All'acqua.

Have you ever gone to a Dodger game or a concert at the Greek Theater and came out starving and wondering where you can grab a bite? All'acqua is the perfect place! It's located in the up and coming Atwater Village on the Glendale Boulevard strip, and its Italian name, All'acqua translates to Atwater.

The menu offers Pan-Italian dishes including wood fired pizzas and house made pastas. I went with my girl friend and we love to order a few things from the menu and share them all. It's a great way to experience different things restaurants offer. All'acqua also has a large variety Californian and Italian wines that make this place also great for date nights.

We started off with grilled country bread, which was drizzled with garlic and olive oil. This bread is one of the best breads I've eaten at a restaurant! It isn't complimentary, but for $3, it's a good appetizer.

Next, we ordered the charred asparagus egg fried in bread crumbs and topped with shaved Parmesan cheese. This was by far my favorite item on the menu! The asparagus gives the dish a fresh taste and the cheese and bread crumbs give it a comfort food feel. I couldn't get enough of this.

I'm a huge pasta lover, in fact it's probably my favorite thing to eat, so I had to try one of the house made pasta dishes. We decided to try the spinach and mushroom pasta. The sauce on the pasta was really light, which was nice since we were eating so much. You can taste the freshness of the pasta, which was cooked perfectly al dente.

All the wood fired pizzas on the menu looked so delicious. My girl friend is a little picky with what she eats, so we had to compromise by ordering the prosciutto and arugula pizza. The pizza was fairly large and since we ordered so much food, I was only able to eat one slice. That one slice, however, was amazing. Somehow cooking pizza in a wood fired oven gives it a certain flavor that can't be beat.

We couldn't end the meal without dessert, of course, so we ordered the Bombolini. They were Italian donut holes covered in a Nutella sauce and paired with vanilla gelato. The gelato was super creamy and the juxtaposition of it with the warm donut holes was perefection. It's the most popular dessert on All'acqua's menu, so it's a must have!

Next time you are looking for a night out at a local trendy spot, check out All'acqua in Atwater Village and make a night of it by visiting one of the many surrounding bars after your dinner! 

The Attic.

Last weekend, I ventured out to Long Beach for an event, and had heard great things about this cute place to eat called The Attic. It's nestled in a nice little area near downtown and has such a homey feel so I decided to try it out.

Walking in was like walking into a backyard barbecue at a friends house. It's really welcoming and cozy. I sat in the patio outside, which had comfy couches and multi patterned tables. It overlooked the street and the weather that day made it a perfect vibe. 

As a lover of Bloody Mary's, I was so excited to see a page full of different types of Bloody Mary's they served. Each one had a different type of garnish on top of it. My boyfriend got the Meaty Man Bloody Mary, which used bacon infused vodka and was garnished with a slider and Slim Jim stuffed olive. I loved mine...the Caprese Bloody Mary with basil infused vodka and a tomato, basil, and mozzarella garnish. They were both to die for. 

The star of the show, though, was what this place is known for...Mac and Cheetos! It doesn't get more decadent than this, people! A glorious cheddar and mozzarella macaroni and cheese topped with hot Cheetos! There are so many add ons you can get to it too. I added some bacon, but kind of regret not getting avocados too. If you're looking for even more decadence, you can even add a fried egg on top of it! 

If you're looking for other comfort food dishes, I also recommend the chicken pot pie. The flaky crust on top of a hearty pot pie is just a feel good meal. 

Honorable mention to the bison burger, which my boyfriend said tasted really good, but I'm just not a huge fan of bison. 

Next time you're out in Long Beach and looking for a great place to comfort your foodie soul, try out The Attic, you won't be sorry! Happy eating! 

Zinque.

A few weeks ago, I hustled down to Melrose to check out a really cool Seinfeld pop up exhibit, so since I was already there, I decided to eat dinner at one of the trendy spots around the area. I came across this really cute French bistro type place called Zinque and fell in love with it.

I'm a huge fan of French food. What's not to like? Cheese, wine, fresh baguettes, crepes, wine, cheese, wine, cheese, tartes, and did I say wine and cheese? I love French wine and cheese, especially with good bread so I went a little crazy on ordering it here.

I started off with a Rose from Provence. I tend to like my wines on the dry side, but this wine was actually very delicious and paired well with everything else I ordered. My boyfriend, the beer lover, was pleasantly shocked to see his favorite beer, Delirium, on tap!

We started with the Ahi Tuna Tartare with Pesto as an appetizer. The fish was really fresh and it tasted really good with the pesto and fresh parmesan shavings on top. But the best part of this dish was the bread all the tartare was placed on. If you've been to Paris or know anything about French pastries, you know Polaine and Polaine is the best of the best when it comes to bread. Zinque ships out Polaine bread from Paris and it really brings the whole dish together. I honestly don't know how I will go back to eating bread from the grocery store after I had the bread here.

