Hellooooo friends! Long time no write. Sorry bout that... apparently I needed a 5-year break from foodblogging.

I've started a wonderful new chapter in my life, along with a new blog - Casa Resnick. Please come over and check it out!

(no, I haven't written about Pinkberry. yet.)

XOXO,
Rosie Colleen

Wally’s 4th Annual Central Coast Wine & Food Celebration

This Sunday marks the next (4th) annual Central Coast Wine & Food Celebration at Wally's Wine in West LA.

Remember last year?

Yeah, I pretty much gorged myself on treats from Spago, Hitching Post, Bouchon, Lucques, AOC, Sona, Sushi Roku, Campanile, Wolfgang Puck, Literati II... and they'll all be back... along with B.L.D., Mozza, Hungry Cat and several others.

Oh, and one can't forget the wine... Sea Smoke, L’Aventure, Linne Calodo, Saxum, Ambullneo, Clos Mimi, Brewer-Clifton and Alban among others. Looks like I'll be walking home...

Click here for tickets

Playa Del Carmen - Part Uno

Last week I took a much-needed vacation and even managed to pull the technology heroin needle out of my arm. No phone, no laptop, no email, no blackberry, no watch, no anything that could remotely remind me of work. Don't worry, I laid on the beach and fantasized about work, which is almost as fun as being there.

We took a trip to a city I instantly fell in love with - Playa del Carmen - and stayed at a cool little hotel - Hotel Deseo, which I also loved (even though you need earplugs to fall asleep).

We ate, we drank, we walked around, we shopped. I got AT LEAST two shades darker. And while most of my vacations center around good food, this one was more about a good beach.

That said, this is a food blog, not a lay-on-the-beach blog, so here is a little quiz for you.
Playa del Carmen has really good:
1) Guacamole
2) Ceviche
3) Tamalas
4) Tortillas
5) Pizza
6) Margaritas
7) Salsa

Ding ding!! You guessed right. They have really good pizza. Super good, in fact... it's like, almost New York style good. Who knew.

Here's a slice of four cheese and a slice of mushroom... I also had pepperoni which was equally delicious. The place: Pizza Pazza on 12th.


OK, let's get serious. Nobody really reads these things, right? Just scroll down to see the food photos. I made a couple lazy grumblings along the way. (Geesh, I am turning into the laziest food blogger ever... please go here, here, here, or here if you want to read real food blogging that reflects time, thought and effort... I'm all out).

First up is a cute little Italian cafe called Casa Mediterranea. These people really care about they food they serve you, and they don't take credit cards. And they like to rhyme.


Complimentary Brushetta.

Roast beef with truffles and Parmesan cheese - this tasted a lot better than it looked.

Ravioli something or other doused in butter.

Gnocchi. I really love gnocchi and this one didn't have the best flavour, but it did have the best texture of any gnocchi I've ever had... like soft down baby pillows that melted in your mouth.

Overall, this was an average meal in a charming little place. If your mom cooked this for me, I would think she was a good cook. But your mom doesn't live in Playa.

Next, we went down to Tulum (Mayan ruins) and then to a really beautiful beach club (Paraiso) and then we had early dinner at Mezzanine, which is a hotel that has a Thai-flavored restaurant inside.

Umm... how can you not enjoy a restaurant when the view over your mango margarita looks like this?

MMMmmm. Mango margaritas. My favorite.

OK, I said the food was Thai-flavored, right? Not so much authentic Thai, but still relatively good. Made much better by the view of the Caribbean in the background, of course.

Chicken satay with peanut sauce and cucumber salad...


Crab wontons...


Vietnamese (or Thai-ish) spring rolls with a mango chutney


(not so) spicy beef salad - completely bland...


And the big winner of the meal... lobster curry, which was a huge fresh lobster tail that was doused in a mild-but-tasty green curry. Probably the best food dish of the trip besides the pizza.


OK, I've got to drag this into another post... more to come. Yes, I did actually eat some Yucatan food when I visited the Yucatan peninsula, that's coming next.

