Wild Cherry Danish

This Danish is super wild indeed! L'Amande had this as a special not too long ago. I am not the "Danish" type.  This is probably since I haven't had one exciting in all my years. They are generally too sweet and the fruit would taste "fake", usually canned. So naturally, when they had this as a special, I passed.  Then I heard that it was so good that people requested the return of the wild cherry danish.

This morning I had this mission in mind to give it a try. I ordered one to go with my nice strong coffee. Let me tell you; this was the best I've ever encountered. It was so flaky that when I tore it apart (I don't recommend using a fork and knife), I heard the crackling of the pastry. At second bite, I tasted the perfectly tart cherry. This is no ordinary cherry you get at the supermarket. These were wild; size of blueberries. The cherries with the vanilla custard tasted great. I'm not a cherry fan but guess what? You've guessed.........it's now your turn to try these super wild danish.

Some wonder how I can eat these things often.  I do make sacrifices as I am at the gym before 6:00 a.m., dance twice a week and take numerous pills as shown below. Plus I thank God for Lipitor everyday!

L'Amande  Bakery in Torrance will have this Cherry Danish tomorrow, Dec. 22, 2013, probably the last time this year.

Fishing with Dynamite

Fishing with Dynamite is a small and I mean tinsy-winsy restaurant opened by Chef David LeFevre.  Same Chef that owns and runs the MB Post a few doors from there in Manhattan Beach. There have been a lot of write ups on how this establishment is so good; known for it's seafood; after all, the Chef came from the famous Water Grill Restaurant which is still considered "king" of seafoods.

The restaurant is definitely worth checking out. Four of my friends were just as eager to go but last night, the four dwindled to two. We had a choice of waiting for the others but I thought we would do them a favor by trying it out and reporting to them whether it was worth their time and money.

The good thing was our reservation was at 5:00 p.m. The city of Manhattan Beach was in the holiday spirit and provided free meter parking.  We parked right in front of the restaurant. We were surprised to see the size. Well, they say size matters......hmmmmm it depends on the customer.

We got our small table next to a couple. They had a seafood platter of assorted oysters. I was so tempted to reach out and take one. My friend does not eat oysters so I didn't want to order a platter just for me. We started with the Maryland Blue Crab Cake served with whole grain mustard remoulade. This crab cake (1) was the best, better than the one I tried at Spago's Bel Air Hotel.
Next time, I would ask for more sauce on the side. It had large chunks of crab fresh as can be. I could have eaten a whole one.

We decided to try their special of the day which was: Whole New Zealand Snapper for Two for $48.00. I asked our server if I could order a side of rice. Nope....they didn't have rice. I then asked if they had mashed potato. No dice...no cous cous either or any starchy substance except for their Fries which we settled for. The fish was dynamite! It was stuffed with garlic, ginger, lime and bok choy, deboned of course (or I would not have ordered it) and tempura fried. The sauce was wonderful but I couldn't help craving for rice which would have gone perfect with it. The fries were very good but it didn't do the fish justice.

For dessert, we both decided to split the Pretzel and Chocolate Bread Pudding served with salted caramel sauce and house made ice cream.  Ohhhh myyyyyyy chewy gooey pudding with the nice texture of the soft pretzel made with dark chocolate.

Would I go back to this restaurant? Yes to try the seafood platter, to have the crab cake again and the pretzel bread pudding, though I heard the Key Lime Pie is also very good. The restaurant seems to be doing quite well so I am hoping they move to a slightly bigger place for a little more privacy as I don't really enjoy listening to the Whole conversation of my neighbor.

Holiday Dinner Party

First of all, this would not happen to me as I would not invite people with restrictions!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9EAavxrus

Indulge-Chocolate Festival & Pastry Show

December 14, 2013 was a Chocolate Festival and Pastry Show which took place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Century City. My brother Gary, Sandi, Ana and I couldn't wait to participate and see what this was all about.

We arrived shortly after 1:00 p.m. and there were people already munching away. After checking in, we had our picture taken which apparently will be at their website. Before we left, we took our own picture for posterity.

As we entered the venue, we were handed a wine glass which was ours to keep and use for the various wine tastings. Sandi went straight to the sparkling wine. They had some nice and not so nice dessert wines, port wines and good limoncello.  Our first chocolate stop was the best.....they were from Montage Hotel in Laguna Beach. These chocolates were deeelicious; from caramel to white chocolate with a grapefruit filling and some others. We were able to try 3-4 varieties. They had samples in mini jars of white chocolate and caramel filling which were light and just divine. Unfortunately, they were not for sale and you could only get them at the Montage in Laguna Beach.  We then proceeded to taste other chocolates that were not good. We even went on a long line to try these beautiful chocolates. When it was our turn, we pointed to what we wanted to try only to be told that we would have to purchase them for $3.00 each. The sample they gave us was smaller than a peanut! You almost needed a magnifying glass. It was a blessing in disguise because all 4 of us simultaneously spit it out. It had cardamon in it and it was absolutely terrible! We were glad we didn't pay $3.00 for their chocolate.

We had some fried cream puffs which weren't bad at all, sponge cake with icing that was too sweet and mini cupcakes that also were too sweet.  After all the little sweets, we craved for something salty.  Gary was on a mission to find out what was good so he went ahead and came back to us to report what was worth lining up for. We got some type of siopao with pork, caramelized onions and feta cheese. That was quite good. There was booth that had different cheeses and we all enjoyed that one especially the bleu cheese.

