Why I'm Mad at Guy Fieri (or My Visit to Chino Bandito)

Every year, during Thanksgiving time, my family travels to Arizona. When traveling to another city, I always look forward to visiting a new restaurant. Usually, that’s not the case when I visit AZ. We have a tradition of sorts. The day before Thanksgiving, we have Ruby Tuesday (mainly because I insist), Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, and pizza the day after. However, that all changed after I saw an episode of Diners, Dives, and Drive-ins. Guy highlighted a little place in Phoenix called Chino Bandito. It’s Mexican/Chinese fusion. Um, hello? WHAT? Anyway, it looked really interesting and I had to taste that food.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I was able to visit their new Chandler location. Prior to my visit, I heard a lot about their unique ordering system. Since it was our first visit, we were treated to a tutorial. In short, all of the entrees were available with rice, in a quesadilla, or in a burrito. During our tutorial, we mentioned that we were not in a hurry, so we were able to partake in a tasting.

We started with a sample of their black beans. I really like black beans. However, I found the Chino Bandito version incredibly salty. Frankly, it was inedible. Next, we were offered the emerald chicken. It was sautéed chicken with garlic and ginger. It was simple, but not memorable. The same could be said of the carnitas and jerk chicken. The jerk fried rice was so spicy that it totally killed my taste buds. It took several sips of whatever and a couple of minutes for me to resume tasting. The last sample was jade chicken. They were lightly fried chicken pieces in a delicious, spicy sweet red sauce. Of all of the samples, this was the one standout.

Since I was ordering for a few people, it was my opportunity to sample several items. My final order was chile rellano quesadilla, jade burrito, pork fried rice, refried beans, and jerk fried chicken. The chile rellano quesadilla was extremely disappointing. After two bites, I was done. The fry was both soggy and hard. It was disgusting. The jade burrito, while tasty, was also disappointing. I spent a great deal of time thinking about the possible makeup of a Chino Bandito burrito. No one was more surprised then I to find that a Chino Bandito burrito consisted of the entrée wrapped in a tortilla. No rice, no beans. No lettuce. No tomato.No imagination.

However, I did enjoy the pork fried rice and the refried beans. Overall, I was extremely disappointed by my visit to Chino Bandito. This was clearly a case of the interesting concept and disappointing execution.

I'm Not Going on Another Break...seriously, I'm not

I know my posts have been few and far between. I've been super busy lately. I have several reviews on the horizon. Look forward to posts on the Kogi Korean Taco Truck, early dinner at Comme Ca, Korean food at Beverly Tofu, and a visit to the Chinese/Mexican fusion spot in Arizona, Chino Bandito.

Oh, and comments on Top Chef.

Top Chef Returns!!!

With Project Runway and Mad Men ending, I'm so glad to see the return of my favorite show.

This year, we have 17 contestants vying for the honor to become this year's Top Chef. CAN'T WAIT!!!

Appetite Stimulus Plan--November 17th-21st

Open Table is advertising an Appetite Stimulus Plan. During the week of November 17th, various restaurants will feature special 3-course menus at $24 for lunch and $35 for dinner. You do not want to miss out on this! I've already made my reservations.

For more info, visit

Sunday Brunch at Jar

I love Jar. Haven't been back since my dinner last year. Memorable meal. Well, I've heard great things about their Sunday brunch. So, one Sunday after church, I decided to go and check it out. As usual, I checked out the menu beforehand. I eyed a couple of items, namely the lobster benedict and the Edy's chilaquiles. Oh, and I had fond memories of the delicious char sui pork. I noticed that they offered it as a side dish during brunch. So, I had a lot to consider.

It was a last minute decision, so I did not have reservations. But, I called ahead and they were very accommodating. As I walked in, the first thing I noticed was that the feel of the place was a little different than my first visit. While, my dinner was quiet and enjoyable, the place was full and bustling.

The waiter welcomed me with a delicious plate of sticky bread. Nice! It was covered with a gooey icing and sprinkled with nuts. It was very hard to resist. It was delicious and harkened to cozy brunch at home, not a restaurant.

