Monday, October 31, 2011

Perks

Shao Bing at Buddha's Belly

One of the perks of being a food blogger is that sometimes you get asked to go to fun events, like a blogger dinner at Buddha's Belly in Thousand Oaks.

When you get really lucky, you get to do it with bloggers whose company you enjoy a lot. Look at these beautiful women:


Margaret of Nanny Goats in Panties and Kim of House of Prince.

If you go (it's in the Oaks Mall, next to the Cheesecake Factory, on the side away from the freeway) have a Zen Garden drink - refreshing and fruity and made with gin. These are a few of my favorite things.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Defeated

Johnny's Mexican Food

I tried my best, but the wet chile relleno burrito defeated me. I thought I had it vanquished, but then the tortilla chip and salsa assist pushed it over the top.

Until next time.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Bad Omens

Mozzarella sticks

The other night my pal C.C. and I went to a pub for a beer after seeing "The Ides of March." It was a depressing movie and we needed to recover a bit. I ordered a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and C.C. got a Coors Light.

Our waitress was pretty rude. She brought our two beers and sat them down right in the middle of the table.

"Which is which?" C.C. asked.

"The Coors Light," said the waitress, with an undisguised sneer in her voice, "is the lighter one."

I looked at her over my glasses. I don't normally look at people over my glasses because I'm not really looking at that point, since I absolutely cannot see more than a few inches unaided, but I felt in this case she needed to experience the Mean Lady Glare.

I mean, come on. If you're selling the damn beer, don't try to make your customers feel bad for ordering it. Is that too much to ask?

We picked up the food menu and began flipping. C.C. dropped hers about 15 seconds later.

"Mozzarella sticks," she said, and I understood the shorthand. She wasn't going to eat anything there.

Mozzarella sticks are where C.C. draws her line. She says that restaurants that serve mozzarella sticks are just pushing food that comes frozen in a box. Seeing that one item on the menu is a signal that they don't really care about food.

I get it.

I draw the line at the whiff of old grease. I have a nose like a bloodhound and if I walk in a place and catch the smell of stale oil, I walk right back out. I have learned the hard way to not eat there, lest I risk disappointment and/or food poisoning.

Where do you draw your line? What tips you off?

Photo by Jumbledpile. Used under a Creative Commons license.