We tried some more desserts but most of them was really a disappointment. After a few more sweets, we again wanted something salty to take the sweetness away. We ended up at the 9021 Pho (French Vietnamese Restaurant) They were offering a chocolate pho.  That was very good. Very light with a hint of chocolate.  I later called the restaurant since I did not see it on their menu which they handed out. I found out that they do not make or sell this dish. It was just made for yesterday's occasion. What a pity!

To summarize, it was fun to go to this festival especially with good friends.  There weren't enough pastries, the chocolates were pretty but not good except the ones from Montage. The anticipation and the journey were much more fun than the destination.  Although I must say, if we didn't go,we would not have made the Montage discovery of their very fine chocolates.

Best Cheese Fondue

Without a doubt, Dominique's has the best tasting not to mention addicting cheese fondue. Sandi and I didn't feel like having a big meal last night and we remembered how good the fondue was at Dominique's so we ended up at their parking lot at exactly 5:00 p.m. last night.

Liza welcomed us and managed to find a table for me and Sandi. We ordered the cheese fondue for 2-4.  We also ordered the Truffle Fries which we've had before and was always delicious with the different sauces they had.  They serve the fondue with the long fork which is specifically for dipping. I devised a better way of eating the bread without having to issue an A.P.B. (all points bulletin).  While dipping the bread attached to the fork, there is a tendency for it to swim away. So, my suggestion is first to wash your hands; make sure you are with people who are not sick, pick up a piece of bread.....hold the very tip and dunk it in the fondue.

The truffle fries were good on their own but when dipped in the fondue....it was magic. Again, dipping is time consuming only to have one or two fries at a time. The Karina way is to  ask for a spoon, take some fries and pace them in the little saucer and take 2 tablespoons of the fondue and pour over the fries. Take your fork and eat as usual. Ooohhh la la!

We couldn't leave without having dessert. Sandi has never had the Baked Alaska so we ordered that. I pretended I was doing her a favor so she can try it. I love their baked Alaska and have had it numerous times. It was very good as we both enjoyed the nice finale to our not so light dinner.

Dominique's is located at 522 S. Pacific Coast Hwy., in Redondo Beach. They open as early as 4:00 p.m. Monday, Wednesday to Sunday. (Closed on Tuesdays- except for Christmas and New Year's Eve.)

Chewy Cashew Cookie

Remember the "Perfect Love".   This cookie is reminiscent of the almond perfect love though it can't be called that as it is not the same thing.

This chewy cashew cookie has no flour at all. It is made solely of cashew meal. In the center of it is a Medjool date.  I happen to favor cashews over almonds so I truly enjoyed these cookies.  Like the "perfect love", these are time consuming and expensive to make.  For a very limited time; this weekend (Dec. 14 & 15), L'Amande Bakery will be selling them. Don't let the picture fool you. It taste better than it looks. You'll know what I mean when you take your first bite.

Since they are not available often, I experimented and froze the "perfect love", so I am almost sure that these will freeze well. Just make sure you store them in a Ziploc bag. This way, you can serve these delightful cookies to unexpected guests when they drop by the holidays. Just don't tell the owners you froze their cookies or they might suffer a heart attack!

L'Amande Bakery is at the Rolling Hills Plaza in Torrance, California.

Gaetano's "La Famiglia" Menu

La Famiglia Night is every Tuesday starting at 5 p.m. at Gaetano's Restaurant in Torrance. The four course dinner feeds a family of 4 and the cost is a very reasonable charge of $50.00. The first thing you might think is that you would not have too many choices and that maybe, you just get the bare minimum. Well, I am here to prove you wrong.

It was my friend Sujata's birthday. I was not aware that it was Family night. The last time I was at Gaetano's, I had the Tasting Menu which was also reasonable for $23.00.  Though it was just the two of us I thought it would make sense to order the Family style dinner and just take the left overs home. We had several choices for the starters, soups or salad, pasta and entree.

For starters, we got to choose one for our party of 2. It had to be the Carciofi Fritti; artichoke hearts cooked in Parmesan bread crumbs served with ranch dressing. I have had this numerous times and totally love it. Sujata became a fan as well.  We had a choice of soup or salad for our second course. We both had soup, Sujata had the lentil (special of the day) and I had the minestrone soup which was nice and rich.

We got to pick a pasta dish for the table. We had the Shrimp Mediterranean; bowtie pasta with shrimps, sun dried tomatoes, roasted pine nuts, feta cheese, Parmesan in an olive oil-garlic sauce.
The entree we chose was the Eggplant Parmigiana which was delicious with their homemade marinara, mozzarella and ricotta. Needless to say, we did not finish everything. The left over could have fed two more hungry people.

When we could no longer eat anymore, we notice the background music started playing the song: "Happy Birthday" and along came 3 ladies singing along with a dish of spumoni for the birthday girl.  I loved it as it got everyone's attention, and Sujata (shy in nature) was so embarrassed.

The restaurant was quite busy. I guess word has gotten around about this great deal. Gaetano's is located at 2731 Pacific Coast Hwy. in Torrance, California.