La Creperie Cafe

As the name suggests, La Creperie is the place for crepes and all things French. I went there with Andrey last Saturday after a day at the beach and got the fettuccini carbonara, which was amazing. The fettuccini was al dente and was bathing in a garlicy white wine parmesan sauce. One top of that were chicken, crispy bacon bits and fresh pesto.

For dessert, we had the crepes a la Romeo and Juliet. It's a crepe made of wheat flour stuffed with nutella, strawberries and bananas and topped with whipped cream and more chocolate syrup. The fruit was the perfect balancing partner with the rich nutella, however, the wheaty crepe was a bit too dense for my taste. We also thought that there was not enough nutella in the dish. But overall, it was pretty good :)

http://lacreperiecafe.net/

teaforest

Today, I went to Culver City for the Culver City Artwalk and I stopped by this cafe because I had heard that it was really good. Let me just tell you that it really lived up to its recommendation. The coffee was really good and the apple cinnamon muffin was the best that I have ever had in LA. ( I am a complete sucker for a good muffin and I have yet to find one to my satisfaction, that is until now! )

teaforest is located at 8686 washington blvd, culver city

We need to go here!

Alcove

My friend Ryan took me to this great little cafe and bakery called Alcove. It was really good. I had a portabello mushroom sandwich with feta, bell peppers, carmelized onions and argula. He had the crabcake sandwich. And for DESSERT....we split peanut butter cookies and a piece of butterscotch cheesecake which was to die for.

Here are some links if you want to get a feel for the place.

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/41537962/los_angeles_ca/alcove_cafe_bakery.html

http://alcovecafe.com/

An afternoon in Old Town

Last week Tsz and I went to Old Town Pasadena, which seems to be a favorite spot for the writers of this blog. It's got all the charm of a smaller town outside the grungier areas of LA without feeling too suburban and overbuilt. We had lunch at the charming Cafe Bizou on North Raymond Street. It wasn't very crowded at the time we went but by the time we left it had filled up a bit. We sat nearby the AIGA LA president, or so we thought from overhearing people's conversations.





I had Alfredo pasta with tomato basil sauce and it was delicious. Tsz had the lobster ravioli. But the main draw of the place was in the cute tables and the setup.




After lunch we went shopping at Mimios, the adorable paper/stationary store where I bought my paper to make my graduation announcements. My announcements came out really well, although at the time I was cursing my decision to hand-make them and wishing I had just bought the generic announcements from the university. We also discovered a travel book shop, where I purchased books about Edinburgh, London, and Copenhagen. Seeing all the pictures in the books inspired me to start saving up for travel in the future.

In the afternoon we went to the Norton Simon museum where we only stayed for a half hour but got to see the impressionist paintings and toured the garden, where my flip flop broke! I had to hobble back to the car and drive home barefoot.





Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CANDICE!! I had so much fun at your Benihanas dinner. I hope it was a good day for you.

Las Vegas

I know this is expanding past our general topics about LA, but I went to Las Vegas this weekend with some friends and found some delicious desserts.




Gelato at Caesar's Palace. It was crazy expensive, but at least they made it look pretty.



At the M&M store you could get almost any color M&M you could want. I got a bunch and will use them for baking at some point.

Le Cupcake and More Ideas for the Summer

Last Tuesday, I was in Santa Monica doing some errands and decided to try Le Cupcake in the Santa Monica Mall. I tasten tested their Red Velvet Cupcake. While the cream cheese frosting was really delicious and creamy, the cake wasn't as good. Violet's is much better. The cakes are pretty though. I will put up pictures soon.

I just read about this coffee place I am dying to try:

Caffe Luxxe

925 Montana Ave.
Santa Monica
(310) 394-2222

Great coffee place that only serves espresso. I am especially excited to try their ristretto (a short espresso developed in Italy).

Some other ideas that Tsz and I had for the summer:
-Bakery at Crosscreek shopping area in Malibu, go to Zuma beach afterwards
-Sweet Lady Jane Bakery
-Leda Cupcakes in Studio City
-Try out new recipes and have dinner parties

MILK

THE BEST