The SLY Foodie

First and foremost, Happy New Year! I realize it's been quite sometime since the last post, so please forgive me for my lack of diligence in maintaining this blog.

This is a throwback post to last Christmas, when my work peeps had our little Christmas get together at Julienne in the quaint, picturesque town of San Marino. It's a charming little place, with ample space for al fresco dining, as well as a private rooms for more intimate celebrations.

The only picture I was able to snag was of my food. It is their Signature Baked Crème Brulée French Toast, served with a fresh strawberry sauce and crème anglaise. It was ooey, gooey sweet, a tiny bit on the soggy side, and definitely needed the tartness of the strawberries to cut through all the richness. Overall a satisfying breakfast treat, but I think next time, I will be more apt to check out the savory side of the menu.

Last Christmas, we visited Carmela Ice Cream in Pasadena. It is an artisan creamery that specializes in making seasonal ice creams, using fresh and seasonal ingredients, as well as organic dairy products. The result is an elevated ice cream experience because fresh and seasonal really does taste better.

There is a reason why Chef Michael Voltaggio is Top Chef. It's because he makes amazing food, and I (and my belly) are extremely lucky enough to sample it. On top of that, he is an über nice guy, very pleasant and personable, but more on that later.

This marks our second trip to The Dining Room, the first since Chef Voltaggio took the reins and redesigned the entire menu. The menu itself is divided into a beginning, a middle, and an end. To better describe it:

"Chef Voltaggio's menu features a selection of innovative small plates showcasing artfully inspired new American cuisine prepared using classic discipline and modern trends, utilizing the bounty of seasonal produce that California offers while showcasing the best quality ingredients from arond the globe. The menu is comprised of small savory and sweet plates, ranging from the lightest to the heaviest dish..."

Next came the first course. I ordered the Langoustine, served with a poached egg, white asparagus, mushroom cracker with a sauce poured tableside upon service. The langoustine itself was cooked to perfection, combined with the sauce, and the asparagus, just an overall great way to kick off the meal.

Here's the Kurobuta Pork Belly, served with bok choy "kimchi," kabocha squash preserves and peanut butter noodles. The pork was well cooked and very tasty. Note to self: write down the server's description of the ingredients.

For my birthday, my friends and I went out to La Grande Orange Café, located near the Del Mar Metro Rail Station in Pasadena. It was a restaurant I found from OpenTable.com, and decided to give it a try because of the interesting menu choices available, plus, it was good for kids.

The restaurant was buzzing with activity when we arrived, and we were immediately seated, which was nice. We ordered chips and homemade guacamole and a pitcher of the house sangria, and I’ve got to say that the guacamole was very tasty, not too garlicky. I wish I could give their salsa better reviews, however. It just didn’t remind me of salsa, more like a dark, chili-flavored tomato sauce. The sangria was okay, I didn’t really like the fruit that was in it, probably because most fruits are no longer in season and therefore not very sweet.




Onto the main courses…I ordered the Beef Prime Rib Roast, served with mashed potatoes and fresh green beans. My husband, being Fried Chicken’s biggest fan, ordered the Southern Fried Chicken, served with an apple fritter, mashed potatoes and green beans. Other orders include the Ahi Burger, served with fries. My boys both got macaroni and cheese, served with fries and fresh fruit in an awesome dinner tray.

The prime rib seemed a little dry, in my opinion, but that wasn’t really the low point of the dish. I thought that the green beans were not blanched long enough, but I prefer my veggies to be crisp tender, not crisp. I did, however, like the jus and the horseradish that were served along with the meat. It made for good leftovers the following day or so.


I didn’t really get to taste the fried chicken to determine whether it was moist or dry. However, I did get to try the apple fritter. I thought that even though it seemed like it would be out of place within the dish, it was actually pretty good. The combination of cinnamon and sugar and apple flavors was just right, and tasted “southern” to me.


I also happened to steal a bite of the macaroni and cheese, and that was easily one of the best mac and cheeses that I’ve had. It was cheesy, creamy, and the pasta was al dente. Very yummy.


For dessert, the servers were nice enough to let me try the salty caramel ice cream, made especially for the restaurant. Never having tried it before, I was eagerly anticipating the flavor profiles that the dessert had to offer. I was not disappointed at all. Salty sweet is the best way to describe it.

I would definitely return to LGO, it had good energy and good food. I probably wouldn’t try the prime rib again, but I’ve heard good things about their pot roast.

La Grande Orange Cafe
260 S. Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, California
626.356.4444

To celebrate Valentines Day, my husband and I went to The Terrace for dinner. We figured that we liked our Dining Room experience last year, so there should also be good food there for less buck. Plus, Open Table offered us a bonus of 1,000 points to dine there, so it was a pretty good incentive.



Before our appetizers came, we were served with a bread basket, which featured the regular sourdough bread, along with a parmesan/asiago cheese cracker bread. It also came with butter and a sundried tomato tapenade. The tapenade was excellent - I would have finished it, but our dishes came.



For starters, my husband ordered the Seared Sea Scallops, which were two delectable scallops served atop sauteed wild mushrooms, which were on top a truffle celery root puree and veal jus. I only had a small bite, which in my opinion was excellent, but I am a sucker for perfectly cooked scallops. It was also combined with one of my favorite things: mushrooms. I wish I had taken the time to savor the celery root puree and the veal jus, but frankly, I was enjoying my appetizer much more. Judging by the way my husband practically licked his plate clean, I would say that it was a great way to start the meal.



