Eat. Travel. Eat!

We've greatly enjoyed our past visits to Larchmont's Cafe Gratitude , and so we were glad to hear that Cafe Gratitude has also opened up in Downtown's Art District--making a for a shorter drive to enjoy their creative vegan and organic foods. The Arts District location takes more of a light colored approach (instead of an emphasis on turquoise), with white chairs and benches, grey walls, yellow chairs, green plants, and woods throughout the entire location. It's also much larger than the Larchmont location--we made reservations, given Cafe Gratitude's general popularity and dineLA, but found out that the restaurant was less than half full when we entered. Unlike some of the Yelp reviews about this location, service was great right from the moment we entered the restaurant. We were happily guided to our table, our waiters noted the dineLA menu and dinner specials, checked up on us to make sure we were ready to order (took a while given the many options!)...

I've recently gotten an interest in healthier foods and restaurants that specialize in healthy eating, such as Cafe Gratitude. Having greatly enjoyed Cafe Gratitude , I thought it wouldn't hurt to explore and try out a fellow restaurant chain also in the same organic, plant-based segment--Real Food Daily. While Cafe Gratitude likes to " provide inspired service, honest and transparent communication, and express gratitude for the richness of our lives ", Real Food Daily prides itself on being a destination where " community happens around education, connection and hospitality, over delicious, accessible food that’s real. " And indeed, there were parallels in both restaurants. The service was extremely friendly, the environment upbeat, natural, modern, and friendly, and people were enjoying a wide assortment of plant-based items--drinks and juices, appetizers, rice bowls, salads, and dessert.

A growing 100% organic, plant-based restaurant chain, Cafe Gratitude offers healthful vegetarian foods in a positive, modern, and friendly ambiance. I was recommended to visit it by a friend, who lauded the positive atmosphere, and was pleasantly surprised by how tasty the vegetarian fare was. Inside, Cafe Gratitude is happy, positive, and clean, with natural tones and casual furnishings. The mood is set by the positive adjectives not only listed on the menus ("I am...") and boards, but also the employees, who are content and wear shirts that say "love" and other terms. Mindfulness, health, and wellness permeate the entire environment.

One of the items that I always make sure to get when visiting McDonald's in Asia is the Sweet Taro Pie (in China, 2 for 9 RMB). There are several differentiators to McDonald's China pies: 1. As its outer appearance suggests, it is a fried, not baked product. Thus, the exterior is fragrant and crispy, while the interior of the dough is tender, slightly chewy and elastic. 2. The flavor! Taro, pineapple, and banana were the flavors I saw while I was on my trip, but all of these flavors are not available in the United States. Taste wise for the sweet taro pie, it all comes together: a lightly sweet, tender taro filling with an slightly savory exterior and chewy interior covering. It isn't particular heavy either, for the taro filling consists of pieces of taro in a sweet purple colored syrup; you are not eating mashed taro in each bite, but rather a more fluid filling with the fried pastry dough. No, it might not be the healthiest dessert around, bu...

We happened to visit Las Vegas recently to update ourselves in all the changes that have been made over the recent years. After arriving at The Mirage and completing our check-in process, we headed for dinner, only to find limited choices, for many of the fine fining establishments were closed. So, we looked to the Cravings Buffet, a place we had visited five years ago . What's changed so far with Cravings? Many Las Vegas hotel dining establishments (including Cravings) now have electronic touchscreen monitors featuring information about the restaurant, as well as menus, at the entrance. With enticing items like osso buco, eel and tuna nigiri, and brown butter salmon, we went into the queue. (Unfortunately, as we would find out later in the meal, the digital menu isn't 100% accurate) Though we did happen to have VIP access to the line, the regular line happened to be shorter, being 8PM when we visited. Yet, even with the shorter lines, it still took ten minutes unti...

Four years ago, I used a camera phone and a point and shoot. One of the most memorable pictures was this picture of an engraved watermelon with an UCI anteater, taken when my friend was just entering the university. The food then at Pippin Commons was decent, but there were definitely some setbacks, even at move-in day, where Pippin was trying to demonstrate its quality offerings to parents. For example, the chicken tortilla soup was barely passable; some other items I shrugged about. (Pictures taken during Celebrate UCI, 2012) In between the four years, I got samples from Pippin, such as some chocolate chip cookies (delicious, crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle) or fruit, but I never really got to thoroughly visit Pippin, or UCI itself again. With that said, my companions and I really were in for a surprise when we visited Pippin for the first time again in four years. In comparison to some restaurant reviews that I've written here on the blog...