Now you can eat at LYFE Kitchen and Love Your Food Everyday in Southern CA

So, what's a restaurant super fan to do when her favorite restaurant opens their second location 340 miles away? Get in her car and drive down to the new LYFE Kitchen in Culver City, CA! Of course.

But where is it exactly? It's at 9540 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232.

Here are a few landmarks you may know. LYFE Kitchen is almost next door to the Pacific Theatres, within two blocks of Culver City's City Hall, and four blocks down Washington Blvd. from Sony Pictures Studios.

As you drive down the street it looks like this. There isn't any street parking out front but there is just around the corner and down the street along with parking lots and garages. There's even valet parking (offered through the city) at night for $6.50. The valet stand was positioned right between the restaurant and the Coldstone Creamery next door.

Out front newly planted Swiss chard and rosemary plants greeted us. I was there with hubby to meet up with my Uncle and two of my cousins for dinner. They live in the L.A. area so while we were in town it seemed only natural to introduce them to my fav eatery. I would have taken their pictures and added them to this post but, like my mom and I, they hate to have their pictures taken too. It must be genetic.

Walk inside and you'll spot the same vertical herb garden as the one in Palo Alto, their flagship location.

The menu is locally sourced which is good for local growers and the environment cutting down on both the time it takes to get fresh produce from the farm to your plate and the carbon footprint that's created when products are transported from far away locations instead of the closest ones.

Though both buildings are LEED-certified, one of the first things I noticed is that the Culver City location is larger than its counterpart in Palo Alto. Many of the building materials at both locations are eco-friendly using LED lights and sustainable materials like bamboo and repurposed materials and objects. You can read an in-depth blog post about just how eco-friendly LYFE Kitchen is in this blog post on the Palo Alto Patch website.

The new restaurant also has this cool hydroponic micro greens wall art piece. It's a veritable living quilt of greens you can eat.

Place your order at the counter (using a printed Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, Gluten-free, or Vegan menu). The menu was designed by Chefs Art Smith and Tal Ronnen. I've had the opportunity to meet Chef Ronnen through LYFE Kitchen at their Palo Alto fork lifting ceremony, at a cooking demo, and at a private vegan press dinner.

Where to sit? There are four distinct dining areas to choose from:

1. There's the outdoor patio out front.

2. The interior front dining room that has a community table and standard chairs and tables good for small and large groups and families with kids.

There's a mini lounge type area for single diners or small groups who just want an appetizer or dessert with a cup of coffee or glass of wine.

And in the rear of the building a cozy dining area with padded chairs.

Before choosing your seat be sure to pick up your flatware, napkins, and a glass of water at the self serve station to the right of the front counter. To me, this is an eco-friendly idea because you only take what you need. Same with water. The serve yourself concept creates far less waste.

Once at your table you can kick back and relax chatting with your dining companion(s). A server will bring your food to you using the GPS locator you set on your table. There aren't any names or numbers over a loud speaker or buzzing or vibrating devices. Very classy.

And what did I order that evening? Since it was a new restaurant I wanted to try something new that I hadn't had before. So, even though I don't like squash, I ordered the Kabocha Squash Risotto ($8.99) made with farro, kale, carrot and broccolini. At 476 calories (all of LYFE Kitchen's menu items are less than 600 calories) and 813 grams of sodium it really was a perfect meal. And I really liked it! Liked it enough to order it again the next time I go back and to want to learn how to make it at home.

Their food is so much healthier than what you'll find in most restaurants. Nothing is deep fried, there's no butter, refined sugar, white flour, and everything is preservative free. All of their dishes are 600 calories or less which also means their portions aren't super-sized.  It's a great reminder of how portions used to be before restaurants tried to outdo each other with the super large portions that have compromised the health of Americans in so many ways.

After dinner I took this picture of the restaurant all lit up while everyone else grabbed some dessert next door.

While spending more time visiting with my family we noticed a line had formed. They were busy!

As the evening wore on the line turned over several times. We had eaten at 6:00 when there was only a short line. Around 7:00 was definitely when the dinner rush hit but don't worry, the line moves very quickly. Having only been open for a week I can't tell you how thrilled I was that the restaurant was already this popular. It looks like L.A. was waiting for wholesome, affordable food.

While taking one of the outdoor shots I heard a little boy who couldn't have been more than four years old tell his folks "This is the only place we're eating at tonight!" LOL. They already have loyal fans from the next generation. Definitely a good thing.

And even though I hate having my picture taken, just to prove I was there, I posed for this shot. And full disclosure, we were in town to attend a friend's wedding near Pasadena so how could we not make the 19 miles (each way) drive down to Culver CIty? I couldn't think of a reason not to :)

Now with two locations to serve you:

Southern California
LYFE Kitchen - website
9540 Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232
310-507-7955

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Northern California
LYFE Kitchen - website
167 N. Hamilton
Palo Alto, CA
650-325-LYFE(5933)

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The Seasonal Brussels Sprouts Salad at Pizza Antica is Leaving

OMBS. The Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad with Caramelized Onion, Bacon, Hard Cooked Egg and Croutons ($9.95) at Pizza Antica will only be available for a few more days. Less than two weeks is what I was told yesterday.

