"K" for Klunchoo

Joyce scored this gem in her last shopping excursion.

VLOG: PASTRIES, WEDDING, DANCE PARTY | SOLVANG

Pastries by day...wedding and dance party by night. What a great time and thanks to Cava for laying down those dance moves.


PLACES VISITED:
Olsen's Danish Village Bakery
1529 Mission Dr.
Solvang, CA 93463
http://www.yelp.com/biz/olsens-danish-village-bakery-and-coffee-shop-solvang

Old Danish Fudge Kitchen
441 Alisal Rd.
Solvang, CA 93463
http://www.yelp.com/biz/old-danish-food-farm-inc-solvang

Danish Mill Bakery 
1682 Copenhagen Dr.
Solvang, CA 93463
http://www.yelp.com/biz/danish-mill-bakery-inc-solvang-2

Panino 
475 1st St.
Solvang, CA 93463
www.paninorestaurants.com 

Sunstone Winery
125 N Refugio Rd.
Santa Ynez, CA 93460
www.sunstonewinery.com 

R Country Market 
2948 Grand Ave.
Los Olivos, CA 93441
http://www.yelp.com/biz/r-country-market-los-olivos

VLOG: WHAT UP SOLVANG

This one documents our first day in Solvang for Alejandro and Stephanie's wedding. A little drinking, later night eats and karaoke.

VLOG: PUPPIES AND FIREWORKS

Sorry for the late post...after spending a few days on the strip, Joyce and I headed to our friend's house in Henderson for the holiday weekend. It was a lot of fun and thanks yo Jaime and Jess for hosting us!

VLOG: LAS VEGAS FOODVENTURE (Lotus of Siam)

Day 2 in sin city and we have to hit up Lotus of Siam. Home to what I think is some of the best Thai food in the country. James Beard award winning chef Saipin Chutima and staff put out some tasty dishes that we wish we could eat more frequently. It's not a complete trip without a stop here.

VLOG: LAS VEGAS FOODVENTURE (SHAKE SHACK & RAKU)

Joyce and I took some time off before the holiday weekend to take in some Vegas sun and Vegas eats at our favorite spots. We are always down for some Shake Shack and also checked out a new spot, Raku, that came with great recommendations.

VLOG: DISNEYLAND TIME

Recent shenanigans Joyce and I had at Disneyland with Jaime and Jess.

VLOG: REDONDO BEACH SEAFOOD CRAWL

Joyce and I hit up Redondo Beach Pier for a seafood crawl filled with oysters, fried shrimp, dungeness crabs and churros.

PENDLETON X ROXY

Joyce scored a pile of these awesome towels which has me amped for the Summer.

FOODVENTURE: N/NAKA

Our friend Ally sent us a link for a trailer to a new Netflix docu series “Chef’s Table”. Given our love for food this was right up our alley, no pun intended. The docu series features 6 talented chefs from around the world. Near the end of the trailer it introduces the chefs and their location. So when one of the feature chefs is located here in Los Angeles, we knew we had to make it a point to check it out. Thus begins this culinary adventure.



The featured chef is Niki Nakayama and her restaurant is N/NAKA. From the outside one wouldn’t have the faintest idea that what lies inside is a stage for modern Japanese cuisine. Chef Niki applies her technique and creativity to refine the classics and put new twists to them. You can see and taste the care she puts into each dish. Everything has a purpose and there is such an attention to detail.

The setting is quaint and minimalist. We had a party of 3 and such our table was set for three because everything is sourced and prepared for the exact bookings that night.

The staff was extremely friendly and got into our humor which made the experience very enjoyable. Each course was presented simultaneously with a detailed description because there is no menu. The 13 course modern kaiseki menu is conceptualized by Chef Niki based on the best ingredients she can source and what she wants to create.

Thankfully we were able to have the menu emailed to us for this post. Let’s begin this culinary adventure. 

Saki Zuke (A PAIRING OF SOMETHING COMMON AND SOMETHING UNIQUE)
FANNY BAY OYSTER WITH UNI, IKURA, ORANGE AND KUMQUAT JELLY FENNEL VICHYSSOISE

Zensai (SEASONAL INGREDIENTS PRESENTED AS AN APPETIZER)
GRILLED SQUID STUFFED WITH SNOW CRAB, SQUID INK SAUCE, FRIED RENKON LOTUS ROOT WITH LOBSTER BLACKCOD MARINATED MISO, SEA TROUT AVOCADO PONSU