Next was a Quiche Lorraine. This quiche is named after a region in France and had pancetta and Gruyere cheese. It was absolutely divine. It came with scalloped potatoes with more cheese on them...I mean, can you get more French than that?

Because I clearly did not have enough cheese in this meal, I also ordered Baked Camembert Cheese. Baking a soft cheese and getting it all warm and gooey takes a cheese to a whole other level, let me tell you. It's really a must have. It was served with a drizzle of honey on top of the cheese, Marcona almonds, grapes, and wheat bread.

What's a French meal without dessert? I was so full, but I knew I couldn't pass up dessert. Hence this glorious Banana Bread with French Vanilla ice cream. The banana bread was warm and soft and the ice cream on top was just the perfect addition to it. I just love when ice cream slowly melts on top of a warm dessert. Don't make the mistake of not ordering this.

I love checking out new restaurants and bars wherever I go, but I think I will definitely be back here in the future! If only for that Polaine bread :) 

Red Velvet Hot Chocolate.

With winter here, the cold weather, and the holidays in the air, hot chocolate is the perfect comfort drink for the season. I was craving a rich cup of hot chocolate last night so I decided to make one and add a little fun spin to it...by making it a red velvet hot chocolate!

So red velvet cake is basically a cake flavored with cocoa powder for a chocolate-y taste and vinegar to make the cake rich and fluffy. Red food coloring started being added to this cake batter years after its creation to enhance the red color. I basically added these same concepts (minus the vinegar) to typical hot chocolate ingredients. It turns out so rich and, well...velvety! You'll definitely want to share these with friends and family. 

These are the ingredients I used...

I started by simmering skim 1% milk in a pot. Most people use whole milk, which makes the drink creamier, but I personally can't take the taste of all the fat in whole milk. 

After simmering the milk, I added cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate until the chocolate melted and the cocoa was incorporated. To the mixture, I added vanilla and some red food coloring to enhance the chocolate flavors and intensify the red color. And voila! 

I topped it all off with mini marshmallows which nicely melt into the hot chocolate. I'm dreaming of this hot chocolate as I type this, it was that good! (Recipe at end of post) 

I enjoyed my yummy red velvet hot chocolate by the fireplace surrounded by Christmas decor. 

Ingredients: 

2 cups milk of your choice 

2 tablespoons cocoa powder 

1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate (chopped or chocolate chips) 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 teaspoon red food coloring 

Directions: 

1. Put the milk into a pot and heat on medium until it simmers. 

2. Once the milk has simmered, add the cocoa powder and semi sweet chocolate and whisk until melted and incorporated into the milk. 

3. Add the vanilla and food coloring. Whisk until incorporated. 

4. Ladle the hot chocolate into a mug and too with marshmallows. 

Thanksgiving Leftover Monster Sandwich.

I'm hoping all my followers had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed the leftovers as much as I did! This year I poked up all my leftovers and made a colossal turkey day sandwich that makes you wish Thanksgiving was every day. 

When I say this sandwich is a colossal monster, I'm not kidding. I made this a triple decker sandwich so I could fit all my favorite side dishes into it. 

I used oat nut bread and toasted it a bit. You can use your favorite kind of bread, but I find grainy breads like wheat bread go better with the flavors in the rest of the sandwich. 

I like warm sandwiches so I heated everything up, including the turkey. To the sandwich, I added stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry mayo, which I made by mixing leftover cranberry sauce with some mayonnaise. All the recipes for these sides can be found on my post on last year's Thanksgiving: http://www.taltalsays.com/2014/11/thanksgiving.html?m=1. 

Here's how I assembled my sandwich...

1. Mix 1/4 cup of mayonnaise with 1 tablespoon of cranberry sauce. 

2. Toast 3 pieces of desired bread. Spread the cranberry mayonnaise on each slice. 

3. Warm the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. 

4. Start assembling! To the first slice of bread, spread first the stuffing, then the mashed potatoes, and then some turkey. 

5. Top this with the second slice of bread and repeat step 4. Top that with the last slice of bread. 

Voila! 

Vinoteque on Melrose.

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I were looking for a cute little place to have dinner and we stumbled across this place, Vinoteque on Melrose Ave, which I remembered my cousin, Mimi, suggesting to me. It's known for it's amazing wine selection and tapas style meals. For those that don't know, tapas are small plates which are shared among the table. Vinoteque was a good fusion of French and Spanish style tapas.

What I loved the most about this place was the ambience in the outdoor patio where we sat. It was a courtyard area with vines growing all over the walls, a calming fountain in the center, and a projection of a film noir silent movie playing in the background. It was a really nice date spot, but I would also totally come here with a girlfriend and I saw a group of people celebrating a birthday in a secluded cabana.