Orange Mocha Frappucino!!

OMG! Starbucks finally released the Orange Mocha Frappucino! Freak gasoline fight accident not included.


*OK, not technically. But they have an Orange Creme Frappucino and an Orange Mocha so it is close enough. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you clearly missed the greatest comedy of all time. The end.

Frozen Faux-gurt: You Know You Want It

Dear Pinkberry -
From the looks of your homepage, you seem to be doing a decent job of crisis management (acknowledge the issue, address the issue). Exhibit A:


But Pinkberry - PLEASE - unleash the marketing expert within you - this could be the next, NEXT big thing!

At my day job, we have a motto: if you can't fix it, feature it.

And in L.A., as you've probably discovered, people love "faux."
Faux fur, faux tan, faux boobs, faux relationships, faux dessert.

Frozen Faux-gurt

Seriously.
Real frozen yogurt has got to be damaging to the environment or cruel to animals or something. Give people a reason to go faux, and they'll be your faux friend forever.

B Cafe - The BEST New Spot in Town

OMG, like, where have you totally been for the past two and a half months girl?

Ummm... DUH!!!!
I've been hanging out in the coolest place ever... the B Cafe!
















Haven't heard of it? Well, it's pretty new. Yah, they got super sweet grub... pizza, salad bar, cappuccino machine, fro-yo (not Pinkberry, but it's just as good).

That's me and my bf in the picture - he's pretty cool.

















Pretty soon it's gonna be SO popular that you might have a hard time getting a table. But give me a heads up that you're coming and I'll be sure to save you a spot.

Meet me there!!!

p.s. yes, this is my day job... it RULES

Peeps S'Mores

Nearly one year ago today, I photoblogged what I believe to be "the greatest dessert invention of all time," roasted Peeps. No, I'm not claiming stake to the invention of roasted Peeps - people have been doing it for many years - rather, I felt it was my DUTY, my OBLIGATION, to share such a magical creation with the world, step by step, in photographic detail.

And today, dear readers, nearly one year since I documented Peeps Flambe, I share with you the next generation, nay, the ULTIMATE Peeps recipe of all time: Peeps S'Mores.

Such remarkable genius of food invention is rarely stumbled upon while sober. In this case, we were celebrating the birthday of my seen-on-TV foodblogging friend Dylan, who may have been in a state to come up with some really creative food inventions of his own (Iron Chef Sizzler, anyone?).

I'm not sure when exactly the idea struck. I'd hear about, read about, and thought about Peeps S'Mores before. But somewhere between the Gold Mountain, Taco Bell, Ralph's, and my kitchen table, the ingredients and the will collided.

And from this point forward, I will take the voice of the Peep.

Peep:
Hello there. And how are you? What say you, on such a lonely night as this, so full of longing and anticipation? Dost thou admire my coat, sparkling in a saccharine pink essence? As I sit atop a step of chocolate, I notice the fragile crumbs of graham cracker scattered delicately about. My right side exposed, naked, white. What dost thou think of this discovery?


Peep:
Such warmth. Despite being skewered, so fragile and exposed, I feel the warm breath of dear Bernzo heavy upon me. Oh Bernzo. Your breath fills me with a sudden terror. You are burning me alive.


Peep:
So this is how it ends... smashed between the rich and the banal in a careless embrace. Bargain basement graham crackers mock me, and yet I am melting into the finest Belgian chocolate. Conflicted. Confused. Dead.


Delicious.

It goes without saying that the magic of the Peep S'More is the delightful crisp and crunchy bruleed sugar that melts into the chocolate. Yes, it's decadent. Yes, it's delightfully tacky. Yes, it's pseudo-playful gourmet (I'm waiting to see this on the menu at Grace or BLD, complete with a mini campfire for the table).

It's everything I've ever wanted in a dessert, and somehow more.