Modern Zukuri (MODERN INTERPRETATION OF SASHIMI)
BONITO, GINGER, MYOGA, SHISO OIL, PONZU

Owan “Still Water”
CLAM, SEWEED, GINGER, CARROT, KAIWARE, DASHI

Otsukuri (TRADITIONAL SASHIMI)
OH TORO, KAMPACHI, TAI, KUMAMOTO OYSTER, NAMA TAKO

Yakimono (GRILLED)
FRIED SEABASS WITH GREEN ONION PONZU GLAZE, GINKO NUT, GRILLED BAMBOO SHOOT

Mushimono/Agemono (STEAMED/FRIED)
CHAWAN MUSHI WITH SNOW CRAB , SHITAKE, MITSUBA, SHIRAKO

Shiizakana (NOT BOUND BY TRADITION, THE CHEF’S CHOICE DISH)
SPAGHETTINI WITH ABALONE, PICKLED COD ROE, BURGUNDY TRUFFLES

Niku (MEAT COURSE)
JAPAN MATSUZAKA WAGYU BEEF A5

Sunomono
HOTARU IKA, JAPANESE CUCUMBER YUZU MISO

Shokuji (RICE DISH- SUSHI)
MAHATA, TORO, IKA, AJI, AMAEBI, UNI NAMEKO WITH RED MISO SOUP

Dessert
GRAPEFRUIT SORBET, RADISH AND SHISO RELISH

Dessert
STRAWBERRY SORBET, STRAWBERRY GRANITA, RHUBARB PUFF PASTRY

It is very hard to pick our favorite, but the chef’s choice was delicious. Very decadent and I only wanted a bigger bowl. Make sure to watch the docu series premiering April 26th and make reservations for N/NAKA on Open Table.

N/NAKA 
3455 Overland Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
www.n-naka.com

FOODVENTURE: SAWTELLE

Sometimes Joyce and I go on foodvetures with Amar and Suzing, sometimes it is with Ally and Brian.  Well this time around we got the group together to do a Sawtelle Foodventure.  I was the only one to have dined at Yakitoriya.  Since I loved that place so much, I figured that would be a good starting point.  So before I really dig into it, check out the below map.  At least Amar and Suzing dragged us to Churros Calientes so we could burn a few calories.



First up Yakitoriya. There is something special about this place. Maybe it's Toshi's special care of the food, or that wonderful charcoal flavor that compares to nothing else, whatever it is...the meal is always so good. Each couple had the sampler, which is a nice way to try all the different sticks.

So here are some of my favorites from top to bottom: chicken wing, chicken breast, chicken thigh, chicken meatball and chicken heart. The last dish (duck and mushroom ravioli), which was recommended to me, was awesome. The mushroom broth was loaded with umami.

Now things go nuts with the next few spots.

We hit up Blockheads for some shaved ice so we could sweeten the pallet to crave the salty goodness from Seoul Sausage.

Seoul Sausage brought the fried and salty. From left to right: Korean short rib poutine, Fried rice balls, Korean fried chicken, another fried rice ball, and in the wrapper... spicy pork sausage with apple slaw.  The spicy pork sausage was delicious, but the best hands down was the poutine.  Damn it was good, still thinking about it as I write this post.

Then it was the long trek to Churros Calientes. Pictured here is the guava drizzled churro and in my stomach, the chocolate drizzled churro. Sorry for the crap quality of the pic, I took it with my iPhone and not my X20.

Now the final spot...B Sweet.  This is where my body crashed and all I could really enjoy was one bite of the glazed donut bread pudding.  It is quite possibly, one of the most amazing things ever.

Amar opted to add Thrifty ice cream, which was a bold move.  But then again his Instagram handle is eat_like_fatmar, so he can handle it.

LITTLE SPARROW

Joyce and I made it a point to try Little Sparrow since it will be featured on next week's episode of Bravo's "Best New Restaurant".

The restaurant itself is well designed. The bar is separate from the main dining area which is nice. It keeps with the theme of the other restaurants in the area which is old town, prohibition, speak easy like.

The service was great. Our server was very helpful with the menu options and checked on us regularly.

Now let's get down to the food. We started with the chicken crack, which are chicken cracklings. It was very tasty and a nice starter. It was not overly salty and over fried. The last thing you want is salty crispy shards in your mouth.

Next up was the foie et taurine with huckleberry jam. This was the special for the night. First off, welcome back foie gras to the golden state. We missed you. The taurine was delicious, smooth and flavorful. The richness came through, and with that jam, what a great dish.

For one of the mains we had the signature Skuna Bay Salmon. It was delicious perfectly cooked salmon with a crispy skin. The sauce maltise put it over the top. All in all the dish has very healthy components: salmon, carrots, and quinoa, but that sauce made it decadent.

We also tried a newer dish, the pici pasta with lamb neck and kale. I noticed the chef likes to try various pasta dishes with lamb neck. The lamb neck was very good, however the dish in its entirety was a little off. The sautéed kale got in the way. Also, the pici pasta wasn't long enough to swirl on a spoon and was a bit gummy.

It was a great meal and I see why it made it on the show. I will be back to try more signature items like the bone marrow and braised short rib.

Little Sparrow
300 Main St.
Santa Ana, CA 92701
www.littlesparrowcafe.com