The Ivy

urth cafeI can't believe I didn't post about the Ivy, THE celeb dining spot in Los Angeles. I'll do a "quick" post here, because I'm bored right now.

The restaurant is obviously very nice. The inside is reminiscent of a French cottage (I think I read that somewhere), and feels very much like a house... a small house (it's very cramped inside). But of course, the patio is where it's at. It was a beautiful day, so the patio was the perfect place to sit. The one down side is that some of the tables are large, so I felt far from my dining companions. The tables are also close together, so if your neighbors aren't having a stimulating conversation, they definitely listen in on yours (and they stare too)... this happened to us on both sides. I had the primo spot facing the street, which meant that I got to see who came and who left the restaurant (as well as who was walking down the street). It was from that spot that I saw Christ Kattan.

Considering the fact that I heard that the food at the Ivy sucks, I was pleasantly surprised by how good everything was (this might have been due to lowered expectations). We ordered the Fried Calamari as an appetizer. It was pretty good, but nothing special about it. They also served us scones, which were amazing. They were warm, soft, and had some sort of berry in them (I figured raspberries).

I ordered the Fish n' Chips as my main course. This isn't your ordinary fish and chips. Not only did I get fish (cod, naturally), I also got calamari, scallops, shrimp, and onion rings! Plus there were fries too! On top of that, the plate was huge, meaning lots of fried foods, and lots of plaque in my arteries later on in life. Everything tasted great; the seafood was well cooked and seasoned (especially the shrimp!), the french fries were thin and crisp (just like how I like them), and the onion rings were large and onion-y (perfect).

I can't remember what Aegean ordered, but I know Selina ordered a pasta and she said it was "alright"-- pasta is not one of the Ivy's strengths. Since both are alkies, they also ordered spirits before noon-- Aegean got a mojito-type drink, which was strong but tasted really good (very mint-y), and Selina ordered the worst drink in the world, a bloody mary. It tasted like V-8. It was disgusting.

We also ordered a pecan bar for desert, with some sort of homemade ice cream. Both were amazing.

All in all, it's expensive yes, but if you want to be cool, the Ivy is the place to go. B.

The Ivy
113 N. Robertson Blvd.
Los Angeles, Ca. 90048

Urth Caffe

I'd heard that Urth Caffe was one of the hot spots on the Westside for lunch (with many star sightings on Defamer as proof of its hipness), but I was skeptical that the food would live up to the hype of the atmosphere. I'm no longer skeptical.

With mostly outside seating on Melrose (right after the Pacific Design Center, so the street is smaller and not obnoxiously noisy), Urth had a really good atmosphere that was enjoyable for people watching (including a celebrity sighting!... more on that later). Don't bother sitting inside, because it's too stuffy. We have great LA weather, you might as well enjoy.

On to the food... I ordered the Panini Caprese, a grilled sandwich, with mozerella, tomatoes, roasted peppers, basil, pesto, and an olive spread.
After the vinagrette fiasco at Joan's on Third, I was understandably hesitant about ordering something with pesto and a "spread," but my fears proved to be unfounded. There was just the right amount of pesto and olive spread, so it didn't dominate the flavors of the panini, which is a good thing, because the sandwich was flavorful. There wasn't too much cheese (a big plus for me), the tomatoes and basil were tasty, the roasted peppers were actually kind of sweet, and the bread was grilled to perfection (crisp on the outside, soft in the middle). The one downside of the meal was the bland salad. The mixed greens were bitter, the dressing practically non-existent, and there were no candied pecans like the menu said. Aegean went with the Panini Prosciutto (parma prosciutto, italian cheese, sundried tomatoes, basil, and housemade olive spread), and loved her meal too, but also complained about the lackluster salad.

Urth Caffe is also famous for its organic desserts (and if you don't have tastebuds, they do have vegan cakes as well), and they certainly don't disappoint in that department. We went with the Chocolate Blackout Pound Cake. For $5, we somehow ended up with three slices.
The cake was moist and not too rich, and was overall very satisfying.

A meal at an L.A. hotspot wouldn't be complete without the aforementioned celeb sighting. And it was a good one (at least IMHO): Sarah Chalke from Scrubs (who is more beautiful in person, even without a lot of makeup).

With a down to Urth food staff (get it Ravi?!), solid menu, tasty dessert, and celeb sighting, Urth Caffe gets an A- (Sarah Chalke bumps up the grade from a B+).

Urth Caffe (Menu)
8565 Melrose Ave.
West Hollywood, Ca 90069

vindication

Following the trend on this blog lately to link to food-related news articles, I present my contribution:

The Five Second Rule should be used carefully

http://www.slashfood.com/2007/02/16/the-five-second-rule-should-be-used-carefully/

Ravi

The Future?

The New York Times has an interesting article about the proliferation of food blogs and the surprising amount of power these blogs wield. Although the article is New York-centric, it's still worth reading.

It also got me looking at some of the food blogs mentioned in the article. The only one that really caught my eye was The Amateur Gourmet, because it seemed to go about the whole food blogging with a sense of humor (plus I wanted to check out the "best food blog post of 2006"... it was pretty entertaining).

And then, while on that blog, I came across his 1000th post, which gave a nice (albeit long) summary of what it takes to have a food blog. It was interesting (I definitely had dreams of GoogleAds dancing in my head), and I figured I should just pass it on, because it does have good tips about maintaining a food blog, even if it is just for friends.