Jacob "Thee-O" O.'s Profile

Sunday in Sonoma. Such a beautiful day to drink wine and relax with friends. Our friend Brett took us to a couple of wineries in the area. He live in Sonoma and works in the wine industry so a lot of tastings were complimentary. You can't beat that!

Etude has beautiful grounds the the tasting room was a mixture of very modern with a touch of country. I loved the look of the space. They started us off with a complimentary chardonnay which I just loved. Even bought a bottle.

The tasting was great. Some great wines were poured as we relaxed in the patio area. So nice. One that stood out was the 2008 Deer Camp Pinot Noir. Even picked up a bottle of that as well!

Wine tasting is such a wonderful and relaxing experience. Etude is one I would recommend coming to, not a huge mass of people and was a very relaxed and causal atmosphere. Loved it.

What a good find. Thank you Yelpsters. We were in the bay area all weekend and on Saturday we decided to try out Slow for lunch. I am so glad we did.

My wife and I split a Caprese Sandwich and a Pulled Pork Sandwich. Both of them were very good. The Caprese came with some amazing mozzarella cheese on a beautifully baked croissant. So good! The pulled pork had a great dressing to meat ratio. I loved the roasted flavor of the tomatillo salsa that was on this sandwich. The meat was slow cooked and tender.

We also shared the Field Greens Salad and I quite enjoyed that. The setting is nice and inviting. We just sat in the rose garden under a shade in on a picnic table on a gorgeous east bay day. Can't beat that!

I am a fan of Umami Burgers. I usually eat the one in Hollywood near Amoeba records. When I found out that Umami now had a spot in downtown and along for the ride was PIGG, a donut show, a full bar and a deli...well I knew I had to go there immediately. I have been twice in the past 3 weeks so far and I can tell I will be coming back often.

Now I would have come here just for Umami but the addition of The Cure (Jewish Style Deli), PIGG (Pork Centric Dining), & A Donuts and a full bark with amazing cocktails, well they have pulled at all my heartstrings as well as my stomach. Everything I had at PIGG was excellent, the Hoof and Mouth Sandwich, the Pork Rillette, the crispy pigs ears, the pate....I pretty much loved it all.

Umami burger is always a fave so I won't bore you with my opinion, other than to just say, go eat it if you haven't ever and damn their ketchup is amazing....along with the diablo sauce.

We had a Pastrami on Rye from The Cure and that was by far the best Pastrami I have had. I am looking forward to having that again.

Donuts are great as well. The Foie Gras and Jelly is good, but it a bit gimmicky. Go for the German Chocolate Cake instead, excellent.

Cocktails are good, had few different ones already and everyone I tried was served well.

Speaking of service, it is attentive and always eager to please. I really like this place and I look forward to eating many meals here soon. I am hoping to find 5 others to join me to get the whole roasted pig soon. YUM!

I just have to comment on something that happened the last time I was there. I have been going to Open Door pretty religiously. I love the place. One of the things I have been trying to avoid is rice. So I always ask for the hand rolls with no rice and this has never been an issue. They seemed always happy to take care of me and my request. The last time I came in, I ordered some handrolls with no rice. The server comes out after talking with the chef and apologizes, she even says "I know you come here all the time and this hasn't been a issue before, but the chef would like to keep the integrity of his dish and would not like to remove the rice from the handroll". OK I am not trying to change the integrity of your dish. I just don't want rice in a hand roll. I HAVE NEVER had any other sushi place refuse this request. I could see the chef being upset if I told him to had some ketchup to a dish for me or something like that but this was not a change that would ruin his interpretation of what a hand roll is. I am sorry, this really pissed me off and turned me from a loyal customer into someone who doesn't care if I go back again.

We had dinner here this past Saturday night. I first read about Maximiliano in LA Magazine. All I remember was from the article was "Highland Park, Italian food from the creator of Oinkster" and I was sold. Made reservations, and had dinner at 7PM on Saturday night.

The space is very nice. Kind of surprising in the neighborhood that it is in, but I love the fact that good things like this are popping up in HP. We sat down and promptly ordered a bottle of wine along with some appetizers. We shared the meatballs and the burrata.

The meatballs were great, not to dense, and the sauce was excellent as well. The burrata was also very good. The cold peeled heirloom tomatoes and the balsamic eaten with the burratt on crostini lead to a perfect bite. For our main entries, my wife had the special pizza of the day, which was Pesto pizza with prosciutto. I found it to be a bit salty but still very tasty. As for me, I had the Orecchiette, with fennel sausage, heirloom cherry tomatoes, cavolo nero, jalapenos and pecorino romano.  It was phenomenal. I really enjoyed the different tastes that were combined in the dish. Every bite was a joy. I don't eat much pasta these days but I am glad I had this dish.

For desert we had the special which was the Lemon Gelato cake and also the Olive Oil Ice Cream. The cake was OK at best. It felt and tasted like a cold lemon pie. The ice cream however was awesome. The combination of salty and sweet was perfect and my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We will be coming back for sure.

The crowd inside was a good mix of urban hipsters, eastsiders and SGV foodies. The service was great and the GM, Topher, was very accommodating. I really had a very pleasant experience even though as we left and walked back to our car we were reminded of what part of town were in by the 3 cop cars arresting some local gang members right by my car. Gotta love LA!