I'm trying to figure out how many times can I go eat it before it's gone. Would every day be too much?

I added the Piadini (thin flat bread) for $1.50. It's the only way to go. It soaks in some of the juices and flavors from the salad. Basically you take the the bread and scoop some of the Brussels Sprouts onto a slice and fold it in half lengthwise like a little taco and eat it like a folded piece of pizza.

Ooooh my mouth is watering right now just telling you about it.

Maybe I'll have it tomorrow. Every day might be too much. If you live in California (Lafyette, Mill Valley, Santa Clara or Santa Monica) and want to try it, don't wait. It'll be gone all too soon. Be sure to check the "Greens" section of the menu to make sure they're still serving it. If you love Brussels Sprouts I think you'll love this salad. If you don't love them, you might just discover you love Pizza Antica's version of them.

I'm a Food Trendsetter! Honey Walnut Tofu at Taiwan Restaurant

Last night I asked hubby if he wanted to go out to dinner to one of my most favorite places: Taiwan Restaurant in Willow Glen. Recently I'd been wondering something about their menu. Years ago I tried my first Honey Walnut Prawns dining at Taiwan because they're famous for their Honey Walnut Prawns. After I became allergic to seafood I asked if they could make Honey Walnut Chicken, which they did. Since going vegetarian in 2010 I was thinking just the other day that was one of the few meat dishes I'd truly miss... Then it hit me, I wondered how fried tofu would taste instead of chicken?

Image by: Taiwan Restaurant

Last night we went and I ordered Honey Walnut Fried Tofu. Our waitress asked me twice what I meant because she said nobody had ever ordered it before. With anticipation I waited, hoping it would be, at the very least, "OK" because I was hungry and I even dared to hope it would be "Great" because then I could have Honey Walnut any time I wanted.

It was AWESOME!

Our waitress seemed pretty excited about it and said she'd already told the owner and they would probably add it to their menu. It was a win-win and kind of funny that it hadn't ever occurred to them before. So now, if you're in Willow Glen, be sure to drop by Taiwan Restaurant on Lincoln Avenue and order a big plate of Honey Walnut Fried Tofu. The creamy sauce blended with the crispy tofu, crunchy shredded cabbage and candied walnuts is soooooooooooo delicious my mouth is watering just writing about it!

The Best Vegetarian Tacos Ever!

I haven't ever had a "favorite" taco before but can honestly say I've discovered not one but two vegetarian tacos that have me going ga-ga over how much I love them. Chacho's, a fun and hip taco bar located in downtown Campbell, CA has a "Vegetarian" as in all vegetables taco and a meatless "House" taco.

The house taco contains soy chorizo (I read online that Trader Joe's has an awesome soy chorizo if you want to make your own at home). Since it's on the regular menu and not tucked away off to the side in a vegetarian section I had to ask the obvious: "Soy, like... it's not meat?" The cashier laughed and said: "No, not meat." That's a photo of it above. I'd never had pork chorizo so I'm not sure if it tastes the same. What I can tell you is that it tastes good. Really good!

The vegetable vegetarian taco is also great. Filled with grilled onions, red and green bell peppers, carrot, fresh tomato and I'm not sure what else, they are tasty and I'd think pretty healthy.

If you're ever in or around downtown Campbell and want to check out a great vegetarian taco that doesn't look or taste like it's vegetarian, a quick stop at Chacho's for a "House" taco may be the perfect solution. They also have plenty of meat options and offer burritos, chimichangas, tacos, tortas, tostados, quesadillas, nachos, ceviche, soups (pozole, cocido, tortilla and albondigas), lots of house specials like enchiladas chile relleno, verde and colorado, flautos, tamales and even breakfast burritos with filling choices that include eggs (huevos), papas (potatoes), beans (frijoles), rice (arroz), cactus (nopales) and Spam (yes, spam).

They're located at 266 E. Campbell Ave. right next door to the Cardiff Lounge and across the street from Starbucks at Campbell Ave. and N. First St.

They have a small indoor dining area with high tables and bar stools and when the weather is good you can sit in the small outdoor patio dining area with standard height tables and chairs. It's casual, fun and delicious. I've stopped in for a quick taco on the run and they never give you that "Seriously, that's all you're going to order?" vibe. The service has been friendly and efficient each time I've been there whether I'm ordering a lot or a little.

