January 18, 2010

As it works out, the week I am leaving Philadelphia they decide to open the one thing that has been missing in the time I’ve been here. That’s right, GLUTEN FREE, SOY FREE, EGG FREE, CORN FREE, DAIRY FREE and CASEIN FREE treats!

If you know me, though I am not allergic to any of these things, life experiences have led me to understand the importance of having allergen-free food choices. It’s not all that easy.

Sweet Freedom Bakery is a little gem on South Street and while their menu isn’t large they offer BIG flavor in their daily specials. The cupcakes there are delicious (I had 4). With a fava bean flower base and what tastes like a fruit (maybe pear?) puree to create moisture, they have a rich and frankly unforgettable texture. In one bite, the word “Babycakes” suddenly lost all meaning. I know right but seriously it’s that good. Keeping in mind that I do not have allergies of any kind, I would choose these cupcakes over any bakery, any day.

When I got there they were sampling their coconut macaroons (light and fluffy) and their magic bars (same fava bean bases, dairy/soy free chocolate, coconut). I did not get around to trying the brownie, but it looked amazing.

One treat that I would recommend, which is served on Fridays, is their “thumbprint” cookie. Somehow they have captured the texture of a tea cookie and plopped an apricot or some blueberry jam on top. It’s really astonishing. Twenty minutes later I had to remove myself from in front of the pastry case and decode the recipe elsewhere.

I haven’t figured it out, but I do know this: It’s clear that the owners have put alot of time, thought, trial and error into all of the goods there. They are also taking criticisms really well. I noticed that they replaced the honey they had out for the teas with Agave. Good move. The only comment I could come up with is of the decór. It’s pretty drab and sterile, but you can’t have it all, right?

I am not going to slam Babycakes, because I love it there, so I will say one thing. Sweet Freedom Bakery is nothing like Babycakes, they have created a whole new flavor (and none of it involves spelt flour). They have their own thing going on and are worth checking out, if you’re vegan, allergic, or even just have a sweet tooth. I would even go so far as to suggest a road trip to Philly from surrounding cities. It must be magic! Something DECENT!!!!!!

1424 South Street (between 15th and Broad)
Philadelphia, PA 19146
215-545-1899

*Note: The oats in the photo are gluten-free

-Alessandra

UPDATE: I went back and tried the brownie. Very cakey, full of chocolate chips. If that sounds like your kind of thing, then you’re in luck. I prefer my brownies like my men. Greasy.

On my first morning back in Montréal in over a year, my friends took me to a little place I had never heard of but will not soon forget. Nestled between Montréal’s Mile-End and Plateau districts, Dépanneur Le Pickup is just the place to go for a cozy cheap meal with friends and catch up. Now for those of you who do not hail from the best place on earth, firstly I am sorry for you, secondly I shall have to explain to you the word dépanneur.

Dépanneur, also known as a “dep” is a common term meaning corner store in Québec where one can find all of life’s simple needs. Dépanneur Le Pickup goes beyond needs and reaches into desires. Desires for pulled porc, grilled cheese, steak & cheese, crêpes, and all things homestyle Québec with a little twist…You can buy yourself a carton of Orange juice while the kitchen prepares you a little bit of happiness. I seem very dreamy in writing about this post and it must simply be from walking away so satisfied with a homestyle type of meal.

To all who someday venture to French Canadaland, don’t forget my recommendation, I promise you will not regret it.

You can see their DECENT menu here

Dépanneur Le Pick-Up
7032 Waverly, Mtl, Q
514.271.8011

-Remi Kyle-Phillipe Bowen

January 7, 2010

So last night I went to Mozart’s Coffee located just west of downtown Austin for a late night drink with a friend. Located on the waterfront Mozart’s view must be great to see, I say must be because there was absolutely no out door lighting to see it. I would say Mozart’s must be a great place to go in the summer time but I would speak too hastily on the subject of coffee in the summer heat. One of the things I keep on forgetting to do when going to a lounge is checking to see what events are occurring that night. If I would have known that all of Austin’s Methodist Korean fellowship would be joined together to listen to a two-man band sing Christian rock  I probably would have chosen some place else (or at least brought my hymn book). The coffee was alright, and I say alright because it was a great laxative.

