Caffe Bello - West Hollywood

Caffe Bello is such a cute cafe in WeHo. They offer some yummy housemade pastries and unique lattes.

My beautiful Almond Latte $3.95

Housemade Chocolate croissant

Caffe Bello 
8719 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 659-9756

http://caffe-bello.com/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/caffe-bello-west-hollywood

31Ten Lounge - Santa Monica

I was invited to 31Ten Lounge to try out some of their food from their new menu. It was tasting so everything was made smaller portion. When you are actually ordering, it won't be this portion. Since I can't eat cheese, the chef Michael prepared no cheese dishes for me. I can't eat cheese but pizza looked really good.

This place is only open on Thurs, Fri, and Saturdays. When I was talking with the guy behind the bar, he told me this place gets packed with around 500 people at night.  I'm guessing most people just get drinks here without trying any food. Everyone should come here for the food (and drinks and music, of course,) the food is good here. I really enjoyed everything.

"About Award winning, Executive Chef, Michael Wilson -- Michael is formally of the critically acclaimed 5 DUDLEY In Venice and WILSON in Culver City (named in honor of his late father, Dennis Wilson, of the Beach Boys) has joined forces with the team at 31TEN LOUNGE and designed an eclectic and inventive menu, which fuses refined comfort food with a global influence. Michael started his culinary career training under such top chefs as, Joachim Splichal and Octavio Becerra of PATINA GROUP in Los Angeles and with Traci Des Jardins at RUBICON in San Francisco. He also spent a year cooking in Copenhagen at RESTAURANT KONRAD. Michael has an extraordinary relationship with food, uniquely blending style and flavor to perfection, which is apparent in every dish he creates. "

Happy Hour menu

Regular menu

My delicious Peche cocktail
Ciroc peach volka, chambord liqueur, peach schnapps, pineapple juice

Garnished with Trolli peach gummy ring, pineapple, raspberry

First, the chef brought me ceviche.
Left: Diver scallop & calamari
Right: Tiger Prawn with habanero salsa
Prawn ceviche was using habanero but it wasn't spicy at all. Refreshing.

Grilled and raw asparagus with fennel, button mushrooms, truffle oil.
I bought truffle oil and I wasn't sure what to do with it but this gives me some idea.

Brandade (salt cod) and potato fritter with roasted garlic aioli

I liked this fritter too. It was a golf ball size. After finished eating, I wanted more.

Octopus carpaccio with charred blue lake beans, lime juice, extra virgin olive oil

Charred Romaine Hearts with seared hamachi, fried onion, yuzu caesar dressing.
Chef Michael's version of Caesar salad. Really delicious.

Smelt fries with sriracha mayo. Crunchy and delicious.

The guy behind the bar who was chatting with me, he actually went and got coffee for me and the bartender girl. Such a nice guy. So sweet.

Baby back ribs with Chipotle BBQ sauce

Molten chocolate cake with orange blossom creme

31 Ten Lounge
3110 Main St
Santa Monica, CA 90405
 (310) 450-5522

Thu-Sat 6 pm - 2 am

http://www.31tenlounge.com/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/31-ten-lounge-santa-monica

 

Espresso Cielo - Santa Monica

When I was in the area, I was looking for cafe and I decided to stop by here. When I arrived around 6pm, they didn't have many pastries left so I only got cappuccino. They did have red  velvet cake but I didn't wanna eat high sugar high calorie dessert so I skipped it. The stuff were nice and friendly.

Cappuccino (6oz) with 1% fat milk $3.95
To me, it seems like failed latte art.  My cappuccino was very light and smooth, also I didn't need to add much sugar, but I must say there are other coffee shops serves better cappuccino.

Espresso Cielo
3101 Main St
 Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 314-9999

Mon-Sun 7 am - 7 pm

http://espressocielo.com/ 

www.yelp.com/biz/espresso-cielo-santa-monica

Tarte Tatin Bakery - Beverly Hills (revisited)

I had some errands in the area today so I stopped by here.  I had some questions so I was asking, like what's inside the pastries, but I just couldn't hear at all what the cashier guy was saying. I felt so stupid wasting time, keep asking same questions over and over. I also knew everything is overpriced but I was really shocked when they said my two pastries were $11. Since I wasn't impressed with both taste and the service today, I don't think I'm going back.

CLICK HERE for more pics

Pizzetta $4.95
tomato, roasted onion, cheese pastry

I asked like 3 times if this has any cheese, and I thought he said no cheese so I bought it but I was wrong. Like I said, I couldn't hear what he was saying at all. After removing all cheese, I tried it. It didn't have much flavor. (I know I removed cheese but usually pizza / tart still have flavor after removing cheese.) I wish I got money back for this. I didn't enjoy at all.

Almond croissant $5.25
Buttery, crunchy top. Worth $5? Nope.

Rating: 3.3 / 5
Service: 3 / 5
Repeat: Maybe

Tarte Tatin Bakery 
9123 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(310) 550-0011

http://www.yelp.com/biz/tarte-tatin-bakery-beverly-hills 

Picca - Los Angeles

Picca has been on my yelp bookmark for a while. Since I really enjoyed Mo-Chica, I had to try this place out. I didn't have any reservations but I guess I was lucky, they had some seats open at the counter and the bar area. All tables were already booked so I couldn't get tables.

"At Picca, Chef Ricardo Zarate serves modern Peruvian cuisine with a Japanese flair. You’ll discover over 50 refined Peruvian dishes designed to be passed around the table.

In 2011, Chef Zarate was awarded the title of Best New Chef in America by Food & Wine Magazine. His first restaurant, Mo-Chica, serves authentic Peruvian food inside the Mercado la Paloma."

drink menu

food menu

Inca Kola $4

Anticucho Corazon. $8
Beef heart, rocoto-walnut pesto
It sounds kinda gross eating beef heart, but it was tasty and I loved it.

Santa Barbara Prawns (daily special)
It was really fresh and delicious.

Chicha morada $3
homemade peruvian purple corn
Way too sweet for me. Didn't like it.

Zapallo $8
kabocha squash, sweet miso

Papa rellena $9
stuffed potato,slow-cooked beef, boiled egg, rocoto-walnut pesto

rocoto-walnut pesto

Inside. beef and boiled egg inside

Bisteck a lo pobre $17
skirt steak, fried egg, pan-fried banana, garbanzo tacu tacu

Vanilla bean pisco flan $9
Flan was rich and creamy with vanilla bean flavor. As you can see, they use lots of vanilla bean. But I'm not sure if I wanna pay $9 for this.

Rating: 3.8 / 5
Service: 3.7 / 5
Repeat: Yes

Picca
9575 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310) 277-0133

Mon-Sun 6 pm - 11 pm

http://www.piccaperu.com/ 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/picca-los-angeles-2