"The" Viewing Party

The second best thing to attending the Oscars is attending the Viewing Party hosted by non other than Sir Elton John. The venue was a giant tent at the West Hollywood Park next to the Pacific Design Center. My date was not Richard Gere or Jeffrey Dean Morgan....it was my brother Gary.

We got there at 4:00 p.m. and enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and martinis with 3 olives which is how I like my martini. The olives were stuffed with blue cheese...yum! As we mingled with the crowd, we saw Tim Allen, Steven Tyler, Carson Kressley and probably many more we did not recognize.

I was in owe as we entered the dining room. It was hard to believe that this was a tent. It felt more like an elaborate ballroom in a hotel. Red tulips were the centerpiece of each table that had exquisite table settings complete with name plates. Everyone had 2 books and an autographed CD of Elton John's latest CD "Wonderful Crazy Night."

We all had red wine, white wine plus whatever your heart desired. Mine desired some champagne. The dinner menu was designed by Chef Gordon Ramsay. We were all impressed with the 5 course meal. Everything was perfect; from presentation to service. Food was delicious. The Celeriac-Apple Soup was one of the best soups I have had. It tasted like it could have had a bit of curry.

The highlight of the evening was not so much seeing stars but witnessing Elton John perform. I have never seen him in concert and this was an unbelievable treat. By 1:00 a.m. we were about ready to head home. It was back to normal life.

The Roof on Wilshire

Sometimes it pays to subscribe to various emails for deals especially when it comes to restaurants. I get the "Blackboard Eats/LA".  They offer discounts on restaurants; some familiar to me and others I have never heard of. If this is the case, I immediately look at the menu and the ambiance.

Sandi and I had an appointment in Beverly Hills at 10:30 a.m. last Tuesday, so rather than have lunch after, I decided to try their breakfast. The Roof on Wilshire is located on the roof of the Hotel Wilshire, not to be confused with the Beverly Wilshire. It's a small boutique hotel that has a wonderful view from it's roof. It was a beautiful day with the California sun shining at 8:45 a.m. and a constant temperature of 73 degrees. On the background were songs of Norah Jones, Astrud Gilberto and guitar music. It was a perfect setting. I could also imagine the ambiance at night!

Two things stood out on their menu. This was perfect since 90% of the time, Sandi and I split 2 entrees to get the best of both worlds. The first entree was called Pancake Lasagna. We were both intrigued with the name and I couldn't contain my excitement when I read the description. It had bacon, sausage, cheddar and a maple Bechamel. What's there not to like? The other other entree was a Brioche French Toast; orange compote and dulce de leche. I loved how they served it on the dark side (can't stand pale French Toasts) and the orange compote was perfect. The dulce the leche was not overwhelmingly sweet. After we placed our order, we realized that this was not going to be a dietetic breakfast. Both were excellent choices. It would be too rich and too much for 1 person so half of both was truly perfect for me. Sandi didn't even finish hers as she was too full.

I was really fascinated with the Pancake Lasagna that I had to call and speak to the Chef the following day. Chef Chris Mendoza explained how the lasagna was made. They make a big sheet of pancake and they layer the ground sausage, aerated scrambled eggs, chopped bacon with the fat and incorporate it with the Bechamel sauce. I normally do not like breakfast sausage but this was different. All the ingredients came together like a beautiful symphony. Who would have known? Just make sure you take an extra dose of Lipitor to keep your cholesterol from spiking up.

The Roof on Wilshire is located at 6317 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles.

Corned Beef Hash

Not all breakfast places serve Corned Beef Hash and if they do, you sometimes don't get very good meat or it may be to greasy. The Corned Beef Hash at the Original Pancake House is something you should try.

