No one that knows me will be surprised that my culinary journey started with a donut crawl. Sweet and delicious. I’ll post that soon. It’s relevant to this because my partner in crime, Holland and I ended the day waiting in line at world famous Ralph’s for over an hour. I can’t tell you if Ralph’s donuts were worth it or not because we had dinner reservations that I didn’t want to miss. We ended up at Playa Provisions and it was incredible.

Playa Provisions is located at 119 Culver Boulevard in Playa Del Ray. We planned to meet Holland’s friend Tyler. The restaurant is close to where he lives and to Ralph’s – it’s all about the proximity to the donut. The weather was cool and at that time all dining was outside.  Luckily for me, we were seated next to a wonderful fire. The conversation was lively and we immediately jumped into cocktails – margaritas. I started with the 2 bite caviar crispy hashbrown (top center photo) – lemon cream, sieve egg, shallots (none for me, thank you), Passmore Ranch truffle infused steelhead trout roe and chives. I really should have had another. Next time I will. I love caviar. For dinner I had the Patty melt – dry aged beef, Gruyere, caramelized onion, “Beechwood” barbeque sauce and arugula on rye. I almost never eat onions. I’ll cook with them but I don’t eat them. I don’t particularly care for the way they taste and you never know who you’re going to kiss later. The conversation turned towards a potential hike through the Grand Canyon and Zion. I ordered wine, white, I asked for whatever was closest to sauvignon blanc. It was very good but foolishly I didn’t ask to what it was. What will I order next time? I may have to be adventurous and order on my own, try something new. Most of the food in the photos did not belong to me. It was divided between my dinner companions. Among other things Holland had the lobster roll and Tyler had the mussels & clams. I really didn’t pay attention as I don’t eat a lot of seafood. My father and one of my sisters have a shellfish allergy. I don’t but why tempt fate. I’d rather have dessert anyway. And speaking of, those cookies were EVERYTHING!!! I will definitely go back. Chef and founder Brooke Williamson is a renowned culinary television personality and local legend. I’m curious to see what she’ll do next.

As it turns out the proposed hike had nothing to do with me. Thankfully! I mean can you imagine me running after Spanky and Snow through the Grand Canyon? And what would I wear? Anyway, Sunset Marquis at 1200 Alta Loma Road is super close to the apartment. Holland, Jenna and I trotted over one evening for dinner at Cavatina Restaurant. Sunset has a fabulous little whiskey bar, it actually may be called The Whiskey Bar. Rock stars and lots of people in the music industry love it. You never know who you’re going to run into there. I noticed it was closed, temporarily, when we walked past on our way to the restaurant. Hopefully it will be open when I return. The restaurant is beautiful, open and spacious. There’s a little bridge over a pond filled with goldfish. Surrounding the restaurant there are little alcoves, platforms and greenery everywhere. We were quickly shown to a table the had a perfect view – the bridge and greenery to my left and most of the restaurant in front of me and to my right. I established as soon as we took our seats that I preferred fingerling potatoes to French fries. Somehow the food conversation started with appetizers and sides before it moved on the entrées. Sure enough fingerlings were on the menu. Holland knows one of my favorite cocktails is a French 75. She insisted I order one and I’m glad she did. I had the Sunset Cheeseburger – smoked pickle dressing, bacon, aged cheddar, lettuce, tomato (which I removed, I am not a fan of the tomato). They split Mary’s Organic Chicken with roasted cauliflower, preserved lemon and caper salsa. I love capers!!! Thankfully it was too much for them to so I had to finish it. We ended the meal with warm chocolate chip cookies naturally. They practically had to roll me over the little bridge and back to the apartment but it was worth it. I loved everything about it!

Also close to the apartment is WeHo Bistro. It is located at 1040 La Cienega Boulevard. It is in the heart of West Hollywood. Another walkable location, it was inevitable that I would end up there at some point. It was a fun place to people watch. Holland had the Croque Monsieur – ham and lots of emmental Swiss cheese on their grilled brioche bread and a spicy margarita. She chose a side of French fries. I had the French Club – ham, bacon, avocado, tomato, sliced hard boiled egg, lettuce and harissa seasoned homemade mayo on toasted slices of brioche bread (sans tomato thank you very much) and one of my favorite cocktails, when it’s well done and thankfully this one was, so the French 75 made another appearance. I think I can blame Jason Bradshaw for my semi-obsession with the French 75. It was one of the featured cocktails for the Dueling Cocktails benefit for Belmont Mansion a few years ago. I had the small house salad with balsamic dressing. It was the perfect way to end the day as I had spent most of the morning and all afternoon working with a fabulous new client. It was great to be able to unwind and relax as well as celebrate at the same time.

