arnold "SPAM eater" g.'s Profile

Ben's Burgers got an eviction notice today. Not good. :(

(Picture of eviction uploaded to the business listing)

There's a lot of buzz about Father's Office (F.O.) having the best burgers in LA, but the more I think about how we qualify food, the more I think the word "best" is played out.

That said, the F.O. burger is really good. It's big enough to split between two people and is served on a French roll, which makes burger purists cringe. I loved the caramelized onions and applewood bacon compote. The cheese is a combination of gruyere and bleu cheese, and arugula is an interesting choice of greens, but it helps balance out the other flavors and textures.

You can't "have it your way" at F.O. because of a strict "no substitutions, additions or deletions" policy. The only choice you have is how the burger is cooked. If you are a burger purist, like options or a picky eater, then the F.O. burger is not for you. In certain scenarios, I think diners should just trust the chef and eat the food...and this is one of them.

We paired our burgers with both shoestring and sweet potato fries, which were perfectly fried and seasoned, and each has their own specific aioli. I guess this would be a good time to mention that F.O. has a strict "no ketchup" policy, as well. Don't ask for it either since they don't have any on hand, and I heard they even crack down on ketchup smugglers.

F.O. isn't a one-trick pony that only does burgers and fries, and there's a lot of stuff on the menu that deserves your attention.

The smoked eel topped with a poached egg, horseradish creme fraiche and onions was delicious and lets you know immediately that this is no ordinary bar food. The roasted marrow bones with toast were a beautiful way to get pure cholesterol into your system in the most delicious way possible. The grilled octopus salad was pretty good, but the octopus was eclipsed by the roasted fingerling potatoes and the chili dressing.

If you put it all in perspective-this is some pretty amazing food for a bar, and you could argue that F.O. is really a gastropub masquerading as a bar. Speaking of which, F.O. has a great selection of beers. If I was a big beer drinker I know I'd be very happy just coming here for a drink.

Like most bars, there's no table service, so you have to order everything at the bar and maintain a running tab that you close out when you're ready to leave. Tables can be scarce when it's busy, but I avoided the crowds by getting there before they opened...and there was still a line. I've never been to the original Father's Office in Santa Monica, but this second outpost in the old Helms Bakery is beautiful. If it's sunny out, I highly recommend snagging a table on the patio.

If you're willing to play by the rules at F.O., then you're going to have a good time eating and drinking there. This might seem overly restrictive to some people, but I'm glad Chef Sang Yoon had a distinct vision about what he wanted to serve and stuck to his guns in the face of criticism. The decision hasn't hurt business much since it's always packed.

If you don't like the rules, then F.O. has an alternate meaning and you can leave. There are plenty of people waiting in line, including me, that will be glad to take your place.

Self-serve yogurt place with six flavors--icy tart, creamy tart, mango, chocolate, vanilla, and green tea.

I had the icy tart with blueberries, Fruity Pebbles and mochi balls. Yogurt was really tart, which I liked, with a slightly icy texture, so it lived up to its name. I need to try the creamy tart to see if the difference is just in texture, although the girl that was working there said it was less tart than the icy tart.

My favorite accompaniment for tart yogurt is Fruity Pebbles because it provides a crunchy, sweet contrast.

I picked up some plain green tea yogurt for my wife and she liked it, but the green tea flavor is a little too subtle.

it's cheap...40 cents an ounce...and since it's a block away from me, I expect to return a lot.

Remember these lyrics from the Ice Cube song Steady Mobbin'?

   "Since one time's so hot
   Got me stash spot in the hooptie for the glock
   And I'm rollin' on rims
   Eating soul food, neckbones from M&M's "

Now we didn't order any neckbones, and honestly, I don't remember seeing them on the menu, but if I can say one thing about M&M's, if it's smothered in gravy, it's probably good.

They were out of short ribs by the time we got there, so I got the smothered oxtails instead. The oxtails were almost falling off the bone and the portions at M&M's are generous.

Another great gravy-laden dish was the smothered fried chicken. What I loved about it (besides the gravy) was that the skin was still really crispy and fatty and delicious. I'm pretty sure this fried chicken is fantastic on its own.

M&M's is also very generous with their sides--you get three choices per entree. On our table, we had collard greens, green beans, dressing, corn, mac and cheese, rice and gravy, and red beans, but I didn't think any of them were really outstanding. They do a pretty good cornbread though.

Depsite the lackluster sides, I'd still go back to M&M's for the main courses, especially because I didn't get to try the short ribs.

This review is strictly for Beard Papa's Loco Moco Puff, which is part of the Japanese cream puff chain's localized Hawaii menu that also includes Breakfast Puffs, Creme Brulee Puffs, eclairs and pita sandwiches.