It consists of homemade hash and a blend of Kosher beef, potatoes, onions and cream. It is served with 2 eggs, any style you want though in my opinion it should only be served with fried eggs, and the best side you could possibly want......potato pancakes. These are not your ordinary potato pancakes you might have had elsewhere. These are truly the best as they are thin and light. They usually serve them with apple sauce and sour cream. When you get them with the corned beef hash, they don't come with anything so DO NO FORGET to ask for some apple sauce.

I have to inform you that one order of this is good for 2 very hungry people. I gave some of mine to 2 people to try and I still had enough left over for another breakfast!

My friend Nako had the pancakes. In my opinion, they have the best pancakes compared to IHOP, Denny's or Norm's. I am excluding gourmet pancakes from fancy places. This is strictly comparing apples with apples or should I say pancakes with pancakes.

The Original Pancake House has numerous locations from coast to coast. There are over 100 franchises, some with a different name; the one in Chicago is called Walker Brothers.  Fortunately there's one close to me at 1756 S. Pacific Coast Hwy. in Redondo Beach California.

Trader Joe's Lasagna

It's a good idea to have some frozen dinners in your freezer in case you're not in the mood to cook or go out for dinner. I tried Trader Joe's Lasagna the other night and was very surprised.

It serves 2-3 people. In my case, I divided it into three. I baked is as instructed, let it rest and sliced them up. I served it with French bread. I should have had a salad to balance all that carbohydrates but I got lazy and thought I would dispense of the extra calories from the salad.

The lasagna was quite good that I really enjoyed it. The pasta was not as thin and aldente as you would get in a real Italian restaurant but it was not bad. It was salty enough that I didn't even think of Parmesan cheese.

Not all frozen dinners are created equal. This one is good especially on a cold night; it is perfect served with a salad and your favorite red wine.

Maccheroni Republic

We had tickets to see the play "An Act of God" with Sean Hayes the other night at the Ahmanson Theater. The question was where to eat around the vicinity.  Maccheroni Republic's menu looked good. I asked my brother if he had been there before and the answer was yes and he further told me he has been there twice. I called to make a reservation. They do not take reservations so we planned to be there when they opened at 5:30 p.m. There were 3 parties of two already waiting!

This hip restaurant is not big; you have a choice of sitting inside or on the patio. We chose to be inside.  We already decided to get the Fried Calamari for our appetizer.  It was a Friday (Lent) so we could not order any meat. The question was which pasta to order so we asked our cute Italian girl who waited on us which Rigatoni to order since there were several on the menu. She suggested the Rigatoni Pom' Amore which had a creamy tomato sauce topped with Burrata. The other dish we were to split was the  Linguine con Polpo e Gamberoni which was pasta with octopus, jumbo shrimps, garlic, asparagus in a typical Mediterranean flavor. Meantime, we enjoyed the French bread which was a good start with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The Calamari was disappointing. It had no flavor. Even the sauce which they call vegetable dipping was very bland. I had to sprinkle quite a bit of salt on the calamari and the sauce. It was nice and light but absolutely tasteless. We were afraid of the the following dishes being tasteless as well.

The Rigatoni arrived with a big scoop of Burrata and the Linguine came with beautiful jumbo shrimps. We both got excited. The Rigatoni was cooked aldente and the sauce, when mixed with the Burrata was very good. The Linguine was just as delicious. Sandi didn't eat the octopus. It's funny because I forgot it had octopus. It looked like little scallops to me and told her they were scallops. She thought they tasted "fishy". I loved them!

We still had time to have dessert as we ate fast. We decided to split Luisa's Olive Cake. The cake was orange blueberry served with whipped cream. We both inhaled that rather large piece of cake. It was good.

Maccheroni Republic is located at 332 S. Broadway in Los Angeles. It is opposite the Grand Central Market.

BTW, the play "Act of God" is sinfully funny. It's a one man show aside from the 2 angels. It always amazes me how someone can memorize lines and talk for 90 minutes! Sean Hayes was delightfully funny.

