Valentine's Day with Kirk at Quality Seafood

I had a lovely weekend with Kirk this past Valentine's Day. Saturday I cooked Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguinon and some homemade chocolate cake. We spent all day sunday lounging and walking around. We decided to go to the pier to walk around. There we ate at Quality Seafood. I usually eat the steamed seafood, but today we went for the fried goodies. I had this plate of all fried items, shrimp, fries, scallops, clams, and fish. It was alright. I felt so greasy....definitely over did it. Kirk had a whole fried fish, which he pretty much demolished. Afterwards, we walked off the food and this cute little old lady and her dog were sitting on a bench. She commented to us "what a sweet couple you guys are.".....we are :)

A kiss from me

Kiss for the fishyUgg...put a fork in me and the fish...we're done

Heart attack on a plate

Seafood at Redondo Beach Pier

I absolutely love shellfish! Crab, lobster, shrimp, etc etc. Kirk suggested we go to Redondo Pier now only minutes away from my place, to enjoy some hot seafood. Our friend Shin came along as he was the one who originally told us about this place. It is Korean run seafood house. You must eat the salad which consisted of raw tuna, smelt eggs, salad, rice, cabbage, and some tasty spicy dressing. Mmm...it was so good. We also had baby octopus and some raw oysters which didn't quite agree with my taste buds, but Kirk and Shin chowed down on them. The main part of our meal were two huge steamed crabs. They gave us some mallets and bibs and we hammered and pulled out juicy fresh crab meat. I always enjoy that kind of seafood because it is so much fun to eat with other people. There is something about hammering crab legs that I love.

Dine LA at Akasha

I was planning on skipping out on Dine LA this time since I just bought the house and was trying to save some dough. But wonderful, generous Kirk was so nice to surprise me with reservations at Akasha. We had actually gone to dine la here last year and loved it. The restaurant is a very farmers market fresh type of place with lots of organic and free trade this and that. For appetizers we had the pork sliders and grilled shrimp with ciabatta. The sliders were super moist but a little on the salty and very spicy side. The grilled shrimp was served on grilled ciabatta that was slightly burnt. For our main course I had the braised short ribs and Kirk had the albacore and quinoa. You can't go wrong with braised anything is my saying! It was super delicious and moist. The albacore was just alright...I really wasn't digging the quinoa (pronounced Kin-wa). For dessert, we had the banana split cake and smores pudding. They were just alright. For some reason, I was not quite as impressed as I had been in the past with Akasha. I don't think it was quite a representation of what they are capable of.

Year 3 of Angie's Beauty Strategy Meeting

This is now the third year in the row that I've helped Angie arrange some flowers for her annual strategy meeting. I thought we were totally out of ideas but somehow we put our thinking caps together and managed to come up with a great design to go with the theme of hollywood glamour. Angie found these great silver bowls and crystal pins which we placed in the rose centers. We created a large display for the front that included quince branches with hanging crystals, and wired roses. It looked quite sparkly with all the crystals and crystal pins. It was a lot of work, but in the end everything looked great.

Old Skool Dining at Dal Rae

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Kirk and his family often go to Dal Rae for special occasions. This year for Mrs. Shintani's birthday, the whole family and significant others went to dine at Dal Rae. It was a very old school vibe with great service and soft leather booths. Our waitress Kitty, was a elderly yet super spry lady who kept the jokes going throughout the meal. Complimentary radish tray came filled with radishes (my favorite), pickles, carrots, pepperocine, and other yummy goodies to crunch on. I had the chilean sea bass ala Ben. Man o man...it was so tasty. I got this huge piece of fish served with parmesan and carmelized onions. The fish was super flaky and it went well with the cheese and lemon butter sauce. A large baked potato was served on the side. This restaurant has a nice menu of american style fish and meat dishes. It reminded me of Lawry's but without the prime rib. Probably one of the nicest restaurants outside the LA restaurant area that I normally dine at.

