food panda

Yakitori Totto After exploring the City of Brotherly Love , my buddy Dan and I braved the rain and wind on a blistering late New York night for some wholesome goodness. The wholesome goodness in this case would be grilled meats (yakitori) and beer, and lots of it! Yakitori Totto Hot House Sake Before ordering, we both decided to start off with some hot sake to warm ourselves up. Living in Los Angeles really made me weak in regards to rain and the cold. It was a real nice pick me up! Shots from the Bar After we ordering, I just had to take a few shots of the grill master at work. Luckily we had a seat right in the middle of the bar. Don't worry, future patrons of Yakitori Totto, as shown on the picture above, the grill is separated by a glass, so the smoke does not seep into the dining room. Genius! Yebisu After plowing through our sake, we started on the beer. What's better than the best Japanese beer out there? A refreshing cold glass of Yebisu! Refreshing, flavorful, and 100...

Ludobites @ Gram & Papa's Welcome back Chef Ludo! After writing my recent recap of Ludobites 2.0 & 3.0 , I was ready to chow down at Ludobites 4.0 at Gram and Papa's (Which will run until the end of May). I was joined by my usual Panda Crew at the cozy location in Downtown Los Angeles. Since Umma Choisauce and J were at the recent FoodDigger dinner, I let the experts take over, though we ended up doing the "gamut" a la kevinEats style, but ordered extra of the good stuff! Wine for the Night Minus a Bottle One more thing I love about Ludobites, BYOB! Don't forget to bring a bottle or two of your favorite wine to accompany the meal. Raw Scallop - Almond Puree, Pickled Grapes, Cauliflower Ice Cream Refreshing, light, accentuated by the tartness of the grapes. Very nice starting dish! Carrot Salad - Saffron Anglaise Cream, Pearl Onions, Citrus Confit, Mustard Powder Superficially, it's quite a simple dish, but the carrot salad had a nice blend of flavor...

Foie Gras Black Croque Monsieur (Yes, these will be back for 4.0!) It's time. What time you ask? Ludobites is back! Yes, Ludobites is making a return, and this time, luckily for me, will be located in Downtown Los Angeles at Gram & Papa's. Instead of a normal post, I'm gonna do a picture rundown of my personal favorites from Ludobites 2.0 at Breadbar and Ludobites 3.0 at Royal T. For those that want to read more of a comprehensive post, please read my 2.0 and 3.0 experiences. These shots are taken with both my Canon dSLR and Point & Shoot, the best brand if you're looking to get a dSLR or P&S camera. Chicken Mousse Veal Sweetbreads Sweet and Sour Lobster Oxtail aka "Crack" Polenta Foie Gras Cupcake Chilled Chorizo Soup Boudin Noir Foie Gras Cromesquis Tuna, Sushi Rice Ice Cream, Soy Sauce Gelee, Smoked Ginger Oil Slowly Sauteed Monterey Wild Squid, Chorizo Oil, Kimchi Puree, Black Olive Egg "Meurette," Red Cabbage, Lardo Toast Foie Gr...