I ordered the Slow Braised Short Rib, which was served with a Castroville artichoke and a micro green salad. Let me preface the negative comments by saying I've never had a microgreen salad or a fresh artichoke. In my opinion, the salad would have been great if it hadn't been over salted (which will be a recurring thing); the leaves were tender and had a very "verdant" taste, for lack of better descriptors. But the salt overpowered that verdant taste, and killed it for me. The artichoke was served with roasted winter vegetables, some carrot and parsnips. It was uneventful for me, because I don't know how a fresh artichoke is supposed to taste, nor do I know if it's cooked perfectly or not. Besides, I was eagerly looking forward to polishing off the star of the dish - the short rib. Words cannot describe how good that short rib was. So I won't.



For my entree, I chose the bone-in rib eye, which was served with spring vegetables and bearnaise sauce. The steak was cooked perfectly, slightly pink and was very juicy and flavorful. My only complaint is that it was slightly on the salty side. The vegetables comprised of zuchinni and red peppers, tossed with dried rosemary and maybe some thyme, very boring. It also came with some red potatoes with caramelized onions, also very boring in terms of flavor profile. The bearnaise sauce was good, not too much champagne vinegar, although I thought that it was a little on the thick side.



My husband ordered the John Dory, pan roasted and served on top of ratatouille and beurre blanc. Quite frankly, I was so enamored with the short rib, I didn't pay much attention to the fish. But I thought the ratatouille tasted like tomatoes, and the fish tasted fresh.

For sides, we chose the creamed spinach (because I love creamed spinach) and ham and black truffle macaroni and cheese (because we have never had black truffles before). First the spinach: it was nasty. It was oversalted to the extreme, as if someone forgot that it has already been seasoned, and proceeded to season it again. If the salt wasn't bad enough, the overpowering scent and taste of the nutmeg will get to you. It was an overwhelmingly disappointing side dish. Now the mac and cheese: it wasn't that much better. It tasted like processed cheese, although I'm pretty sure it was most likely a low-grade sharp cheddar. The sauce wasn't really velvety smooth like it should be on a mac and cheese; it was clumpy and it seemed like the dish was left sitting under a heat lamp for a while (which would make sense, considering we got these dishes very late into our entrees). As for the truffles, it was only so-so. Seeing as I don't have a basis for comparison, I really can't say whether it was good or bad.

For dessert, I had planned on ordering something off the menu that one of the waiters highly recommended when, lo and behold, our server brought us a complimentary dessert of Dominican organic chocolate souffle accompanied with a sauce. It was a very yummy souffle, although it didn't make me forget what I originally wanted: coconut risotto, caramelized pineapple, coconut sorbet with a guava coulis.

It was an overall pleasant dining experience, more so for my husband than me, however. He got a second glass of whiskey on the house. For me, it seemed like I reached the pinnacle with that braised short rib, and everything went downhill from there. Dessert seemed to bring it back up, although I still think that the coconut pineapple dessert would have brought it up higher.

For Father's Day, the boy and I decided (ok, it was really just me) to take my husband out to Daisy Mint in Pasadena. It serves Oriental cuisine, although it primarily offers Thai dishes. This is my second time going, as we had gone there for a friend's birthday dinner a few months prior. I was pleasantly surprised the first time, since the food was very good. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the food that night, especially since most, if not everything we ordered was a Daisy special.

So this time, determined to take as many pictures as possible, we ordered soup, appetizer, and several dishes. The first course was the appetizer, which were eggrolls that contained vermicelli noodles, cabbage and a little egg, deep-fried and served with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce. (Aside: The restaurant charges $2.50 for these eggrolls, which I thought were a bargain until our server brought it out. There were only two eggrolls! Here I was, thinking there'd be at least 4. Oh well. So much for that.) See what I mean?

The next course was the soup, which was a Tom Kha Chicken soup, which can be considered the Thai version of a hot and sour soup. It's cooked with tender pieces of chicken, shrimp, button mushrooms, scallions, cilantro, lemongrass, kaffir lime, broth and coconut milk. You can order it with more shrimp or scallop for an additional charge. I am a huge fan of hot and sour soups, so I was really looking forward to tasting this one. I was not disappointed, it was so good that I was secretly glad it was spicier than my husband would have liked it. He did mention later, however, that he liked it as well because he could really taste the sweetness of the coconut milk in this soup. My only critique, if any, is it was served in a small bowl. I could have had that for dinner alone and be satisfied. Doesn't that just look so good?!

The next dishes were entree dishes, which are served with a side of brown or white rice. My husband ordered the Daisy back ribs, which are pork ribs marinated with a salty shellfish type of rub and then either deep-fried or oven baked. We had ordered this dish the first time, and I really enjoyed the saltiness of the rub contrasted with the sweetness of the tender pork. I have to say this time, though, I was slightly disappointed because I think the pork was overcooked and so the outsides were too crispy. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this dish to share.

I ordered the Red Devil curry, which is chicken (or beef, if you prefer), red and green peppers, tender bamboo shoots, basil and a wonderful curry sauce. You can customize the dish by adding shrimp or scallops, again for an additional charge, and you can also make it as spicy or mild as you like. This was also another dish that we ordered the first time I went to Daisy Mint, and I really enjoyed it. This time was no different. I can't say enough about how good it was, other than I had to order another bowl of rice for all that tasty sauce.

We also ordered the Pad Thai, which is a traditional Thai noodle dish with chicken (or your choice of beef, pork or shrimp), peanuts, onion, garlic, egg, a little fish sauce and tossed with fresh bean sprouts and scallions. It was a good, rounded dish, but quite frankly, I was devouring too much of the curry to really have room for Pad Thai. It seemed like we ordered it more as an afterthought.

It was a pleasant overall experience. The ambiance of the restaurant can cater to larger groups, but it will definitely accomodate quiet, romantic dinners as well. Parking is available in front along the street as well as in the back. Try to make it to an early dinner, as it will fill up quickly since it's a small restaurant.