food panda

Shake Shack When I was told by my friend Dan that I had to try Shake Shack when I'm in NYC, a simple fast food burger a la In-N-Out wasn't something I really had in mind. Mind you, I love In-N-Out. I worked there in High School, I know the entire operation (though I HATED working the dining room cleaning crew, along with wearing that giant diaper pin), In-N-Out to me is legit! Though when I found out Shake Shack is the brain child of Danny Meyer, the owner of Eleven Madison Park and Union Square Cafe, I was ready to try it out. It doesn't hurt that Shake Shack offered the frozen concrete treat, which are pretty popular in the Midwest. Shack Stack - Cheeseburger and 'shroom burger topped with lettuce, tomato, and Shack Sauce French Fries Hopscotch Concrete - Hot caramel sauce, chocolate toffee and Valrhona chocolate chunks Chocolate Malt Shake I adhere to the motto: Go Big or Go Home. Since I was in NYC, I pretty much had the "fuck it" mindset and ordered eve

Saddle Peak Lodge Saddle Peak Lodge has been a place I've been interested for awhile, especially after reading kevineats' post awhile back. From what I've heard about Chef Adam Horton , I was pretty interested when our dining party was offered a special tasting menu that night. I made sure I ate a light lunch in order to not kill my appetite for dinner. Top: Brioche. Bottom: Butter & Sea Salt The meal starts with the usual bread course, and on this night, we were served a butter brioche, which was delicious by itself without the accompanied butter and sea salt. I was tempted to ask for a second brioche, but I figured it would have been wise to save space for the upcoming dishes. My Darlin' Clementine Always a sucker for cocktails, I went with something on the Nouveau cocktail menu. My Darlin' Clementine consisted of fresh lime juice, pineapple juice, ginger elixir, and Svedka Clementine Vodka. All the ingredients were right up my alley and the final concoction

Katz's Deli When you're in New York City, there's just certain place you HAVE to visit. Katz's Delicatessen would definitely fit that bill. Heck, if you don't believe me, I'm sure you'll trust him . What do you order here you ask? Well, I'm sure the sausages and the various other products are delicious, but you should only order one thing here: Pastrami on rye! Complimentary Pickles Dr. Brown's Black Cherry Since I had the cherry soda in Montreal to go with my smoked meat sandwich , it's only appropriate to keep it the same deal here. Now for the main event! Pastrami! There's really nothing better than a pile of tender pastrami, along with some hot yellow mustard between two pieces of bread. I can see why Katz's has earned the numerous acclaim over the years, it's really that good. While I personally prefer the smoked meat at Schwartz's just a tad bit more, Katz's pastrami sandwich definitely hit spot. While I planned a quick

Fraiche Culver City A little over a year ago, I met a young French chef named Ben Bailly at a dinner hosted by Jo of MyLastBite at Petrossian in West Hollywood and was immediately hooked to his cooking. At first, I honestly didn't think much could come out of the kitchen of a caviar specialty shop, but boy, was I wrong! Fast forward a year from that dinner, the news of Chef Bailly's move to Fraiche in Culver City began to spread amongst the Los Angeles food community, I was excited by the move. While I'll miss his cooking with caviar, I was truly excited to see what Ben can do when he's able to form his own menu. In this post are my two recently dinners at Fraiche Culver City. Just a note, Chef Bailly is in the midst of changing some menu items, so some items seen here might not be available when you visit the restaurant. Top: Complementary Olives. Bottom: Champagne Olives are always given gratis when seated, and while I don't eat olives, my dining companions alway