Carrie "high and mighty" R.'s Profile

I love everything about this place...and I'm stunned that it's still flying under the "LA Scene" radar!  Shocked I say!

Must be cuz not a lot of people know about this hidden little gem just yet, and really, perhaps that's a God's send.  I can't think of a person who DOESN'T enjoy heading to a bar where everyone knows yer name!  The Den is one such place...

Cozy, quaint, sporty, good bevvies AND delicious food...just like my home but with far better decor.  Well, that and my house doesn't come equipped with kickass bartenders and a chef!  Can't beat that.  I've tried at least 5 or 6 things off the menu and I have to say....have yet to be disappointed.  Not too pricey and SO much better than the standard fare you might find at another bar on a Sunday afternoon during football season. We're talking...gourmet but with a familial twist.  Think: swanky TV dinner...healthy salads...flatbread...I even had a pot pie in which the chef was more than happy to accommodate my request to add chicken!

Parking is a cinch...especially considering you're in HOLLYWOOD!  There's a parking lot right next door where your car can reside safe and sound...get there early enough and I believe it's FREE.  Don't quote me...but I'm pretty sure.

Also..BEST thing?  Lemme tell ya...$8.00 BOTTOMLESS Bloody Mary's and Mimosas before 3pm on Sundays!  BOTTOMLESS!!!  I'm an avid football fan (go Pats!) and there's nothin' I enjoy more than a delish Bloody Mary (and they make a good one!) on a Sunday morning...well, accept enjoying it along side their killer brunch! Oh...and if you're more the beer drinker, they have $10.00 pitchers of beer as well!  Oh yeah.

Definitely shouldn't miss out on the Den...also a great place to grab food in the eve before a night out on the town or prior to catching a flick on a Friday night. If you're a "foodie" or a "boozie"...go check it out! Hands down my new fave little place.

I can not gloat enough about Le Vallauris...everything about this quaint little spot is above and beyond wonderful!

I was checking out the restaurant as a possible wedding venue and left SO incredibly torn as to what to do because I absolutely ADORE the place, the food, and the customer service.  My only pitfall as to choosing another venue was the wedding ceremony location which, is a gazebo in the rear of the establishment.  With some TLC the gazebo could be FABULOUS but I'm a no frills sort of gal and was in search of a place at which I would need to do little to no decorating.  The gazebo would require lighting, flowers, trees, etc. to make it what I envisioned hence, my dilemma!

My mother and I went to have lunch and check it out and were immediately greeted by Tony, the owner, and Jean Paul, the chef...the four of us sat at a table and went over my thoughts and desires regarding the perfect day...what kind of food I wanted, etc.  jean Paul then whipped up the most A-MAY-ZING meal!  We have hors d'oeuvres, apps, entrees, AND deserts!  And me being the food snob, I'll have to say...it was one of THE best meals I've ever had!!

I even followed up with a big ol' thank you email to Tony for all of their graciousness to which he responded with a lovely phone call.

This last week I took my fiance to Le Vallauris so that he could take a look and try the food as well.  We sat at the bar with a friend (didn't have a reservation and they were perfectly accommodating. I even asked if Tony or Jean Paul were in and later was surprised by a visit from Jean Paul himself who proceeded to bring us an additional desert to try for giggles!  SO GREAT!

The customer service here is IMPECCABLE and they truly make you feel special and part of a family.  I'm trying to do my rehearsal dinner here AND have Jean Paul whip me up the most glorious of cakes...that's how much I love it!

Great for a romantic date (at night the lighting is spectacular!), a party, lunch, etc.  A not to be missed Palm Springs landmark!

I've decided to have my wedding here next year and am SO excited!  

Having grown up off and on (grandparents live in the desert), having the ceremony and reception in Palm Springs was a no brainer.  Perfect weather practically any time of year, gorgeous landscaping, classic old Hollywood glamour.  What more could a gal want right?

Erin Chaney at the Viceroy will walk you through each step as you plan for your big day and I have to say, she has been an absolute sweetheart from day one.  She remembers EVERY detail about you, your fiance, your family members...things you desire for your big moment, etc. Erin was one of the MAIN reasons I chose this locale...the customer service is impeccable, she got RIGHT back to me and was so very gracious both via email and on the phone.

