Another Road Trip!

So The Foodie is headed to SoCal on a last minute Hey-These-Airline-Miles-Are-Gonna-Expire Trip and, as always, I have waaaaaay more places to go than time to actually go there. Even on a 4-day, 3-night trip there's no way to go to all the new places (Playa, Wurstkuche Venice, Killer Shrimp), "old" places I haven't gotten to yet (The Ludo Truck, Lucques, Patina) and places I've been and would happily re-visit (Animal, Son of a Gun, Gordon Ramsay, Villain's Tavern, etc.). So, in a nutshell, here are places I WANT to hit up over the weekend...I just don't know that I can get to all of them:

- MO-CHICA. Food & Wine Best New Chef 2011. 'nuff said.

- PLAYA. 2011 Esquire Chef of the Year + Best New Restaurants 2011. Again, 'nuff said.

- LUCQUES. Rated ZAGAT's Best Restaurant in WeHo (27 Food, 24 Decor, 25 Service) and, more importantly, Frank Bruni listed their Short Ribs as a "Best Thing I Eve Ate".

- LUDO TRUCK. The ONE L.A. Food Truck I've really wanted to hit, but I haven't been able to hook up with The Big Red Coq yet. Yes, I'm aware how that came across. Mission Accomplished.

- UMAMAMI BURGER/ZANKOU CHICKEN/YAKITORIA/PITFIRE PIZZA. Three of the four are on the Best-Thing-I-Ever-Ate checklist and while I'm guessing there won't be room in my stomach for ANY of them on this particular trip, they're still on my Hit List.

- WURSTKUCHE VENICE. The Hottie was...um..."resting" the last time we went to the o/g Wurstkuche, so she still doesn't remember the visit. Plus, they're giving away FREE sausage this week!

- KILLER SHRIMP. Not a big foodie destination, but The meat Guy took us there nearly a decade ago and it closed shortly thereafter >_< Recently resurrected in a new location it's time to go back even though I know it can't POSSIBLY be as good as I remember...

- EL CHATO TRUCK. I'm a fan of Taco Trucks in general and, at least according to Serious Eats, this is one of the best in L.A.! Plus it's open late and tacos are only $1/pop ^_^

REPEAT OFFENDERS: VILLAIN'S TAVERN, BEER BELLY, TOMMY'S, SPRINKLES CUPCAKES, KOGI TRUCK(S), TIKI-TI.

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Live Blog: Vegas! (DAY 1)

Heading to Vegas for our annual Labor Day Trip where The Meat Guy flies in from L.A. and we stay up waaaaaay too late while eating & drinking ourselves silly (mixed in w/blackjack, shopping & pool time @ The Hard Rock). For a change, we plan on eating on the 'cheap'. Cheap being a relative term for The Foodie, as we still plan on going to some high end places (Fleur by Hubert Keller, China Poblano, Simon, American Fish, Estiatorio Milos, Julian Serrano & Seablue are on the Hit List) but take advantage of the special offers, happy hours & promos floating around.

MON, SEP 5

11:37 – Quick stop @ Raiders Image to get a polo for The Meat Guy. See, we plan on wearing NFL gear on THU since it's the season kickoff but, apparently, he has no decent gear. Actual exchange:

Hottie: Do you have this in a 3x?
Raider Image Employee: On the rack behind where you found that one we have sizes 3x to 6x.
Hottie: [Kind of shocked that they carry 5 & 6x's]Seriously?
Raider Image Employee: Yeah...[pause...shrug] Raiderfan.

That being said, don't mock Fattie the Raiderfan. He's got a blade or a gun and so do his 6 drunk friends. Just sayin'...

11:43 Since the polo side quest took no time @ all we swing by In-n-Out for a Animal Cheeseburger & Arnold Palmer. Beats the hell out of Overpriced Airport Food!

11:58 – Luck be a lady tonight! Out of the 4000ish parking spots @ OAK we are in spot #8! Seriously, it's like winning the lottery or something. I'm closer than Handicap parking spots and could spit on cars in the Hourly Lot. I'm hoping the luck continues.

11:59 – Lucky streak over >_< As I get out of the car I notice that the front of my shirt got a good dosing of In-n-Out sauce while I was eating my burger on the way to the airport. The Hottie chides me for getting an Animal Style Burger on the run anyways, 'You were asking for trouble'. Meh.

6:02 – You can tell we're NOT in L.A. Or Frisco 'cause the amateurs in Vegas are stopping at the metering lights. Problem is...IT'S LABOR DAY YOU NUBS, the metering lights aren't on! Doesn't keep them from stopping though. /facepalm

6:10 – Since the Human Time Warp took so long “putting away his clothes” (something he's NEVER done crashing at our place), we're @ Frankie's since we couldn't have gotten to any of Happy Hours w/o being rushed. That's okay, gives him a chance to add to his Tiki Mug Collection...

9:05 – I know it's not a Michelin-y place, but there's not much to complain about @ Johnny Smalls. Good staff, slick décor & some interesting smalls plates. And, at only $25 ($20 with your Players Card), it's dumb NOT to do the All-You-Can-Eat.

10:28 – A large party with a hot, tall blonde and & dude that looks like Carrot Top gets sat next to us. Oh wait! I'm in Vegas...that IS Carrot Top' [Insert Prop Comedy Joke Here].

10:37 – The bill arrives and it feels like we've gotten away with something ^_^ $125 for a dozen food items; 2 cocktails, 3 beers and a giant bottle of Pellegrino. Granted, The Meat Guy helped inflate the stats, but since a lot of the plates come in multiples of 3 (3 lettuce cups, 3 salmon tater tots, 6 pieces of sushi, etc.) it's perfect for us. I leave a fat tip & we're off!

11:22 – Luck be a lady tonight! I've lost, maybe, 2 hands in 10 mins @ the Hells Belles Tables and doubled my $$$! Time to get the %*@# out of Dodge, particularly since some withered, old creepy guy sat down with $125 in singles and the poor dealer had to count them out one by one. Side Note: I really like the yellow chips ^_^

11:29 – No joke, after cashing in my chip & heading up to the room we pass the same withered, old creepy guy shuffling through the casino with a soulless, dazed look. Dude! It was only a $10 table! How did you blow through your stack THAT fast? Now I'm extra glad I left when I did.

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Jose Andres Loves Me!

No seriously, he does! And here's the proof: Jose Andres <3 The Michelin Star. Or, for those of you who are too damn lazy to click a link, here's the photographic evidence ^_^



Of course, if he'd read my Blog Entry from 2009 @jose.andres G that "Club" the TFO of your "Restaurant" he prolly wouldn't lurve me. But he hasn't, so he does. So there!

P.S. And, YES, while I haven't posted anything in months I DO still eat out WAAAAAAAAAAAY too much and, when noteworthy, tweet about things I like (or things that EPIC FAIL) via @The MichelinStar, so check it out if you want.

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