Rover's

A while back we had the night which I like to refer to as "And at the end of the night I ended up in a parking garage with Danny Bonaduci".  You would have heard about it here except that the dumb Blogger app ate all the pictures and basically ruined an incredibly odd turn of events.

The sum up... we ended up with tickets that night to see Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert at the Paramount.  I had no idea what we were in store for but my friend The Artist wasn't able to use them and offered them to us.  We already had sitter plans so we took them up on it.  When the talk of reimbursement for the tickets came up, she said "Just take us out to dinner sometime."  That night was PHENOMENAL and everything I could dream of as a Food Network/Bravo TV foodie/Coach Bag Foodie etc. etc. etc.  So funny and I *loved* every minute.  And at the end of the night, while paying for parking, we ended up right next to Danny Bonaduce.  Weird. 

Enter Rover's.  Anthony Bourdain said it was one of his favorite spots to eat at.  It has *always* been on my list since I have had the Coach Foodie bug.  A perfect spot to go with friends?  Yes.  Once in a lifetime, for sure.  Very special. 

And I met the chef.  Thierry Rautureau.  In his hat.  Yes, I enjoyed this night. 


Enjoy the pictures.  I'm sure I can't remember all the details of what was eaten.  Nor are there pictures of everything because, well, sometimes I was just plain hungry.  I did love everything I ate. And I had no idea morel mushrooms cost THIS much (they were not bad... best mushrooms I have ever had along with truffles, but that's not saying much since mushrooms barely count as food to me).

From Left to Right:  Sardine with relish, duck confit, and celery soup

Hamachi and purple cauliflower roe plus fried razor clam and quail egg on ailoi

This one was different:  A Foie Gras mousse with cherry gelee and marcona almonds.  Best way I can describe it is like a semi-savory meat flavored cheesecake.  Got mixed reviews from the table.  Overall, I enjoyed it!

Seared foie gras

I'm pretty sure this was The Critic's... deer tongue and quinoa cake?  Or something.

Nifty little ginger drink with a cranberry sphere (total liquid)... like an edible water bead for plants.  One of my favorite "dishes" of the night.

Something halibutish... belonging to The Critic.  My notes on his items were not as complete as the ones of mine... which were still pretty sparse.

A crab salad with some cool little things to go with it (aka part of The Critic's meal)

Honestly can't remember whose this was... but the deliciousness rings a bell.  Mmmmm!!!

Okay... time to fess up.  This is the one and only picture I have of my pork with polenta and whatever else came on that plate.  You can see I didn't enjoy it... not at all.  The picture was taken at the exact moment I thought to take a picture.  Before that, all I thought was MUST EAT THAT FOOD!!!

Lovely dessert trio -- I like the chocolate on the left.  I also liked the lemon-raspberry thing in the middle.  And I enjoyed the rice pudding creme brulee.  Yeah... I liked dessert.  But really the chocolate was best.  Or the creme brulee.  If I had put them together........

To keep the party going... a chocolate bon bon on the left and a raspberry gelee on the right.

Fairwood Thai --FIT's 5th birthday choice (aka FIT to be Thai! Hee hee hee...)

You know you are doing something right in a food world when you're 5-year-old requests to go to his favorite Thai restaurant for his birthday.  The conversation went something like this.

CF:  Where would you like to go for your birthday?  You can pick anywhere you want to go or I will make whatever you want at home.
FIT:  <Without batting an eye> My Thai restaurant!
CF:  Ummm... which one? 
FIT:  The one with Pad See Ew.
CF:  They all have Pad See Ew.  Do you mean Bai Tong?
FIT:  Yes!
CF:  Okay.  That will be fine.
FIT:  Wait.  Did I pick the one where the men wear those funny looking green pants?
CF:  Yes.
FIT:  Not that one.  The one that's closer to our house.
CF:  Fairwood Thai?
FIT:  Is that close to our house?
CF:  Yes.
FIT:  Yes, that one!

I love him.  Happy birthday, Foodie In Training.  You make us smile daily!