Beard Papa describes their Loco Moco Puff as "two slices of oven-baked meat loaf, a fresh egg, sunny side up, onion-mushroom gravy with a dash of furikake on our signature puff shell." Basically, it's an open-faced sandwich with the puff serving as the bread. Overall, it looked good and tasted like loco moco, but the puff really didn't contribute anything to the dish and would have been fine without it.

What was a bit disturbing was watching them assemble it. Without a proper kitchen, all of the cooked elements were microwaved right in front of us, and even then, I'm still not sure how they cooked the egg properly. I guess if you were on the run, this might be decent alternative, but I'd still rather have an Egg McMuffin.

When a hole-in-the-wall place like Helena's Hawaiian Foods wins a James Beard award for outstanding American regional cuisine, you know there's something special going on over there. In Helena's case, it's definitely the pipikaula short ribs and as many of you know, I'm a freak for short ribs. Pipikaula is a Hawaiian version of beef jerky, but this is the first time I've seen it made with short ribs. They're crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and even better if you dip it in the chili pepper water that comes on the side.

Here's a rundown of the rest of our order, which included familiar Hawaiian standards:

   * kalua pork - good but could have been smokier
   * squid luau - squid content was low but the flavors were spot on. My wife's friend said this was just like the squid luau she grew up eating.
   * lomi salmon - not normally a fan, but I actually liked Helena's.
   * chicken long rice - strong ginger flavor, which I liked, but it masks the chicken.
   * beef stew - solid
   * fried butterfish collar - rich and fatty...excellent.
   * poi - Nice purple color, but we don't like poi. Our friend and her two-year-old daughter loved it, though.
   * haupia - the pipikaula had me in their trance and I forgot to have some! :( My wife liked it and said it was smooth and not watery like some haupias.

Helena's is an a weird location for out-of-town visitors, but if you can make it over there, the pipikaula short ribs are definitely worth a try. Plus, everyone there is super nice, and they'll make you feel at home.

If you're looking for a nice place to eat in Honolulu without the touristy trappings of Waikiki, 12th Avenue Grill is right up your alley (and its entrance is actually located in the alley between 12th and Koko Head Avenues). Specializing in New American cuisine, 12th Avenue Grill is a neighborhood restaurant that features a seasonal menu and mostly local ingredients.

We got to try a lot of different dishes since there were five of us, and everything was good. Standouts were the Calamari Fritti, mainly because of the Moroccan Tomato Marmalade dipping sauce, the Grilled Pork Chop, and the Meyer Lemon Tart. The Big Island Cassoulet was one of the evening's specials and featured beef cheeks, duck confit, wild boar and topped with seared boar loin.

Service was a little slow, but I didn't really care. The food was good and in the end, that's all that matters.

I love you and your Smoked Salmon Neck. That is all.

Despite all the cooking, eating and writing that I do, I hardly see myself as an authority on food. If anything, I have a lot to learn about food, especially on the higher end of the spectrum, so each dining experience is an opportunity to glean some knowledge about what I'm eating and how it was prepared. This made my approach to dinner at The French Laundry simple...trust the chef and enjoy the experience.

There's a sign in The French Laundry kitchen that reads:

finesse (fi-nes) noun: Refinement and delicacy of performance, execution or artisanship.

This describes the entire French Laundry experience perfectly, and it's reflected in everything at occurs once you walk in the door. The restaurant itself was warm and inviting, especially since it was around 40F when we arrived in Yountville, and maitre d' Larry Nadeau made us feel right at home. The staff was friendly and professional without being snooty, and our server, Guillaume, guided us through every stage of the meal.

Larry came by our table after we were seated and offered us some champagne. My wife doesn't drink and I wasn't planning on drinking either, so we politely refused. He came back a few minutes later and said he wanted us "to start our meal with something bubbly" and presented us with a bottle Sonoma Sparkler Organic Apple Cider. We're big fans of Sonoma Sparkler, so Larry poured us a pair of flutes, and my wife and I toasted her upcoming birthday, Christmas, and probably our next anniversary. :)

My wife and I decided beforehand that we would order from separate tasting menus. I had the Chef's Tasting Menu and she had the Tasting of Vegetables. The French Laundry's tasting menus epitomize the perfect marriage of food, art, and technology. Some might find the technological aspects of food preparation to be sterile or cold, but modern advances in cooking that enhance or improve the end product fascinate me. There's not enough room here to go into the details of this meal, but it's nice to know that dishes that have endured over the years, like the salmon cornets, Oysters and Pearls, and the Coffee and Doughnuts (make sure to ask for these!), are just as impressive as the newer creations.

Dinner at The French Laundry isn't an ordinary meal and shouldn't be viewed in that context. It's a culinary event that's magnified in significance because it's considered one of the world's best restaurants and is owned by Thomas Keller, one of the world's great chefs. When you factor in the degree of difficulty required to get a reservation and the price per person, expectations are set extraordinarily high, and many people would consider anything less than perfection to be a major failure.