Make sure to ask about the wines! Most of the wines are French and I had a hard time deciphering what was what so I just ordered one that wasn't so great. Luckily, they allowed me to taste it and order another one since I didn't like it.

We started our meal with truffle fries (of course, my favorite) and the dipping sauce was a type of salsa, which really complemented the fries.

Then we had some fried artichoke hearts and let me tell you...I dreamt about these after eating them, because of how good they were. I have a mind to recreate these babies on my own at home.

Next, we had little mini Croque Monsieurs, which are French ham and cheese sandwiches. They were topped with balsamic vinegar, which really completed the dish. We also had these amazing sliders, which I really enjoyed. It had a tasty combination of sun dried tomatoes, onion jam, and harissa mayo...this was to die for.

Lastly, we ended our meal with the usual tapas dessert...churros! They were mini bite sized churros and were paired with a caramel sauce and boysenberry jam to dip the churros in.

If you're looking for a place to catch up with a friend or to impress your date, Vinoteque is definitely the place! 

Sweet Cherry Pie.

This past weekend, I was invited to one of my girlfriend's homes for afternoon coffee. I was super excited about getting together with my friends and I wanted to bring some homemade treats with me for us to share, but I was really in a time crunch and didn't have time to make a dessert from scratch.

Thank goodness I had some pie dough I made a few weeks ago stored away in my freezer and ready to go! I cut one corner and bought a canned cherry pie filling to go into my dough for the sake of time, but despite it not being homemade, it was still delicious.

I still wanted to put my own spin on the pie so instead of making one giant pie, I made mini individual sized pies! They were so cute and easy to distribute to whoever wants them without cutting into a whole pie and making a mess. I also made a lattice crust to give it that extra aesthetic to make it look like a miniature pie. It's super easy!...

After making the pie crust (recipe at end of post), use a cookie cutter or a cup to cut circles from the dough that are 4 inches circles. Place the circles into buttered muffin/cupcake tins and fill them with the cherry filling, 1/4 of a cup.

Photo courtesy of tablespoon.com. 

Then get to work on the lattice crust! Use a pizza cutter to cut small even strips of dough and use basic weaving over and under techniques to create a rustic look with the lattice. With this size of a pie, I used 6 dough strips in total: 3 horizontally and 3 vertically. Brush the top of the pie with an egg wash (a beaten egg) to give it that golden finish in the oven.

I baked these babies at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cherry filling is oozing and voila!

These could have come out a little prettier, as my lattice crust needs a little work, but these pies tasted like perfection. Little personal cherry pies with sweet, juicy cherries wrapped in a soft, buttery crust. These are sure to appeal to your guests tastebuds as well as their eyes!




Pie Crust Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup butter (cold)
• 5-7 tablespoons cold water 

Directions:

1. Put flour into a mixing bowl with the butter.
2. Using a pastry cutter or dough hook, cut the butter into the flour.
3. Add the salt and water. 
4. Mix until dough is formed.
5. Cut the dough in half and wrap both separately in saran wrap.
6. One can be used for freezing. The other should be put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to cool before rolling it out to use. 

Miniature Cherry Pies

Ingredients:

• Pie crust (recipe above)
• 4 cups of pie filling (the filling can be altered at your choice i.e. apple, blueberry, peach, etc.)
• 1 egg, whisked

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin tins with butter or cooking spray.
2. Roll out a single pie crust on a flat surface. Use a large cookie cutter or a cup to cut out circles that are 4 inches. Press each circle into the bottom of the muffin tin so that a tiny rim of dough sticks out at the top. Repeat with the other 12 tins.
3. Fill each cup with 1/4 cup pie filling, or until the filling nearly fills the cups. 
4. Use the remaining dough to cover the tops of the pies. To make a lattice crust, use a pizza cutter to cut out thin strips of dough, then lace together to form a lattice. To make a standard crust, cut out a circle of dough large enough to cover the top of the crust. Use your fingers to gently press the top crust to the bottom crust until they stick together and no gaps remain. 
5. Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of each pie with the whisked egg.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling begins to bubble.
7. Remove and let cool for at least 15 minutes. Then carefully use a knife to loosen the edges of each pie and gently lift each pie out. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. 

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes.

Last year, I ate at a cute little bunch spot in Santa Barbara called Scarlett Begonia and had the best lemon ricotta pancakes. Since then, I've been trying these pancakes from other brunch spots and I have yet to find one that was as good. Obviously, I can't be going to Santa Barbara every weekend for brunch so I decided to try to make these pancakes on my own. My lemon ricotta pancake recipe was so delicious and I'm very excited to share it with you all!

These are the ingredients I used. I like using Kodiak Cakes pancake mix because it has a hint of honey in it, which just adds a little extra flavor to pancakes. I also like using fresh blueberries rather than frozen, I think it makes the pancakes taste fresher. Most recipes suggest using whole milk ricotta cheese, but let's face it...summer is coming and even though I'm eating pancakes, a girl's gotta cut calories somewhere, so I used low fat ricotta cheese.

