Friday, April 29, 2011

Food Porn - California style

Traveling with an almost-twelve-year-old has many advantages when it comes to dining, or should I say, eating.  For instance, breakfast is really easy - bagels for him and yogurt, fruit and granola for me.  Simple, easy to find and substantial enough to hold us over until later in the day.  Another great thing about traveling with a kid is that they're more than happy to substitute ice cream for either lunch or dinner, something we did perhaps three of our vacation days.  And, with pride, I have to acknowledge that my pre-teen is really starting to branch out in what he orders when we're at a restaurant.  Gone forever are the days of chicken fingers and meat products always sold as "bacon" in an attempt to entice him to eat.  There's still some work to be done, believe me, like why ordering a NY Strip Steak at TGIFs at the Atlanta airport is not a good idea, but he is coming along.  Here's a sampling of a few of our favorite things...
Griffin's new favorite - fried ice cream

Roberta's matzoh ball soup

Amazing ceviche - Mariscos Chente, L.A.

Fish tacos - Mariscos Chente

Peking duck - Ocean Seafood, Chinatown, L.A.

Chinese feast - duck and Chinese broccoli
The BEST cinnamon roll - Rick's, Palm Springs

Breakfast

My first In-n-Out Burger

Potent margarita

Roll with softshell crab, crabmeat and tuna from Fugu's - La Jolla

Mole and fish tacos Alfonso's of La Jolla


5 comments:

  1. Now I'm drooling, thanks, Silvia. Just wait until your son is old enough to start eating everything in the fridge! My brother sure is.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You know, posts like this need a disclaimer: Do not read when hungry!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Curious to hear what you thought of the In-n-Out. I've long held that they don't measure up to Five Guys. But they do have the very cool secret menu. From the looks of it, your burger was not made "Animal Style."

    The fish tacos however look amazing.

    N.B. I just noticed that you can now get fried ice cream at the Hana stand in Crossgates' food court. Just in case you need to scratch that itch back home.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Daniel -
    I liked the burger. Not too complicated,well executed. I was surprised by how limited the menu was, but I guess they focus on a couple of things and do a good job with them. My son liked his milkshake even though it was really, really thick. Animal style, huh? Looks like I need to go back to CA... And thanks for the fried ice cream tip!

    ReplyDelete
  5. There was a period of time when In-n-Out was a rare commodity. There were only a few of them and they were only in Los Angeles. I remember taking boxes of burgers on the plane to my eager friends awaiting at SFO.

    But as the restaurant expanded, somehow the food got less special. It was easier to strip away the novelty and appreciate it for what it was, versus the aura that surrounded the institution.

    This isn't unique to In-n-Out. Regrettably it seems to be hard wired into the physiology of taste. The more you eat of something, even if its delicious, the less special it becomes.

    ReplyDelete