Note: Hiking, on hold

For the past several weekends, I've been in the midst of moving, so I haven't had a chance to embark on any new hiking adventures, but I hope to start up again soon, especially since the June Gloom is keeping the temperatures pretty moderate without too much sun exposure.

The hike that's next on my list is in Griffith Park (the one that starts in lush Ferndell and ends at the Observatory). I saw it (along with The Trails cafe) featured on "Visiting ...With Huell Howser" and have been wanting to hike it ever since. As a teaser, a couple of weeks ago, I stopped at the cafe and had a huge slice of apple pie, which didn't wow me (not sweet enough and a little dry), but I still want to go back and try the other pastries (I hear the scones are great) and food items (lots of veggie options, including an avocado sandwich that sounds amazing). The location is very pretty and peaceful (as long as there aren't too many screaming children), and I like the idea of sitting on the picnic benches enjoying some nouvelle snack bar food under the trees.

Must Try: Chicago-Style Pizza at Masa

I went to Masa on Friday night, and the Chicago-style pizza has been on my mind as strong undercurrent since then. I have shared my experience with as many people as possible, extolling the tastiness of the cornmeal crust, which only got better after reheating on the second day. I have had daydreams about the garlicky tomato sauce and the layer of cheese peeking out from underneath. And I think that if I decided to ever really let myself go, I couldn't think of a better way to do it than to eat this pizza everyday. (Actually, the best way would probably be a weekly routine of Masa, Pie 'N Burger, Honey's Kettle, Hurry Curry, and Cici's.)

I had the California Vegetable pizza, which had Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and next time, I'd like to try the Mushroom and Olive. I suppose it's a good thing that I don't eat beef/pork, since I can only imagine how filling the meat pizzas are. The key is to try not to eat too much before the pizza. This proves to be a bit of a feat, since it takes 40 minutes, during which you have to resist various appetizers, salads and freshly-baked Cuban rolls (which thankfully, don't come automatically.) Good luck with that.

Hike #7: Echo Mountain via the Sam Merrill Trail

Two weekends ago, I (along with TB) went on the toughest hike yet (at least, for me): Echo Mountain via the Sam Merrill Trail in Altadena. This hike is about 2.5 miles one-way up a sunny and switchback-heavy trail with a total elevation gain of about 1,400 feet:

When you get to the top of Echo Mountain, you can explore the ruins of a turn of the century (1900s) resort:

...and the railway that took guests up to it:

Before descending or continuing the three miles further to the top of Mount Lowe, you can read both the historic and intepretive signs scattered around the site and relax in several shady picnic areas:

My favorite part was this:


It's not everyday that you get to hear your own yodeling echoing throughout the San Gabriel Mountains:

One of the best things about doing a strenuous hike is that you really have carte blanche to eat as much as you want for lunch. We did just that at the plain-looking Pie 'N Burger, a Pasadena institution. I had been meaning to go there for quite a while since I found out that they did turkey burgers (I don't eat regular burgers) and that it was mostly counter seating (I love eating at counters!)

After 3 hours of hiking, my burger definitely hit the spot. TB said the burger reminded him of a Big Mac, but better. (I don't think I can even remember what a Big Mac tastes like, but I'm assuming that they would be similar because of the Thousand Island dressing.) Anyway, the showstopper (and possible heartstopper) was the Dutch Apple Pie: crumbly cinammon topping, warm and not too sweet apple filling, buttery crust and generous scoops of French Vanilla ice cream. (TB got the rhubarb pie.) In any event, they have more than a dozen kinds of pie (depending on what's in season) at Pie 'N Burger, and I can't wait to try every single one.

New York, New York

Last week, I took a quick (3 days, 2 nights) trip to NYC to visit friends, go to museums and eat good food. Here are my highlights:

POD Hotel - For the most part, NYC hotel rooms are small. So why not embrace that and save money at the same time? I loved my perfectly-designed double room at the POD, but what I loved even more was that I paid as much for two nights than I would have for one night at an equally stylish hotel. It's also a block away from the 6 train which is very convenient if you're going to hit the museums on the Upper East Side, and because it's in Midtown, it's an easy to walk to most of the main tourist attractions. The only thing to note is that some of the rooms use the bathrooms in the hallway, which can lead to interesting smells and dormlike/noisy frolicking in the public areas, but I didn't really have a problem with this because I have a high tolerance for noise and I had my own bathroom.

Frick Museum - Still my favorite museum, probably because I'm such a fan of "America's Castles"-type residences. But the collection is outstanding if you like beautiful paintings by Old Masters (with some exceptions). My only quibble is that I wished Frick had collected some Sargents, but I'll take the Whistlers happily as substitutes. I thought it was ironic that the special exhibition consisted of paintings from the Norton Simon, but since I love that collection, too, I didn't really mind.

