Category: Downtown

Fear and Loathing to Sun Valley

7/28/2014

The OCWino went on a two day road trip with her friend Lori Bassler Hayes up to Sun Valley. Below is a little photo journal of all the shenanigans and misdemeanors that occurred in the Mojave desert. Initially we planned to spend one night in Lake Tahoe, but due to a wrong turn on interstate 6, we ended up in the lovely town of Ely with only one hotel room to spare. It didn't have the glitz, but it was waay more adventurous with many laughs along the way.

First stop was to load up on jerky outside of Bishop

Our delicious ranch house burger. Sadly Lori made the inquiry if the meat was fresh or frozen, so there might be human excrement in here

Mark Berlin busted my ass going 75 in a 65 zone and sternly gave me a ticket. He changed his tune when I asked for bar and food recommendations in Bishop. Tried to convince me his martinis were the best in town.

Jerky Round #2

Just can't get enough salt

We drove into a gnarly storm... the thunder and lightening freaked out us SoCal ladies

The colorful hotels along the road enticed us to stay there but we kept plugging along

Sadly the jailhouse hotel was out of cells

Our accommodations for the night

Our lovely room at the Hotel Nevada and Casino

We BYOB-ed our cougar crack from home

Our new friends we met in town

Our friends bought us fireball shots!

We wandered back to our hotel and chowed down on the 24 hour diner food

No Lori, we are not continuing this adventure on a Harley

Levelers on our window to help block out the neon from the hotel across the street

We decided to try our luck...

and won big $$$!

Our fellow road hogs

Yum... one of the best chile rellenos I've ever had at Janitzio Mexican Restaurant in Twin Falls, Idaho. You HAVE to go if you are in the area

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Review: The Factory Kitchen

7/1/2014

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We headed back to LA to try out The Factory Kitchen. Again this is located in the Arts District of Downtown. This restaurant is located in an old fish packing house. It has cool cement pillars which keeps the warehouse intact. It is a fairly large restaurant, which is open for both lunch and dinner.

Restauranteur Matteo Ferdinandi and Chef Angelo Auriana share their vision of bringing fresh and locally sourced ingredients to their delicious menu. This team knows how to put traditional Italian fare in your face. It was absolutely off the charts delicious with a very friendly staff to guide you. I will most definitely try it again for dinner.
Rumor has it, they might be opening another restaurant.

And what an amazing menu.
We started with the Mandilli di Seta, a handkerchief pasta with lingurian almond basil pesto. It completely melted in our mouths with each bite.

Our next totally ridiculous thing we ate was the Focaccina Calda di Recco al Formaggio Tradizionale. This was a very thin double layer italian quesadilla made with crescenza cheese, wild arugula, and again the ligurian olive oil, baked in a wood burning oven. Wonder where these Italians are from?

Next was the Catalana Salad, which has mediterranean octopus and pinzamonio vegetables in a champagne vinaigrette.

Truly an OC Wino's favorite pick.

The places I've tried in LA are so worth the drive. Come up and explore!
A good source to find restaurants in LA include Jonathan Gold's 101 Best Picks here, and Los Angeles Magazine's Best Restaurants list here.

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Adventure to DTLA

6/30/2014

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Ms. Pearl and I went off to Downtown, which to me is the new and upcoming spot to hit. They have more restaurants to try, more cool pop-up stores, and have truly cleaned up the street level. So don't be afraid to park your car and explore.

We started our adventure on the Westside of town, where we had a very nice pour of Far Niente Chardonnay at The Beverly Wilshire Hotel. We decided to use my favorite app Wayz to make our adventure Downtown as quick as possible.

Our first stop, one of Jonathan Gold's picks, was Guerrilla Tacos, owned by Wes Avila. I have to say, the taco truck scene has quieted down quite a bit. But this outrageous taco truck blew my socks off. We arrived at 12:30 and they were already sold out of the lambshank and lobster tacos. So we had a choice of a beer battered salt cod taco and a butternut squash taco with a sour grape relish that was to die for. We started with the amazing quesadilla that had an almond chile salsa and a fried egg on top. Truly these were some of the best tacos I've ever had in my life. And lo and behold, they cater. Don't even try it... I'm hiring them first.

Right nearby is an amazing store called Alchemy Works.

Nearby is also Matteo, a wonderful linen line I am sure you have all heard of. At this warehouse location, you can find some extremely beautiful linens for a discounted price.

After a little retail therapy, we thought we would drop in and visit our friend John Secretan, who opened his fourth location for Zinc Café and Market. It is located on Mateo Street, which is known as the new Arts District Downtown.
Wow, wow, wow...
It is a really sophisticated, cool, spacious location for Zinc. They have a full bar, pizza oven, a lovely outdoor patio space, and plenty of parking. Our friend was there, and when he saw Miss Pearl and I, a big smile crossed his face as he welcomed us with open arms.