For me, dining at The French Laundry is an incredible privilege, a luxury I never thought I'd be able to enjoy or afford. I hesitate to use superlatives like "best meal ever" because every meal needs to be put in its proper context. I can say with complete confidence that dinner at The French Laundry is the most decadent culinary experience I've ever had.

Once in a lifetime? Not if I can help it.

My parents' wedding anniversary is two days after Christmas, and in the last few years, we've started taking them to restaurants that normally aren't on their radar. Last year, we took them to Osteria Mozza, and this year, after reading my French Laundry review, my mom said she wanted to go somewhere like that. Granted, it's impossible to find something comparable to The French Laundry in Southern California, but L.A. is no slouch when it comes to great restaurants. I ended up choosing Providence because of its seafood-centric menu and more affordable five-course tasting option, but two Michelin stars didn't hurt either.

One of the first things we noticed about the tasting menu was that the dessert course featured a kalamansi gelée. Kalamansi is the citrus of choice in the Philippines, especially in one of my favorite dishes, bistek tagalog. My parents were especially excited to see this versatile Filipino citrus featured in a fine-dining setting. For us, it was the second time in a month we've seen Filipino ingredients on a high-end tasting menu. (The first was the Ilocano salt and Pili nuts at The French Laundry.) So while the rest of the tasting menu looked fabulous on paper, we already had our eyes on dessert.

We started with an inventive amuse bouche trio. The Gin and Tonic Gelée had a little tonic powder on it that started fizzing once you squeezed the juice from a lime wedge on top so that when you put it in your mouth, it replicated the carbonation of the tonic water, while the gelée supplied the gin. The best way to describe the Mojito Raviolo is that it's a mojito shot in a bubble. When you put it in your mouth, it bursts with all the flavor of a good mojito. The third amuse was a mug-shaped shot glass filled with celery root soup on top of black truffle syrup. Since the soup was lighter than the syrup, it took up the top half of the mug. You drink this like you would a shot of liquor so that the soup and syrup combine into a tasty mix of temperatures and viscosity.

Before we got to the tasting menu, we ordered another appetizer, just because it sounded good. The Fatty Big Eye Tuna and Santa Barbara Sea Urchin was served with soy crème fraîche, crispy soba, mache, black truffle. This dish sounded interesting because of the contrast in textures between the tuna and sea urchin, as well as the addition of the crispy soba.

The first course of the tasting was Japanese Kanpachi with Satsuma tangerines, black olives and Piquillo Peppers. The combination of all the little elements of this dish were excellent together, but the Satsumas were especially impressive on their own.

Next was Nancy's Day Boat Scallops, which were perfect cooked and served with a subtle truffle vinaigrette, Juilet tomatoes, and frisée.

The Norwegian halibut was the last fish course in the tasting menu and another perfect dish. It was served with fried burdock, which my wife wasn't a fan of because it's too woody, but I thought it was pretty good. The lemon butter sauce and shiso foam were great complements to the halibut.

My parents and wife enjoyed their Veal Tenderloins served with chanterelle mushrooms, Weiser Farmers torpedo onion, celery root purée, but when presented with the $50 Kobe ribeye supplement earlier in the evening, I jumped at the opportunity. It was served tableside by Providence owner and General Manager Donato Poto.

The Kobe ribeye was cooked medium rare, had a nice salty crust and literally melted in my mouth. I liked the pieces of veal I got to try, but was even happier that I did upgraded to the Kobe. Plus, I got to share it with the table, so everyone got to try it. It was served with porcini mushrooms, pomme fondante, and spring onions and a really nice bacon parmesan risotto.

Providence is also the home of cutting-edge desserts, and pastry chef Adrian Vasquez is one of the best in the business. In fact, you can go to Providence strictly for their dessert tasting menu, which we are planning on trying on a future visit. The kalamansi gelée was one of my favorite dishes of the night. The kalamansi flavor was instantly recognizable and the texture was a perfect complement to the litchi-shiso sorbet and the tapioca balls in the white chocolate coconut soy milk soup.

Our tasting service had ended, but the kalamansi gelée was so good that my wife and I looked at each other and knew we wanted to try some more desserts. She ordered the pumpkin "pie" and I ordered the "cheesecake." Both of these desserts were "deconstructed" and while they tasted really good, the platings were a bit fussy.

Providence is regarded as one of the best restaurants in Los Angeles, and it's hard to argue with that assertion. It's definitely a place I want to return, but I think our next visit will be for the dessert tasting menu. If you're looking for a world-class restaurant with fresh, modern cuisine, Providence should be a at or near the top of your list.