made this at home. But I am lazy! So Coffee Company wins. I actually like crust, so it was unfortunate that they cut the crust off, but I can deal. I liked the bacon and fries a lot though (go figures, the things that are FRIED...!), crinkly fries for the win!

Since we live fairly close to the Coffee Company, we usually get coupons in the Value pak in the mail for half off the second meal, which is a great discount for gluttons like us. Admittedly, that gives me a bit of sympathy for any complaints I might have (not many to begin with), so take that to heart. And YES I rummage through the Value Pak, even though most of the coupons in there are for things I would never use (1000 address labels, water delivery, rain gutter cleaning...thanks but no thanks!)

Huzzah to the first (finally) post of 2008 for Drink your Milk and eat your greens...many more to come!

A new year, a new look...

SLACKER. Yes. I am labeling myself a SLACKER, so you, the reader of this humble blog, do not have to. It's been way too long. I've missed this. And hopefully you've missed me too. I've made a few changes, slapped on a few of my favorite colors, and now ready to kick your eyeballs out with some great food I've been eating...I must share it all with you!

So, forgive me, for my absence - I will make it up to you!! It's not you, it's me! And all those other lame excuses!

Las Vegas
(finally getting to it..and no, I'm not proud about how long it's been since I've last posted)

Ahhh, Vegas. There are so many great things about it, all based around greed and a slimy underbelly (yeah, I've seen Casino.) But sometimes you gotta indulge and get outta the city.

A stop at a restaurant while driving to Vegas was necessary to stretch our legs and to try out the Mad Greek...


...a funny restaurant in the middle of the desert, open 24 hours, filled with wacky Greek statues and memorabilia. But I feel the place is more than a gimmick, because their food was delicious.
Owen got one of his favorites - watermelon juice. And this was no ordinary watermelon juice from a carton. They took a mini watermelon, cut off the rinds and threw the whole thing in a blender, all for Owen's drink. Doesn't get any fresher than that.
An order of their onion rings and zucchini once again proved their strive for freshness. These onion rings and zucchini strips were freshly cut and fried - no frozen stuff here. I have to admit though, as fresh as these were, they weren't as tasty as I wanted them to be. The zucchini was a little bit bitter, but a dip in their tahini and all was well.
Bryan's bacon cheeseburger...I guess if you want a regular cheeseburger you have to ask them to hold the bacon! That's the kind of place this is!!! His order of fries looked good.
Owen and I got the beef and lamb gyro combo - a luscious flatbread filled with char-grilled meats, fresh tomatoes and onions, and came with tahini and rice. Completely satisfying.
Here's another sexy shot for all the food pornography appreciators out there.

The next day was all about hitting the town. For lunch, we went to Caesar's Palace, and stopped at a restaurant whilst inside their Forum Shops - Trevi. The atmosphere was nice, as it was "outdoors"..or as outdoors as the Forum shops can get. Under an artificial pleasantly cloudy blue sky, we chewed on our bread while we waited for our food.
The best part about the bread was the DELICIOUSLY FRAGRANT olive oil. It was some of the best olive oil I've ever had. Really. It made everything so tasty.
For an appetizer, we ordered some blue crab dip that came with some buttered bread slices. This was excellent - it didn't look like much but once we dug into the creamy, rich crab meat, we were blown away. This plate was scraped CLEAN when we were done with it.
Here's Patty's caprice salad - buffalo mozzerella, thick slices of tomato, a few leaves of basil, drizzled with balsamic vinegar. I didn't taste this but doesn't it look pretty?
Polenta fries were a miss, apparently. Brad said they sucked, and that they were too thick and too filling. I'll take his word on it.
Here's Owen's Trio of Roast Beef sliders, that came with fries. They are just too cute, lined up in a row, ready to be EATEN. Their round little buns covered shaved cheese, succulent roast beef, and a tomato slice. Very delicious.

Justin got a pizza - sausage, onion, potato and bell pepper (I think). He managed to finish off most of it. I tried a slice...pretty good but VERY filling because of the potato. The crust was very good.
And it's unfortunate, but this is the only (blurry) picture I took of one of the most amazing chicken alfredo pizzas I've ever had. Slices of white meat chicken, bacon, garlic, over mozzarella and a white sauce instead of red. FULL of flavors, and so savory good.
We had to get dessert of course. Patty and Brad chose to share 2 scoops of chocolate gelato with bananas. It looked rich and creamy.
Our side of the table, which contained a certain chocoholic named Owen, insisted on getting a massive chocolate dessert. So he ordered a chocolate mousse slice, with raspberry and chocolate sauce. This...was pure decadence. I liked the raspberries the best, and really could only take 2 small bites...I was really full.


