This week's DELIGHT: Quinoa Pizza Ball

As you know, I am a huge fan of quinoa and I've prepared  dozens of recipes with it.
I usually make it as a salad changing the ingredients depending on what I have in the fridge (tomatoes, dried cranberries, grated carrot, chopped almonds, corn etc.) and sometimes we have it warm (like rice) cooked with vegetable stock.
I thought it was about time to try something different and after doing some research on amazing food websites, I found what I was looking for: Quinoa Pizza Ball.

It's simple, healthy (it's baked!) and it really tastes like pizza!
You can have the filling you want. I tested it 3 versions: mozzarella, cream cheese and plain (mozzarella is the winner!). The only problem is that you have to eat it right away. Otherwise, it will lose its crispness.
A healthy and delicious appetizer! Check out this and other recipes here.

The Bazaar by José Andrés

If you have some extra money or want to go a very nice place with delicious food and amazing drinks, The Bazaar by (the Spanish Chef) José Andrés is a great option!

The menu is composed by several Spanish dishes and all of them have an ultra modern and irreverent presentation (croquetas de pollo served inside an acrylic shoe, and take a look at their version of Philly Cheese Steak!)
Last time I went there, we were invited to a friend 's surprise birthday party (my first one!) and we had the opportunity to taste a very good amount of items available on the menu ;)

Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures (I didn't want to tell to people to not touch the food because I had to take pics...) but here are some memories of that delicious dinner:

Drink of the night: gin tonic. I don't know if you will be able to see, but it comes with an ice ball so clear that looks like a crystal ball! PS: the caipirinha is frozen and made right in front of you with liquid nitrogen!

Pan con tomate and cheese

More (why not?) pan con tomate and prociutto

Lobster

Philly Cheese Steak

And here is a pic "inside the Philly" so you can see the melted cheeeeeeeese...

But this was not all we had: we also had croquetas de pollo; olives and caprese salad made ​​in a way that I never had in my entire life; brussels sprouts and others that I can't remember.

It is important to say that the dishes are quite small and the price is high, but it is a gastronomic experience which you and your guest will not regret at all!

Note: Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. Get ready for amazing recipes!

Neighborhood...

It's been a long time since my last post (many things going on: work, visitors, trips... ), but now I'm back and I really hope to be able to post more often. I'm already organizing all the pictures to show you some cool things that happened during this period I was away. Stay tuned!
So, in order to celebrate you and my neighborhood - two things I was missing a lot - today's post is about two restaurants and a delicious ice cream shop that hubby and I love and which are very close to our home:

Momed
Mediterranean menu with a modern twist, this restaurant has a casual atmosphere, friendly waiters and a menu that ranges from super tasty lamb burger and hummus avocado to farro salad to freshly baked flatbreads.

Bibigo
Korean food restaurant with a more modern presentation for traditional dishes, the main attraction is the traditional bibimbap (dish consisting of carbohydrate, protein and vegetable) served in a hot stone bowl .

Sprinkles - Ice Cream
For dessert: Sprinkles Ice Cream. Last year, the LA most famous cupcake opened an ice cream shop (it took us almost a year to try it). Inside the shop, everything is white and red and the ice creams are delicious. You can have regular cones/cups but you can also make sandwich with ice cream + cookies or ice cream + cupcakes!
The first time we went there we had red velvet (white chocolate ice cream with chunks of red velvet cake) and chocolate. They still hold the title of the best red velvet cupcake but the ice cream didn't wow me. However, the chocolate flavor is very good!

International cuisines at affordable prices just a few steps away from home ;)

New York, 2013

Last month I had the opportunity to visit NY again. So exciting!!
It was a business trip, so I didn't have too much time to try new and fancy restaurants or go on long walks, but I did get to visit new places (I finally crossed the bridge and went to Brooklyn!), go to museums and revisit a couple of my favorite places (Eataly and Bouchon, for example). Here are some delicious moments of the trip that I was able to capture:

Happy Hour at Eataly

Breakfast at Bouchon (cafe latte with brioche and jam)

Central Park from above (Mandarin Oriental Hotel)

Manhattan "seen with Brooklyn eyes" (Williamsborough Bridge)

Drinks and late lunch at Rabbit Hole. Brooklyn, NY.

Running some errands... (I couldn't stop myself from walking "gazillion" blocks as I always do when in NY)

Hot Dog at Times Square (Why not, right?)

