JeNycEats

On the first night in Vegas, we decided to stay local. I had never been to Vegas, so I had no idea which restaurants to try. Thankfully D has been here before and he remembered going to Buzios seafood restaurant at The Rio, which was where we were staying.

D has been to Buzios on previous family vacations, so he knew the food was good. I love seafood, so I was super excited to try out the food at Buzio’s. Since we had a Winchell’s donuts and a treinta coffee from Starbucks, we weren’t that hungry. For an appetizer, we ordered a bowl of the clam chowder. I love clam chowder and it was great at Buzio’s. It was rich and creamy, not too runny or thick. The bits of clams were nice and juicy.

D’s entree was the halibut fish and chips (I think he plays it safe but he’s cute, so it’s ok). The fish was moist on the inside and super crunchy and fried on the outside. The fish had a nice italian seasoning. The fries were thick cut (my favorite type of fries). Overall, this dish was good but pretty much the same as everywhere else that makes fish and chips.

For my entree, I ordered the grouper with hollandaise and shredded crab meat. The dish came with a baked potato, green beans, and asparagus. I am not the biggest fan of fish but I figured I should order fish because well, we are at a seafood restaurant. The grouper was cooked amazingly…very flaky and moist. The hollandaise sauce was cooked perfectly and the crab meat added even more of a fresh seafood flavor to the dish. A forkful of the grouper dipped in the hollandaise sauce was just perfectly paired together. The vegetables were nice and crunchy and the baked potato was like any other baked potato.

Buzios Seafood Restaurant

3700 West Flamingo Road

Las Vegas, NV 89103

http://www.riolasvegas.com

On the last morning in California, we prepared for the car ride to Las Vegas with a box of Winchell’s Donuts. D’s dad told us that we HAD to get Winchell’s before we left California. We had to go out of our way to and away from Vegas but it was well worth it. When we go to Winchell’s, I didn’t think it was going to be a small shop but there was a great variety of donuts. We chose a Boston cream, jelly, glazed, chocolate krueller, coconut vanilla, chocolate glazed, and a bear claw. The donuts were freshly made and were a great snack for the road. D’s dad highly recommended the bear claw. The bear claw had a yummy apple filling. The donuts lasted us the whole 4 hour car ride to Vegas.

Winchell’s Donut House

600 South Victory Boulevard

Burbank, CA 91502

http://www.winchells.com/

On our last day in California, we decided to go to Top Chef Fabio Viviani’s restaurant “Firenze Osteria.” We were exhausted from a day at Universal Studios, so we wanted to go somewhere local. Luckily, Firenze Osteria is in Toluca Lake and only a 10 minute drive from our hotel in Burbank.

The decor at Firenze Osteria was very rustic Italian and romantic. Our server brought out the house tapenade and bread. The two types of bread were focaccia and one with bits of olive in it. The focaccia was toasted and crunchy, just enough salt and rosemary. The tapenade was delicious! It had chopped up olives, capers, and sun dried tomatoes. Normally, I don’t like olives but with everything combined, I barely tasted the olives. It just tasted delicious! Nice and salty but not overbearing. I had to try not to eat all of it. I didn’t want to get full off of bread and tapenade!

We already ate a lot of the bread and tapenade, so we didn’t want to fill up on the appetizer. To play it safe, we ordered the fried calamari and zucchini. We love calamari and zucchini, so it was only natural to order it. The calamari was extra crispy and the zucchini was crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. The marinara was a spicy roasted garlic tomato sauce. This was a nice appetizer to start with. It wasn’t too heavy and had just enough kick.

For an entree, D ordered the Ravioli di Brasato. This dish was a braised short rib ravioli with melted Taleggio cheese and aged balsamic vinegar. The ravioli pasta was cooked perfectly and the short rib filling was light and meaty. The sauce was really creamy and quite rich. Atop the ravioli was the aged balsamic vinegar. I love balsamic vinegar on anything! Overall, this dish was absolutely perfect. Not too heavy but filled with lots of great flavor. You can’t go wrong with ribs, melted cheese, and balsamic vinegar.