After going back and forth about what I was in the mood for, I finally settled on the chilaquiles. I love chilaquiles. Until recently, I would have them about once a week for breakfast. Just imagine crispy tortillas, covered with a delicious chile sauce and cheese. Again, pretty hard to resist. Jar's tortilla chips were thick and fried hard. Definitely a good choice. This allowed for a great crunch even after the addition of the sauce. The chile sauce initially was a nice mild flavor. However, there was a creeping heat. I love the presence of heat without killing my taste buds. The addition of juicy, flavorful carnitas and a dollop of cooling crème fraiche further elevated the dish. As with all Jar entrees, the portion was considerable. While, I attempted to devour every delicious bit of it, I was unable to finish the dish.

I thoroughly enjoyed my brunch at Jar. While the food was fantastic, the price left me elated! It was a delicious, filling, and reasonably priced meal. I may have to make it a regular Sunday outing.

I'm a Culinary Groupie!

I know what you're thinking, "What the heck is that?" That's a perfectly valid question. A question I will answer in this post. However, I do so with a bit of trepidation. By retelling the story behind this photo, do I REALLY want to expose the enormity of my craziness (and the craziness of the people I know) to the abyss that is cyberspace?

*sigh* Why not?

The question, "What the heck is that?" Well, my friends (sorry I'm channeling JMac), that is a picture of Anthony Bourdain sitting in his car taken from the PASSENGER seat of my friend's car with my Blackberry. *sigh* I know that your next question is probably, "Why?". That question is a little more difficult for me to answer. Thinking long and hard, it boils down to the fact that I'm a Culinary Groupie! There! I finally said it.

So, my willing accomplice and I were on the 405N headed back home after an afternoon of playing racquetball in Redondo Beach. I was completely spent and decided to nod most of the way back to Culver City. I decided to rouse myself from my exhaustion-induced stupor and enjoy the remainder of the ride. Well, when I looked up, I saw a car with an interesting license frame. However, I only saw the bottom half of the frame that read, "Support A Chef". Of course, I perked up. I asked my friend to speed up a bit so that I could see the rest of the plate. OF COURSE, my friend sped past the car. As I looked over to my right, I noticed that the driver was none other than Anthony Bourdain. Ok, I lost it! I started screaming. It went something like, "Omigod...omigood, that was Anthony Bourdain...SLOW DOWN!" Seriously, all of that. So, my road dog, who encourages my madness said, "Nuh uh!" As she attempted to slow down (for all you Angelenos--yes, on the 405), he decided to slow down as well. I looked in the side mirror and caught a quick glance of him. What was he doing? SMIRKING! He totally knew what we were doing and intentionally slowed down. What a jerk! Oddly, at that moment, I started to love him even more. What did I start to do? Like a LUNATIC, I started to wildly wave my hands out the window and scream "I love you". I know...I know. Clearly frightened, he managed to stay behind us a safe distance. That was all well and good. We didn't want to get shot for slowing down traffic, so we decided just to keep driving and take our exit.

But, WAIT! He got off at my exit!!!

In the back of my mind, I'm wondering why he's going to Culver City. But, hey...I love Culver City, so why not! A part of me also thought that this was meant to be. Exactly what "this" entailed, I can't tell you. Anyway, we both arrived at the stoplight at the same time. So, there we were. Me and Anthony...side by side. Now what? Of course, in all of the excitement, I never thought about what I WOULD do if we caught up with him. Inside the car, there's a bit of back and forth about whether or not I should take a picture. After all of that, we have a minute long back and forth about "to take a picture or not take a picture". The light, not caring about the weight of my dilemma, turns green. Realizing, that it's now or never, I quickly reach over and snap a picture as he starts to drive off. The very picture that precedes this little story.

So, there you have it. I know. Wow! Ok, that happened a couple of months ago. I thought the craziness factor would diminish with time. But, it really doesn't.

By the way, I did finally get a chance to read the rest of the frame. It said, "Support a Chef...Eat Out Often". I couldn't agree more.