Colleen Cuisine on KCRW's Good Food

Here's another little piece on Pinkberry from one of my favorite radio programs, KCRW's Good Food. Evan Kleiman interviews Jennifer Steinhauer who wrote the recent NY Times piece "Heated Competition. Steaming Neighbors. This is Frozen Yogurt?"

Jennifer, thanks for the shout out for Colleen Cuisine!

Click here to listen


(thanks Eddie for the heads up!)

Pinkberry left its wallet in El Segundo

Why, cruel world, why? I can deal with the rapidly-spreading virus that is Pinkberry infecting countless neighborhoods other than my own. But Pinkberry is getting a little too close to home with some new digs that are literally WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE of my office. I mean, if I were desperate enough, I could walk there (but I'll probably drive just so I can carry some extra back to the contraband freezer hidden under my desk).

Yes, come June, I'll be hooked up to the IV once again.

And those of you traveling from out of town can pick up a fix right on your way out of the airport.

Pinkberry Swirl is Official

Like I said back in September, it was only a matter of time before Pinkberry finally figured out that they could make money by sticking the original and green tea flavors together and calling it a "special menu item." I mean, rather than telling people "No, no you can't have the two flavors together because we don't know what to charge you for it and it's not on the menu anyways. Nee-ner-nee-ner-neeeee-ner."

However, I am a bit mystified that this will only happen until February 14th (small print: offer valid until Feb 14th, Valentine's Day).

What happens after that? Does green tea decide he's too good for plain and dump her a** for Captain Crunch?

Ita-Cho on Beverly

So, today a friend of mine asked me... "don't you have a food blog?"

And I was like, "yeah, I think so."

And she was like, "I haven't seen anything new on there in a while."

And I was like, "you know, you're right."

I kinda forgot to factor foodblogging into my Janorexia plan. Whoops.

So, this place, Ita-Cho, is pretty hit or miss. In case you couldn't tell by my utter lack of enthusiasm, I'm feeling a little dining unmotivated these days. What is up with that? Do I need an inspiring new restaurant, neighborhood, and/or food vice? Or would just one good meal do? (unfortunately, I've already blogged about Nozawa... so those two great meals I had this week won't cut it).

Harumph. Bah hamburger. Here. Food pictures.

Exhibit 1: Infinity pool sake. Jump in...


Exhibit 2: Remember that one time when people were afraid to eat spinach? Spinach sesame salad: peanut-buttery-ish. A near hit.


Exhibit 3: Broiled enoki. It's pretty hard to mess up enoki, kinda like it's hard to mess up bacon-wrapped dates. Always a hit.


Exhibit 4: Karaage. Hit. Again, it's fried chicken... did you expect it to be bad?


Exhibit 5: Miso-glazed eggplant. I used to love this dish, now I find it kind of gross. Too sweet, too mushy, like severely bruised fruit. Miss.


Exhibit 6: Maguro sashimi. BO-ring. Miss. Next.


Exhibit 7: King crab legs. Yummy. Bring it on...


How 'bout a little upskirt action?


Tally: 4 hits, 2 misses, 1 near hit.
The end.

Ita-Cho
7311 Beverly Blvd.
323-938-9009

iCandy

Is it just me, or did anyone else decide to give up food for a couple months to save for one of these things?

Random Snacking: Hannam Market

One of my favourite pasttimes is walking down the aisle of Hannam market and buying the most random stuff I can find. Sometimes you get a hit, sometimes a miss, but it's always something a little unexpected.

Like, for example, this box of frosted cookies whose package and inner wrapper seemingly promised a smily tongue face on the uppermost cookie.


There is no smiley face on the cookie. This is, however, enough trans fat to warrant a felony in the state of New York.

This is a fun little green tea cookie. The package is so cute, kind of like a zen sanitary napkin.

The green tea cookies were a hit... crispy and light with a delicate green tea flavour. If only I had finished on these instead of the last snack...

WTF. Seriously, what does this look like to you? Cause to me, it looks like a field of beautiful daisies where tiny children dance and laugh in the sunshine. Or not.

