faulker054

If you're tired of Tender Greens, Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken, Sushi Zo, Sushi Karen and the numerous Thai/Chinese restaurants in Culver City, Fraîche might be a great option – with a lunch menu that fits snugly under $15. Frank Bruni of New York Times rated Fraîche as his #6 favorite 'coast-to-coast' restaurant, and stated that he could eat their salads everyday . I've been passing by this place for months and it wasn't until Jeni told me how much she liked the food , that I decided to give, Fraîche , a little attention. This is the kind of place that would make Rachael Ray flash her vibrant, $40-a-day, Joker-like smile. That smile. I met up my friend TN, aka TyTown, on a Friday afternoon here at Fraîche, who's been a fan ever since having dinner here. And joining us, was our new Canon 40D only a few days old. Jeni & I had our Nikon D70 stolen during a trip to the Quintana Roo-side of Mexico . Under-$15 meal, long lunch break with beer, perfe...

Sequels. Usually a thing that's hit or miss. Karate Kid. Police Academy. Die Hard. Van Dumb & Steven Segal movies... you either love them or you hate them. And a big can of worms is opened with various opinions. With all the talk over the last year about Father's Office opening a second location, the question isn't whether or not it'll be better than the Santa Monica location... the question is "when the f*ck is it actually opening?" And finally, after god knows how long, Chef Sang Yoon has opened up chapter 2 in his restaurant career with Father's Office II this week, located in the Helms Bakery Building in Culver City, or to foodies, as CuCi. I myself, call it Construction City, because things never seem to get done here thanks to Cal Trans. At exactly 5:07 pm, my coworker RM, Jeni and I quickly turned on to Helms Avenue. It was only the 2nd day of the grand opening and we eagerly stuck our heads out the window to see if there were herds of pe...

The many restaurants sprouting in the nouveau Culver City area, or as Delicious Life refers to as 'CuCi', give you the license to empty the wallet and fatten the waistline from low-priced food at Honey Kettle to higher-end food at the wonderful Fraîche . That's great, but I find myself at the lower end of the spectrum, scrapping away at quality places like Del Taco. I was driving around one time on my lunch break, spying out Sang Yoon's long-awaited project known as Father's Office, a much larger sister to the favorite Santa Monica spot. In the corner of my eye, I spotted out a hot dog stand in full operation, with a few people littered around on it. And then I remembered my friend telling me about her new culinary fad... a place called Let's Be Frank. Ah – this must be it. But what's so special about this hot dog? How about a hot dog that is actually made from grass-fed beef, uses lamb casing, contains healthy stuff like 600 mg. of Omega-3 fatty acid...

Driving around on San Gabriel Valley's, Valley Blvd. can be a dangerous thing. It's basically an obstacle course for Traffic School students... 24/7. Almost every time I drive on this street, my blood begins to boil because I am always behind a 30-mph herd of people that are doing anything but focusing on the road. Some people are busy yapping away on their cell phone, some are just blinded by their own facial sun visors that remind me of a welding mask (are you going to drive or are you going to solder me a new metal table in your car? make up your mind!) and most of the time, people are just too freaking old to be on the road. Like Koreatown, SGV's streets are surrounded by strip malls and shopping centers. If you don't know you're way around here and are trying to find your address, you can easily get into a car accident by not paying attention to the road. I've been close to rear-ending people in Koreatown because it is strip-mall overload – laden with...

Since moving to the Silver Lake area, it's been beneficial living in such close proximity to Koreatown, what J & I refer to as a foodie goldmine. We used to frequent the standard Korean bbq joints most newcomers to Korean cuisine dined at, but learned that there is far more depth to what is one of my favorite Asian cuisines behind Chinese and Vietnamese. There's the 14-hour-braised beef bone soup called suhl lung tang , the spicy crab hot pot, spicy raw crab, black bean noodles, all-you-can-eat intestines & tripe, sashimi rice bowls, cold buckwheat noodles, pork belly fried rice cooked on a Medieval-style shield, etc. The list goes on. But as much as I love korean food, one thing I wished there was more of is soup noodles. In addition to the Korean-Chinese dish jjam pong , a fiery seafood noodle soup, jaap chae (beef & vegetable vermicelli) and packaged kim-chi ramen ( la myun ), the list is still short. And then I find out from trusty Koreatownists about a pl...

I love Vietnamese food, in general, for many reasons. It has the ability to really trigger the salty, sweet and sour facets of our palates and send you back wanting more. The food is light, fresh, bright and healthy (minus the deep fried dishes of course). After trying this dish called bun ca thi la (Dill & Turmeric Fish Noodles) at Viet Soy Cafe in Silver Lake, I had to make this for myself. Viet Soy Cafe & Viet Noodle Bar serves Hanoi-style food, which according to the owner, is generally lighter in taste and not as robust as its Southern counterpart. I've heard this applies especially to pho , which originated in Hanoi, and brought down to the South during the war. Hanoi-style pho usually serves less shrubbery (bean sprouts, limes, herbs) and sticks with the standard chili sauces and jalapeno. The result is a clearer soup that has a delicate taste because less spices such as anise are omitted. Nothing a few dashes of fish sauce couldn't do for a bowl of so...

On a scale of 5-stars, Yoshinoya deserves 1-star. Not for the food, which i personally think deserves 3 stars. This 1-star accolade applies to the knuckleheads for their level of customer service at this particular location that operate the establishment known as Yoshinoya... 'authentic' Japanese for non-Japanese. But like Jollibee , there is something intriguing – drawing me back in. The meat is beyond identifiable and could be a cross between donkey or zebra meat... a result of a bad animal cloning project gone awry that somehow made its way into our warm Styrofoam bowls. But man, that (insert mystery meat) juice is tasty. So i go to Yoshinoya on the way home b/c that's where starving people frequent, especially when they have those BOGO free coupons. A whole bowl of zebra/donkey meat, onions and rice soaked in a lagoon of beef fat/soy sauce/msg for under $5. Hey i'm poor and hungry, sign me up please! I walk in and immediately I see one female cashier sporting t...