There's quite a few options for ceremony and reception locales within the small boutique-y resort...enough so to fit a variety of budgets.  And the rooms...can't forget the rooms!! I have yet to slumber here but woweeee...I've checked out a few of them and every time I have this strong urge to run and jump on the cushy cloud of a bed and just curl up for a nap.  Clean, crisp, couture.

Can't say enough about the Viceroy and don't really need to...if you're looking for a representation of quintessential old Palm Springs...look no further. Show owner comment »

I will preface this with the fact that I've had F & J's on MULTIPLE occasions and from multiple locations and it's been a mixed bag of good and bad.  So I will say, the good times have kept me ordering again and again in hopes of catchin' them on an "on" day!

Last night...pooped...need food...fast.  I didn't want to cook so I thought hmmm, F & J's, that's the ticket.  Easy peasy.

So we order....ok....2 pies, one cheese, the other a white pizza.  Total: $45.22.  Yup, it's a pricey pizza joint and not for the meek or penniless pie lover!  

Here's my gripe, ok...no, two gripes.  Sigh.

Gripe 1: the aforementioned HIT AND MISS.  I mean, come on people...how can you have excellent pizza on one day and then shite on the next?  A gal does NOT wanna end up tootin' all night (if ya know what I mean!) The cheese was well, cheesy. It was good...average pie I'd say.  But the white pizza was blah and nuthin' special this time around.  A Pepcid and 2 GasX later and come morning, I was STILL no bueno on the bloaty front.  Grr. For $45.22 I want my damn pizza to be STELLAR and not cause a gaseous invasion of epic proportions.

Gripe 2: So I told ya that the pies came to $45.22.  I had THREE 20's in hand for the delivery of said pies.  That makes $60 for those of you who don't add fast (count me in this category as well folks!).  I handed the guy the three bills in exchange for my two pizzas and he then went on to fumble for a few minutes with change while I placed the boxes on the stairs and waited.  He handed me FOUR bills and said, "Is that ok?"  So I have my dumb-ass blond moment and somehow think huh, I must've given him $50 and he's keeping the coins and giving me the $4 to make FIFTY.  So I say sure, that's fine.  Oh, but then...I needed to tip him right? So I then turn around and hand him THREE of the four bucks and he thanks me and BOLTS.  I turn around to grab my pies and go upstairs and think....waaaaaaiiiiit a darn tootin' minute!!!  He was supposed to give me $14 and some change BEFORE I tipped him.  I opened the door to call him on it and he speeds off just in time.  So my $45.22 worth of gas-inducing pizza ended up costing me $59!!  WTF!?  Seriously?  A $14-plus tip for a pizza delivery?  Come on...whatever happened to honesty?  And really?  What kind of jerk hands back $4 of $14?  He really expected a $10 delivery tip and then accepted another $3?  Oy.

Sorry F& J's...i'm gonna have to knock ya off my pie list for that one. :(

EW.

Yuck.

REALLY!?!?

How on earth do you F up Poached Eggs, Eggs Benedict, AND Over Easy's when you're called Broken YOLK?  I'm thinking that they should probably hold a weekend cooking seminar for all of their chefs...perhaps show them the finer points to cooking various types of eggs considering it's the restaurants basis.  Just saying.

We had a party of 6, waited about 25-30 minutes for a table on a Monday morning...then we sat for another 10 before being asked if we'd like a beverage or anything.

After that, our order was taken...I asked for a large (that would be the BIG size) OJ and somehow I received a 3 inch tall glass fit for the hands of an infant. I ordered the Eggs Bennie and as mentioned, the eggs were wayyyyyy overcooked.  More like hard-boiled.  Definitely not poached.  The yolk shoulda been a tad runny while the egg is firm.  I picked at the fruit and sent the whole meal back.

Two people ordered Over Easy eggs which came out practically RAW...you know the kind...where the WHITES are runny. Oh yeah...nothing more appetizing that eggs that resemble snot.

