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.