Birthday at Chez Melange

Our friend Mertz invited 6 of us for her birthday celebration at Chez Melange in Redondo Beach. Only 3 of us were able to make it as one was back in the Philippines, one had previous plans and the other one had to babysit. It was their loss as we had a good time. We even had the balloon we gave her last year which we decided would be passed on each time one of us celebrated her birthday. She was also celebrating her retirement from being a flight attendant at American Airlines. Her retirement meaning she actually "Fired" American Airlines as her employer. She was so tired of seeing unfair treatment of their employees that she fired them and said so in her letter. Interesting fact is when her letter was posted on the American Airlines facebook page, about 500 (and counting) employees commended her for doing this. There was not one single negative comment. Hurray for Mertzie!!!

The celebration started with Champagne and numerous appetizers. We had to have the Truffle fries which we've all had in the past. The birthday celebrant, Cindy and Sandi thought the Roasted Cauliflower with sweet corn would be good.  Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts with bell peppers, onions, chile, garlic, peanuts and sweet soy sounded good to everyone. These vegetables were surprisingly delicious that it was unbelievable to me.

As we enjoyed the appetizers and bread, we were not sure if we could eat our entrees but as Mertz pointed out; finish the appetizers and just take home what you can't eat. With that in mind, we did eat everything. Three of us ordered the Steak Diane with caramelized mashed potatoes. Mertz had to be different and that was o.k. since it was her birthday. She had the Pork Loin with mushrooms, onions, fingerling potatoes and broccolini. No one complained about anything which is always a good thing. As expected, we could not finish our food. We were all glad that our mothers were not there to instill the rule that we had to finish our food to get dessert.

There was a chocolate birthday cake that was presented to dear Mertz which she happily shared. She practically forced us all to order our own dessert. She did not want us to feel guilty so she ordered another dessert for herself. She got a Pumpkin Cheesecake. I had the Apple Cobbler and Cindy and Sandi split an order of Blueberry pound cake; that way they only gained 1/2 lb each!

The evening was fun celebrating Mertz's birthday and retirement from the airlines.  Amy, Sujata and Ana: you were missed. We all wished you could have been there.

Mishi's Strudel Bakery and Cafe

I have to remind myself occasionally of this bakery/cafe close to home. Their specialty is the many flavors of crispy strudels. I doubt you could find one better than theirs. See previous blog:
http://solittlethyme.blogspot.com/2012/07/mishis-strudel.html

I have always wanted to try some of the traditional Hungarian dishes but never had the time since they close at very early time (4 p.m.). Sandi and I went a few days ago and got there shortly before  4 p.m. I asked the lady if they would still serve us dinner and she happily informed us that they close at 5 p.m. that day. Hallelujah! There were no customers when we walked in so we had the cafe all to ourselves.

We decided to try the Hungarian Goulash Stew with beef, bacon, green peppers, caraway, garlic and onions. This was served with French Bread. She asked us how we wanted it prepared. Mild, spicy or hot. We both said spicy. Since we eat at Indian restaurants and could handle a bit spicy, we figured we could handle this. It was good but too spicy for both of us. Thank God for the diet coke that temporarily cooled our mouths. We also ordered the Turos Csusza which is a traditional Hungarian pasta with cottage cheese and bacon.  We absolutely loved this dish. It would be too rich to eat a whole serving so splitting one was perfect. It was also nice having that after the spicy goulash.

We were both pleasantly full and it would have been a mortal sin if we left without ordering a slice of strudel. We settled for the Apricot Cheese which I have had before and loved. Our favorite is the Chocolate Cherry which they didn't have at the time. It was served warm and though I prefer my desserts cold, I still enjoyed it. At home I would serve this with a scoop of vanilla or salted caramel ice cream.

We both left the place with a big 16" box of frozen strudel to take home. They freeze and bake beautifully and looks very impressive when served to your guests. Mishi's is located at 309 West 7th St. in San Pedro, California. Check their website for hours of operation and to view their many strudels. www.mishisstrudel.com