Checking in

To say things have been hectic lately is an understatement! However, I am now on the other side of the mountain and things are settling down. My last foray was Sunday Supper at Lucques. Again, that was wonderful. I have managed to watch every episode of Top Chef. SOOOOOO much to say.

1) Still love Dale. He's just precious. I LOVED his apology to Lisa. From that day on, I promised to apologize to people in the same manner. Basically, I'm sorry for yelling/being mean to you, but you get on my nerves/I just don't like anything about you. :-)

2) Love Stephanie and Andrew. I think Stephanie might be our next Top Chef.

3) I'm glad Spike was FINALLY able to make that damn squash soup.

4) Why is Nikki still there? Even better question, what is up with her HAIR!?! That updo thingy she has going on looks insane.

5) I'm glad Jenn's gone. Liked her until Zoi left. I just wanted to SCREAM every time she told us she was "doing this for Zoi"

6) Spike and Mark?!? I'm going to leave it alone. I'm so un-PC. I'm sure to offend someone.

7)The food looks fantastic this year. I seriously want to make/eat everything.

8) I'm tired of the catering challenges. Seriously...TIRED! Don't mind the team challenges as much, but I'm almost tired of them.


I'm still considering my next visit. I'm leaning towards Comme Ca or Josie. Also, I'll be in Nashville and Atlanta in coming weeks. I've identified two restaurants that I will visit while out of town. Looking forward to sharing my experiences.

Anonymous Shout-out

I believe I mentioned in a previous post that I sometimes fail to mention if I am dining alone or with others. There is really no rhyme or reason why I do it. Sometimes, I don't feel like writing about other people because I feel the need to describe what they ate. My posts are long enough. Sometimes, I'm just lazy. I don't feel like writing. It just depends.

So, my road dog decided to catch up on reading my blog and discovered that she was omitted from two or three of my posts. Today is a lazy (and BUSY) day for me, so I'm not about to go back and fill in. However, she requested a shout-out. However, I seriously doubt that she would want me to put her name all up and through here. Isn't that ironic?

So, big shout out to she who will not be named here! :-)~

Top Chef: Block Party

I HATE that I do not have time to watch Top Chef and write about it. Also, I'm still sans lap top. *sigh*

So, Block Party.

* Spike and Andrew need to kill the Borat shtick. Seriously, I've reached my limit.

*Tired of the "true to the street food" and "soul chef" crap. Make the freaking taco and shut up about it. I just didn't understand it.

*I wanted to reach through the screen and grab Drew's duck taco with plantain jam and cotija cheese. Yumalicious!

*Richard's taco was really interesting. However, I thought a little shrimp or something would have worked better for me.

*HELLO! Can we see what EVERYONE made!? I wanted to see Dale's dish. It was all layered and stacked and stuff. :-(

*Erik and the corndog. How can they make a similar mistake twice in a row? Crazy!

*Didn't care for the elimination challenge

*I thought Red had a slight advantage, but they both kinda sucked

*Who makes a bad pasta salad? Wow!

*Drew's outburst...WOW!! LOL. That's right boy! That's your house!

Sunday Supper at Lucques

So, I dined at Lucques (pronounced Luke--very important) this past Sunday. The Sunday Supper is a Lucques tradition and a great way to experience Lucques if you are on a budget. The Sunday Supper consists of a three course meal for $40. Considering the fact that Chef Suzanne Goin is a James Beard award winner and Lucques was just named the best restaurant in Los Angeles, $40 is a steal. I had the great pleasure of dining with another member of my food group. As I said before, although we were strangers, we just chatted away. I could talk about food all day.



The first course was a salad of james birch's baby escarole with mustard, lemon, parmesan and garlic croutons. I'm of the opinion that a salad is a salad. But, I will admit that the salad was really tasty. Fresh greens, nice creamy dressing, and the crunchiness from the croutons. It was a rather large salad, and I ate the entire thing. Again, fresh ingredients can elevate the mundane.



The second course was the ragoût of beef shortribs and spring vegetables (asparagus and french green beans) with farro and savory crème fraîche. I love short ribs...love them! Since they are so hearty and it is spring, I thought my short rib window was closed. But, alas, here they were. The short rib was tender and nicely flavored. It was one of the best short ribs I have ever had. The creme fraiche was dolloped on top of the entree. I was able to identify chive. It was delicious and added a pleasant creaminess to the dish. The veggies were nice and crisp. A surprising and nice contrast to the tender short rib. Farro. Wow. This was my first experience with farro. Farro is a wheat grain. It had a very unique texture. I can totally see people not appreciating the texture. However, I thought it played well with the meal. It was simply delicious.

And then there was dessert. The dessert was almond cake with citrus zest, candied rhubarb and strawberries, and vanilla custard. The cake was moist, yet had a deliciously crunchy top. The custard was smooth and a perfect consistency. As for the fruit, I was not particularly fond of the rhubarb. But, the strawberries were nice. Frankly, I would have enjoyed the cake with a little bit of the cream. Yum!

Sunday Supper at Lucques is divine. I highly recommend it. I have a feeling I will make my way there again very soon.