Colleen Cuisine in the LA Times

Some fun news for the LA Foodblogging community...

Tomorrow's LA Times Food Section features an article on the LA foodblogging scene, plus a great big list of local foodbloggers. Colleen Cuisine is in there - my second LA Times mention so far, yay! - and I didn't even have to talk about Pinkberry.

Oh, crap. Apparently, I am "very fond of Pinkberry."

Well, whatever... I'll take it! As you all know, I'll slut myself out to Pinkberry for media coverage anytime.

The article went live tonight on latimes.com - read it here. I'll scan and post the hard copy sometime tomorrow.

Du-pars at The Farmer's Market

After shuttering its doors for remodeling nearly two years ago, Du-par's at the Original Farmer's Market is once again open. Why should you care? You shouldn't.

As you can see, I've given this place a new name: Sub-par's. That's because everything we ate was... yes, you guessed it... sub par.

It all started with the magically cooling coffee. You know those self-heating coffee cans we heard so much about in 2004? (until they started exploding, that is)

Well Du-par's coffee is kind of like that, except, in reverse. I don't know how they do it, but within seconds of being poured, the coffee magically becomes lukewarm. I witnessed it three times: three pours from a seemingly "fresh" pot of coffee, three times that the first sip felt like drinking a can of soda that had been sitting out in the sun.

I keep reading great reviews on this place and I just don't get it... the food was fine, but nothing special. For starters, their French Toast doesn't even hold a candle the French Toast at Bread & Porridge, or Hugo's, or most breakfast places I assume.

The tuna melt was a near disaster. Cold tuna salad (update: it's supposed to be a hot sandwich) smooshed between two pieces of poor quality raisin bread (the Sun-Maid brand is ten times better), plus a couple slices of unmelted cheese, leave for one very pathetic sandwich.

Seriously folks. The Farmer's Market is filled with so many great stands: Monsieur Marcel, Loteria, French Crepe Company, Gumbo Pot, Singapore's Banana Leaf just to name a few.

Don't waste your time (or the calories) at Sub-pars.

But if you must...
Du-par's at the Original Farmer's Market
6333 W 3rd St (at Fairfax)
323-933-8446

New Year's Rule #1: A Better Relationship with Food

I love rules. Brian thinks I would do well under a fascist regime, so eager am I to follow rules to the very letter. Give me a strict recipe and I'm in heaven... loose guidelines and I'm left wandering with no idea what to do.

Given my love for rules and regulations, I'm a bit surprised that I've never made any New Year's Resolutions until this year.

Perhaps that's because the word resolution is itself rather loosey-goosey: Resolution - a resolve or determination

No, I'm not one to be left to the open-endedness of my own determination. Instead, this year I'm going to make for myself some very strict New Year's Rules.

New Year's Rule #1: Develop a Better Relationship with Food
This is not exactly what you think. I actually have a very healthy relationship with food... I LOVE food (and it loves me back). No, this rule is not about dieting or eating healthy, or whatever. Rather, I want to really get to know my food. Like, what it is and where it comes from. It's time for me and food to take our relationship to the next level:

For the next year, I'll be making a once-weekly attempt at cooking food from scratch. And I don't just mean opening a can of tuna and making tuna salad. I mean going down to the fishmonger, buying a whole tuna, deboning it, and grilling it up myself. Or buying a whole chicken, degutting it, roasting it up whole, and making stock out of the carcass. You know, the stuff other people usually do for you behind the scenes.

We live in a land of too easy, too clean, too bloodless fast food, where chicken magically becomes bite-size McNuggets, where mashed pork gets pressed into McRib sandwiches, "rib bones" and all. They say driving is a privilege, not a right, so I'm applying that same principal to being a carnivore. This year, I'm going to earn my chops.

Week one, as you can see, is chicken. I'm roasting it tonight (yes, I'm getting a little head start), making soup out of it tomorrow. Next week, I think, will be lamb. OK, so I'm not going to go slaughter a lamb, make dinner, and then knit a sweater out of it - meet me halfway here people... it's a start.