The food looked stale and the cafeteria-style seating was a bit overwhelming due to the neurotic tendencies of Jesus lovers. My friend had a tea and I’m pretty sure it was overpriced, actually I’m sure it was over priced and not the kind of overpriced that’s worth it. On the positive side, I might be more willing to pay for stale food and overpriced coffee in the spring time during the day when I can see a good view but something tells me those lovely UT students invade this place daily and I’m just not a university kind of boy.

The menu included your heinz 57 variety of coffee variants, chai, tea, muffins, cookies, and whatever else Starbucks also serves and I didn’t even get to check to see if there coffee was fair trade (there was some cops drinking coffee though, so I assume it was all legal). Mozart’s Coffee I really want to like you but this relationship between us is just not going to work out, I’m moving on to your next store neighbor Hula Hut.

Can you guess how I feel about this place?

If you don’t believe us about the Korean Tabernacle choir, here’s the address:

3825 Lake Austin Blvd
Austin, TX 78703
(512) 477-2900

-Remi Kyle-Phillipe Bowen

January 1, 2010

In the world of Almost/Decent the little pseudo-trendy ‘gay-friendly’ Texan café would be listed under a column entitled ‘yeah right’. Known as a mid-price ‘café lounge bistro’ in the heart of Austin’s downtown, Halcyon is one of those places that is trying really hard to not be Texan.

Which in theory there is nothing wrong with, but in practice seems to not make any sense. I’m pretty sure I was on an awkward first/last date drinking a chocolate martini when I realized how much this place was trying to be something that it was not and there is nothing I hate more then paying too much for an imposter café.

They were playing Michael Jackson’s greatest hits the night of his death and everyone thought it was awesome. People came bustling in and out meeting their friends getting ready for a ‘night on the town’(which, in case you are wondering, equates to going across the street to austin’s gay club, Rain). In Clueless terms Halcyon is a Monet; when you get close up it’s a big mess.

You guessed it, NOT SO MUCH.

www.halcyonaustin.com
218 West 4th Street
Austin, TX 78701-3917
(512) 472-9637

- Remi Kyle-Phillipe Bowen

A chupacabra will surely come kill me for saying this…

After a year in Austin, Texas, I am sick of fucking tacos. For those of you who are sick of tex-mex but don’t want to sell your soul to whataburger, do not fear… There are options. My first recent option is Manna Korean in North Austin, located off of Airport boulevard and North Lamar.

The food here is cheap, authentic, and comforting. It is the soul food for all of us non-southerners freaking out about tacos (yes, several sentences laters I’m still hating tacos). In general, the meals are family style so be prepared to indulge on some dried fish, kimchi, potato salad , pickled cucumbers and so forth as an appetizer, then to dive right into Korean heaven with some typical main dishes.

The fried chicken here makes you never want to go to church again. The Bulgogi makes you think Irish people aren’t too imaginative with beef. The spicy pork makes you feel bad for your Jewish friends. I am not so sure about health but I mean… it’s Korean in texas so I’m guessing I’ll have a heart attack there any day now. This place has never let me down (except for in the future when I die of a heart attack there) and they are open late by Austin food standards (9pm). They also make you feel like you aren’t in Texas which can be awesome for those days where too many people around you have used the word y’all. Go here, if you are feeling the taco depression. You will feel content with life again.

DECENT.

Manna Korean Restaurant
6808 North Lamar Boulevard,
Austin, TX (512) 323-0635

-Remi Kyle-Phillipe Bowen

March 18, 2009

Now if I could just get my head to stop pounding…

Four months ago I threw on some American Apparel leggings and a flannel shirt and headed over to Silverlake to meet up with some friends (NOT KIDDING WISH I WAS). Normally I couldn’t be bothered to travel to the east side of Los Angeles, but one of these friends owed me 50 bucks so I begrudgingly made the trek over to Sunset Junction from West Hollywood. We met at Inteligentsia.

Four months later I find myself desperately strung out on their coffee. I don’t know if this is good or bad, but I am stating fact here. Besides their coffee being overpriced, it is somehow WORTH it. Just to be able to sit outside and feel like in some civilized city and not fucking carworld is amazing.