When adding the ricotta cheese, the batter will look a little curdled. Do not panic, this is normal! The cheese makes it a little lumpy. It's important to not mix the batter too much to make it smoother.

A griddle is the best way to get the perfect pancake.

Short stack of delicious lemon ricotta pancakes!

Ingredients:

Makes 6 pancakes

• 1 cup of Kodiak Cakes pancake mix
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of low fat ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon of lemon zest 
• 2/3 cup of blueberries

Directions:

1. Mix 1 cup of pancake mix with 1 cup of water.
2. Then, mix in 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese. Do not over mix it. The consistency should be a little lumpy.
3. Wash and fold in the blueberries.
4. Heat a griddle to 325 degrees and butter the griddle. I like using cooking spray instead, but either one works. 
5. Ladle a spoon of the batter onto the griddle. Let it cook until bubbles start forming at the top (about 1 minute).
6. Flip the pancake and let the other side cook for about another 30 seconds. 

Voila!!

Poke N Roll.

I love sushi and when the poke craze started happening all over LA, I had to ask...what is poke? Pronounced "po-kay", it is a Hawaiian raw seafood salad served as an appetizer. Poke N Roll took poke to a whole new level by fusing it with Japanese sushi to create...sushi bowls! I had to try this so I paid a visit to Poke N Roll this week, and let me just say, it's a delicious gem and since it's located in Glendale, I think I'll be a frequent patron.

The menu offers sushi bowls, which includes white or brown rice with your choice of 2 fish, crab, 1 choice of sauce like ponzu, spicy mayo, and eel sauce, and 3 toppings like tempura flakes, avocado, cucumbers, and smelt eggs. Extras can always be added for an additional cost, but the amount of food that comes in the bowl is a lot and enough to keep you full. They also offer sushi salads where you can replace the rice with lettuce and they can always make your selections into a roll if you like tradition.

I watched the chef cut up a giant tuna and place it in my bowl...it doesn't get fresher than that!

All the different ingredients you can choose from. 

Our yummy bowls. Like I said, it's a lot of food.

Cute little Pop figurines all over the place and Polaroid photos of happy customers. 

Dinette.

A couple weekends ago, my girl friend and I went to the Renegade craft fair in Downtown LA and afterwards we went to brunch in a little pop up place called Dinette in Echo Park. From the owners of Bar Stella, I had heard about it and how they had great brunch dishes so I decided to try it out. 

The food was really yummy! If you're looking for a type of place that you sit, have your order taken and food brought to you, this isn't the place for that. Dinette is a place that is outdoor. You order at the counter and all the tables are outdoor on the sidewalk. They have a menu which you order from, but also pre-made pastries and quiches that they heat up for you. Everything we had that day was delicious, but I definitely need to come back for their Croque Monsieur next time!

This is the little counter you order from. 

Various quiches.

Sweet pastries and Croque Monsieurs. 

Rose soda pop. 

Our yummy brunch. 

Avocado toast here was perfection. 

Breakfast pizza, white sauce, Parmesan cheese, ham, and an egg on top...not that amazing to be honest, I'd go for the breakfast sandwich or Croque Monsieur instead. 

Plan Check.

I'm always on the hunt for the next great burger in LA and when I heard about Plan Check, I knew I had to try it immediately. There are three locations, I went to the Downtown LA location and it did not disappoint. And the $6 happy hour old fashions didn't hurt either!

We sat in a half indoor, half outdoor area and overlooked Downtown as we enjoyed our dinner.

Checked in on Yelp for free beer nuts. I don't know what herbs these are roasted with, but it was very tasty.

Plan Check is known for their "ketchup leather". It's a "slice" of ketchup if you will...it looks like a slice of cheese but it's a concentrated ketchup that melts in your mouth when you eat it. It was so amazing...

Yummy ketchup leathery goodness. 

The Korean BBQ burger was also really yummy, but my plan is to eat the Chef's Favorite burger, which has a sunny fried egg and bacon. 

Apple Pan.

I revisited one of my top burger spots recently and thought that since I hadn't shared it with you all, I would write a post about it...Apple Pan in Los Angeles. As mentioned in a previous post, my friend Natalie and I have been on the hunt for the best burger in LA and this place was on our list. The Huffington Post named it the best burger spot in LA. I wouldn't say its the best, but it's pretty damn good! It's a cute 50's inspired diner, serving classic meals, but best known for their steak burgers. It's totally worth checking out. Don't make the mistake of asking for no relish, because that's their secret.

Steak Burger with the works.

Seriously, so delicious.

I loved the way they served their drinks!

Pumpkin pie to finish.

For other hotspots from my adventures in burgers, check out my previous post!