For my entree, I ordered the Linguine Frutti Di Mare (Seafood Linguini shrimp, calamari, clams and black mussels, light tomato & white wine sauce, and parsley). Seafood is my favorite type of food and I love carbs, so it was only natural for me to order this. The pasta was cooked perfectly and there was a wide variety of seafood. The seafood was cooked well and the seafood flavor was infused in the sauce. The sauce was rich and tomatoey with a little kick from some spices and tasted of the seafood.

For dessert, we were sent complimentary ricotta cannolis and a flourless chocolate cake. The homemade ricotta cannolis was stuffed with ricotta, covered in chocolate chips and pistachos and powdered sugar was sprinkled on top. Normally, I am not a fan of cannolis because they can be too sweet but these ricotta cannolis appealed to me because they weren’t too sweet and wasn’t too ricotta’y. Even though the cannolis weren’t too sweet, the chocolate chips added a nice sweetness to it and the pistachios were slightly salted, so this was a great combination of salt and sweet. I love chocolate, so the flourless chocolate cake was definitely a Jen dessert. The cake was warm and fluffy. On top was vanilla gelato and coffee cream. The vanilla gelato was nice and light and the coffee cream added a nice caffeine kick to the cake.

We also met the owner of “Firenze Osteria” and Top Chef contestant Fabio Viviani. He is such a great chef and an awesome guy in real life. He actually had to rush out to get to San Diego for an event but I was able to get a picture with him. He is so cute in person! When I showed D’s mom the picture of Fabio and I, the first thing she said was “you’re pushing your boobs on Fabio!”. Poor Fabio! I am such a fan girl lol. Fabio is cute, cooks great food, and sent us complimentary dessert. It can’t get better than that.

Firenze Osteria

4212 Lankershim Boulevard

North Hollywood, CA 91602

http://www.firenzeosteria.com/firenzeOsteria.html

We did 1 day at Universal Studios Hollywood during vacation. I don’t like roller coasters but D convinced me to go on all of the rides, even the scary ones like The Mummy. My favorites rides was Transformers and Jurassic Park!

Mid day, we got Mexican for lunch at Camachos Cantina. It was the first restaurant we saw when I started to get hungry and cranky. I got the steak burrito and D got steak soft tortilla tacos. Both came with red beans and spanish rice. The steak was good but exactly what you would expect for theme park food. The beans were moist and the rice was fluffy. It was a nice little lunch on a fun day at Universal Studios.

Camacho’s Cantina

1000 Universal City Plaza

Universal City, CA 91608

http://www.camachos-cantina.com/index.html

After looking up restaurant recommendations in California, I stumbled upon La Sandia Santa in Monica. We had already gone to Santa Monica Pier, so we were somewhat familiar with Santa Monica. We love Mexican food, so it was only natural to have Mexican one night. We were able to get free parking in a parking garage. La Sandia is on the 3rd floor of Santa Monica Place, an outdoor mall. Throughout our vacation in California, I have noticed that all of the malls in California are big outdoor malls, something I’m not used to. New York malls are usually indoors and being right by the water in California, nights were pretty chilly.

The La Sandia atmosphere was nice and relaxing, very spanish decorations. We were seated right away. The server was a really nice young lady from the midwest. She brought out tortilla chips and salsa. If you didn’t know already, I LOVE chips and salsa! I could just eat both all day, every day. The chips were freshly fried and the salsa had a nice kick to it. The chips and salsa reminded me Moe’s Southwest Grill (a fast Mexican food chain). We would have ordered guacamole but we ordered guacamole when we ordered room service.

Our first appetizer was the tortilla soup. It came with guajilo, crema fresca, avocado, and crispy tortilla. I absolutely love soup, whether it’s hot or cold out. Tortilla soup is great but not many places make it good. This tortilla soup was surprisingly good, a little spicy but the avocado soothed the spiciness. The soup had a thick consistency and tasted extra cheesy. I only wish there were bigger bowls!

