Japanese Desserts at Patisserie Chantilly

I heard much hype about Patisserie Chantilly in Lomita and me being the dessert lover had to go check it out. I love Bonjour Bakery which has the similar Japanese style desserts. Patisserie Chantilly sells Macarons which Bonjour does not. I was very curious about the macarons since I'm always looking for a good macaron. I was honestly a little disappointed with this place. I bought 4 pastries to try : Cafe Au lait, Kir Royale, Othello, and Alsace (starting from the left bottom going clockwise in the photo). They were all actually just ok....nothing spectacularly good...just good. I'm not sure why....perhaps they were all a bit too light and spongy. There was no real density or flavor to them. The macarons were decently made, but I would much rather have Paulette macarons by far. As for eating Japanese style desserts I would much rather go to Bonjour.

Patisserie Chantilly
www.patisseriechantilly.com
2383 Lomita Blvd
Lomita, CA 90717-1446
(310) 257-9454

Japanese Style Pasta at Il Chianti

Ceasar Salad

Squid and Nori Pasta

For my friend Rina's birthday I wanted to take her somewhere new and in the area she lives (South Bay). My sister Angie has been talking about this place she tried in Lomita that serves Japanese style pasta. Me, being a fan of Spoonhouse (see blog history) definitely wanted to see how it stacked up. Their menu and the restaurant itself is much larger and therefore you have a better chance of getting in. Actually you can make reservations...making this a nice date place :) The inside of the restaurant had a few nooks where you could dine peacefully with dim lighting. The pasta was very fresh and cooked al dente. I opted to have a salad before dinner. The Ceasar was excellent and it appeared that the dressing was possibly made from scratch. For dinner, I had the Squid and Seaweed Pasta. It was lightly flavored with garlic and butter, but the nori was the main flavoring. Rina had the Carbonara (which I really wanted but tried to order something healthier). I stole a little bite and it was to die for....rich and creamy. I definitely recommend trying this restaurant for all you pasta lovers in the South Bay....this place is worth the drive.

Il Chianti
www.il-chianti.com
24503 Narbonne Ave
Lomita, CA 90717-1136
(310) 325-5000

"A Faithful Friend is the Medicine of Life"

My friend Joni inspired me to write a blog about my friendships and how grateful I am to have the ones that I do. You really find out who your true friends are during times of happiness but especially during times of hardship. For me it all comes down to one thing: effort. I mean, everyone is busy in their lives with work, family, etc., but I think that if you think past that, outside of your own self, you will put that extra effort for friendship. My friend Joni epitomizes the word friend. She has not only been there for me when things were great, she has been supportive no matter what without judgement. She has made me a get well basket when I had surgery, tupperwares full of food when I didn’t feel like cooking, this awesome recipe book, not to mention to countless letters and cards with her thoughtful words. The list goes on and on. She inspires me to be a stronger person, a better friend, and a better person. And Joni is not the only one….I truly am lucky to have an extensive list of people who somehow always make me feel good no matter what. For that I am grateful…..lucky….honored…..and loved.

A Friend……

-supports you no matter what happens, even if they don’t agree necessarily

-drives to your place even if you do live an hour away or a whole coast away

-calls you without an agenda

-tells you everything will be ok and you believe them

-brings strength into your life

-doesn’t constantly talk about themselves in a conversation

-doesn’t constantly dump negative things going on in their life

-gives advice to you based on their own personal experiences

-reads your blog every once in awhile to find out the goings of your life J (no this is not a ploy to get more readers!)

-doesn’t ever turn their back on you when you need them

-calls/txts immediately to make sure you are ok after news of a difficult event

-sometimes puts you before themselves

-knows what you like and will bring it over to surprise you

-will email you every now and then to see how you are doing

-takes you out to see a ridiculous movie just to cheer you up (in this case Bruno, although I was somewhat disturbed afterward)

-takes care of you when you get sick

-makes sure you’re well fed

-doesn’t just contact you at when it is convenient for them

-makes you feel like everything will be fine in this crazy world

-knows what makes you happy and brings the happiness out in you whenever you’re together

Southeast Gakuen Obon Carnival

Obon traditionally is the celebration of one's departed ancestors and is considered a Buddhist tradition. Here in America, a lot of small Japanese schools and Buddhist churches carry on that tradition. I used to attend a Japanese school in Norwalk called Southeast Japanese Community Center. My parents are very involved still and my dad is on the board of directors. Every year I try to make it out there. I have been going for the last 20 some years of my life now and it has changed drastically. I remember as a kid wearing my yukata and dancing the bon-odori around the lantern lit stage in a circle. I loved going to the obon to eat food and run around playing the games. Now days, things have changed a bit. Due to the americanization of Japanese Americans, the obon is a lot more americanized/hawaiaanized. They still serve sushi, chirashi, and udon...but now also serve asian short ribs, sweet and sour pork, and kalua pork. They still have the games like string pull, goldfish toss, and tic tac toe.....no more jingleboard though. I had a blast this year spending time with my parents and also with my surrogate family the Kishiyamas (Dean, Joni, Evan) and my surrogate parents (Chiyo and John Miyahara). I hold them near and dear to my heart and am so lucky that they let me be part of their family events. I started off eating some hawaiian dinner with my parents. They the Kishiyamas/Miyaharas came for dinner. After dinner, I had a blast watching Evan and Joni and her sister Jil and her son Tanner dance the bon-odori. As a lucky auntie, I got to take Evan around to the games and watch him play and win prizes. I can't wait until next year to spend another fun filled tradition of Obon festival!

