Eating my way through LA.

In preparation for my yearly visit down south, my niece who knows me so well, sent me an email with a list of possible dining experiences. I was thrilled and excited, what better way to spend time in SoCal that wandering from one intriguing eatery to another.

Our first meal out was at Wurstkuche: an exotic sausage grill. It was casual and loud ( I found many of the places we ate at to be high in decibels, maybe I am just getting old ;-) The menu divided the sausages into three categories, classic, gourmet and exotic. The classic offerings included bratwurst, and hot Italian, with three veggie options. Under the gourmet heading you could sample mango jalapeno, sundried tomato and mozzarella or Louisiana hot links. The exotics were truly exotic, rattlesnake with rabbit and jalapeno peppers, pheasant with herbs de Provence or duck with bacon.
Too many amazing choices if you ask me...and once you made your selection you had to choose two of the four toppings: sauerkraut, caramelized onions, sweet peppers or spicy peppers. And I haven't even gotten to the dipping sauces for the fries: TEN CHOICES !! Too many to list here, go to their website if you want to drool.

My host insisted I try two of the sausages, I chose the sun-dried tomato with smoked chicken & turkey and the buffalo, beef and pork with Chipotle peppers. What a great taste extravaganza  !!

 Luckily they put all five kinds of mustard on the tables so you don't have to choose.
I am not a beer drinker but they have extensive menu of both draft and bottles beers. I had my first ever cucumber soda, what a perfect foil for those sausages, crisp and not too sweet.


Father's Office calls itself a  gastropub, a term that reminds me of some indelicate intestinal issue.
It was another place with a large beer selection and orders taken at the bar. I found the counter help a bit snooty when I asked for something non-alcoholic.
I did enjoy these smoked eggplant dumplings, at least that's what I think they were. I couldn't find a menu on their website. My fellow diners, enjoyed burgers, ribs and the beer.

The Aussie Pie Kitchen in Santa Monica was an unexpected treat. First off, the charming Aussie manager made us feel very welcome and explained their whole premise and set up. First you choose a pie.

Then you choose from a variety of add-ons: minty mushy peas, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing and mashed sweet potatoes. He gave us samples of all of these, they call them stacked pies when you add all these tasty sides.

I chose a vegetable pie with stuffing and sweet potatoes. Oh and they pour their creamy thyme gravy over the whole thing.

 Talk about comfort food !!

After a spa afternoon, Sara and I choose her favorite Milo and Olive for our dinner. I had been there for breakfast but never for dinner. We wanted to eat fairly lightly and I have to admit I was skeptical when Sara wanted to order a pizza with roasted potatoes, rosemary cream and caramelized onions.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the crisp crust, rich flavor but lightness of this pizza. I was especially surprised by how well the potatoes worked. We added a light arugula salad and were sated and happy.

My last breakfast was at one of Kirby's favorite spots, Abbot Kinney Kafe and Juicery, home to Kreation Juice. The juice and drinks we sampled, while pricey were exquisite. In fact their spice almond drink inspired me to start making my own almond milk.

Sara's smoked salmon platter looked fabulous !

My omelet while pretty to look at, was under-seasoned and a bit disappointing.

I would definitely go back for the juice and try a different breakfast selection.

So there you have my trip to LA...it's all about the food ;-)