The second appetizer was chicken flautas, consisting of chicken tinga rolled in a crispy corn tortilla, chile morita salsa, cojita cheese, black bean puree, and crema fresca. This was a great appetizer! Then again, anything fried tends to be good. The chicken was moist and salsa was mild. D loves black beans, so that was another plus. It was hard to scoop the lettuce and tomato on the flautas but easy enough to just take a bite of the flauta and a scoop of lettuce, tomato, and black bean puree. $5 for this appetizer was a steal!

For D’s entree, he ordered the pork carnitas tacos. The pork carnitas had slow roasted pork shoulder, corn tortillas, guacamole, pickled onion, charro beans, salsa verde, and habanero salsa. This dish was delicious! The pork was cooked perfectly and while the salsa was spicy, the beans and guacamole was nice and soothing. I don’t really like pickled food but I love pickled onion. I could eat them all day! I have to say that I enjoyed D’s entree better than mine.

I ordered the grilled shrimp fajitas. There were achiote citrus herb marinade and salsa verde served with sauteed bell pepper and citrus marinated onion. The dish also came with guacamole, mexican rice, charro beans, salsa, crema fresca, and flour tortillas. I love seafood but the shrimp was the worst part of the dish. The shrimp tasted old and frozen. Plus, the tails were still on the shrimp. I’m not a prima donna but when I order shrimp fajitas and have to put the shrimp in flour tortillas, it is a lot more work to have to take the tails off of every single shrimp and THEN put them in the tortilla. Overall, the rice and beans tasted much better than the shrimp.

La Sandia Santa Monica

395 Santa Monica Place, 305 N

Santa Monica, CA 90401

http://www.richardsandoval.com/lasandiasm/index.php

After In-N-Out Burger, we visited Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach. Amazing is all I can say! I will post pictures in a separate post. As a vacation tradition, D and I always order room service for dinner on the 1st night of vacation (unless we’re staying at a resort with meal plans, like the Atlantis…I want to go back to the Bahamas!). During our stay in California, we stayed at Hotel Amarano in Burbank. This hotel was gorgeous! It was a boutique hotel right off the highway. Of course our room was the very last room on the floor. Plus, Hotel Amarano extended the hotel and we were of course in the extended part (aka super far from the elevator). It wasn’t too much of a hassle, as our room was just amazing! The bed was so big and comfy and the bathroom was super chic. The pool was small but was more than enough as there was never more than 3 people in the pool area. The hot tub was great in the morning and after a long day of sight seeing.

So onto the food. We ordered room service. On the menu, there were no prices, so we didn’t expect the food to be too expensive. For an appetizer, we ordered tortilla chips, salsa, and guacamole. The chips were freshly fried and crispy. The salsa was a tad spicy but gave a great kick. The guacamole was good but didn’t hold a flame to D’s guacamole. The guacamole was light and fresh but almost had no other flavors. The spicy salsa added to the guacamole gave it the necessary kick.

For my entree, I ordered a Margherita pizza. Even though I am a new Yorker, pizza is not one of my favorite foods. In fact, I don’t even like pizza that much but that night, I was craving carbs. I normally want meals with meat in it but I was craving the Margherita pizza and it didn’t have any meat on it…just mozzarella, marinara sauce, and basil. Surprisingly enough, I really enjoyed the pizza, despite it being meatless. The sauce tasted fresh and the cheese was light. The basil tasted freshly picked! Even though I am not the biggest fan of pizza, this room service pizza was pretty damn good!

D ordered a BLT sandwich with turkey, avocado, and a side of fries. This was surprisingly delicious as well! Surprising because it was room service and delivered relatively fast. The avocado was fresh and bacon crispy. I was sold! The fries were crispy and better than In-N-Out fries. However, we were starting to get full from the tortilla chips, so we were barely able to finish the pizza and sandwich. The food was delicious (especially from room service!).

