Food_Fiend's Profile
Full service catering - Northridge
Looking for a place that offers full service catering (wait staff, tables, chairs, utensils, etc.). We're hosting a luncheon for 1,000 people in Northridge and trying to find a restaurant/catering company that would fit the bill. In terms of food, we're trying to keep in casual--BBQ, sandwiches...that kind of stuff. Something along the lines of Wood Ranch Grill, if that helps. Budget: below $26,000
TIA!
Providence vs. Patina
Sorry to hear about your Providence experience--but interesting final comment! A couple of friends took me out to Opus tonight for a pre-graduation dinner and we had the tasting menu with the wine pairing. Like you said, it was quite impressive.
Side note: l'm really enjoying all this graduation-related dining. Being the food fiend that I am, I'm getting really well fed over here! =)
Thanks for all the input so far!
Opus change - still great!
Hmm...interesting! I went to Opus with some friends tonight and they let us do the 3-course tasting menu for $30, plus extra for the wine pairing. We had a strawberry gazpacho (amuse), seared tuna with a Spanish preparation of vegetables and meat, the poached egg (as a gift from the chef), veal cheeks with sweetbreads, and a chocolate dessert with strawberries. So in the end, we actually had more than 3 courses--definitely worth the money. The staff was friendly and attentive, and our server as also the sommelier, so we received a lot of great info about our wine pairings (all Italian wines). They also just came out with a new list of tea-inspired cocktails. We all had the Opus Zen, which was kaffir lime, mint, and green tea liquor.
Echoing what Norton said--The place was pretty empty tonight, but I really hope this place can survive. Go support Opus!
Providence vs. Patina
Ok 'hounders. I need a weigh in! The parents are coming into town from San Francisco for my graduation and we're trying to decide on a place for a nice dinner. I suggested Providence, my dad suggested Patina. From my search on the boards, it seems like Patina has had more negative reviews--I know I shouldn't base decisions solely off of other people's opinions, but with the hefty price tag attached to this meal, I don't want to waste my parents money.
What're your thoughts?
TIA!
Graduation dinner recs!
They actually came the other weekend and visited the Getty--although I don't think they ate at the Restaurant. I'll definitely let them know about it seeing as they never finished seeing everything they wanted to see there and I'm sure they'll revisit the Getty again.
Graduation dinner recs!
I'll be graduating from USC in about 6 weeks and my parents will be coming to LA for the ceremony. We're planning on going out for a nice dinner, so I wanted to have my fellow chowhounds weigh in. We're a family of gastronomes and there's only 3 of us, so we're open to pretty much anything and in any price range. However, since it's a special occasion, I wanted to keep it to a more refined/fine dining experience. I'm thinking of something along the lines of Hatfield's? Or maybe even something avant-garde (just to experience something new)?
Would love to hear your input!
ISO Hong Kong steamed milk recipe
I've been craving this lately--it's called dun lai in Cantonese and I and was wondering if anyone had a recipe? I tried the ol' Google search and came up empty handed.
Opus recs?
Some thread searching tells me that the spontaneous tasting menus are what to go for. But is there anything from the a la carte menu that's a must-order?
what to order at din tai fung?
My parents are both from Taiwan and they absolutely love the chicken soup. They get it every time.
Dim Sum at Triumphal Palace (review + pics)
The sweet sesame ball is mochi with black sesame filling. At most dim sum joints, it's coated with peanut powder. Usually a favorite dessert of mine, but I was disappointed with the quality of the ones from Triumphal Palace. I went there for my birthday last year, and there wasn't anything that would particularly make me want to go there again.
what to order at din tai fung?
I would go with the juicy pork dumplings, shanghai rice cakes, braised beef noodle soup, and noodles with sesame sauce.
Enjoy your meal!
BLD for breakfast
I've read a lot of posts about weekend brunches. Any thoughts about a weekday breakfast?
Surfas Cafe - finally stayed for lunch!
Stopped by for lunch a couple weeks ago. Had their daily special, which was a buffalo burger. Cooked perfectly and really flavorful!
Wine + tapas tomorrow night?
Sorry. Meant to say that it was a minimum of $85 per person.
Wine + tapas tomorrow night?
Was thinking about going to Bin8945, but it's an $85 minimum for our group of 7.
Searched through the threads and either Lou on Vine or Upstairs2 seemed promising. Any thoughts?
Casual dinner near downtown?
Looking for a dinner spot in the $15-20 range, any cuisine, near USC/downtown/Little Tokyo to take a friend who's in town for the day. Any recs?
V-day dinner---for 3!
