4/23/07 - Lunch

Luke and I drove to Oakland to drop off a load of my crap at my future apartment. When we showed up we happened to run in to the current occupants, Johnny Sanders, and Ryan Maddox (my fellow eater), who had cried his way home from work 'cus he was feeling sick.

We all decided on J in the B for lunch. It's a blessing and a curse that this joint is situated 100 yards from the apartment.

TV shows these days look more and more like video games.

Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, fries, & a chicken sandwich; they all taste the same (good), make you feel the same (like shit) and they look the same. Not much has changed there. I have a poor diet.

4/18/07 - Dinner

Chris Miller visited the ranch and brought me his extra wok 'cus his girl already has one. Woks get me hot.

Rice simmering, I heated sesame oil in the wok, and chopped half an onion, no tears, thanks; threw the onions in along with peas in the pod and some week-old kale. The kale was like spinach, fluffy and voluminous at first, but it shrank once wokified. Dribbled teriyaki sauce over it all, and sprinkled salt, and pepper on top.

What the fuck am I doing? I have no clue. I didn't poison myself and it tasted just fine. Not to be mistaken for a true dish that I would perhaps cook for a girl on a date.

We've been scraping for scraps around here so I hunted around the nooks and crannies and found a packet of freeze dried soup in the back of the cupboard. How old is this MRE shit? Does it matter? Just add boiling water? Done. Dinner is served.

04/04/07 - Dinner

I've really got to learn to stick with the french toast at Crepevine. Their hamburgers are amazingly dull. The bread they put them on is too hard, and they just aren't cooked right or something. The good thing is that they come with potatoes, but I wish the french toast came with potatoes. Hm, I'm in a pickle. I'll have to stick with the french toast.

04/01/07 - Lunch

One of like eight stops on the way back from LA. What can I really say about In&out? It's in&out. A staple. There were a ton of cheerleaders around us, because I think there was a cheerleading competition in LA during that week. Having them around really made for a nice eating atmosphere. It was like being in a monkey cage.

04/01/07 - Breakfast

In a rather fortunate mix up, the Wilshire Grand overbooked us. Because of this, we got a bigger room (though it was the living room of a penthouse suite), a pass to the lounge (though it was two couches and a tv playing an Antonio Banderas movie), free valet parking, but best of all, free continental breakfast. Not everything was very good, but the basics were good - bacon, sausage, and chocolate milk were winners. Hash browns and orange juice? Not so much, OJ was sour or something, and hash browns didn't really taste like anything. Once I found what I liked, I ran with it. Thanks Wilshire Grand.

03/31/07 - Dinner

After hitting the galleries (Damien Hirst in Beverly Hills, and Mark Ryden in Hollywood - both were very good), we met with Katie but didn't really have a plan to eat anywhere. No one knew the area other than going to Canters, which I was really up for again. So I called Cassie Wu. Being a foodie, I figured she'd know where to eat. She directed us to Santa Monica to a place called Bad Dad's or something. Word of mouth said it was the best burger in town. It ended up being a bar where we couldn't really sit down, so we were stuck on a quiet Santa Monica street with dwindling options. We went to an extremely unremarkable Italian place. Bland bland bland. Highlight was seeing the waiter poor water from two feet up. Nice, dude.

03/31/07 - Lunch

Last Night's Patty hits the road. We're in LA and went to Canter's. A 24hr Jewish Deli on Fairfax. So good. So much better than Saul's in Berkeley. Canter's is like the orthodox jews, while Saul's is just like the Goldstein's that live next door to you. POSERS. Pastrami sandwich was so good. Still loving it. And it's cheaper than Saul's, always a plus. AND it's right next to Supreme. Beat that Saul's. That's right, you can't.

03/30/07 - Dinner

Now what kind of madness is this? Zachary's twice in like two weeks? This is simply obscene. Too much greatness for me to go on.

