Trendy Now: Food Trucks

Food is such a fascinating concept because of what can be done with it creatively, visually, and conceptually. Having said that, food can also be trendy. In recent years, Sprinkles sparked the cupcake craze. Shortly after, Pinkberry and its many counterparts helped put frozen yogurt on the popularity scale. Now, the biggest trend in food service are the ever-growing population of food trucks - or less favorably known as the "roach coach."

Never in a million years would I expect to see myself looking forward to dining off of a mobile truck. Just a few years ago, most people knew food trucks as the run-down, slightly unsanitary vehicles that served unhealthy American and Mexican fare to blue-collar workers. But in the recent year, food trucks have cleaned up their acts, taken on international themes, and become the latest buzz on Twitter feeds. You can find practically anything to eat on these trucks - from Indian curry (India Jones) to ice cream sandwiches (Cool Haus) to Korean fusion tacos from Kogi, the ones who started it all.

This past Friday, a friend and I headed down to Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice for their monthly First Fridays event. At least a dozen food trucks occupied the area and you could easily tell which ones were the most popular by the size of their lines. One of the longest lines was The Grilled Cheese Truck, but let me tell you, their food is definitely worth the wait!

By all means, whatever you do, you MUST get the Cheesy Mac & Rib. No questions asked. Yes it is rich and yes I was only able to eat half of it (along with my dessert melt - also a winner!) but it is one of the most delicious grilled sandwiches my lucky little taste buds have ever come in contact with!!

Cheesy Mac & Rib

Macaroni & Cheese, BBQ Pulled Pork, & Caramelized Onions

Dessert Melt

Banana Puree, Nutella, & Melted Marshmallow

Tater Tots

Garlic Aioli & Chipotle Mayo Dipping Sauces


For a complete list of food trucks in the Los Angeles area, please click here.

Amazing Breadsticks and Wannabe Carbonara

When eating out, I usually tend to order menu items that are lighter and healthier (for the most part) and won't do too much damage to my waistline. However, for the past month or so I've really been craving a rich, homestyle spaghetti carbonara. Like how an Italian grandmother would make it with tons of crispy bacon bits and freshly shaved parm...Unfortunately, for some reason I just don't see it on many menus these days.

This past Saturday, I found myself at Dominic's (an Italian restaurant in Cypress) for a friend's birthday and low and behold, they had spaghetti carbonara on the menu. Yahoo!

Most dishes here are served with salad and their "famous" garlic breadsticks. "Famous" I'm not too sure, because I've never heard of this place before, but "AMAZING" yes!! Served hot out of the oven and glistening with butter and garlic, the bread was perfectly crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Really one of the best garlic breadsticks I've tasted!

After devouring the bread, I anticipated the carbonara even more. Sadly, my craving for this dish was not fulfilled because their "carbonara" was actually served in a cream sauce and really was a carbonara at all. They should have called it "fettuccini with bacon." You see, traditional carbonara is simply made with noodles, eggs, bacon, onion, white wine, and parmesan cheese. There is no sauce like there was in this dish. It was still filling, but slightly heavy and not what I was expecting.

Overall, the garlic bread was the real star of Dominic's. They do have an extensive menu with plenty of other options to choose from. I would recommend the lobster ravioli instead, but as long as there's bread around, I'd be pretty happy.

The Buttermilk Truck

Bored of plain old cereal and milk for breakfast? Then it's time to vamp up your morning meal by heading on over to the Buttermilk Truck's current location. Yes, I said "current" because it is essentially, a roach coach - food that is cooked, sold, and travels on wheels. However, this street food vendor is far from the average person's vision of a roach coach. It is clean, uses fresh ingredients, and offers a creative take on fusion breakfast.

We've all seen or heard of red velvet cupcakes, even the occasional red velvet cookie, but red velvet pancakes?? This is definitely a creative new one. For $2.50, you get six bite-sized pancakes dotted with chocolate chips and dusted in powdered sugar. They already are fairly sweet, so try them without syrup first.

Another popular item is the buttermilk biscuit breakfast sandwich. A homemade biscuit is split in half and filled with an over easy egg, cheese, and your choice of chicken apple sausage, applewood smoked bacon, or tocino (Filipino sausage). Add on a tasty rosemary-garlic hash brown nugget for fifty cents more and this sandwich is good to go!

We also tried the Hawaiian breakfast sliders (my fave!!)and Hawaiian bread french toast sticks. The sliders were three King's Hawaiian bread rolls filled with a generous portion of Portuguese sausage, shoyu scrambled eggs, and grill onions. A bit messy, but definitely worth it! It really made me miss the ono food from islands! Unfortunately, the french toast sticks were very disappointing!! They were dry and over fried.

First it was cupcakes, then frozen yogurt, and now the latest trend is street food trucks. So why don't you jump on the bandwagon and grab your next meal from the Buttermilk Truck?! ...Just stay away from the french toast!