Indochine

So I have started a weight loss plan.  Which does mean fewer posts on here, though I refuse to end this thing completely.  They just won't be quite so interesting.  Lots of "I had a salad with a side of steamed broccoli and a Diet Coke."  In fact, I'm not even posting those kind of things unless it's truly a unique experience.  That's what this was. 

The Critic and I had tickets to a comedy show.  Side note:  We joined this site called "Fill A Seat" that allows us to get tickets to see things like sports events or comedy shows at no cost.  We finally found a time we could use it... to see a hypnotist.  He was bad.  Really bad.  Really really bad.  Though not quite as bad as the warm-up act that was PAINFULLY bad.  I digress.....

The Critic really wanted to try Indochine, a swanky Thai restaurant we were going to that is in Tacoma across from the Washington State History Museum.  Side note:  We have decided that Tacoma's motto should be "Tacoma, Washington:  Home to oddly placed museums that seem like they belong elsewhere".  There is some "National" car museum we came across this time... so so weird.  Ah!  I digress again!

Okay.  Indochine.  I acknowledged that it would be difficult to stick to my meal plan at such a place so I went in, read the entire menu, and made what I hoped was an informed decision based on what little knowledge I have gained from this plan in the past 1.5 weeks.  I decided based on fat and calories listed that the spring rolls were a good choice.  Guess what?  SUPER tasty!!!!  Really fresh... LOVED the basil in them.  I had a small amount of chicken and shrimp in them.  Yum and happy Coach Foodie for sure.

Worried that wouldn't have been enough food (it totally would have) I also asked for some steamed veggies... said they could be lightly stir fried in no oil.  He asked if soy was okay and I said yes.  He asked if I wanted some chicken and I agreed if it was a small amount.  Pictured below is the chef's creation.  Um, DELICIOUS!  I was so happy both that I had been able to get good food on a diet plan and felt empowered about asking for what I want and getting something tasty.  So this episode is brought to you by WINNING!

 

For those interested or keeping track, these meals DID allow me to stay on the plan.  And in two weeks, I am down 6 pounds.  Several more to go....  

Barracuda Grill

Open Table is a GREAT site for finding fun, trendy, Foodie-friendly places.  It is not, however, a great place to find kid-friendly sites.

Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of our food.  This is because from the second we walked in to this place that someone was crazy enough to say was a good fit for "families" (sure, if your family is paying college tuitions), I was in full-on mom-defensive mode.  My favorite was when he said "We tried to scrounge up some crayons but could only find a ballpoint pen.  Feel free to let the kids write on the back of our menu".  Thank goodness for mom-preparedness.

Perhaps if it was just The Critic and I this would have been a good place for a quiet meal.  Unfortunately, we could only find faults.  I had pork loin with parsnip puree.  The puree was good but the pork was dry (he even asked how I wanted it cooked and my response was "correctly!"  We all got a laugh over that... still overcooked).  The Critic had some kind of fish that was SUPER dry as well.  And I actually had to send The Big Guy's plain pasta back because it came with butter, garlic, and TONS of Parmesan cheese (that he won't touch). 

So not our favorite spot in the San Diego area at all. 

Incidentally, the next night we did find a fun, family-friendly, foodie-fortunate neighborhood gem just steps from our hotel.  We all enjoyed a FABULOUS dinner there and, if I recall correctly, The Critic went back a couple of times after The Guys and I returned to Washington while he stayed around for a while.  Sadly, no pictures and I don't even recall its name... but the salad I had was delish and The Guys were big fans of their meals.  That's what I needed!  The rest of our San Diego excursion is sadly undocumented... but most of it was SeaWorld or Legoland food anyway.

Sea rocket bistro

We're in San Diego!  Went to the zoo today and used Open Table to find an intriguing sounding restaurant that would appeal to the kids.  We sort of decided that the lunches would be theme-park driven.  The dinners would be all ours!  But we do need to bring The Guys along.  Here's where we ended up.