I recently ate here for my birthday with my wife. We were staying next door at the JW Marriott and I personally wanted to have dinner here for a while. Now the wife and I are both "foodies" so the chance to eat the new Wolfgang Puck Pan Asian Restaurant with the killer Downtown LA view was a no-brainer. The dining area is a little trek from where you check in with the hostess. They take you through the bar and lounge before heading into the dining area. The lounge looked very nice. I will have to head back there for drinks and nosh soon.

As soon as they seat you they start bringing you little potstickers and side dishes with compliments from the chef. All of these little dishes were amazing. The one that sticks out is Shrimp Dumpling with Indian Curry Spice...sooo good.

The menu is prefix with 3 course running around 80 dollars. 3 courses is more than enough. For appetizers we had Crispy Suckling Pig and the Lobster Spring Rolls. Both were outstanding. The Crispy Pig was just what I wanted, crispy, fatty, salty and sweet. The very essence of pork!

For our main courses, my wife had the Black Cod Broiled with Chinese Ginseng Honey while I had the Grilled Lamb Chops Marinated with Korean Gochu Jang Chili. Both were excellent. The lamb had a wonderful taste and texture and was quite filling.  We also shared a side dish of Hunan Spicy Eggplant. This dish could easily be a full meal. The eggplant was cooked expertly. The crisp garlic and spicy sauce complimented the eggplant which just soaked up all the beautiful flavor.  

I almost didn't have room for dessert but it being my birthday I had to succumb. We shared the Chocolate Jun-paku and the Tobu Bananas. Again, no real complaint here and it was a very fine end to a excellent meal. The service was amazing and the staff was very attentive to our every need. I will be coming back here again for another fine meal soon.

I had drinks here a few weeks ago with some co-workers. I have to say, this is a great place. I don't drink beer anymore, but if I did....this would be my go to spot in Long Beach. The selection of taps looked great.

Since I don't have beer, I go for scotch/bourbon/whiskey usually these days and the Jameson went down smooth with the Grilled Artichoke and the Pub Pretzel. They also have exotic sausages on the menu and I tried the Duck and Bacon which was delicious.

I didn't have any of the Belgian style fries we ordered but my co-workers said that they were great. I would highly suggest you come during their happy hour to save some dough.  Although I heard it gets pretty packed, when we arrived right after work, we were able to get a table with no problem. I will be coming back here for sure.

I ate here last night with my wife and a couple of friends who live in Belmont. We strolled over and although the place did appear quite packed, we were seated quickly. The service was very attentive. They quickly asked for our drink order and also placed an appetizer order.

We ordered the Oxtail Poutine and the roasted cauliflower. I don't eat potatoes anymore so I can't say if the fries in the poutine were any good but they looked great. I did have some of the oxtail which was delicious. It was tender and a bit fatty, but I prefer it that way. The cauliflower was delicious. The spice and use of capers really fitted the dish in my opinion.

I had for my main course the Ahi Tuna Salad. This salad was amazing. It was so good that the wife kept stealing bites off of it. The tuna was seared very rare and they gave you plenty of it. The dressing was great. With a sweetness and tartness from the rice vinegar melding into the wasabi on the tuna to give you a great ying and yang dynamic. My wife had a Black and Blue Burger which was outstanding. The Pretzel bun, the blue cheese and the medium rare beef, just mixed the right way to make a delicious burger.

The couple next to use ordered the Maple Bread Pudding which smelled amazing and judging from the looks on their faces, it tasted the same. I would have loved have had tried it but I was stuffed from the salad and the bites off my wife's plate, but there is always next time.

Looking forward to trying this place again soon.

I am not one that usually gets excited about Mexican food. Don't get me wrong I love good Carnitas just like the next guy but when living in LA and being in a culturally diverse universe such as this, Mexican food just seems like the norm.

This place is different.

I discovered this place with a few friends from work. After the first time, we soon found ourselves eating here at least once a week. Why? Everything is fresh, tasty, inexpensive and made to order.

First off the ceviche is awesome. Very well done.  I love good ceviche and this place does it right. There is plate with ceviche and grilled shrimp that is perfect for sharing.

The guacamole is outstanding. I hate pre prepared guac. It does nothing for me. This is the real deal. Fresh, bright and delicious.

I have several different plates here and everything I had was delicious. When I am craving Mexican, this is the spot I crave.

There are a ton of Thai places in Long Beach. Especially along Pacific ave. I really need to visit more of them but I find myself coming back to Thai Sky for a quick lunch with the co-workers.

The lunch specials are great and come with a free Thai Iced Tea. Hard to beat that. I prefer eating off the menu family style with my co-workers. We tend to get the Pad Kee Mao (which is pretty damn good), the Thai Beef Salad, Chinese Broccoli with Crispy Pork and the Spicy Wings.

I consider myself a Wing Man (I love chicken wings) and these are great. There is an amazing sauce that covers the wings and there will be enough left over to pour of your rice. YUM.

All in all, this is a great Thai spot for lunch, although parking sucks for this place. So make sure you get there early to avoid the lunch rush.