*** more New Year's Rules to come ***

Merry Christmas: I Ate Rudolph

Hope everyone had a very wonderful Christmas filled with family, friends, laughter, love, and good food. Perhaps you sat around the fire singing Christmas carols, or gathered round the tree to unwrap presents. You may have watched a Christmas classic, such as this one:
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Or, if you're like my family, you hit the backyard on a beautiful 80 degree December afternoon to barbeque reindeer. Hey, where do you think my dark sense of humor comes from anyways?

I didn't actually know reindeer were real - I tossed them out along with Santa Claus and the Easter bunny as a child. Of course, that left plenty of room for teasing when I proclaimed, "I thought reindeer were imaginary animals, or is that unicorns?"

Apparently they are both real, according to my dad. We'll be having barbequed unicorn next year.

So, back to poor charred Rudolph...

Dad must have (accurately) anticipated that we'd consider his reindeer games more of a sick joke, not an actual meal. So rather than purchasing reindeer steaks, he picked up a little slab of ground reindeer to make two small Rudolph burgers, serving them up as an amuse bouche to my bewildered siblings.
Reindeer tastes, well... kind of like hamburger, only a little more gamey and drier, probably due to the lower fat content and the fact that reindeer fly (cows don't). I didn't love it, but it tasted better than I thought it would.

I'm betting that next year's unicorn filet will be a whole lot juicier.

The Grinch's Holiday Gift Guide: Food Edition

It's less than a week till Christmas, and I still haven't bought any gifts. I don't know how the time got away from me... I've been hearing Christmas music everywhere and diligently avoiding the malls ever since Halloween.

Well, after searching through dozens of "find the perfect gift" guides, I started getting a little sick of Christmas. Gasp! Yeah, that's right, I'm sick of Christmas. In fact, I this close to saying, Burn, Christmas! Burn!! (that's for you honey).

For those of you in the same boat, I'd like to share my own gift guide: Colleen Cuisine Presents the Grinch's Holiday Gift Guide: Food Edition. CCPTGHGGFE for short. Now, this could be considered a list for "the man/woman/child who has everything," but it's more likely to be used for "people you feel obligated to buy a gift for, but really didn't have the time to shop for, and really don't like all that much anyways."

Ahem.

Gift certificates are a great way to show that you're too lazy to shop for a present, while still conveying the "no really, I care" factor because you actually went and visited a store. This year, take it up a notch and give them not just any old retail gift certificate, but the food experience of a lifetime.

Is someone on your Christmas list especially handy? They're sure to love Garnishing for the Beginner. Because no child should be left without a shark made from a cucumber on Christmas morning.

Have someone on your list who loves flowers? Surprise them this year with an edible floral arrangement.

No really, I bet they will appreciate the stinky rotting sticky fruit sitting on their desk attracting fruit flies. Make sure to order a really big one so they're forced to eat it all in one day - better yet, include extra apples for a nice browning effect!

Want a touch of elegance? Just add cheese:

Here's a very informative book for a food lover:

When you open the cover, it simply says, "Don't eat meat. Dummy!"

Want to tell someone they are an enormous fatass without saying a word? Just buy them this:

What's that, you say? It's a crisper, a machine designed to keep snacks such as Oreos, crackers, and chips at their premium "crispness." Just in case you don't eat the whole box in one sitting (but I mean really, when does that NOT happen?)

Share one of the hottest L.A. food trends with an out-of-town pal: Sprinkles MINI Cupcakes!


Yes, Sprinkles has mini-sized versions of their famous cupcakes, perfect for gift giving. Just be sure to scratch off that part of the label that says "for dogs."

Technically, this is not a gift, but it could make for a very special dinner: Spinach and Green Onion soup... the perfect way to show off this year's most notorious crops.


























Maybe you could serve this to me for dinner... it would match my Grinch costume nicely.