To see the whole menu and find out when they'll be in your neighborhood:

http://buttermilktruck.com/menu

Chicken Feet and Pork Balls

No, I'm not watching reruns of Fear Factor on Hulu. I'm referring to a few of the Chinese creations I consumed over dim sum last weekend at Great Seafood Harbor in Artesia. For those who've never experienced a dim sum meal before, let me tell you, it is unique, exciting, and foreign - much like the items that they serve. In a well-run dim sum operation, your party is seated promptly and before the waiter comes to take your drink orders, a server pushing a cart filled with small plates of ready-to-eat foods starts offering what they have. You either select their offerings or refuse and wait for the next cart of goodies. Sort of a buffet-that-comes-to-you ordeal. (How much more could a lazy foodie ask for?!)

The first cart that came to our table seemed like we hit the jackpot. It had shrimp potstickers, pork shumai, and a thick noodle covered in hoisin sauce. One of each please! The server stamped our receipt 3 times, once for each dish. This is how they keep track of what you order. (Some items are more expensive and get stamped further down on the receipt.)

Immediately after the first cart left, another one stopped by, "I have charsiu bao, short rib, chicken feet." Yes. Yes. And Yes.

Stamp, stamp, stamp.

Then we flagged down the Chinese broccoli lady. And then the walnut shrimp lady.

Stamp, stamp.

I felt like it was almost time for me to yell "BINGO!" but the distraction of the chicken feet were staring me in the face. I am a firm believer in trying everything once. So as I gnawed off the chewy skin from one toe and sucked it off the bone, I found it to taste mostly like the sweet and sour sauce it was cooked in, but the thought of what I actually was eating did ruffle my feathers a bit. :)

By the time the dessert carts rolled by with mango pudding and boba drinks, we were too full for anything else. We asked the waiter for our check, which he took off of our table, examined the stamps for a minute, started writing profusely, handed it back to us with the tax and total figured out, and stood waiting for our payment. Well if they serve the food to you immediately, I guess they want their payment immediately too.

Great Seafood Harbor

18329 Pioneer Blvd.

Artesia, 90701

(562) 860-7794

School's Back in Session

After many months of anticipation, I finally had brunch at Blackboard Bistro in Seal Beach. This quaint cafe is designed around a school theme in every aspect but the food. Thankfully, the food is nothing like the casseroles and frozen entrees scooped up and served to you on cardboard trays in elementary school. Rather, the menu here offers a wide selection of choices for Homeroom (breakfast), Recess (lunch), and After School Specials (dinner).

Although it is early January, we are fortunate enough to have wonderful sunny weather practically year round and opted to sit outside on the patio. I ordered one of the breakfast combinations cleverly called "The Playground" because it came with your choice of a little bit of everything. I went for the blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage. The large pancakes were fluffy and filled and topped with an abundance of wild blueberries. They were served with warm syrup and a blueberry puree. The sausages were seared crispy on the outside and were perfectly juicy on the inside.

Great for small groups and dates, Blackboard Bistro is a great place to satisfy any appetite for good old Californian-American fare.

Blackboard Bistro

1198 Pacific Coast Highway

Seal Beach, 90740

http://www.blackboardbistro.com/?page=1

The Factory

One of the newest eateries in Bixby Knolls (northern area of Long Beach) is The Factory. Don't let the name fool you though - it is anything but factory like! They promote local dining and use produce grown from a farm that is less than a mile away from the restaurant!

A few friends and I were taking a stroll along Atlantic Boulevard for their monthly First Fridays event when we stumbled upon The Factory. With their first operating day being the previous Tuesday, they already seemed to be doing quite well, as the line to order was out the door! We didn't mind waiting because it gave us plenty of time to scope out the menu. I attempted to order the Paella, but it was so popular that night that they already ran out! I opted for the pan seared Garlic Thyme Chicken and wasn't disappointed. Our food was served quickly, but I could tell it was cooked to order because the skin on my chicken was still nice and crispy. It was served on a bed of udon noodles sauteed with mushrooms in the same garlic thyme sauce they used to top the chicken. Finished it off with a tall glass of homemade sangria and I could have called it a night!

The Factory also serves a handful of local beers on tap that are all $5 a glass. They have an outdoor patio area equipped with heat lamps and water bowls for dogs. Another added feature is that they host cooking classes that are kid-friendly and have special wine tastings. Just drop by the restaurant to see when they're offered. However, my favorite thing about this place has to be the late night hours of operation...you can't find very many good eats like this after 10PM!