Japanese Eats and Drinks: Yuzu

My weak sauce Shochu and Calpico mix

Shrimp salad with sesame dressing

Grilled Yamaimo with nori

Grilled beef with mushroom and bean sprouts

Karaage Chicken

Grilled beef tongue

Grilled kurobuta pork

Lately, Kirk and I have been exploring the Japanese eats and drinks in the Torrance area. Luckily, Kirk's friend and now our new drinking buddy, Shin, is not only knowledgeable of Japanese cuisine, he is an expert Japanese alcohol drinker! He's great to eat with because he knows his Japanese alcohol, food, and speaks in Japanese! On our second drinking evening (first was at Torihei, but forgot to blog), we went to Yuzu in Old Town Torrance. It has a very modern feel inside, but the food is pretty traditional. I think a great date night place.
We started off with some Shochu which kind of reminds me of Vodka without the heavy alcohol taste and less of a hangover effect. I like the lighter tasting ones and I love adding Calpico drink to kill the alcohol taste. I got my own bottle because Shin and Kirk wanted to more manly, stronger tasting one. We ended up ordering a bunch of food. We started off with some grilled shrimp salad with mixed greens and vegetables. They serve some really large pieces of shrimp with some tasty sesame dressing. Next, we had grilled yamaimo....yum. It was lightly dipped in shoyu or teriyaki sauce and grilled, then sliced. For those of you who don't know, yamaimo is a root vegetable that has a sort of crunchy, slithery texture. I also love it grated and eaten with soba. We also had some other typical grilled items like beef, beef tongue, kurobuta pork, which was grilled just right and so easy to bit into. We finished the meal off with some cold soba, hot udon, and grilled rice balls. Of course, I was pretty toasted at this point, so there are no pictures of the food towards the end of the night :)
Japanese eating and drinking is such an art of pacing. You eat a little, drink a little (or in Shin and Kirk's case, drink a lot). We were there for over 2 hours enjoying the food, Shochu, and conversation...albeit the conversation was pretty geared towards the video game Call of Duty. I'm quite excited to keep exploring the restaurants out here in the South Bay. If anyone wants to join us for some good eats and drinks, let me know!

Gyushintei: All You Can Eat Shabu Shabu

I myself have always been a big fan of Shabu Shabu ever since I was a kid. Although I must admit, I liked Sukiyaki better because it was more flavorful. I also must admit, that I really haven't been to too many Shabu places because my mom would always make it for us. The first time I went, Kirk took me to this in West LA and after dinner, and a big check, I was starving. I felt jipped. More recently, Kirk and I went out on a date night with our friends Joni and Dean, sans Evan :( They took us to their favorite place in Torrance called Gyushintei. After my second time eating there, I am a fan. You get your own cooking pot, which I think is great since I don't like sharing my food while I'm cooking :) We went with the all you can eat, which was also great because there was no chance of me leaving there starving. It comes with all these choices of meat, vegetables, and noodles. It's definitely fun eating there with other people. We can't wait till our next date night with the Kishiyamas...hopefully Evan can join :)

PS. This is my first post as a Torrance resident!

My First Home!!!

So I finally have my very first home. I have to definitely thank a bunch of people who I could not have done this without.
1. My parents and sisters: Their unbelievable generosity made it possible for me to buy in such a wonderful neighborhood. They have also supported me and basically made my dream come true. Even after all these years of supporting me through college, grad school, buying me a car, they basically put my entire down payment. I love you guys....a million thanks!
2. My lender: Dean is not only my lender but my dear dear friend from Whitney. He made everything go so smoothly along with his team at BofA.
3. My realtor: Carol Gilles who I would recommend to anyone looking for a home in Torrance. Also, I would like to thank Lauren Sullivan who was my realtor in West LA. Although I didn't get a house with Lauren, I would definitely recommend her to anyone buying in the Westside.
4. Kirkland Costco: For driving around the Southbay and pointing out his favorite areas and for the countless hours spent at Sears and other appliance stores. Also, major props for putting up with me being stressed out and always knowing how to calm me down.
5. Other folks: Ann for all those tips about Torrance and home buying while at work. Doris, for setting up my move for super dirt cheap. Anyone who had to listen to me talk about buying a house. And everyone for supporting me in the next big step in my life.

Hopefully, I can hurry up and get settled in so I can have a housewarming sometime next year!

5 Course Tasting Dinner at Kirkland's Restaurant

Kirkland decided to make a lovely 5 course dinner for his family. I was his sous chef/runner/cleaner. It was amazing to see all the courses come together and finally eat them. It was quite a bit of work to make that many dishes...and there were so many dishes to wash! But I thought it was really worth it. Kirk is such an amazing chef and baker. It was such a treat to cook alongside him. Every dish was so well thought out and tweaked with special Kirk touches. He even made vanilla french macaroons with raspberry filling. We made those the night before (so much work!), but because they are so difficult to make, we kinda messed up over half the batch. It was sad....we only salvaged 12 really good, serve-able ones. We are going to have to make that one again sometime. Kirk also had purchased a Nespresso machine from Williams Sonoma. Heehee...I made the mistake of drinking a regular espresso at night. I was bouncing off the walls. But lucky (or unluckily) for Kirk, not only did I keep bugging him, I washed all the dishes from the dinner and cleaned up the table. I don't think it will be happening anytime soon, but I can't wait until Kirk's next fancy dinner.

The table setting for Kirk's 5 course meal

Amuse bouche: vegetable soup

Sashimi with red and green tobiko and gobo root

Warm baby beets and spinach salad with di parma prosciutto wrapped scallop

Buta kakuni with eggplant and Matsutake gohan

Braised leg of lamb and roasted red potatoes

Chocolate ganache and raspberry tartlet with ice cream

Trader Joe's Burrata and Beets

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After eating some really good beets and burrata, I was inspired and craving the yummy pair. I heard about Trader Joe's selling Burrata. They also sell beets already steamed and peeled. I thought a nice beets and burrata salad would be tasty for dinner. The beets were excellent and sure beat trying to boil the messy beets yourself. The burrata wasn't that great. It was kind of mushy and although the taste was sort of there, it just wasn't the same as the burrata I've had at Angelini or Mozza. But I guess for Trader Joe's it was ok? Maybe cheese fans know of better places to buy burrata (hmm....maybe Surfas' cheese bar?) I definitely would make the beet salad again with the beets and greens from Traders. Add a balsamic vinagrette for dressing to top it off. Also, my new favorite apple is the breed called Honeycrisp. They sell it at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. It is super crisp, light, and watery if that makes any sense.

