Recently in Domestic Travel Category

On a recent "suicide run" to LA (despite my vow a few years back not to do them ever again), I had a three hour brunch at FIG in Santa Monica.

But first, what exactly is a "suicide run"? A "suicide run" is when you drive to LA from SF when the return is 3 days or less. Having not done these in a few years, I was amazed to find that the Tejon Ranch near Grapevine had been developed and even has an In & Out, thus bringing the amount of restaurants on the 5 to two! Exciting if you're a fan of driving. And I&O. Despite the suicide run character of this road trip, I've not taken the MX5 out for a proper shakedown cruise. I took the MX5 there on the 5 and back on the 101 and learned that Kumho Ecsta tires are noisy and new struts are in order. But never mind the logistics of driving...

So I met up with a friend and she drove me to FIG at the Fairmont Hotel in Santa Monica. It's basically American cuisine in nice surroundings. This was the first time there for both of us. It was a fun brunch; I think I spent more time laughing and chatting than eating. It took me two hours to eat a grilled cheese sandwich and another hour to have a couple of drinks in the Southern California sunshine with wonderful company.

I need more meals like this.

Signage is excellent; you definitely know where you are.

Sea salt. Looks good and tastes good too.

When you're seated, they serve you arugula butter with warm mini baguettes.

This is how a 2 hour grilled gueyre cheese sandwich looks like

The aftermath, a half finished pasta-less lasagna, fries and the second half of a grilled cheese. And someone's pair of Ray-Ban aviators...

Great service and validated parking at the Fairmont Hotel. Worth a visit then a stroll afterwards.

FIG
101 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401-1106
(310) 576-7777
http://www.figsantamonica.com

Mmmmmacaroni salad!

Conversation over Ping! for iPhone...

Pally: "Hey, when are you coming down to LA? I've got some friends I'd like you to meet..."

Me: "As soon as I get some time, I'll swing down for a few days. Think the weather will behave?"

That initial chat was over a month ago. Despite my best laid plans (which involved driving my MX5 down the coast and visiting friends along the way), I've not been able to make the drive to LA. I've been just plain busy! Since I returned to SF from Japan, the weather has been cold and rainy and issues have come up with the money pit that required me to go "out there" to fix things. I don't like being flaky (cuz I absolutely LOATHE it when people are flaky with me) so when I found a SFO-LAX same day turn flight on UA for US$100, I went for it. I figure it's been a long time since I've been to LA strictly to putter. Longer still since I had a french dip sandwich from the place that invented the yummy thing. And since I was arriving around lunch time, I figured that this was a sign.

Nah, THIS is a sign!

Phillipe's is an 91 year old Los Angeles institution; basically a deli that makes short orders (and sells cuppa coffees for 9 cents) and french dipped sandwiches with your choice of meat. It doesn't sound like much. A sandwich (with your choice of meat and cheese) dipped whole into au jus. But like alchemy, the ingredients themselves aren't that fantastical; combine everything and it's wonderous!! There's also hot spicy mustard at all the tables for that added kick. Bam.

I arrived at the restaurant just after 1300 and parked in the free parking lot. A very fast 6 minutes later, I was ordering a French Dip Beef with swiss cheese, macaroni salad, homemade custard and a Diet Coke (burp). $12 or so for the entire thing; if I nixed the custard, it would have been under $10.

Ah, what a healthy lunch!

Oh yeah, the whole reason why I came down to LA? I'll have to cover that next time. I did have the fastest sashimi dinner ever and got from Little Tokyo to LAX in 29 minutes during the evening commute. So I accomplished something else besides satisfying my french dip craving...

Three Los Angeles icons: free parking, Phillipe's and an LAPD radio car

Phillipe the Original
1001 N. Alameda St
Los Angeles CA 90012
+1-213-628-3781
http://www.phillipes.com

Much has been written about San Francisco's notorious "air conditioning", also known as the marine layer, or simply "fog".

This was taken 10 minutes ago! That's fog out there! And cold too...

Once you escape the City and County, summer is still alive and well. This is from Skyline Blvd (CA-35) above Woodside. It was clear in the daytime, awesome at dusk and is still clear and starry now.

From earlier today, when I took the long way back to The City.

I made a brief visit to the North Beach Festival last Sunday.

Washington Square all crowded

The North Beach Festival is one of the mainstays of San Francisco summer fair season where Washington Square and part of Grant Avenue is taken over by musicians, food, art and product vendors. The same vendors who are also at the Chestnut Street, Castro and Fillmore Street fairs, in case you missed them there. The North Beach Festival is different. Unlike the Chestnut Street Fair, you're not confined to a corral if you wish to indulge in an adult beverage. Of course, maybe it was logistically impossible because of the density of the crowd. Problem is that when you have a crowd like this, this is what happens to your AT&T signal.

