If you haven’t been to Jodie’s in Albany, you should go, preferably on a weekend, meet Jodie and have a breakfast. Clear your schedule for the rest of the day though, because the food is heavy and all you’ll want to do afterwards is nap and watch football. There’re a few other things you should know: it’s tiny, they’ll talk your ear off, and get the fried chicken. That’s pretty much it. They only serve the fried chicken breakfast (get it with grits or with the eggs) on Saturday and Sunday.
If you’re in the mood for vegetarian India food, especially a spicy dosa, Udupi Palace is a great Berkeley option. It’s cheap, quick and it tastes like it does in India except you don’t have to run to the bathroom 10 minutes after finishing. I got the spicy masala dosa: ****/5, and a mango lassi (like a yogurt smoothy). Perfect for a quick Indian lunch. Recommended to me by SweetLime.
the lunch special comes with....
So I had only heard of this magical machine that produced the perfect cup of coffee but I’m no coffee fanatic so I didn’t pay much attention. Then I got to LA and a friend took me to LAMill (I have no idea what’s supposed to be capitalized and what’s not) and I got coffee out of the clover and it was pretty damn delicious. And I don’t even really like coffee that much. I can’t even remember the type of coffee I ordered but I watched the dude prepare it and run the Clover machine and it came out and I drank it and loved it. So, a testament to Clover and I guess to LAMill as well. Unfortunately, Starbucks now owns Clover so even if you were thinking of dropping the $11,000 or more to get one, you can’t. Sorry crazy coffee nuts.
The infamous Clover coffee machine
My Coffee from LAMILL
I recently ate breakfast at the Pork Store Cafe on Haight after a night of revelry – which ended with going to bed at midnight…. I must be getting old. Anyways, get the Nest. It’s amazing and it’ll cure any diseases, health problems, depression, etc. you may be experiencing. Okay, it just cures headaches and hangovers. Recommended by @harriscohn.
The Nest
Some LA friends came up for the weekend and we ventured into Napa and Yountville for some adventure and treats. We started with lunch at Redd. We had pork buns (obviously), a grilled chicken something over a fennel puree with brussels sprouts and a foie gras toast, butternut squash ravioli and a hunk of pork belly. Everything was great except the chicken which was unremarkable and plain. However, the fennel puree was amazing – something I will attempt to recreate later….
This is some of the best Israeli food I’ve had in Los Angeles. The unlimited salad order is the way to go. You get something like 9 salads for around 10 bucks and they’re ALL YOU CAN EAT. Perfect to share with friends. Also, the Foie Gras skewers should be tried but definitely not on your own. Check their website and enjoy.
the man himself overseeing dinner
lots of salads
Foie Gras Skewers
This little spot is a great find courtesy of my old roommate, Skeeter. It’s right on the east side of Vons on Barry Street right off of Santa Monica Blvd. Check the map below. The truck is there every night after about 7 or 8 PM. The al pastor tacos are great, so are the burritos. I never even considered the testa but Peter always got it and loved it. Make sure to also try the red salsa but make sure you don’t spray it all over yourself. Perfect for a late night adventure.
the taco truck
Oh, and the just got this new sweet truck. They used to just have a sketchy van but now they’ve gone pro. Also, they have the giant bottles of Coke. And everything is super cheap.
View Latenight Taco Truck in a larger map
This is an amazing little surf spot deep in Malibu called Zeroes or Zero’s or something like that. Nate took me but by the time we got there it had gotten too cold to go in without a wetsuit. Bummer. He still got down and road a few until it was good and dark. Check out the rides below.
We went on a short mission to the Jewish-hood on Pico the other night and came across a glatt kosher taco truck. I tried the carne asada tacos. They were surprisingly good. The cart is there Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday nights. One more week!
kosher taco cart
the kosher grill
one of the kosher taco cart's proprietors