03/29/07 - Dinner

This is an Thai Eggroll I ate. I ate it up. I think there was pork in it which is always a plus. Add that to the fact that there were minimal vegetables to get in the way, and you have a tasty little treat. This place we went to was in close proximity to Chez Pannise and Gregoise so I figured it would be good, by osmosis or something. It was alright, though my only basis of Thai comparison is from Tuk Tuk, which I cleverly like to refer to as Suk Suk. I'm the best.

My Main plate was a pork dish (again). Not too bad, and I think the dipping sauce or whatever it was was pretty good and complimented the meat very well.

03/28/07 - Dinner

What the hell is my problem? I had a burrito after all the crap I've eaten in the past 24hrs. I think we might have gone on a bike ride around the lake and stuff, and somehow I convinced myself I could eat like shit the rest of the week, because, hey, I must have burned like 8000 calories or something.

I'm dumb.

03/28/07 - Breakfast

I'm a pig. After last night's seemingly never ending plate of spaghetti, and huge slice of coffee cake, what better way to follow up than doughnuts in the morning? What am I an idiot? It was worth it to go into work late for these. Vern was in town also, but the doughnuts were the star of the day. Can't wait for you to move in, Vern!

03/27/07 - Dinner and dessert

Sometimes, in an effort to save money, I'll actually eat at home. Tonight was one of those nights. It was actually left overs from home in Santa Cruz, and I should have stretched this out over the course of two nights, but I was greedy. I'm happy to say, though, that my stomach was not bigger than my mouth and I was able to eat the entire thing. Meatballs and all! Thanks mom.

But that's not all! Rebecca showed up later that night with some bombass coffee cake which I promptly consumed. Shit was dope.

03/24/07 - Dinner

Blast from the past. I think this was a dinner? I'm not sure of the specifics, but who cares, it's Zachary's and thats all I need to know. Fantastical. I love this places. BELIEVE THE HYPE, SON. I think this is actually when we were literally a foot away from going into Palams, but the sweet smell of Zachary's tickled our nosebuds and we defected across the street. We made the wise choice.

4/14/07 - Breakfast

Downtown Soquel has some choice restaurants and eateries. One of my favorites is the Sunrise Cafe, a not-so-greasy spoon run by hot waitresses and a few cooks in the back turning out a line of diner food that pleases everyone...

...especially a hung over Luke and Audrey (and me, behind the camera). The night before Auds drank most of my Jameson, Luke finished all the vodka we had left, and I showed up late (missing a game of Monopoly and smashing the empties on the driveway), but still caught the height of the tippled proceedings.

Patiently awaiting our table.

The patience paid off with a Potato Mess: house potatoes, eggs, bacon, cheddar cheese, mushrooms, topped with sour cream and tomaotes; with a side of buiscuits.

If Safeway made branded underwear, Luke would probably have a drawer full of them. Our waitress (the 2nd hotest one in my book), gave us a Safeway pen to sign the check. Luke was ecstatic, as if she'd given us a Mont Blanc. He felt like he was under the watchful eyes of the waitresses, so Auds swiped it for him. What a nice girl.

4/9/07 - BBQ Monday - Dinner

One of the last regular BBQ Mondays with me in town.

Luke met me at the Safeway at 4pm and Luke proceeded to terrorize the massive grocery store. Within minutes, he'd backed into a rack of jarred, pickled vegetables (a variety of carrots, cauliflower, etc.), and broke a few jars, spilling pickle juice and tastes everywhere. I didn't know him, was already down the ice cream aisle looking for a tub of vanilla that would eventually be combined with a roll of raw cookie dough.

Later, a stoked Dr. Brian playing catch with Luke, working up the appetite.

Dr. Brian, doing what he does best: talking. With Janelle, her dad, Nic, my mom, and Luke, listening on.

Asparagus, mashed potatoes, ribs and tri tip. Mom and Nic whipped up the mashed potatoes (using soymilk as a milk substitute); Luke seared the tri tip, grilled the asparagus and we popped the ribs (from Utah) in the oven.

I drank a lot of wine. Perfectamente barracho...

