Jay Williams

http://www.complex.com/city-guide/2013/03/25-awesome-cereals-that-no-longer-exist/

California Trip: Odds and Ends

I forgot about the story where LBE confused two Japanese words that mean very different things. We were looking for things to do and there was a movie theater near us in San Francisco where you could eat and drink during the movie called the Sundance Kabuki. Upon hearing the word “kabuki,” LBE looked at me shocked and confused.

LBE: “Wait… what’s it called?”

Me: “Sundance Kabuki.”

LBE: Isn’t that… the thing… where…

Me (laughing): No, you’re thinking of “b*kkake.” (I put it an * in because I don’t want to end up on some sort of list. If you don’t know what that is, don’t Google it at work. In fact, don’t bother. It’s probably something that won’t enrich your life and will most likely sad that you ever read it.)

Also in Los Angeles…

Chocolate nachos from El Pollo Loco.

After the nachos, I went to a fantastic wedding with great food, good friends and this guy who showed up to tickle the ivories.

I know what you’re thinking… but I’m serious. I really ate something called “chocolate nachos,” and they weren’t bad.

To Live and Eat in LA

Heading into the second and final leg of my West Coast leg brought me to Los Angeles for my friend Tony’s wedding. TThe night before the wedding, we headed to The Foundry. Here, I would encounter the meal of the trip. We went with a tasting menu since everything looked really good. (Sadly, I don’t have pictures of all the food. Also I’m not sure what the ingredients were because it was sort of loud)

Highlights:

Above is a championship-level grilled cheese sandwich. (This isn’t mere hyperbole. This sandwich has actually won grilled cheese competitions. I even saw the trophies.) Short ribs, Tallegio, raisin-walnut bread and apricot caper puree. This was delicious… savory and sweet perfection. The table next to us had a leftover grilled cheese half that they weren’t going to eat. I’d be lying if I didn’t spend ten minutes figuring out how I could get it off their table. Luckily, my grand schemes stayed inside my head.

Short rib in brown butter and something else. I couldn’t remember because it was so delicious.

There was something that seemed like tuna tartare with some sort of crunchy ginger topping. Also fantastic.

Earl Grey creme brulee with a candied lemon and honey scone. I always forget how much I enjoy creme brulee until I eat something like this.

Also for dessert, we had apple beignets with apple marmalade and Guinness whipped cream. Also fantastic.

As we were driving through the Valley on the way home, “Sister Christian” came on and all I could think of was that scene in Boogie Nights.

Is “La Quinta” Spanish for “hotel failure?”

Things I’m good at: trivia, sarcasm, finding great places to eat.

Things I’m bad at: billiards, selecting hotels.

Let me clarify. The hotel LBE and I are staying in might as well be the Mos Eisley Cantina fromStar Wars.

The hotel bar/lobby area were filled with some strange characters including:

-Attendees of some sort of “I Will Make You Rich” seminar

-Some sort of dance meetup group? (where I saw someone explaining to a tourist how to do The Electric Slide with articulated moves

-A man who ordered a Long Island Iced Tea, a beer and a shot… all at the same time. This man (we’ll call him Long Island Larry) starts having a drunkenly gabbing with some other stranger about the Cowboys players who were involved that DUI accident.

Now just sitting in my hotel room, listening to a room full of yammering gremlins in the room next door. (They might be children but who can tell these days?)

Best Things I’ve Eaten While In San Francisco

To the right is some average French toast from Sweet Maple in San Francisco. Not a lot to say about it. It was deep-fried which made it seem like a very big French toast stick. To the left is millionaire’s bacon. You’re probably asking yourself “Having I been eating poor people’s bacon? Could this really be the bacon of the 1%?” Respectively, no (probably just working class bacon) and yes (the only thing that could make it. I don’t think anyone ever imagined bacon this decadent. One imagines Bill Gates eating a pound of this and then washing it down with a unicorn tears smoothie. Thick cut slices cooked low and slow with a brown sugar-red pepper flake topping. While it was delicious, it made me feel like I was simultaneously having a heart attack and getting a cavity.

Here’s a better pic from Yelp.

Stopped at Umami Burger for their Manly Burger (beer-cheddar cheese, bacon lardon, smoked salt onion strings). So tasty I plan on hitting up one of the several Umami Burgers in L.A. on the second leg of my California tour.

Banh mi meets a sloppy Joe… sounds weird but is actually delicious. Introducing the Sloppy Bun from Bun Mee. Red curry ground beef, garlic aioli, Thai basil, cilantro, jalapenos and a fried egg on a baguette. Fantastic!