Inteligentsia’s coffee definitely has a punch to it. The imported baristas from the Pacific Northwest grind it in front of you (they have to, since every drink is made to order- including the drip coffee). It’s not for the faint of heart of bowels. Believe me, I’ve heard stories…

But that’s not the point. The point is, to put it simply because I’m lazy and starving:

Good coffee if you like strong coffee.

Good atmosphere if you like pretty young girls with perky tits and little dogs (duhhh).

Good location. (I’ve since moved from laurel Canyon to Los Feliz)

DECENT. Done. Next?

www.intelligentsiacoffee.com
3922 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles 90029
(323) 663-6173

-Alessandra De Benedetti

November 20, 2008

As much as I’d like to give this place a decent, considering the amount of time I spent there over the summer, and its relation to the Bice restaurants which I hav always enjoyed, I just can’t. There are a few factors that hurt and help this authentic Italian restaurant, sometimes simultaneously.

Let’s start with the food. On first bite, it is surprisingly good. Good enough to say you want to go back. So what happens when you go back? The pasta’s undercooked. Then the next time it’s good again. I mean really good. But then the next time the same pasta is overcooked. What the fuck. It’s just plain inconsistent, which leaves us with the question of why I keep going back.

Simple, there’s only one reason: the atmosphere. Cafe Med is disputably the best location for people-watching of any restaurant in any major city I’ve been to. Feel free to send your arguments. The outdoor patio which sits nestled on the corner of the Sunset Strip and Sunset Plaza Drive is the perfect place to see any form of bizarre American ritual. Take, for example, the guy cruising around the block forty times in a yellow Lamborghini, competing for attention with the occasional stately Maybach and Rolls Royce, or the rampant Ferraris and Porsche 911’s. Or the kids selling pocket knives and candy bars. Or being star struck because your sitting next to a cast member of the Sopranos, riffing back and forth with the host in Italian about AC Milan’s stats. Smokers and non-smokers uniting over a glass of good red wine, eating good gnocchi. Young couples bringing their new adorable puppy dog out to show off. Nonna Lucia and Nonno Giuseppe getting drunk off Sambuca. The place is legit.

However, if it’s cold out, you’re basically fucked.

It appears as though Cafe Med has spent so much time dressing up their exterior to be fun and festive (and they did a good job), that they forgot about the interior. Setting foot inside that restaurant is like stepping into the gynecologist’s office. It’s dismal. And when forced to wait for a table outside, which is often, the prospect of sitting at the bar waiting can be as excruciatingly uninviting as that cold speculum. I have never sat inside of Cafe Med in the dozens of times I’ve been there nor do I plan on it.

So for that, unfortunately, though I wish it weren’t so, and only because it is November and I really would like one of your delicious thin crust margherita pizzas but am too cold to sit outside, I’m sorry Cafe Med…. ALMOST… but not quite.

www.cafemedsunsetplaza.com
Sunset Plaza Drive
West Hollywood 90069
310.652.0445

October 7, 2008

A redeeming factor in Scuzzy Thai Town.

Okay so we’ll get the most important part out of the way first: the food is consistently good, better than almost any other Thai place I’ve been to in LA.

Now, onto the rest. The Torung experience can be good or bad depending on your mood. If you like dirty dives with bubble gum-spotted floors, lots of toddlers running around and watching CNN on mute while eating chicken-fried rice this is the place for you. Now I know this probably sounds like it’s not the place for you, but it is usually more or less a good light-hearted hang out, especially at 2 in the morning when it’s the only fucking place open besides the 101 Cafe. The booths are big, comfy and shabby. The kitchen is really quick (usually between 10 and 12 minutes) and the food is cheap.

It has an “A” health rating, so I guess it can’t be that dirty, but it feels pretty gritty in there. The good thing about Torung is that, like any decent restaurant, they do take-out, which I usually prefer to dining in when it comes to this place.

In fact, I’m eating it right now.