Notice the upper left corner of my iPhone? It says "searching". And that's all.

Of course, it's not all smug and maturity. It's an opportunity for local merchants (who are hurting due to the City's policies) to attract customers too.

Why visit this place?

Because of its creative advertising!

I came across this well guarded door in the Meatpacking District.

Arf Arf.

Oh the things you come across in Manhattan...

Taken on approach to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

First you fly over the Caribbean, then you fly over San Juan and the rest of the island until you finally land. Nice and warm out there!

Interesting police cars...

I was in NYC for a few days to experience Xmas. I saw some traditional wrapping...

I know some girls who would like this entire building under their tree!

And speaking of trees...

The big Xmas tree at Rockefeller Center, devoid of tourists!!

The weather there was incredibly cold. First night was 17 degrees, second night was 27 and the third day was 62. SIXTY TWO!

After two cold rainy days, it's sunny. And WARM?!?

On one of the cold days, I made it to the City Bakery for a much needed cuppa cocoa with a iceberg-like (sized) marshmallow. Yum!

Yes, it's really that big!

City Bakery
3 W 18th Street
NY NY 10011
http://www.thecitybakery.com

Wheee! Balloon drop! For 20 minutes...

Why is it at the END of my trip, THAT's when I find new cool Japanese places to hang out at? One of them, I nearly lost track of time and almost missed my train that went to my plane...

There's a new place called Soba Totto on E 43rd, near Grand Central Station. Their soba was OK but their yakitori kicked ass! Great stuff. Great decor and a young and hip 日本人 staff. They're open late too. I'll blog and report next visit.

On this trip, I stayed at the Pod Hotel again. It has a great Midtown location and is an "affordable" place to stay on the Island. Because US$89/night during off season is a good deal!

On my way to JFK on Monday via the 6 to the S to the 1-2-3 to Penn Station to the LIRR to Jamaica to the AirTrain (sounds harder than it is), I found myself pulled into a new tea shop called Tafu. And it was open!

Actually, I first noticed this place on Sunday, as you have to walk by it going to or from the 51st Street station. They're closed on Sundays so I had to wait until today to get my fill of sencha before embarking on my long journey across three time zones and the continent back to SFO. Pix next visit since it was kind of busy during the lunchtime rush to take pix..

Soba Totto
211 East 43rd Street (between 2nd Ave & 3rd Ave)
New York NY 10017
(212) 557-8200

Tafu
Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel (on 51st between Lex & 3rd)
New York NY 10022
http://www.tafuny.com

One of the great things about NYC is that there's always a reason to get up early. And of cors, it's always food related.

NYC seems to have no end of new "good" brekkie places to check out. Why is that? Is this a side effect of New York being such a fast paced, go go kind of town that its denizens insist on waking up early to squeeze every last bit of life out of the 1440 minutes allotted each day? Maybe that's the reason why New York is one of those rare places where people here get up hella early but also stay out VERY late.

Each time I visit, I mysteriously morph into one of these early risers, so I can try out a new brekkie place before the hordes hit and a 5 minute wait becomes a 1 hour wait. Maybe that's why people get up early here. To eat brekkie!

If you get here before 1030, you can just walk up to the counter and seat yrself...

Despite the dubious sounding name, Community Restaurant is a pleasant, well lit place with nice big tables in the front and smaller tables hidden in the back for some privacy. And unlike many of the restaurants in San Fran, Community also has a counter where you can seat yourself if you're eating solo. Following my modus operandi when it comes to trying new places, I wind up ordering one of the simpler dishes on the menu, blueberry pancakes with a side of bacon.

Not really artsy because I was more interested in eating it than styling it...

In the greasy spoons I usually haunt, pancakes usually have a spongy feel to them, both when you cut into the stack with your fork AND when you actually chew and swallow. You can also experience the sponginess when your plate is dry after drowning the stack in syrup 5 minutes earlier. That's because many restaurants use a mix where you add water instead of making the batter fresh. Fresh batter usually does not have the sponginess. Community's blueberry pancakes does not have the sponginess. And because of the quality of the ingredients that the pancakes are made with, they provide a small tin of maple butter instead of syrup. You can enjoy the yumminess of the pancakes without having to drown them in syrup.

Did I just type "yumminess"? Hmm I guess I did. The orange juice (order the large) was fresh squeezed and the coffee was from a pot (as opposed to the french press you get at Norma's). It was cold outside so it wasn't too bad having coffee from the pot. Warms ya up, it does...

Community Restaurant
2893 Broadway (between 112th & 113th)
New York NY 10025
212.665.2800
http://www.communityrestaurant.com