Sea Rocket Bistro is a tiny little hole in the wall that takes rustic food and elevates it.  Which is great for a Coach Foodie and The Critic... but makes it a bit more challenging to eat as one of The Guys.  Not their favorite spot, but not the worst one in their minds either.

We started with this DELICIOUS honey garlic spread on a rather sour and quite dry baguette... I need to try and recreate that spread I think.

 

On the side we had a tasty gnocchi dish with some seasonal vegetables.  Very tasty!  The gnocchi were my favorite thing here.

 

For dinner The Critic and I shared the fish while The Big Guy got a burger (since it was in between two toasted baguette slices that were nicely charred, let's just say he wasn't impressed).  The Little Guy enjoyed the flat bread pizza.  Though I think I enjoyed it a bit more once I added that honey garlic spread.  Come to think of it, maybe that was my favorite thing here.  Sadly, the fish was just kind of lacking.

 

Not our favorite place but not the worst one we've ever been to.  There's always tomorrow night!

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

About a year and a half ago The Critic and I escaped for a business trip for him.  He landed himself in trainings in Thousand Oaks, CA, a suburb on the outside of Los Angeles.  I landed myself by the poolside, sleeping in, and seeking out fun places to get a bite to eat.  One of my favorite places was The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.  I loved the idea of this place... equal parts coffee shop and tea shop... a place for everyone.  Even though I'm not a tea drinker as much as a coffee drinker, I have friends who would love to "go for coffee" and skip the coffee. 

I guess Seattle truly is the coffee capital of the world because the idea just hasn't shown up here.  Surprisingly, it isn't the coffee I have missed.  Nor is it the tea (obviously).  What I've missed are these delicious cake-y waffles that they spread Nutella on... kind of sugary.  I have been trying to replicate them (see this post) without success to date. 

When I was on my return flight from my Las Vegas weekend away, I had a layover at LAX.  And there was The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf!  So excited, I actually ordered 4 of the waffles to go... one toasted and heated up and the other three just to go.  No Nutella needed for those three... we have that at home now.

What fun to be able to surprise The Critic and introduce The Guys to a favorite treat.  I will, however, admit that they are better when they are fresh out of the actual shops... but an airport pop-up is certainly better than nothing!

China Poblano

My last stop on my culinary "Best Thing I Ever Ate in Las Vegas" tour was to go to China Poblano and get Jose Andres' 20 vegetable fried rice. 

Incidentally, 2 months later I would find myself a mere 3 blocks from Jose Andres' minibar in Washington D.C. and be ridiculously jealous that I didn't eat there... until I learned that they are closed for the summer and will be taking reservations come September 1 for October 1 and beyond.  Oh and they seat like 6 people a night total.  That might be a once-in-a-lifetime that never happens in my lifetime.  Still, a girl can dream...

I believe it was Johnny Iuzzini who directed me toward this place.  At least in my mind it was him.  I was heading back from Fremont Street with the girls (zip lining... WHEEE!!!!) and everyone was hitting the hay.  And I realized I was hungry.  So I decided to give it one last, all out effort to find this place.  It's in the Cosmopolitan which in Vegas terms is practically next door and in real-world terms is about 4 cities away.  So I did what any other normal, sleep deprived woman in her 30s would do.  I called them, ordered ahead, and ran.  And ran, and ran and ran and ran and ran... you get the idea.

Guess what?  It was NOT worth all that.  Nope.  If I had eaten there, it would have been fine.  It was tasty enough... and definitely had some fresh flavors.  But seriously how did I not make a note that one of the 20 vegetables in a fried rice dish would be mushrooms???  I swear I need to watch the episode again because they tell you ALL 20... AND YOU WOULD THINK I WOULD REMEMBER MUSHROOMS!!!!  Okay, so I picked them out (sorry Mom... old habits die very slow deaths it seems).  And it was fine.  But at that point, I should have just stuck close to home and gone back to RM... I know for next time.  As much as I would like to try something else another time, I believe it won't be the 20 vegetable fried rice.