Running some errands - part two...

Delicious lunch at Tiny's & The Bar Upstairs (so good!)

Need more tips about NY? Find some good ones here. 

Details - "Foods & Drinks" Version

Salad, The Farm of Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills, CA

Biergarten, The Standard Hotel, Downtown LA

Rainbow Sushi, Crazy Rock n'Sushi, West Hollywood, CA

Salmon Tartare, Spencer's, Palm Springs, CA

Quinoa Salad (french fries with truffle oil), Viceroy Hotel, Palm Springs, CA

Homemade Smoothie (eyeballing): organic almond milk, organic blueberries, banana, oats and chia seeds.

Banana and Nutella Pie, The Pie Hole, Downtown LA

Bowl, Chipotle

"Homemade" Croissants (using Pillsbury dough)

And to DETOX all this: GREEN JUICE (eyeballing): organic cucumber, organic carrots, organic apple, organic spinach (or mint), water (or coconut water), ginger powder (or the real one!)

My Favorites: The Churchill, LA

Last Sunday I was feeling too lazy to cook and since the fridge was empty, we had to go out to lunch. Well, I'm so glad you did because I found one of the best Eggs Benedict ever!!

The place is called The Churchill and I always thought it was a pub, but it is not! It is a restaurant / bar with a cool vibe, beautiful people and a delicious brunch!

Hubby ordered steak and eggs. The pic doesn't do justice to the steak (it is underneath the bread!). But it is a super tender great size steak.

My Benedict came with corn bread instead of English muffin!! Oh Lord... It comes in an individual iron pan, super hot and delicious! The sauce was light and paired very well with corn bread.

For sure this place is gonna join my list of favorites and I will come back for more! (every Sunday brunch they offer bottomless mimosa (pay one, drink several!) Not bad, huh?

Eveleigh Restaurant - Los Angeles, CA

A nice place to have a delicious brunch this Spring season is the restaurant Eveleigh, in Hollywood, which has an amazing view of LA!

The place is super cool with 3 environments: an open courtyard right at the entrance (Sunset Bldv), a closed dinning room and an open dinning room at the back of the restaurant, with a beautiful view of Los Angeles.

The food is also very delicious. We had a spinach salad with raisins and ricotta, and baked eggs with spinach, mushrooms and cheese. So good!

The restaurant is quiet (when we got there - kind of late for brunch - it was almost empty), the decor is super cool, the portions are "normal", the food is fresh and the location is great!

Enjoying Spring with delicious food and nice atmosphere!

San Francisco, CA

Hello, hello! It's been over a month since the last time I was here, but the last few weeks have been pretty intense! Fortunately I could get to travel a lot as well and go back to one of my favorite cities: San Francisco. Are you ready for another trip?

It all started with a road trip of about 350 miles. We left LA on Friday morning and opted to take PCH so we could have a perfect view of the California coast.
The trip is beautiful and you can stop anytime to admire the view but it definitely takes longer than a "regular" freeway (it took us about 8 hours).

We arrived at night and went to Pizzeria Delfina.

We had to face almost one hour of waiting - in the cold! The place is super cool, small, with a young and trendy crowd and the pizzas are really delicious!

On the next day we did a cultural tour: we visit the Schulz Museum to learn a little bit more about Snoopy and Charlie Brown ;)

And we went to the de Young Museum to see The Girl with the Pearl Earring! (beautiful!)

The museum is really nice, its gardens are beautiful and the restaurant is very good!

After that, we had to stop at Miette so I could finally "meet her".

The shop is super charming and the sweets/cakes are delicious. To be honest, I had already tested several recipes from her book (they are super laborious) and hadn't found anything extraordinary. I thought it was me, but after trying her version, I made up my mind: there is nothing special about them. But it was worth the visit and I satisfied my late-afternoon sweet craving anyway!

Then, a a quick drive by the Fisherman's Wharf...

And some more charming steep streets...

As we were feeling beaten up by SF (in a good way!) and the next day we had to drive back to LA, we decided to do something I love when I'm staying in a hotel: pic-nic in the room!

And that was it! A weekend in SF.
Whenever I get the chance to visit the city, I am more in love with it and its "almost" perfect blend between New York and Los Angeles (and I say almost because of the weather, oh my... Do we need all that wind and low temperature every time!?)