And no, that title is not engrish. The last few weeks for me have been overwhelming: meeting, eating, and greeting.  When my close friend, Bethany Kenyon, offered to write up a review on a new spot, I said ‘why of course!’ There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to hit the gym to work off all the eating I have been doing. It’s like you start a food and design website and everyone you know wants to eat with you. And eat and eat and eat….I’m a foodie that still believes in fitting into my skinny jeans. So please, enjoy the following review written by Bethany and be sure to see much, much more from her to come in the form of her entertaining know-how, unique recipes and food perspective. I can’t wait to try The Park. Did I mention how funny she is? xo camille.

The Park is one of a new crop of restaurants to join us here in Echo Park. Last Saturday, I went to check it out with my boyfriend. When we entered the restaurant the staff was very hospitable and they made us feel very welcome. 

You know how it can be sometimes in this city, when you go to the new hot restaurant-you’re treated like you don’t belong.  Certainly not here.  It was relaxing and very friendly.  We chose to sit outside.  It was such a gorgeous night…why not?

The place is BYOB, and yes, we brought our own bottle.  Everyone else that entered did the same.  The best part, no corkage fee.  

We started off with a plate of the calamari.  It was flavored nicely with a sweet and spicy Szechwan sauce that had chopped up roasted chili peppers.  We squeezed on some lime and… HELLO.  This, I have to say, was one the most delicious plates of calamari I’d every had, and a lot of tables around us also ordered it.  I guess the word had gotten around…”get the calamari!!!!”

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I’ve been hearing quite a buzz about all these new spots opening up in Echo Park. It’s about time. Not that there was anything wrong with Barragan’s or the Gold Room, but Dusty’s and Aroma was not the Sunset Blvd. east siders answer to foodie bliss.  Lot 1 recently opened up across from the Gold Room and seems to be a hit. The place was packed at lunch today.  

I have yet to try The Park and 15 and potentially a new Italian spot opening up, all along Sunset Blvd, east of American Apparel but West of Dodger Stadium.  Both these other places are only open for dinner though. 

Last Sunday, I had plans to meet some cyber food pals in person at Lot 1, but after a few phone calls during service hours regarding if they had AC or not and not hearing back, we decided to reschedule our meeting. I couldn’t risk sweating on my plate of Cowgirl Creamery cheeses or the hamachi appetizer I had read about online.  I kinda feel like I went to see a movie without them. You know, like those times you wait and wait to see a movie with a specific someone and you just crumble and have to see it before their schedule allows. I shouldn’t gloat about what I experienced, but I will anyways since the lunch menu is different than dinner.

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Summer solstice, heat waves and eating refreshing sushi go hand in hand for me.  Oh and minimal cooking on my part.  I had recently drooled over food photos posted on potatomato’s blog on their trip to Asanebo.

I had been there years ago with my brother, Bruce and his friend Charles while Bruce was visiting from SF.  Admittedly, there was a time when my foodie brother was informing ME about places to go and eat at in a town he didn’t even reside in.  Those places were more hole-in-the-walls, like Pink’s and Roscoe’s but he also knew his fair share of other spots.  Having lunched at Asenebo about 5 years ago, I was reminded by the blog photos about how wonderful everything was and convinced a couple other friends to come with me this weekend.

We ventured to Ventura Blvd. in Studio City for the ever famous strip mall fine dining in LA. The Prius temperature reading was climbing to 93˚ at 7pm PST.  Ugh.  There’s nothing I hate more than eating when I’m hot.  Wan was buying tickets for the Ting Ting’s on his iphone and I was giving everyone the omakase pep talk.  You see, tastings as well as omakase (chef’s recommendations) usually require that everyone in the party participate.  All or nothing.  I love this extremist attitude. The pep talk actually started at my place while we had our pre-dinner aperitif made with the new ginger liqueur, Canton.  More on that later.

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GO GO GO!  This season’s A.P.C. clearance sale is upon us. I have noticed that online, most items are sold out.  If you are feeling desperate, you can call a store location and have items shipped to you but they are FINAL SALE.  

Online purchases allow returns from what I could read, but since there’s nothing left online, that really isn’t an option.  The nice thing about having a store in LA now is that many items come in multiple color options that are not available on the online store.

For example, the sleeveless ruffle collar short black dress comes in white as well.  And the white is not transparent at all. Also, for whatever reason, Los Angeles, is just not an A.P.C. town.  No wonder there aren’t more cutely dressed, understated, parisienne wannabe gamines walking the streets.  It’s hootchie or bust around here. Good! More for me. 

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Don’t get me wrong-  I like and appreciate plenty more than just modernist and mid-century design, but I had to post this about the Eames series of US postal stamps that were released June 17th, 2008.  I just ordered some online. I was kinda wondering before I got to the check out how much the post office was gonna try and charge me for “shipping”.  Good news-  only one dollar for shipping.

This would make a great little gift, framed or unframed, or would just be great to mail ‘thank you’ notes and invites and not ruin all the cute stationery you have with a hideous stamp.  Afterall, it’s all in the details.

Salmon is one of those fishes I almost never order at restaurants. I don’t like when it is overcooked, and truthfully, prefer it in it’s raw form as sashimi or tartare or carapaccio or cured as a gravlax.

