Yoga for Yahoos

In our quest to check out as many yoga studios and teachers as possible in the Los Angeles area, Jen and I signed up for a $25 two week trial at Truyoga / Trifit studios at the Yahoo Center in Santa Monica.  The facilities are quite nice; they have a large gym with all the usual gym equipment, studios for spin, weight and boxing classes, a large pool, locker room and showers, and a separate fully equipped yoga studio and spa space.  Our yoga class we took today was a little bit too slow- paced and short for my taste, but it's catered to local office workers so it makes sense.  All their yoga classes are either early morning, lunchtime or after work, with no classes on the weekend, so they definitely have their target customer.  It's fairly reasonably priced: $78 for a monthly membership which includes pool and gym use and all the classes, but I won't be joining as I prefer my cardio outside of the gym, such as running to the beach, swimming at home, or biking around town.

What Does Otis Want?

Sometimes, Otis just comes over and stares at me. Not sure what he's thinking or what he wants.  I took him, Floyd and Toby on a 4+ mile walk this morning to the beach and back but I think he still wants more.  And yes, he has a snaggle tooth; that's why his bottom teeth are sticking out.

Best French Onion Soup Ever

On Friday, I had the best french onion soup that I've ever had at a friend's house.  Who doesn't love french onion soup: the melted cheesy goodness on top over the rich onion broth and broth soaked bread.  This soup was on a whole other level though: the broth was complex and incredibly flavorful; not overly one-dimensionally salty like most french onion soup, but actually more complex and savory.  The onions were cooked perfectly to the point where they were just about to disappear, but retained just enough structure and texture to add to the soup.  The cheese was gooey, deliciously charred in spots and actually silky, as opposed to the often rubbery cheese found on top of most soup.  I think the best part was the bread.  Most bread in french onion soup is just soggy formerly stale bread.  I was told that the bread was double toasted and it looked like he used brioche.  The bread soaked up all the broth, yet still was just slightly crisp in the edges (though not dry) and the bread maintained a soft fluffy texture despite being soaked through with broth.  It's hard to describe, but it was such a revelation and so delicious.  I was told it was a 6 hour process to make the soup; I think it was worth every minute.  We had the soup with a deliciously crisp Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma, which was a nice match for the rich and savory soup.

Yoga by the Pool

A couple of us went to Lululemon's free class taught by Liz Arch at the W Hotel in Westwood bright and early this morning at 9am.  It was a great way to wake up and kick off the day; one of the best free classes by Lululemon that I've been to.  Often the free classes just feel too short and aren't challenging enough, but this class was pretty good.  I'm not sure that I liked the martial arts moves that she incorporated into the class, but at least it was something different.  It was also nice to practice outside by the pool; even though it was a little chilly and overcast when we started, we warmed up quickly.  While the free mimosas and discounted brunch at the W were tempting, I had to go run a couple of errands so unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to take full advantage of the freebies.

After errands, W and I took advantage of my 30% off Blackboard Eats coupon and had brunch at Bite Bar & Bakery, which I visited a few weeks ago for lunch.  We had the seasonal egg souffle cup baked in their delicious croissant dough, the eggy bread sandwich and a chocolate croissant.  I really liked the seasonal egg souffle, it was soft and fluffy in the middle but surrounded by the nice, flaky and buttery croissant crust.  The eggy bread sandwich was interesting, like a french toast breakfast sandwich.  The filling could have been a little more interesting; it was a little dry, but I still enjoyed the few bites I had.  I really liked their croissant; it has a great crispy, almost burnt edge on the outside with millions of thin light and flaky layers in the middle without being overly buttery or oily.  I liked their brunch more than their lunch and I found it reasonably priced, particularly with the coupon.

Bite Bar and Bakery
3221 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA  90405

R+D

This week, I went to R+D Kitchen on Montana Avenue for lunch.  I've been meaning to try R+D forever as it is fairly close to my house, although I find the menu to be rather limited to more lunchtime fare like sandwiches and salads, which is what has kept me from visiting.  I'm usually not in the mood for sandwiches and salads for dinner and their food is slightly pricey for lunch (~$15 average for a sandwich or salad without any sides).  That being said, I really enjoyed the two sandwiches we ordered: the veggie burger and the special pulled pork sandwich.  R+D is known for having one of the best veggie burgers in town, and it did not disappoint: the patty was really flavorful and nicely textured.  The patty was thick and filled with mushrooms, brown rice, grains, carrots and peppers for some crunch.  It was huge and  really good and the rich jack cheese and soft fluffy bread definitely made it very rich and filling.  It's not a light or healthy sandwich (neither of the sandwiches were), but very tasty in any case.  We were famished and devoured the sandwich before I remembered to take a picture. 

  Pulled pork special

The pulled pork sandwich was absolutely delicious as well; my favorite pulled pork sandwich ever.  Normally I find pulled pork sandwiches to be overly salty and sauced, or dry and usually very one-dimensional.  It was definitely not the case with this sandwich; the pork was moist and flavorful and balanced so well by all the other ingredients in the sandwich; the creamy avocado, fresh tomatoes, thin slice of cheese, nice vinegar-y slaw and delicious fluffy bread.  I loved this sandwich and would order it over and over again.

The decor of R+D is nice, similar to the other Hillstone restaurants like Houstons and Banderas: clean and modern with dark woods with nice open kitchen.  They have three locations with the other two in Newport Beach and Dallas.  We got a perfect booth where we could also watch the second half of the semi-final World Cup match between Netherlands and Uruguay.  They also have a nice bar and wine selection, although I don't see this as much of a dinner place, though it is always packed for both dinner and lunch when I walk by.  There was a line out the door when we finished our lunch.


R+D Kitchen
1323 Montana Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 395-3314

Giant Vegetables

Yesterday, I went to the Wednesday Santa Monica farmer's market to pick up vegetables for the week.  I'm cooking dinner for one for the next week, so I decided to stock up on vegetables and go green while everyone else is away.  The market was packed despite the the dreary day.  For the most part, not much change in the seasonal fruits and vegetables over the last couple of weeks, although cherries are pretty much gone, there are more and more heirloom tomatoes, and I saw my first pepper.  I bought a ton of salad greens, a big bag of arugula and a big bag of Italian mix (wild arugula, mizuna and radicchio), some heirloom cherry tomatoes, leeks, green onions and an avocado.

Last night, I made some soup with some abnormally large vegetables, a zucchini / squash from the backyard and some farmer's market leeks for a zucchini leek soup.  Unlike the East Coast which has been sweltering under a heat wave, it's actually been quite chilly here; mostly overcast with even some light drizzle - perfect soup weather.  I basically used the same recipe I always use, using 1 giant zucchini, 2 large leeks, 1 tiny onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and chicken stock.

I also made a quick heirloom tomato caprese salad with a small heirloom tomato from last week, fresh mozzarella, basil from my shrinking basil plant (those leaves are as big as they get now, any ideas on what I can do to make them grow larger?), balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  It was good, though I think the heirloom tomato wasn't as sweet as it should have been.

June Wine Club

Michelle hosted June wine club at Bin 73.  Click here for more pictures and details...

For real, our waiter's tattoo