Now on to the big dogs. Patty was kind enough to make reservations for us to go to - DANIEL BOULUD BRASSERIE within the Wynn, because we were going to watch Spamalot (hilllarrrious...by the way...check it out if you have the means!) We were seated outdoors - it was finally cooled down enough for it to be pleasant outside instead of unbearable - in front of the huge waterfall. Very nice. The staff was super attentive, and gave suggestions as to what we should get.
The bread basket was stocked with many delicious crusty-on-the-crust-soft-on-the-inside slices of bread...
...served with fancy little pats of butter with Daniel Boulud's signature symbol on it (swanky, no?)
Brad and Patty were so kind as to order a few things for the table - the smoked salmon platter being one of them. Mmmm, I love smoked salmon. These pieces were beautifully pink, with capers dashed longside them. Chopped red onions and bread slices finished out the plate. The salmon was...great. Not too salty, not too mild, just...tasty.
They also ordered a tuna tartare. Fresh fresh ahi tuna chopped up and formed into a cylinder...with tasty rabbit food on top makes me happy.
Owen and Patty decided to go with the waiter's suggestion and got the Braised Short Ribs. They were covered in a tasty glaze sauce, atop a bed of mash and perched on top of the meat, a bit of root veggies and string beans. The highlight, of course, was the meat...
Oh, yes, look at that beautiful meat being tore up! The meat was so tender and juicy that it FELL apart when touching it with a fork, but it was not dry at all...so very delicious this was (well, the taste I had was delicious...Owen completely annihilated this plate + scraped it CLEAN.)
The rest of us decided on getting the "Original NY DB Burger", which we could not resist as the ingredients in this burger were most special - the burger is a 9 oz sirloin, stuffed with SHORT RIBS, FOIE GRAS and BLACK TRUFFLE. What?!! That's like 4 other rich meals rolled up in ONE burger. All of this is nestled on a Parmesan bun, with golden tender french fries. Now I have to say, these fries were some of the best I've had. And I've had a lot of fries in my life.
Now to the burger. I mean, what can't I say that the picture does not say? The meat juices get soaked up by the sturdy but fresh bun. The foie gras is foie gras - decadent organ meats were in full force as the middle of this burger was protected from overcooking by the ground sirloin outsides. I honestly didn't really notice any of the truffles but then again, I don't think I've had them otherwise, so I probably couldn't tell with all the meat surrounding it. The short ribs were mashed along with everything, giving it a different texture. The whole thing was seriously an effort to eat, as it was so rich. I think I did my best with the meat but left the bun.

After watching the hilarious Spamalot show, we got a bit of dessert at Chocolat - the chocolate store inside of the Wynn.
I got a raspberry macaron. Ohhh boy. This was perfect. So good, not too sweet, crisp outside, chewy satisfying fruity inside. I should have these more often, but glad there's not a place that's closer. I think I'd probably gorge myself on these until I hurt.
Patty got herself a croissant from the cafe. HOW BEAUTIFUL! Puffy, buttery brown, crusty on the outside soft as air on the inside. Lucky her!
This is Owen's chocolate croissant - he can't resist when it comes to the combination of dark chocolate and flaky buttery-ness. A top quality croissant all the way!

The next day, my dad, my brother, Owen and I went to Paris for some lunch. The line to every restaurant was trailing out the door, so we went to their cafe for a few sandwiches. They were fairly quick and efficient. My brother got an italian sandwich combo (which came with the grossest potato salad I've ever had - sloppy wet disgustingness. ) A number of deli meats were inside this sandwich - salami, ham..topped off with artichoke hearts and rabbit foods. The bread was super thick, and way too filling.
This was my smoked salmon sandwich, with red onions and capers. They were VERY generous with the smoked salmon, which I was very much pleased about. I traded halves with my brother so I got to try the Italian sandwich.
Dad got the roast beef with caramelized gracing the top. The roast beef portion was overly generous. The quality of the meat was alright. Nothing to write home about.
Owen got a tuna salad sandwich. Same as the other sandwiches - overly generous with the meat, way too big to finish.
That night, we went to Planet Hollywood (formerly the Aladdin Casino and Hotel, now changed to Planet Hollywood, with the dumbest logo of all time...a "ph" on the outside. WHY?) for their Spice Market Buffet. They were having a special dinner because of the holiday weekend. I don't know what's usually there, but I throughly enjoyed huge split king crab legs, tons of shrimp (different kinds, too - boiled, tempura, sushi), oysters, a Mediterranean BBQ, prime rib, and countless other things I sampled. I remember having the top crust off of a creme brulee and some frozen yogurt from a soft serve machine.
So yeah, a pretty good buffet for buffet standards. Everyone seemed to be having a great time.

What a weekend that was! Vegas never fails to disappoint!

The Mad Greek
Baker, CA
619-733-4354

Trevi at Caesar's Palace, in the Forum Shops
3570 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Daniel Boulud Brasserie, Chocolat and Terrace Point Café, at the Wynn Hotel
3131 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109

The Cafe at Paris Hotel
3655 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109

The Spice Market Buffet at the Planet Hollywood Hotel
3667 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109