The Factory

4020 Atlantic Blvd.

Long Beach, 90807

T-Th 11AM-11PM

F-Sat 11AM-1AM

Sun 11AM-3PM

Tapas That Tops Them All

A few months ago, a girlfriend introduced me to what is now one of my favorite restaurants - K'ya. Located in Laguna Beach in the lobby of the historic 20s-style hotel, La Casa del Camino, K'ya is an intimate little restaurant that specializes in tapas. They combine fresh ingredients with simple, clean flavors in their wide variety of appetizer and dinner selections. No dish is over $15 and most are around $5-7, but that doesn't mean they skimp on portion size!

We arrived shortly after 7:00PM on a Friday evening and the restaurant was already packed with hungry customers. Since our reservation wasn't ready yet, we decided to have drinks and an appetizer in the lobby. What's great about their drink selection is that most wines and cocktails come in various sizes so you can sample a number of different ones - appropriately matched with their small plates theme. Petite Sangria ($4) for me and the Flash Fired Calamari ($5) appetizer to share. The red Sangria had just the right combination of wine, triple sec, and soda and was tastefully garnished with fresh berries. The tender rings of calamari were tossed in a sweet and slightly spicy Thai glaze with cilantro, peanuts, bean sprouts, and carrots. I was pleasantly surprised that the breading wasn't heavy and didn't lose it's crispness under the glaze.

Just as we finished up our appetizer, we were seated towards the back of the restaurant and were greeted by our (handsome!) waiter. Having looked over the menu in the lobby, we were all ready to order as soon as we sat down. I decided on the Herb Marinated Chicken ($5) and Truffle Risotto ($5). Much to my surprise again, the portions were very generous for being so inexpensive! I was delighted that the chicken was tender and came with grilled eggplant, zucchini, onion, AND asparagus. But the real star of the night was the rich, savory truffle risotto! The combination of the melted Parmesan and grated bits of black truffles created such a velvety texture in my mouth, I had to contain myself from devouring the entire plate!

Dinner, drinks, and an appetizer for under $20 - AND it was delicious? I don't know why you haven't already hopped on the 405 to get down there!

K'ya Bistro Bar
(Inside La Casa Del Camino Hotel)
1287 S. Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, 92651
http://www.kyarestaurant.com/laguna/index_laguna.html

Suck on What?

For months I've been hearing the buzz about The Boiling Crab and have yet to try it until this weekend. After first attempting to dine in at the location on Brookhurst in Garden Grove, we decided just to do take out since the wait was over an HOUR! (Mind you, it was still early in the evening, a mere 5:45PM!) The take out menu is actually ordered at The Boiling Crab To Go, which is just a few stores down from the main location in the same strip mall. To Go was just as crowded, but we were able to order quickly.

1 lb. blue crab, 1 lb. shrimp, 1 lb. crawfish, corn on the cob, and Cajun fries.

The shellfish comes with a choice of seasoning: Rajun Cajun, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Butter, or THE WHOLE SHA-BANG! - meaning all three. Of course, I had to get THE WHOLE SHA-BANG!

Take out orders conveniently come with a large piece of butcher paper because the crack-and-eat meal sure gets messy! Each shellfish was bagged separately and filled with generous portions of the deep red, mildly spicy goodness of sauce. The sauce is really what makes the meal here at The Boiling Crab. It balances the right amount of butter and citrus, packs the perfect punch of spice, and adds just enough freshly chopped garlic to leave a unique, but not overpowering taste on your palate. The large shrimps are steamed whole, so when you crack off the head and suck out the creamy matter, you get a generous portion of the flavorful sauce as well. The shrimp itself was tender and meaty; and although already drenched in sauce, I couldn't resist going in for double dips.

After the feast!...

Definitely a winner, but go early to avoid the hour wait!

The Boiling Crab
13892 Brookhurst St.
Garden Grove
OR
The Boiling Crab ToGo
13908 Brookhurst St.
Garden Grove
http://www.theboilingcrab.com/

Cream of the Crop

When it comes to cafes, Creme de la Crepe sure is the cream of the crop! With two locations in the South Bay and one in Long Beach, Creme de la Crepe offers a wide variety of both sweet and savory crepes to satisfy any palate. Not in the mood for a crepe? They also serve heary soups, fresh salads, appetizers, and traditional French items such as quiche and beef bourguignon.

Although I've been to Creme de la Crepe many times, I always seem to order the same thing: Caprese Panini and a build-your-own Strawberry and Nutella dessert crepe. Both delish! The panini is freshly grilled and filled with roma tomatoes and thick slices of mozzarella. Instead of whole basil leaves like in a traditional caprese salad, they use a basil and oil spread, which still packs in all the great herb flavor! The panini also comes with a baked cheesy, potato layered side (think scalloped potatoes, but with parmesan and asiago) that is to die for! The dessert crepe is stuffed with freshly sliced strawberries and then drizzled with warm nutella - both inside and out. The dish is garnished with freshly whipped cream - nothing out of a can here!

Check them out:
424 Pier Ave.
Hermosa Beach, CA
http://www.cremedelacrepe.com/menus.php