While in Boston, I was wined and dined at the South End’s finest.  One of those places was Stella’s. I tried a crudo misto of salmon, not really knowing what I was ordering.  But I know crudo means raw. It was a delicious surprise.  Misto, is not as easily translated but I think it means mixture or mixed.  I was thinking of where else I had seen that word, fritto misto, fried mix of veggies…I seem to always be able to decipher a menu in any country I visit based on the knowledge of a few, basic food terms and their latin roots.  

It was a lemony dish of thinly sliced salmon, something I couldn’t wait to attempt to make on my own. I googled it and was surprised that the review of Stella’s was the first entry.  It sounds so Italian yet not a single Batali joint has it on their menu? No Epicurious recipe entry? Shocking.

Here’s an excerpt from a review of Stella’s, I found online on from the Boston Globe that gives a good description of what the dish pictured in the above photo:  ”Crudo misto, the Italian version of sashimi, consists of pristine curls of tuna and salmon under a tart limoncello vinaigrette with a salt-sprinkled bread stick to offset the citrus flavors.”

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I recall the launch of this site, Just One Plate, back in Fall of 2007.  It is so rare that a site will peak my interest, especially if it’s not selling anything. At the same time, I had been working on getting Wallflour launched and came to learn what a labor of true love having a website that showcases food and other interests can be. Beyond just being fun and being a complete overachiever’s dream come true, running a content based site has been an extreme challenge for someone like myself who is web-challenged.  

But enough about myself, Just one Plate is a site that takes a very focused and clever idea and turns it into the online version of a beautiful coffee table book. The premise of the site is to capture the culinary art form in a simple photographic gesture.  The concept:  ‘take one plate, one recipe, one chef, and ten questions.’

photo courtesy of Just One Plate, Gardens at the Four Seasons 

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One might think there are no limits to my wanting to “save” money.  Here’s a deal that I must share with everyone.  The revamped Merv Griffin Hotel and Givenchy spa, is now known as the Parker (Meridien) Palm Springs, almost completely re-hauled by Jonathan Adler.  Adler is a product / interior designer who’s inspiration is heavily drawn from past decades.  Incidentally, his life partner is Simon Doonan, the Creative Director of Barney’s New York.  Talk about gay, power couple.   You might notice some overlap in their quippy, clever “hand-written” notes used throughout the hotel.  Taste. Luxury. Humor.  Do you see the commonalities yet?

I stayed at this place last year on the Labor Day weekend because the rate of $99 a night , including breakfast, was too good to pass up. Aside from the 120˚ F heat, I was feeling rather indulgent.  Room service, breakfast in bed, pool side cocktails and deeply discounted outlet shopping since most people won’t brave these conditions.  We are talking 90% off already discounted Bottega Veneta housewares, like the lovely red linen interciatto placemats that you spy in some of my food photos.   Some weekend monogram duffel bags from Etro, etc. etc. etc.  It was all more than pleasant.

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I call these wannabe sliders because sliders are usually tiny, cute little burgers that you could eat a couple of.  Some of you might know these as a six-pack from White Castle.  This verion i made aren’t so tiny, but are really the size of a burger before the American portion size, i.e. super-sized, came into place.  I haven’t been able to find buns tiny enough to make true sliders so I make do with potato rolls or hawaiian rolls.  After I built mine with all the toppings, it was pretty hefty.  I was in the mood for potato rolls but if you wanted to complement the flavor with a touch of sweetness the hawaiian rolls would be great too.

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Today I mourn the death of an incredible man, visionary, and creative spirit.  Though I didn’t personally know him, I admired his work from afar for many years.  Yves Saint Laurent passed away Sunday, June 1, 2008 in Paris, at the age of 71.  A great article chronicling his life and accomplishments can be found in the New York Times Sunday Style section.

Probably most famous for his “le smoking” the women’s version of a man’s dress jacket as well as a women’s tuxedo pantsuit, what one might not know is how he modernized and evolved the way women dress today-  let them wear pants!

Thank god someone had some sense.  And to this, I say, was his biggest strength:  the ability to know what women wanted to wear and how they wanted to be perceived.  His designs exude a relaxed elegance, taking much of his inspiration from the street.  He was also known for his beatnik and safari inspired creations, all which seem to be prevalent in this season’s landscape of designs. (more…)

My sister, Alberta, planned a picnic lunch to celebrate my neice, Kaia’s, fourth birthday.  I went to Boston for my annual family trip since her birthday falls on Memorial Day weekend almost every year.  We took a ferry boat ride to one of the Harbor islands, Georges, on Memorial Day to have the family celebration with Mom, Alberta; Dad, Murray; baby bro Mr. Dane; Kaia, and myself, “Auntie Camille”.

It was an unusually gorgeous day for Boston this time of year; sunny and clear, breezy, and not humid.  A perfect day to have a picnic on an island and fly a kite.  I was hands off in regards to the picnic menu.  As you will see, being a foodie and a control freak, runs in my family.  

The menu was put together from some favorites my sis has used.  We are both fans of Nigella Lawson’s cooking and recipes.  They are simple and easy to prepare, but taste great. 

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