A couple items on Torung’s menu:

The Tom Kha Kai spicy coconut soup ($8) is loaded with flavor, you can see it in the soup as it is literally packed with all sorts of edible doo-dads that I cannot name for you. They are really good with their spice-o-meter too. If you ask for mild, they make it mild with a little hint of spice, as opposed to the blandness I’ve gotten from other places when I’ve asked for mild. 

The Chicken Larb ($6) is served on a bed of cabbage and is neither too dry nor watery. It has enough red pepper seeds, but not too many where you find yourself choking on them.

Their fried rice  ($6) is perfect. That’s just one of those that’s either perfect, or not so good.

PS there are a bunch of ladies in the kitchen.

Luckily for Torung, the excellent food, speedy service and late-night hours makes their shitty little fuck-hole of a restaurant and the shitty neighborhood it’s in seem somehow acceptable. I’m giving it a DECENT.

5657 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028

5pm-3am

(323) 464-2750

CASH ONLY

October 6, 2008

My twilight-zone trip to Badfellas

To put it simply, this place is pathetic. I am always a fan of Beverly Hills shopping but I have noticed over the years that Beverly Hills dining is a whole lot of talk without much delivery.

La Dolce Vita was a choice I made in taking my father, also known as my Vice Chair of Italian Food Relations, out to dinner while he was visiting LA from Milan. I wanted to impress the guy basically, and this place, known as rat-packers’ favorite hang-out seemed like it could be a good low-key cozy comfort food kinda time. Now, Citysearch users rated this place the best Italian food in SoCal.

They must’ve never eaten authentic Italian food.

Upon entering the tacky and ornately decorated place I was not greeted by one “authentic” Italian. I actually wasn’t really greeted, and had to spend a minute milling around what looked like the set of Goodfellas until someone noticed me, and said “DeBenedetti? Party of 3?”

We were quickly shuffled to a booth where I sat directly underneath an air-conditioning vent, then made to wait about 15 minutes for a menu- on a night where it was completely empty. In those fifteen minutes I got to know the neighboring tables who were all either wearing sunglasses because their eyes wouldn’t shut due to excessive plastic surgery, or older white men with Russian prostitutes- yes, this goes on in Los Angeles. Strike One.

We finally ordered our appetizer, the Prosciutto e Melone, which I am not hesitant to call myself an expert on, as I spent my entire childhood in Italian restaurants gobbling this shit by the kilo. The prosciutto was a bit too thick and the kitchen took the liberty of covering it in pepper. The melon was not ripe, but I can’t blame them for that. I ate all of it, naturally… couldn’t waste it, never can. But not the best I’ve had. I think it’s safe to say it’s pretty hard to fuck up a slice of ham. Not for La Dolce Vita! Strike Two.

After gaggling around for a while, the waiter came and took our food orders. By then we had moved from one table A, located directly under an air-conditioning vent to new table B, which was located directly under another goddamn vent. When our food finally came, besides the fact that I was by then suffering from hypothermia, it was served with these little hot pieces of bread that looked like Pillsbury rolls (think Olive Garden). I suppose they haven’t heard of this thing called a baguette.

Anyway, I had the Linguine Alle Vongole, which the waiter took a little too much time to gratuitously explain was offered in a red sauce that was made of tomatoes and a white sauce which was made with butter, white wine and garlic. No shit. From first bite to last bite, which was only about 4 bites in, I am not exagerrating, I could have been eating a stick of butter with salt poured all over it and not known the difference. They also “forgot” to cook the parsley, which was not only garnishing the plate, but stuck in every fucking clam crevice. It might be played out at this point, but I’m gonna have to go ahead and call Strike Three.

We did not order dessert.

Here is what we did order:

1 Bloody Mary
1 $18 glass of red wine (which was served in a dirty glass and tasted as though there had been pieces of cork floating around in the bottle for over a week)
2 Linguine Tutto Mare (also too buttery)
1 Linguine alle Vongole

BILL: $182

This place is a fucking rip-off, you’d be better off investing your money in a Swarovski Crystal-encrusted Tampon holder for your mom. I give it a big fat NOT SO MUCH.

Here’s the info, in case you feel like wiping your ass with hundred dollar bills.

www.ladolcevitabeverlyhills.com
9785 Santa Monica Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 278-1845