The bill, however, stunned me. For 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, and a large water cost about as much as dining out at a nice restaurant. On the bill, they included crazy hotel fees and labeled the tip as something else, probably hoping we wouldn’t recognize and then tip the delivery person again. D caught it but not before it was paid. We were able to get the tip money back but sneaky sneaky sneaky!

Hotel Amarano Burbank

322 North Pass Avenue

Burbank, CA 91505

http://www.hotelamarano.com/

So I finally have some free time to start blogging about our summer vacation to California and Vegas (2 months later late but better than never). I have never been to California or Vegas and D has been to California AND Vegas, so he was super excited to show me around. On the first half of our trip, we went to California. When I think of California, I think of typical California…relaxed, free spirited, and In-N-Out Burger. I absolutely loved California! It was everything that I expected…so different from New York. Everybody walked at such slow paces and were so polite (even on the highway!). I could see myself living there one day!

We landed in LAX on a hazy Saturday morning. We left New York early in the morning and by the time we arrived on the West Coast, people were just waking up. We found Hertz and picked up our car. If you go to California, it was so much more convenient and easy to get around if you rent a car. I highly recommend Hertz! After getting off a 5.5 hour flight, we were hungry but people were just waking up and companies just opening up shop. We ultimately decided on In-N-Out Burger. I have always wanted to try them out and see what the rave was all about.

The closest In-N-Out Burger was a couple miles away from LAX, so we decided to get our first meal in California there. We both noticed 2 things. There were lots of asians and hipsters with mustaches. Must be a California thing. Anywho, I ordered a hamburger and fries and D ordered a double-double cheeseburger and fries. The burgers were pretty good and fresh. They definitely tasted different from the burgers I’m used to on the East Coast. The patty didn’t have that distinct grill taste to it but still good and healthier I guess. D really liked the fries but to me, the fries were ehh. They were a little squishy and there was nothing special about them.

I also saw people ordering fries with this weird pinkish sauce on top. Turns out they were animal fries! While waiting for our food, I saw this plate of fries with slices of cheddar cheese and diced bacon on top, going onto a conveyor belt into an oven. Apparently, the cheese turns into this melted goodness with fatty bacon on to. Had I known animal fries existed, I would have ordered it! Next time, In-N-Out Burger!

http://www.in-n-out.com/

*Warning: sorry for the blurry photos. I lost the greatest digital camera of all time, a while ago and had to make do with my ancient digital camera*

I have wanted to try Rouge Tomate for the longest time. I met Carlo, a fellow food lover and twitter buddy, at Rouge Tomate. From the outside, the restaurant looked small and quaint but when you go inside, the place is just huge! Really nice intimate setting and we were sat right by the bar. Score! To start off, we were given this green amuse bouche. I think it was a shot of pureed asparagus soup. All I remember is not liking it. It was thick and really green tasting. I love asparagus and all greens except I don’t like it pureed and funky tasting.

Most restaurants serve bread and butter at the beginning of the meal. At Rouge Tomate, they had servers going around with a wooden box filled with different types of bread. We each chose what bread we wanted (rye, wheat, etc…) and the bread came with rosemary infused olive oil and creamy mascarpone spread. The bread was hot and fresh out of the oven. The olive oil tasted so rich and earthy, not too much rosemary. The creamy mascarpone was so smooth and faint. I loved that they gave you a choice of bread with some great spreads.

As an appetizer, Carlo ordered the Maine lobster salad. This came with avocado, summer beans, peach, candied pecan, and endive. I absolutely love lobster, so this was a plus. The lobster tasted fresh and cooked perfectly. The veggies were amazing too! The crunch and different colors from each veggie! I love how this wasn’t a typical salad. There was fresh seafood and not so typical salad ingredients. This was a good refreshing dish to start the meal with.