BBQ Mondays will be sorely missed.

4/4/07 - Breakfast

We stayed at Patty's brother Jackie's place in Santa Monica and in the morning he served us some scrumptious torta that his girlfriend's Uruguayan dad made the day before. It was a bit like a quiche; this wasn't amateur, and was clearly prepared by an experienced cook.

Jackie and his GF's hospitality were much appreciated.

4/3/07 - Lunch

Patty and I surfed polluted Malibu in the late morning. Crowded, smelly and the south swell on the rise we decided to cut south towards San Clemente, aiming for Doheny, Trestles and San Onofre. On the way we stopped at Cha Cha Chicken, a killer Cuban taqueria/restaurant in Santa Monica.

Patty had the jerk chicken enchiladas.

...and I had the joint's namesake, the Cha Cha Chicken! With some sides of rice, beans, cabbage, and fried plantain. If you haven't had Cuban, I suggest you seek out this cuisine. I suspect it's similar to other Carribean styles, mixing sweet, savory and spicy. Makes me sweat.

4/2/07 - Lunch

Picked up Patty in Ojai and we surfed a double-over-ankle C Street. Then we went on a tour of downtown Ventura eateries for lunch and found a hole in the wall Taqueria Vallarta (unrelated to the Santa Cruz venues) on the main drag. Perfect.

The lovely Patty Williams, waiting for her tacos, knocking back a Modelo.

I dug into some nachos: chips, sour cream, cheese, beans, chicken, salsa and guacamole. After a beer, this dish said 'nap time.' Back at the Williams residence we dozed on the deck, drank tea and ate cookies.

With the light waning, we rode bikes through town and ate dinner at a roadhouse on the outskirts of Ojai. We both ordered buffalo burgers with fries. No photographic evidence exists of this conquest but I confess that the burgers were dynamite. How does one follow a day of this sort?

4/1/07 - Breakfast

On my way down to Ojai I stopped at the perennial favorite, IHOP, the International House of Pancakes

Back in high school I had a fun summer job: I used to take portraits of cheerleaders at cheerleading camps for Coronet Photography. About twice a month I drove to Santa Barbara or LA for the camps. I had to get up early for these trips and I'd always stop at the IHOP just outside of Pismo for breakfast.

As the fog cleared this familiar blue sign was a shining billboard of nostalgia, instantly reminding me of past glories. Ridiculously bad for you, the greasy food at IHOP never fails to satisfy. The magic was still there.

Evidence for a future coronary: buiscuits and gravy, sausage and hash browns. You can't beat this, son!

3/30/07 - Lunch

First I decided on some Texas ranch beans...and then I started feeling sorry for not eating the kale I bought the week before.

I heated the beans in a pot, sauteed some onions and then the kale and for shits and giggles, toasted some whole wheat bread.

As I ate this I wondered what brought me to this peculiar culinary choice: first and only reason, I ate out of desperatation (I hadn't shopped in a week).

I can't recommend this combination, but it did the job.

3/30/07 - Breakfast

I didn't catch his name but this wee garden gnome emerged from the bushes outside our door, and was kind enough to offer me some of his "dried plums". Another word for them: prunes. Little dude looks like he's done pretty well for himself on his plum tree; he's like 300 years old, been regular for 200.

I may consider going on the prune regimen.

3/29/07 - Breakfast

I got up and wasn't very hungry. I found Luke in the kitchen, eating his Life with soy milk.

I declare Luke winner of the March Moustache competition by dint of rocking the 'stache in extroardinary circumstances. Ask him for all the salacious details.

House guest Juan Carlos-Sanchez, awake and hopping about in his cage, approves of Luke's shenanigans.

3/28/07 - Lunch

I have a new favorite deal in town: the 7.95 lunch buffet at the Royal Taj Indian restaurant on Soquel Dr.

I can't exactly indentify what I ate, but I was quite full and deeply satisfied.

I was so moved by this meal I felt like I could speak Hindi for the rest of the day.