Milo and Olive - Santa Monica, California

Address: 2723 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90403

Items Ordered:

• Wood fired garlic knot with EVOO and sea salt (not pictured)
• Milo chopped salad: tomato, red onion, pepperoni, fresh mozarella w/ red wine vinaigrette
• Spinach salad with corn and walnuts (special of the day)
• Linguine with mushrooms, corn, and ricotta (special of the day)
• Housemade pork belly sausage pizza: braised greens, tomato, fresh mozarella

I love all things bakery, and I have to say Milo and Olive is like the perfect restaurant for me: there are pizzas, pastas, baked goods, beer, and they're open late! The pizzas are delicious (albeit a tad too greasy), the garlic knot is a flavorful, bready mess, and you can use the remaining garlic as a spread or in other dishes--totally worth it! Definitely try their salads if you visit, both that I've tried were delicious, and even the vegetarian pasta special we tried was amazing. Milo and Olive really does carbohydrates justice, and I would definitely recommend you try it for yourself.

On another note, I really need a new camera besides my old point and shoot! I like blogging just to document and remember good meals that I've had, but the best part of food blogs has to be staring at delicious food pictures. With that said, I'm really jealous of other people's amazing blog pictures, especially when it makes me want to lick my computer screen. Any good camera suggestions are appreciated!

--y

Farmshop - West Los Angeles, California

Address: 225 26th St, Brentwood, CA 90402

Items Ordered:

• Farm egg salad w/ mixed greens, beets, and brioche toast
• Frittata w/ mushrooms, onion confit, and frisee
• Granola w/ Straus family creamery yogurt

Living on the outskirts of Brentwood inspires me to dream of richness and dine at fancy restaurants. Farmshop was one of the fancy restaurants on my Brentwood to-eat list (the other one is Tavern), and I thought I'd bring some of my Houston visitors along. I thought my egg salad was masterfully prepared, and the butter lettuce in my mixed greens salad was refreshing. The frittata tasted healthy, and the granola homemade. Nothing was too salty or fatty, and I told myself that if I were a celebrity I would eat here whenever I wasn't drinking my lemon/cayenne pepper juice cleanse in preparation for the Oscars. However, my Houston friends are much less delusional than I am, and promptly after this meal, they asked "Where are we really going to eat for lunch now?" So while I had a nice snack at Farmshop and would probably return to try the acclaimed fried chicken one day, the winning meal of my day was really the fatty and rich Daikokuya tonkatsu ramen that came after this lunch. Who says you can't have the best of both worlds?

--y

Breadbar - Century City, California

Address: 10250 Santa Monica Blvd, Century City, CA 90067

Items Ordered:

• Chicken noodle soup
• French onion soup with emmenthal cheese
• Wild halibut pico de gallo, carrots, spinach
• Catch of the day (bass?) with capers, brussels sprouts, and potatoes
• Happy hour: pepperoni pizza, burger and fries
• Bread pudding

Would I go back to Breadbar? Yes! In fact I've already revisited for the amazingly warm and toothsome bread pudding more than once. It's not overly sweet, and is probably the best version I've tried to date. I'm glad that "Breadbar" can live up to its name with the fantastic bread pudding. I'm also a sucker for cheese, especially when it's warm and melty like in French onion soup. If you're a fan, try this dish as well; I couldn't stop drinking it. If that wasn't enough to convince you to give Breadbar a try, both fish entrees we ordered were flaky and well-seasoned. They were also relatively light enough to leave stomach space for dessert. I would recommend visiting during regular hours as the happy hour dishes are just mediocre and probably not the restaurant's best showing. If you visit, let me know if you agree with me about the delicious bread pudding!

--y

Joan's on Third - Los Angeles, California

Address: 8350 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Items Ordered:

• Grandma's sandwich - cappicola, toscano, mortadella & provolone with spicy peppers on a crusty italian roll
• Pressed chicken, bacon & brie - with caramelized onions on French baguette
• Hummus w/ hard boiled egg, cucumber, and tomato 

I've been to Joan's on Third more than once, and loved it each time! The sandwich descriptions are mouthwatering and taste delicious too, especially the pressed chicken sandwich w/ crispy perfectly salted bacon. The Grandma's sandwich held fresh ingredients, but couldn't match up to the Godmother sandwich at Bay Cities. But no worries, there are still a multitude of breakfast and lunch options at Joan's to overwhelm your decision making capacity. The prepared salads and the hummus we got on this day was amazing, and I highly recommend it. Joan's on Third is like a more accessible Dean & Deluca's, and I'm glad it's in my neighborhood.** Extra tip:** there's a great French cafe/bakery 2 blocks down called Little Next Door with THE BEST salted caramel macaron! Try both places for yourself!!

--y

 

Tartine Bakery - San Francisco, California

Address: 600 Guerrero St, San Francisco, CA 94110

Items Ordered:

• Spicy sopressata, fontina, broccoli rabe pesto sandwich
• Niman Ranch pastrami sandwich w/ horseradish & gruyere
• Croque Monsieur w/ bechamel, gruyere, thyme, & Niman Ranch ham
• Coconut passionfruit bavarian cake
• Chocolate eclair

You might think that if you visit Tartine Bakery on a random Tuesday at 11am or 2pm you wouldn't have to wait in line for savory sandwiches or moist delicious pastries. Well you'd be WRONG. There is always a line out the door at Tartine b/c their sandwiches are packed with flavor and perfectly melted ooey gooey cheese. The bread can be quite crunchy so it might not be the best place to bring Grandma :(. The mouthwatering pastries on display are hard to choose from, but you can't go wrong with anything you pick. Try not to eat too much here though b/c just a little walk away you can also visit Pizzeria Delfina and Bi-Rite Creamery--2 delicious San Francisco institutions. I'm experiencing some San Francisco withdrawal as I write this post so it might be time to plan a trip soon! Hopefully, I can snatch a morning bun at Tartine before they run out :O.

--y

Porto's Bakery - Downey, California

Address: 8233 Firestone Boulevard, Downey, CA

Items Ordered:

• Meat Pie
• Ropa Vieja Sandwich
• Pork Tamale
• Ham Croquette
• Chicken Croquette
• Potato Ball
• Fresh Mango Juice
  

I’ve been to all 3 locations now – Downey, Glendale and Burbank. They are all DELICIOUS. I usually just eat the savory items because I am not big on dessert. I blame it on the small size and cheap prices, but every time I come here, I can’t seem to control my orders. It gets out of control! My favorite are the Potato Balls – a fried ball with mashed potatoes and ground beef inside. My favorite stuff all in one! This was the first time I ordered a sandwich and I would have to say I enjoyed it a lot. Can never pass up on the Croquettes and Tamales though! Mmmm. I love this place.

--v