Kiss My Bundt

I first heard of Kiss My Bundt when one of my food groups scheduled a visit. My weekends are usually scheduled a month or so in advance, so I knew I would be able to join them. However, my curiosity was piqued. It's like me and my book clubs. I belonged to two book clubs last year. My schedule prevented me from actually ATTENDING the club meetings, but I always read the books. Same with my food groups. If I can't make an event, I make a mental note to check out the place when I have time. I made a mental to note to stop by the bakery the next time I was in the area. Recently, after a late breakfast and a little shopping with my road dog at The Grove, I decided to head over to the bakery. Although, finding a parking space was daunting task, it was well worth the effort.


As we entered, we were warmly greeted by the owner,Chysta Wilson, who freely invited us to try samples of her cute little cakes. As the child of Southern parents, bundts were frequently present at family gathering or an older relative's kitchen table. Growing up, 7-up, lemon, and Million Dollar bundt cakes were staples. As I stared into the case, filled with familiar treats, I was reminded of my childhood.

The store is an explosion of pink and brown. I happen to love the color combination, and was downright giddy to see it applied so liberally throughout the store. My favorite element was the bright pink couch. A pink couch! So girly, and so perfect. While I LOVED the couch, it led me to the one negative thing about the bakery. As far as seating, the couch is it. So, my desire to sit down and chat while eating my cake and drinking a glass of milk was immediately squashed. But, enough about that. Let's get to the cake.

There is a wide array of flavors available at Kiss My Bundt. There are over 30 flavors and 20 different frostings. Wilson has a selection of eight flavors that are available everyday (Daily 8), along with a few flavors from her list. I had the pleasure of tasting six flavors: vanilla with buttercream, red velvet, pumpkin spice with cinnamon sugar glaze, carrot cake, luscious lemon, and banana chocolate. Each cake was firm, as a good bundt cake should be, but still moist. Also, if you are a frosting fiend, you have found your heaven.


The red velvet was one of the best of have tried in Los Angeles. In the past few years, Los Angeles has become OBSESSED with red velvet cake. Wilson stated that it was by far her most popular flavor. Red Velvet cake has been around for a very long time, especially in the South. My best friend's mom, Mrs. B makes the absolute BEST red velvet cake. Hers was the first I had tried and 14 years later, it's still the best. But, as I can't travel back to the South for a piece of Mrs. B's cake whenever the craving hits me, I can travel on over to Kiss My Bundt's for the next best thing.

Her carrot cake, pumpkin spice, and lemon cakes were heavenly. The lemon cake was light and intensely flavored. True to it's name, it was luscious. The lemon cake was a definite throwback to one of those flavors I remembered and loved from my childhood. However, I did not enjoy the chocolate banana cake. I think it had more to do with the combination for me. I love banana. I like chocolate. But never the two shall mix. So, I pretty much confirmed that I do not like the combination.

However, my favorite by far was the pumpkin spice with the cinnamon sugar glaze. I can't even describe how delicious it was. I love the spice cake. The cake was extremely delicious. But, it was the icing that got me. Again, the icing took me back. I remembered my mother and my aunts making bundt cakes. They would prepare these simple glaze icings made from confectioner's sugar. They would drizzle the icing all over the still warm cake letting the icing slowly cascade down the sides. Mmmm. It was so simple, yet it was such a delicious addition to the cake.

My visit to Kiss My Bundt allowed me the chance to recall a lot of really fond memories from my childhood. The cake was not the focal point, but a wonderful centerpiece of times spent with my family. When I asked Wilson why she chose bundts, she also told a story about family. She shared memories of cooking bundt cakes with her aunt. This same aunt would send her care packages, while she was away at college, containing a bundt cake and a little money. I too, remembered receiving similar care packages. So, what's so special about bundt cakes? I mean, it's just cake. It's a little more than that. It's also tradition. I realize as I get older, seemingly unimportant things become more significant.

Also, although, I never thought this would happen, I'm getting tired of cupcakes. I welcome the switch to the cupcakes soulful cousin, the bundt.


Kiss My Bundt Bakery
8104 West 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Located at Crescent Heights Blvd., near the Grove)
Phone: (323) 655-0559
http://www.kissmybundt.net/