Madame X at the Met - Probably one of my favorite paintings of all time. When I was last in NYC, it was on loan to another museum, but this time, I got to fully admire John Singer Sargent's controversial painting at my leisure.

Tea @ Alice's Tea Cup - Amazing scones! I had "The Nibbler" tea service which consisted of one scone (pumpkin for me) with jam and cream, a rather hearty tea sandwich (Lapsang Souchong Chicken on multigrain bread), various cookies, and a pot of tea (Lavender Earl Grey). I was pretty ravenous, but this filled me up very quickly, so it makes me wonder who would consider this just a nibble.

Sofia Wine Bar - I needed a quiet place near my hotel to catch up with an old friend and found this new wine bar a block away. The sommelier was very accommodating and helped me to zero in on the perfect glass of Brunello.

Lemony mini croissants @ Sant Ambroeus - These came in a bread basket I had during Saturday morning brunch at Sant Ambroeus and I'm still thinking about them. Dusted with powdered sugar, they had a faint lemon flavor that brightened the buttery sweetness. This restaurant/pasticceria/gelateria gets extra points for the sweet but sophisticated design of its branding (the waiters even wore pink button-down shirts to match!)

Food @ MOMA - I like eating at museums when I get the chance and usually the food is okay to good, but I have to say that the food service at MOMA was revelatory. For lunch at Cafe 2, the lemon ricotta manicotti with swiss chard I had was sublime and better than many dishes I've had at proper sit-down restaurants. Later in the afternoon, despite already eating a chocolate chunk cookie at lunch, I shared the inventive MOMA sundae with a friend at Terrace 5: raspberry & fromage blanc sorbets, cheesecake, fresh berries, vanilla sauce. Decadent, but light.

MOMA Store - I bought a new watch here in addition to some other cool things, and spent more money than I had planned. If you like museum stores and good design, you'd probably drop a bit of cash here, too.

Pret a Manger - I loved these grab and go food shops in London and was glad to see them stateside. If only they were in L.A...

AirTrain - This is the first time I've had the chance to take the AirTrain to and from JFK and I have to say that it was very convenient (especially since my hotel was a few blocks away from the subway station.) Previously, I used to take the Grayline Bus from JFK to Grand Central, but I liked this much better. Unless I have more than one suitcase to carry by myself, I will definitely be sticking with the Airtrain for my NYC airport transfers.

I really enjoyed myself on this trip because I didn't have to really worry about orienting myself (which can be a drawback when you go to a new location). I just got to re-experience all the stuff I love, while checking out some of the new things I've heard about. To me, NYC is one of the best repeat travel destinations because it does a fantastic job of preserving its history and character while still moving forward at a dizzying pace. It's always easy to find something to satisfy any one of my many moods and I am never bored there. While I love home, it's definitely a nice change of pace from laidback and less-accessible Los Angeles.

Hike #1: Debs Park

Last week, I went to Debs Park in Highland Park for the first of my 60 hikes. After parking at the Audubon Center and deciding on my route, I ascended up the hill on the City View Trail (obviously named for its views of Downtown L.A.):

...which eventually led to a nice little pond at the top:


I wandered around a bit (I can't resist taking pictures of dappled light):

...before finally descending and checking out the LEED Platinum-rated Audubon Center (which my company worked on):

Overall, it was a good hike with several decent climbs to work out your calves. To reward myself afterward, I hung out in South Pasadena, eating a fantastic caprese sandwich at the Heirloom Bakery (see my tweets) and trying out the cupcakes at My Sweet Cupcake. Then, I went to the Pasadena Museum of California Art:

I've been wanting to go here for awhile, and though it is a small museum space, it does have its own charm. My favorite exhibit was of 3D images of Mars, courtesy of JPL and Caltech. After putting on the requisite specs, the Martian topography really popped out with the perspectives changing as I walked along the large prints.

Anyway, from one type of landscape to another, it was quite a full day!

How I'm Going to Spend This Weekend (and at least 60 others)

60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Los Angeles (on Google)
Eat: Los Angeles (the Web site and blog)

Hiking endlessly beautiful trails (burning calories painlessly) + Eating amazingly good food (gaining calories happily) = Perfect Weekend Equilibrium

Perfect late Saturday afternoon lunch

Chicken gyro, dolmades and a Snapple Lemon Iced Tea at Papa Cristo's... the meal also came with live Greek music!