On a beautiful Sunday after a fun time shopping at Surfas cooking and supply store, Kirk and I stopped off at Honey Kettle Chicken in the arts district of Culver City to eat some yummy fried chicken. I'm not the biggest fan of fried chicken (gasp, I know), but this was freakin good friend chicken. I'm not the expert on fried chicken, but this was the best fried chicken I've ever laid mouth on. It was crispy on the outside, tender meat on the inside with a great flavor. The fries that came with it were ok, but the biscuit was so light and perfectly crisp on the outside. Almost tasted flash fried. If you like fried chicken and haven't been here, please go and check it out...definitely worth the drive out to Culver City.
Honey Kettle Chicken
www.honeyskettle.com
9537 Culver Blvd, Culver City -

(310) 202-5453

Place Yuu....Not Me

So I know that was a corny title...but upon valeting the car at the Sawtelle strip mall, I told the valet that I was going to Place Yuu (pronounced You). And he said place me. It took me a nanosecond to get that joke. Anyways, Kirk has been talking about Place Yuu for awhile so we decided to go there for dinner before D&B's. It is your standard small plates with sushi bar. Casual with a great friendly feel. More traditional than places like Bar Hayama or Orris. I personally like Bar Hayama more but I think that's because I like the fusion style Japanese small plates. If you don't want to venture out with the small plates, the sushi was very standard and very reliable. Kirk ordered a sushi dish called Battera which was a press sushi with I think a Saba type fish. I ordered some spicy scallop and salmon which was delicious. We also ordered Yaki Nasu (grilled eggplant), Yaki Ika (grilled squid) and Buta Kakuni (slow cooked pork). All in all it was a good meal...another restaurant to check off my list of Sawtelle street places.

Place Yuu
2101 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
90025-6200
(310) 478-7450

The Cat is Out of the Bag - Kirkland and Mo Go to Dave and Buster's

The Big Winner!

We won 2500 tickets that night and bought a bunch of candy (giant gummy bear....see blog)

I've been wanting to just go relax and burn off some steam. What better place than a place like Dave and Buster's. I really wanted to play skee ball, basketball, House of Dead, and that fun game where you try to push off coins from a ledge. Kirk and I (who have started just dating), trekked over to Santa Anita mall to the nearest Dave and Buster's. We ran around like little kids playing for hours. Kirk basically kicked my butt in most of the games. I would say the only game I was better at was that stupid push the coins off the ledge game. Kirk was awesome at all the games. He even played that game where you push the button to stop the light on tickets and he won the jackpot of 1000 tickets!!! I was in total disbelief....like winning the jackpot at a casino. Well, not exactly the same, but I was still jumping up and down and he was beaming, like it was no big deal on his first try. He also won me this cute turtle from the crane game...also a first try win. He's my hero!

Myth or Fact: Giant Gummy Bear

Just wanna bite his ear off!

Joni performing gummy bear surgery

My friends Joni and Dean introduced me to this candy blog the other day and I've been hooked on her recommendations (www.candyblog.net). She talked about some candies I've heard of and some I haven't heard of. I started getting hooked on the Japanese candy Hi-Chew which this lady loves. Dean and Joni are hooked on an expensive habit called Gummy Choco. We were all intrigued by this one blog about a giant gummy bear. I love gummy bears, but a giant one? I had dreams of just grabbing that bear and biting his nose off. Low and behold, I found it at Dave and Buster's of all places. For a mere 475 tickets, you could own a giant gummy bear, about the size of a coffee mug. I had to get it for Joni. You know what, it was really good! I got the green apple flavor (which you gummy bears fan know that it not an original true gummy bear flavor). The texture was a bit softer than a gummy bear but it was good. I think it was just weird to eat such a large piece since usually you eat a small bear one at a time. Should you come across a giant gummy bear, say "hello", chat it up a bit, then go for the kill with your knife...it won't hurt him at all.

Macaroon Ice Cream Sandwich....Need I Say More?

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

I had my first macaroon ice cream sandwich the other day. It was heaven on earth. Delicious, creamy, sweet, chewy...magnificent. My foodie friend mentioned this place to me and I thought it was a myth....a made up story. But it was true...they actually had macaroons filled with homemade ice cream. The macaroon was ginormous (about 3 inches in diameter), the ice cream inside was very fresh tasting and super creamy. They had a few flavors: grasshopper, vanilla bean, coffee/toffee. In addition to the wonderful frozen treats, there was an array of sweets in a beautiful display case. Tres leches cake, chocolate pudding, red velvet cupcakes, blue velvet cake, and on and on and on. It was pure heaven. I will be going back over and over again!!!! If you have a sweet tooth, this is a must try place.

Milk
www.themilkshop.com
7290 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036-2545
(323) 939-6455