Julia's Kitchen Napa Valley

Ode to Julia Childs - the British chef who made chefography into a celebrity culture in America. Julia's Kitchen in Napa Valley honors the spirit and recipes of the late Julia Childs. The menu carries a few of her timeless recipes. My meal here was memorable. To start with, before you even dine at the modern restaurant, you take a walk around the 3 acre garden in front of the restaurant. A stroll among fruit trees and vegetables reinforces the mission behind Julias- to celebrate and utilize the freshest of ingredients. The restaurant and garden are on the grounds of the COPIA institute, an education facility focusing on the study and history of food and wine.

Once inside, we started with berry martinis, dined on succulent lobster salad, Julia's recipe for duck with cherry jus on forbidden Chinese black rice, and pan seared rib eye. We finished with flavorful espresso drinks and a strawberry shortcake. The meal was divine.

Comida de Puerto Rico

I ate my way through Puerto Rico. Que delicioso! Highlights:

Ceviche House: Puerto Rican/Peruvian restaurant. We had delicious warm crispy empanadas, octopus ceviche and skirt steak. Our favorite of the house was the mussel appetizer. Green mussels topped with cool chopped onions, tomatoes, herbs, sea salt. So simple and so good.

Horned Dorset Hotel for lunch located in the city of Rincon: We tried a Puerto Rican staple called Mofongo which is mashed plantains under a stew of some sort.

Deli de Espana: A local Spanish deli/bar/bakery with delicous meat pies, sandwiches and pastries.

Profiteroles at Chaya Venice

Is your favorite dessert profiteroles? With a chocolate sauce and fresh whipped cream? Well here you go!

Gordon Ramsey at the London

Prix Fixes rock! They say if you want to sample a restaurant and get the best value, you should make a reservation at lunch time. Crowds are smaller. You'll get a table easier. My foodie friend Alex Woo and girlfriend Whitney Friedlander (I call them WooWhit) invited me to join them for lunch at Gordon Ramsey's restaurant at The London in West Hollywood.

I don't know what's going on with the ambiance and decor there. It looks like your grandmother's powder room. But who cares? The food was so flipping good. My tastebuds were screaming in delight. Add to that, the service was impeccable and it was a screaming deal! For $35, you get an appetizer, a main course and a dessert. The views of the Hollywood Hills were nice and the service was very attentive. It was the best $35 I'd spent in a while.

Our table's hits were the sea scallop appetizers, beef filet and kobe short rib entree, smoked rainbow trout and asparagus risotto with double cream and parmesan and marscapone cheese. And for dessert, the pineapple souffle with Thai curry ice cream was the standout. Although applause to the Valrhona chocolate fondant for its rich flavor and the grapefruit sorbet for its summery refreshing taste.

A Gordon Ramsey menu, views of Hollywood, great food. You can't lose here.

French Macaroons at Figaro Cafe

I've never met a cookie I didn't like. But if I had to pick my favorite cookie, a French macaroon would be at the top of the list. I became obsessed with these delicate delectables on a trip to France. Macaroons are a staple of French bakeries. They have a brittle outside shell and a soft gooey inside with some type of flavored jam or creme. It's difficult to find French macaroons in LA. Paulette's Macaroons (www.paulettemacarons.com) specializes in just macaroons and is run by a real French lady. But I found her cookies too overpoweringly sweet. The best roons I've had in LA are at a neighborhood brasserie and bakery in Los Felis called Figaro Cafe (www.figarobistrot.com). Their macaroons come in pistachio and strawberry and they're delicate and delicious. Figaro also has wonderful traditional pastries like croissants and truffles.

Akasha Culver City - American Grill with Indian Influence

Ron and I visited Akasha on a busy Saturday night. I loved the space- exposed beams and concrete walls. Very modern and chic. The food however, was hit or miss. The hit of the night was Ron's turkey burger. It was a hefty thick burger dotted with globs of red peppers- very flavorful and fesh. It's too bad everything else was a miss. Akasha prides itself on organic fresh ingredients. The dishes are clean and simple. But, you can still be clean and simple and tasty. The fries were dry. The table bread, although hearty with seeds, was dry. My onion and tomato tart was too much tart, not enough veges. And the arugala salad surrounding it was over-salted. My punjabi mung bean and rice bowl was fun but under-seasoned. Healthy, but bland. The biggest blunder was the mac and cheese. It is a sin to mess up such a favorite of mine. And although it looked like it should have tasted good, I could barely taste the cheese at all. Perhaps I ordered wrong. I may have to give it another shot to try some other dishes. The curried cauliflower, South Indian salmon and the scallops sound good. But if they screw that up, I'm done with you Akasha!

Eagle Rock Decent Vietnamese Food

Had a quick meal at a neighborhood Vietnamese joint. The place was pretty authentic. They had all the basic staples of the food of my people like pho, spring rolls, rice dishes, vermicelli bowls, sandwiches and even fresh squeezed orange juice and three color dessert. I ordered the vermicelli bowl with BBQ pork and crispy egg rolls. While the noodle and julienned veges were fresh, I thought the pork was over marinated and the texture was too chewy. The dessert was tasty, but they should have served it with traditional shaved ice instead of small ice balls. The spring rolls and BBQ chicken sandwich were decent. I'd recommed Lemongrass if you're in the mood for cheap decent Vietnamese.