I ordered the candy cane beet carpaccio. This came with satsuma mandarin, kumquat, pistachio, and sheep’s milk ricotta. This was amazing! I absolutely love beets in all forms and this was just so delicate and full of flavor! Each ingredient added a different flavor and each bite was just a burst of freshness. The beets were sliced so thinly and the fruit (mandarin and kumquat) added a nice acid to the salty pistachio and mild ricotta. When you combine each ingredient together, it really was the perfect summer bite.

For an entree, Carlo ordered the chicken pasta dish (I forgot the name of this dish). The picture doesn’t do the dish justice. The pasta was so fresh and cooked perfectly. The chicken was good but nothing to rave about. The vegetables were great (what can I say? I love vegetables!). There was a great crunch with every bite. I liked the dish but I would not order it next time. It was simple and ordinary.

For my entree, I ordered the duck with potato pierogies. I also believe there was a yellow and red diced beet salad but I’m not 100% sure because this meal was like ages ago. I do know that this dish was amazing! The duck was so juicy and delicious. The only other times I’ve eaten duck was from Chinese restaurants, so the duck was fried and tasted nothing like this. The potato pierogies were pretty good but I must say, mine are better (I’m being biased!). Everything combined was the perfect meat and potatoes dish for me.

For dessert, I ordered the bittersweet chocolate sphere and Carlo ordered the rhubarb upside down cake. I absolutely adored the chocolate dessert because it came out as a solid golden sphere on a bed of cookie crumbs and nuts. The waiter told me to take the picture soon because it would soon melt after he poured warm chocolate over the sphere. After pouring the sauce, the entire sphere melted into this yummy concoction of dark and milk chocolate, banana, and nuts. This was such a gorgeous presentation and even more amazing flavors. Carlo’s rhubarb upside down cake was good too (not as good as my dessert though). The rhubarb was nice and tart.The cake wasn’t too sweet and the gelato was pretty light and refreshing.

I love going out to eat and meeting new foodie friends, so this was a great experience. If you want to grab a meal together, let me know!

Rouge Tomate

10 East 60th Street

New York, NY 10022

http://rougetomatenyc.com/

I know I know I haven’t blogged in a while. D and I just came back from vacation (California and Vegas) a couple of weeks ago and although there is a 3 hour difference on the west coast, I still feel as if I’m in vacation mode. I finally uploaded over 700 photos onto my computer but still in the relaxed/lazy California mode. I did however harvest some fresh beets from my vegetable garden. I love beets and the beets were starting to pop out of the dirt, so I knew they were ready to be picked.

I looked up beet recipes and found the most simple yet perfect recipe for roasted beets and sauteed beet greens. I never knew you could eat the greens on top of the beet but apparently you could. I was only able to harvest 4 beets, as the other beets were super tiny but this was more than enough for me. The roasting took a while but it was well worth it. The beets were so juicy and earthy. The beet greens look like swiss chard but tasted subtle like spinach. Onion and garlic is the best stinkiest combo. I have some more beets that will be ready to be picked in a few weeks. I will certainly be cooking them the same way. Oh and I also used red onion to add a little more of a kick.

Also, I’ll blog more in a little bit once I get out of vacation mode lol.

The recipe can be found here.

Roasted Beets and Sauteed Beet Greens

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 40 minutes

* 1 bunch beets with
* greens
* 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 tablespoons chopped onion (optional) – I used red onion
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C). Wash the beets thoroughly, leaving the skins on, and remove the greens. Rinse greens, removing any large stems, and set aside. Place the beets in a small baking dish or roasting pan, and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. If you wish to peel the beets, it is easier to do so once they have been roasted.
2. Cover, and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until a knife can slide easily through the largest beet.
3. When the roasted beets are almost done, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and onion, and cook for a minute. Tear the beet greens into 2 to 3 inch pieces, and add them to the skillet. Cook and stir until greens are wilted and tender. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the greens as is, and the roasted beets sliced with either red-wine vinegar, or butter and salt and pepper.