Point well taken. It does make sense though, since SO many people will be dining out that night. Thanks for the tip! Perhaps we'll think about rescheduling. Besides, it'll be fun to get all dressed up and go out, just for the sake of going out without any special occasion at all.
V-day dinner---for 3!
Hi all,
My roommate, neighbor, and I are planning to celebrate Single's Awareness Day together. My neighbor wants an excuse to wear his new suit out in public. Any restaurant suggestions? We're completely open to all price ranges and cuisines. We just decided to do this today, so yes, it's VERY last minute. Not sure how successful we'll be.
Any suggestions would be fabulous!
Table 8--short report
Had dinner at Table 8 tonight and thought I'd write up a short report for the board since there hasn't been a lot posted about it since it reopened last month. I read a lot of threads saying good things about Table 8 before Govind left to open his Miami outpost. At 7:15, the only people there were sitting at the bar. At 8pm the restaurant was pretty empty. By 9:30, the place was loud and buzzing with people!
Like mentioned on EaterLA--the decor is DARK. Personally, it was too dark to be considered intimate lighting. It was almost annoying because I felt like I had to strain to see sometimes. The big candles on the tables helped a little bit though.
We ordered the sweetbread appetizer. The sweetbreads were well-seasoned. Crispy on the outside, very tender on the inside. My dining companions didn't know what sweetbreads were before they tried them, but after they found out what it was, they still said the flavor was really good.
Tasmanian sea trout w/ cauliflower couscous, braised fennel, celery, and lobster sauce. Skin was nice and crispy. The fish itself seemed almost like salmon (in color and texture--is trout supposed to be like that?) It was cooked perfectly--very moist. There were also small chunks of lobster meat in the sauce. Overall, the dish was good, but the fennel seemed a little out of place.
My companions ordered the duck and the grilled kobe style beef--but unfortunately, I didn't get to try these.
Desserts were all $11--but seemed plain and uninspired, so we didn't order any.
This was my first time at Table 8, so I can't say whether or not it's as good as it used to be. In general, the food was very solid. I do wish the dessert selection was a little better though. Also, the service was friendly, but a tad bit slow.
P.S.--I'm still a posting beginner, so if there's anything I should pay attention to for future reports, let me know! :)
Cafe Brasil recs?
Going for a celebration dinner tomorrow night. Anything that's a must try?
help me! too heavy handed on the sodium!
I'm making BBQ pork rolls, which is basically char siu bao filling rolled inside puff pastry. Unfortunately, I went a little soy-sauce crazy, and now my meat mixture is way too salty. Does anyone know how I could fix this? Thanks so much!
ISO ginger-carrot tea sandwich recipe
That's what I couldn't wrap my head around! I found that same recipe, but couldn't figure out what "sweet ginger paste" was. I googled that also, but never found a recipe. Thanks for the TJ tip!
ISO ginger-carrot tea sandwich recipe
Had wonderful ginger-carrot tea sandwiches at an afternoon tea recently. Looked online, but I couldn't seem to find a good recipe. Any help is much appreciated!
Lunch for 1 in SGV
Running errands in Alhambra tomorrow. Any suggestions for a good lunch spot that serves suitable portions for the single diner? Open to anything. Thanks!
cranberry crazy
I bought a bag of fresh cranberries the other day on a whim. Now I'm not sure what to do with them? Can I make scones with fresh cranberries? All the recipes I've seen use dried ones.
Any kind of cranberry recipes would be appreciated. Don't want these to go to waste! =)
TIA.
food/restaurant book featured on Today
There was a book featured on the Today show about a month ago...something about restaurants.
Anyone happen to recall?
Creative college cooking - Advice needed
Here you go! :)
Mix together the following and pour into a microwave safe dish:
1 box of chocolate cake mix (the regular size from the baking aisle)
1 12-oz. can of diet coke/pepsi
Microwave for 9-10 min. (depending on how strong your mircrowave is). Let it cool for a few minutes...(quite honestly, we were always too impatient)
This also works with other cake mixes and diet soda flavors. I've done yellow cake w/ diet Sprite before too, which was also really good.
Hope Wonder Boy enjoys!
SCALLION PANCAKES?
I've got the issue right on my desk! Here's the info:
China Islamic
7727 E. Garvey Ave.
Rosemead, CA
626-288-4246
Favorite Americanized-Chinese dishes??
I remember being young and reading a Garfield comic strip that mentioned egg foo young and mu shu pork. I'm from a Chinese household and kept asking my parents what those things were, thinking at the time that they were traditional Chinese dishes...Now I know better..