Visit the Chacho's Tacos website or join their Facebook Fan Site

Great Italian Food at A16 Restaurant in San Francisco

Two nights ago I had dinner at Italian restaurant A16 on Chestnut Street in the Marina District in San Francisco. My expectations were high based on the hype my friends had been building up for months raving about how great the food is. I'm happy to report that our meal more than lived up to the hype! The food was fantastic and the service was very nice.

Our first starter was the "Burrata" (a fresh mozzeralla cheese made with cream) served with olive oil, sea salt and crostini. In the photo you can really see the olive oil! I sampled a bit with soft bread and really loved the light, fluffy and creamy texture of the cheese coupled with the sea salt flavor. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.

My dinner companions also shared a salad, two pizzas, some pasta and wine... This photo of the pizza looks blurry because of the hot steam rising off of it.

While I don't mind letting my food cool so that I can get a better photo, shockingly, not all of my dining companions that night were willing to wait for their food to cool down so that I could get a better picture for all of you here on my blog. LOL not that I really expected them to :) But, as you can see, I wasn't the only one taking pictures. Carl took them for his blog and Lisa took this one with her phone of Carl and I dorking out with our cameras.

Luke, who carpooled up with us, wanted to try the Pumpkin and Ricotta Gnocchi with braised kale, onions and pancetta (a type of Italian bacon).

Lisa ordered a side of Italian Prosciutto di Parma (a type of Italian ham)

I had this side order of yummy Cannellini Beans with garlic and oregano. It was basically like mashed potatoes with some whole beans, but made out of beans instead of potatoes. It was deliciously infused with garlic... I really want to go back and have this again.

I also ordered a side of Roasted Potatoes and Cauliflower with capers, chilies and onions. It was also really good and something I plan to try to recreate at home. I don't think it would be too hard.

This photo by Carl Mindling

The Dinner Gang. From left: Carl Mindling, Me, Lisa Whalen, Andy Mark and Luke Goodman. Lisa and Andy were the friends who had been recommending the restaurant to Carl and I pretty much ever since we became friends. LOL. Earlier this year they also steered us to The Naglee Park Garage that I've blogged about (not once but twice) in downtown San Jose. So far they're two for two. Andy is such a foodie that I can trust anywhere he says is great, will be.

After dinner, but before we had dessert, we realized that time had flown since our arrival at 6:00 PM and we had to hit the road to make it to our original destination, Duncan Reye's Martini Madness event taking place at Infusion Lounge from 6:00-9:00 PM. We had just asked to see the dessert menu when Carl realized it was 8:00 PM. Woops! Waitress? Check please! Soon we were on our way and arrived in time to mix, mingle and network.

This photo by Carl Mindling
DJ Jason Mitchell and Duncan Reyes

Thanks to Duncan for hosting another great networking event. And props to DJ Jason Mitchell of Music Solutions for finding the sweet spot where the music was loud but wasn't too loud to chat while mingling and catching up on everyone's latest and greatest news.

This photo by Carl Mindling

And thanks to Carl for letting me borrow some of his pictures. You can read his recap and see more of his great photos from the evening on his blog by CLICKING HERE.

And because people are always asking m about the pictures I take for this blog...

I love playing with the buttons and knobs on my camera to figure out what it's capable of. That night at dinner I played with external lighting too. This is a photo of my water glass with a votive candle strategically placed directly behind it. It's dramatic and kind of artsy looking. I did this while waiting for our waitress to come take our order. You  may recall my light study with "ketchup" at In-N-Out Burger at the end of a previous blog post a couple of years ago.

Here is the votive off to one side...

And the votive where it was originally placed on the table. What a difference right?

And worst of all, here's my water glass photographed using the built in flash on my camera. The image is flat and ordinary like a snapshot with no style. I almost couldn't stand taking this picture because I knew it would look really bad. LOL

I just wanted to show you an easy way to find some time to learn how to more effectively use that point and shoot camera you keep in your pocket or purse :)

I Love Chipotle

I do, I love the fast food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill. Why? Because it's delicious, affordable, humane, can be healthy (depending on what you order) and living by their "Food With Integrity" credo, they are (imo) more progressive than any other fast food chain in the history of fast food.

I like things simple so a bowl of their vegetarian black beans and cilantro-lime rice with a splash of fresh salsa and a heaping scoop of guacamole is my new, favorite, fast food meal.

Chipotle makes a concerted effort to use local and organic produce when appropriate and possible. For instance their website says that:

"Currently, 40% of our beans are certified organic, which has a number of benefits including a reduction of more than 110,000 pounds of chemical pesticide. And we are looking to increase that number in coming years."

"The less distance food has to travel, the better. It just makes sense. Sourcing local food reduces food miles, supports rural economies, and ensures fresh, great-tasting seasonal produce."

Sounds great to me!

Their menu (I grabbed these photos from their website) includes burritos, bowls, soft and crisp tacos, salads and the best guacamole I've ever had. The scoop of guacamole is a bit pricy as an "extra" but well worth the cost.