(Mobile blog post)

Food on the brain: Fried Chicken

I write about food so much that sometimes I think I should change this to a food blog, but then that would spur me to eat more which could end up disastrously. Anyway, I've been so busy of late and part of what keeps me mentally and emotionally afloat is indulging in comfort food. Of course, fried chicken is high on that list and I really feel that it's been singing its siren song to me this week.

First, I am bombarded with advertisements for the new McDonald's Southern Style Chicken Biscuit breakfast sandwich. Fried chicken and a biscuit in the morning sounds like something that would go down really smooth, but then I have to remind myself that it is McDonald's and I can't eat there and not have a stomachache afterwards. But still, I was talking to a friend about it on Saturday and later when I got home, there were three free coupons for them in the mail, so it's definitely taunting me.

And then tonight, I was reading some of my blogs and came across this post on Franklin Avenue, talking about the tastiness of Korean fried chicken. Both of the places mentioned in the post and also in the L.A. Times article referenced are a few blocks away from where I live! My only hope is that I try it and hate it for being double-fried and soy-gingery. Somehow, I don't think I'm going to hate it, though.

Blogging about Asian and McDonald's food in the same post leads me to a particular page on the McDonald's Asian site. I don't really know what to make of the page or the site, which is titled "i am asian" (in lowercase, because Asians are cool like that?) Anyway, I find it interesting that on the homepage and Asian phrase challenge page, the mouse representing Filipinos has a fun jeepney illustration on it, the Chinese one has a cool neon green dragon and the Indian one has a nice henna-tattooed hand drawing, but then the Korean one literally has an unstylized photo of a bowl of kimchee. If I was Korean-American, I'd be pissed (not enough to call up Al Sharpton, but maybe enough to whine about it on my blog.)

Cannoli Watch: Little Dom's

A few nights ago, my best friend Eric and I had a lovely dinner at Little Dom's in Los Feliz. We both ordered well: I started off with the wonderful Roasted Beets with Burrata, Citrus and Fennel and Eric had a simple Arugula and Parmesan salad. For entrees, I had the Whole Wheat Fettuccine with black pepper, Meyer lemon, asparagus and parmesan and he had the very moist and flavorful Roasted Chicken Leg with Fregole pasta.

However, the star course of the night had to be dessert. Once we got the dessert menus, it took me less than a second to decide what I was going to have. Here we were sitting in a restaurant that kinda sorta had that New York neighborhood Italian vibe, so how could I not get the cannolis?

I suppose it doesn't hurt that I love cannolis (see previous post) and am always on the lookout for the perfect combination of rich filling and crunchy pastry. Well, Little Dom's Cannoli Trio dessert certainly fits that description. You get three small cannolis, one stuffed with rich chocolate filling, one with coffee filling and the last with perfectly creamy ricotta cheese, chocolate chips and pistachios. I had the chocolate and ricotta ones and Eric had the coffee one. Unprompted, he said that it was probably one of the best desserts he had ever had. I loved them, too, though I'll have to reserve judgment on its "best" status until I sample more cannolis in L.A. so definitely let me know if you've got a place for me to try.

White Fence Farm

White Fence Farm is a restaurant and mini theme park that celebrates the American farm experience. I ate at the suburban Denver location with my cousin and her family last Friday, and I loved it!

First of all, what's not to love about corn fritters tossed in powdered sugar:

Or a plate stacked high with crispy-on-the-outside/juicy-on-the-inside fried chicken (extra points for the American flag):

In addition to the food, there was a petting zoo with goats, an indoor and outdoor play area, a live music area (yes, the band was playing country), an Americana barn, a Clydesdale-drawn carriage, peacocks, and country life exhibits, like this one:

What I loved most about this place, though, has to be this:

Yay! A chicken car!

For the full set of photos on Flickr, click here.

Ooey Gooey

In addition to my little cupcake obsession, I've been sampling all sorts of yumminess at various bakeries. Today, I stopped at Milk for the first time and I'm almost sorry I did. Not that it was bad... it's just that I have to go the Art Store fairly often and Milk is located just off the same intersection (Beverly & Poinsettia.) Unfortunately, I can absolutely see myself picking up one of their "ooey gooey double chocolate" cookies every time I need to pick up some mat board or pencils. Those cookies are the most chocolatey and rich double chocolate cookies I have ever tasted. I was happily buzzing for hours. And at $1 a cookie, I can't wait to have another one.

In addition to those cookies, I also bought a slice of blue velvet cake for one of my coworkers and a square of chocolate croissant bread pudding for K. The reviews were very positive.

Milk is probably best known for its milk-derived goodies, like shakes, pudding and ice cream. Perhaps next time, I'll try something from their food menu (I hear their cobb and media noches are good) and wash it down with a chocolate malt...and, of course, grab some of those cookies.