One Sunday I met up with JP, an extremely talented director and film editor for a little food and fashion. En route to meet JP, I popped into Dries Van Noten. Then we went to The RealReal which was amazing. First the men’s side. There was so much real fashion. High-end designer labels, nearly new on-trend merchandise. You would never know that the items were consignment. Then we went to the women’s side. JP didn’t enjoy it but I was in heaven. We moved on to John Varvatos before  we went to S.O.L. (Strings of Life). It is located at 8535 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. I had the sausage & egg brekkie sandwich – grilled seasoned pork sausage patty, over-easy egg, cheese and SOL sauce. I’m not a fan of anything loose or runny in an egg so I had them scramble mine. Hard! I know, I know. My palette is not refined at all. I’ll own it. I have the food palette of an 8 year old. Some 8 year olds. The sandwich was delicious. I had hoped to accompany my sandwich with a mimosa or two but that wasn’t an option. C’est ne pas. So it was an iced coffee with a little caramel. JP had a sandwich and coffee before we continued wandering into shops up and down Melrose. The afternoon ended with an impromptu tour of Old Hollywood which I found fascinating. Thank you JP for a wonderful afteroon!

Craig’s was at the top of my list of restaurants and it did not disappoint. It is located at 8826 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. Our waiter was fun, not to mention good looking (he wore his mask well) and the service from the entire staff was impeccable. We were seated at the perfect table for seeing and being seen. I wore the Chanel brooch and it received much admiration. First by the hostess seating us and then by every single woman that passed by the table and a few men. It was an interesting group dining that evening. There was a Kardashian wannabe and her sidekick. There was an adorable family one table over – perfect looking couple with perfect looking, well behaved children all having a fun time. There was the well known actor to our right who’s name I still can not come up with. I was tempted to take his photo and post it on social media to help with identifying him but thought better of it. I enjoyed a cocktail before dinner – Belvedere vodka martini straight up with a twist. Holland had the Danny Ocean cocktail. She liked it but wasn’t crazy about it so I finished it before moving on to Sancerre with my entrée. I had the green goddess salad, creamy tarragon dressing that was divine, tomato, which I omitted and avocado. I had the chicken paillard for my entrée with arugula, tomato (again omitted) and parmesan. Holland also had the green goddess salad and the 18oz rib eye, bone in. The only photo I have (above) is of the drinks. The food was soooo good! Next time I go, and I hope it’s soon, I will photo-doc every single course!

A.O.C. had been on my radar. Holland and I planned to meet friends there soon after my arrival. Plans changed, some of them couldn’t make it and we decided to reschedule. A few weeks went by and a new client wanted to meet for dinner. They suggested A.O.C. which is located 8700 West 3rd Street in Los Angeles. They are opening a new location in Brentwood (CA) next month. There were four of us. The weather was fantastic which made eating outside pleasant. It’s a menu of small plates and there are lots of fabulous things to choose from. I will say the waitress as nice as she was could have been more attentive. I had margaritas and I should have ordered two at a time. It wouldn’t keep me from going back but I wouldn’t want to sit in her section again. I started with the Weiser Farm fingerling potatoes with crème fraîche and chives. I can’t tell you how good they were. Sharing prompted two more orders. My entrée was the  potato gnocchi, garlic sausage, asparagus, mustard greens and toasted crumbs. It was delicious!!! There were two orders of the Spanish fried chicken. That too was delicious and had a bit of a kick. That was followed by a cheese plate. Last but not least I enjoyed butterscotch pot de crème with crème fraîche, fleur de sel and cashew cookies for dessert. The wonderful meal made for good business conversation. I’m looking forward to going back to work on some exciting projects and share my LA culinary experiences along the way!