The Spareribs with fried rice

Sweet and Sour Pork

My favorite date: always a gentleman and always fun

My beautiful SW

Dean and I

Cole's French Dip Sandwich

Saturday I went out to hangout at Downtown LA. Now, I know downtown is the up and coming place to be, but I still have a hard time going there to hang out where one street is all trendy and the next street a guy is peeing on the sidewalk. I was curious to try out a restaurant down there called Cole’s. The consulting chef is Neal Fraser (who owns Grace) so I thought it would be awesome. But it was just eh. I had the French dip sandwich with pastrami. I think I am somewhat ruined since I’ve had the pastrami at Katz’s Deli in NYC. Now, everytime I eat pastrami, it just doesn’t compare. I mean the sandwich was ok….but the ambiance was great. It was an old saloon style place with a beautiful mahogany wood bar with an extensive bar list. A great date place due to the ambiance but you won’t be impressing your date with the food, but I would go back for the bar and for the vibe. Also, next door (literally next door) is a lounge type bar called The Association. Great place to head over to for more drinks….it is chill and not pretentious.

Cole’s French Dip

www.colesfrenchdip.com

118 East Sixth Street (and Main)

Los Angeles, CA 90014

Manpuku Tokyo BBQ

Yesterday, I went to go try Manpuku BBQ on Sawtelle. I can now cross that off my list of places I have eaten at on Sawtelle. You pick out meats, seafood, and vegetables and grill them on a charcoal grill at your table. We shared prime beef short rib and a salted black pork, along with an assortment of vegetables. I had the bibim men which is a kimchi spiced noodle with bibim bop vegetables on top. I really liked the cuts of beef short rib and pork. With the pork they gave you vegetables and spices to include with a sanchu lettuce wrap. For about $6-$9 per plate, you get about 8 pieces of meat. It is not super cheap, but the quality of meat was good and it was sort of fun cooking the meat yourself. I definitely would go back for some beef short rib….mmmm

Manpuku

www.manpuku.us

2125 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 473-0580

June Eats

There were a few places that I had the chance to try for the first time but didn’t blog about it last month. Definitely worthy of a try as they were both unique and the kind of dining experience I particularly enjoy.

One place is called Ramen California featured in the LA Times food section as well as the Rameniac blog (which apparently is the go-to place for ramen information). The chef at Ramen California, Shigetoshi Nakamura aspired to mix the Japanese ramen noodle with the ever so popular shift to using seasonal farmer’s market fresh vegetables. He incorporates vegetables such as purple cauliflower, celery root, baby yellow squash, baby corn, potatoes….there were about 20 different kinds of vegetables, making the ramen extremely colorful and tasty. I’m sure most people haven’t even had some of those veggies in there. I tried the Reggiano Cheese Tofu Ramen. Inside a soup ladle lied a soft silken piece of tofu infused with cheese. It was an interesting texture to say the least. Mixed with the ramen and veggies, it worked. If you love ramen, you have to try this place. Just be warned, you mouth will be shocked by the completely unique ingredients you never knew ramen could go with.

Ramen California

24231 Crenshaw Blvd., Unit C,

Torrance; (310) 530-2749

The second place I thought was worthy of a nice blog was the Five Guys Burgers and Fries joint now located in Cerritos (yay Cerritos!). It reminded me of In and Out burger. Very tasty and flavorful meat. The upside is you can pick and choose from a huge list of ingredients that you want on your burger. For some reason I just like cheese, meat, lettuce, onion, mayo and ketchup and I liked that I could order it how I like it without feeling like I am hassling them. If you like burgers, definitely try this place. Very cheap and a great value for your money.

www.fiveguys.com

11411 South St,

Cerritos, CA 90703

(562) 809-0055

The third place I had the experience of trying was Malibu Seafood. A quaint but bustling eatery off PCH, it is a great place to stop if you are taking a drive along the coast. Just be aware that the long line (although it really doesn’t take all that long to get the food) and that you may have to park and walk along the treacherous roadway that is PCH. All in all, they have lots of fresh choices. I tried the fried fish which was basically a whole fish fillet battered and fried. Very tender and very meaty. I also at the squid steak sandwich which was also very tasty and probably a healthier food choice since it wasn’t fried. I would definitely recommend this place if you want to get out of the city life and take a nice drive…..it can be romantic too for all you couples out there.

Malibu Seafood

www.malibuseafood.com

25653 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90265-4550
(310) 456-3430