Another person had ordered Poached Eggs and didn't receive them until we had completely FINISHED our meals!  AND, they cam out hardboiled! WTF! The ONLY eggs that came out as they were supposed to be cooked: SCRAMBLED.

They took the Poached off the bill but then tried to charge us for the meal I sent back AND the two meals of uneatable runny-ness. I was like, oh hells no...and made them at least take mine off considering it was sent back to the kitchen.  

And mind you...this bill came out AFTER we had spoken to the manager and 2 servers!  So bad.

You're better off getting properly cooked eggs at IHOP.

Ok, I'm not normally a "cheese pizza" gal but HOT DAMN, Gaslamp has absolutely out-of-this-F'ing-WORLD cheesy pie!  I'm sure part of the wonderfulness had to do with the fact that I was not only starving, but existing on a belly filled with red wine (shocking I know!) and it was late at night.

After heading by Ciro's and finding it closed, we checked out Gaslamp at our friend's urging...and clearly she knows her sh*t.  I should have had more that one delectable piece before heading back to my hotel room because well, now I find myself sitting way up in Los Angeles and dreaming of thin-crusted, devine cheesy pie.

I heart you Gaslamp.

They deliver til 2am! Let me repeat that...TWO AM!!!  What's not to love?

I stopped by here twice in a three day period while staying nearby.  Once to grab a salad...decent.  And the other for a slice of pie...unfortunately, they were closed as I stopped by at a few after 2.  Sigh.  My bad.  next time I feel the need to get wasted in San Diego, i'll be sure to call ahead and order my pizza so it gets delivered!

I have a few criteria that just must be met in order to achieve 5 stars when it comes to a hotel.  They must have superb BEDS, BATHROOMS, and POOL AREA. Don't get me wrong, there is a whole laundry list of things I'd like to see in my hotels of choice, but those three can be deal-breakers.

The Hotel Solamar is nicely located in the heart of the Gaslamp district so you can walk to quite a bit of stuff, always a perk. The bed was pretty darn comfy and I slept like a rock...even with my boyfriend kicking all the covers off like usual.  The bathroom was nicely appointed...however, HS, why the HELL would you put a back-light behind the mirror and then not add a brighter light as an option? Kind of hard to see what you're doing with makeup if you know what I mean.  No gal likes to come out looking like a paint-by-number gone tragically wrong.  And the pool...nice if you get there at the crack of dawn and secure a gazebo (which we clued in on on day #2).  There's NO jacuzzi...WHA!?  How could you do that to me?

So 2 our of three on the MUSTS.  Eh, so so.  BUT, I do have to say that the decor is lovely throughout...tres moderne.  There's free WINE in the afternoon in the lobby.  There's a pretty kickin appetizer menu by the pool (may I suggest the cheese plate?  Oh I can?  Ok then...I suggest it!) and the breakfast in the downstairs menu was also notable.

All in all...i'd stay here again...can't beat the price for the area....

Like Rosemarie P. said in her review, I too judge all cupcakes by the quality of the red velvet!

However, UNLIKE, Miss P., my cakes (yes plural...I was jonesing...don't judge!) were moist, supple, spongy, and downright tasty! I do however agree that the frosting could be a tad better...i'm used to a more tangy, more cream-cheesy shall we say, taste.  This was more on the sugary sweet side...not cream cheesy at all but definitely still devour-able!

Nice little shop to stop in and at least check out.  The halos on the cakes are notable too...kind of cute. Can't go wrong for a $3 snack.

Let me give you the A, B, C's of the W.

A) AMAZING Steak Frites at the bar...oh la la with the sweet potato fries and the steak itself is delectable, tender, well-seasoned and juuuuust the right portion size.

B) BITCHIN' rooftop bar! I mean...who doesn't love to kick off the shoes walk in sand?  A beach...as a bar...oh yeah! And the view?  Woah.  So nice on a warm eve with the stars and the city lights...

C) COSTLY valet parking.  DOH! The night was fab until...until the $23 parking charge for oh, 2.5 hours.  And that was WITH a validation.  Do yourself a favor: cab it or park off site. Spend the money saved on an extra Mojito!