Even though I no longer eat meat, it still matters to me that the majority of animals used to produce Chipotle meat dishes are, without a doubt, raised under better and more humane living conditions than the most animals used in fast food production. While the fast food industry as a whole is only beginning to take baby steps towards using cage free, organic, humanely produced eggs (Burger King and Carl's Junior), Chipotle is leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to where they source much of their meat and dairy products from. (For burger joints Mojo Burger is the best I know of because they use 100% humanely raised, grass fed, antibiotic and hormone free beef from Meyer Natural Angus Beef.)

Pork: Rather then being raised in crowded, concrete, factory farmed pens, naturally raised pigs are raised outdoors or in pens with deep beds of soft straw, are never given antibiotics and are fed a vegetarian diet. Since 2001, Chipotle has sourced 100% of their pork from producers who follow these guidelines. 

Beef: As of July 2010, 100% of their thinly shredded Barbacoa beef is now naturally raised and 85% of the rest of the beef they use is also naturally raised. They will someday achieve a 100% goal that all of the beef they serve will be more humanely raised.

Chicken:  In 2002 Chipotle began serving naturally raised chicken. Currently 85% of their chickens are naturally raised. While by law chickens cannot receive growth hormones, Chipotle also ensures that none of their chickens are given the antibiotics commonly used in many factory farmed chicken production facilities.

Dairy Products: Currently over 35% of the cows dairy products are purchased from are pasture-raised and 100% of their products (milk, sour cream, and cheese) are now rBGH free. Chipotle is the first, national, restaurant chain to go 100% rGBH free and here's the kicker, eliminating rGBH didn't cause the restaurant to raise its prices. All of the animal photos are from the Chipotle.com website. Statistics cited above are from the Chipotle website and press releases.

And my other favorite thing about Chipotle: The IZZE Sparkling Grapefruit Sodas. Not something I order every time but as an occasional treat it's so yummy!

Wikipedia says that currently, Chipotle Restaurants can be found in 37 states, the District of Columbia, Ontario, Canada and London, England. If you don't have a Chipotle where you live my advice is to cross your fingers and hope one comes to your city soon. If you want to be more proactive you can also join their Facebook Group to beg, plead and implore for a restaurant in your city.

Chipotle is making a difference because they are proof that fast food can have very high standards when it comes to the quality and production ethics of the ingredients they use whether you're talking about meat or produce. They are also showing other companies how working with local growers and exceeding government standards can be eco-friendly, support local economies and still be done in a profitable manner. IMO Chipotle is a great example of leading by example.

Delfina Pizzeria in the Mission, San Francisco

Last night I had a terrific pizza after being a guest panelist at the SF SmugMug (a professional photographer's) meeting in San Francisco. I was there to give tips about image and copy SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for websites and blogs.

I had carpooled up from the South Bay with my friend and colleague Andy Mark who was also on the panel. After, we dropped in at Pizzeria Delfina for a late dinner. He had heard about them through another colleague and friend and had been wanting to give them a try.

The first thing that caught my eye on Delfina's menu was the pasta and sunchoke soup with olive oil.

I would order this again. It reminded me of a squash soup but without the squash flavor. The pasta was al dente and the soup was mild in flavor, rich and warm which was perfect on a slightly chilly evening in San Francisco.

I also ordered a "Panna" pizza. It's the one with the tomato sauce, cream, basil and shaved parmigiano.

I think you can see how delicious it was. The crust was really wonderful too. Thin and slightly chewy but very crisp on the bottom. The closest crust we have to this in the South Bay is at Pizza Antica in Santana Row but the ingredients in this pizza really sang. Everything about it was fresh and flavorful. It's funny how when you use good ingredients, less really is more. No need to build up flavor with too much seasoning or a multitude of ingredients. Each of the 4 ingredients on this pizza stood on their own.

Andy had the Margherita pizza. A classic tomato sauce with fior di latte mozzarella and fresh basil. Yum! (BTW he took this photo)

Like I said earlier, the space is small with only a handful of tables but it has a nice character to it. Right next door is the Delfina restaurant that has many other options beyond pizza. We also went there, by accident, before realizing the pizza is only served one door down.

I was surprised by the size or the pizzas. I thought they would be on the smaller side but they weren't. They were full size so having eaten the sunchoke soup I could only eat two pieces of pizza. We both had plenty to take home with us and I'm eating cold leftover pizza right now as I type this post that I can honestly say is as tasty cold as it was hot. I'll definitely be returning to Delfina Pizzeria in the future.

The location we visited was on 18th Street between Dolores and Guerrero. Coincidentally it is across the street from Bi-rite, the famous ice cream shop. I was too full for ice cream but maybe next time...

Pizzeria Delfina
3611 18th Street, San Francisco, CA
(415) 437-6800