Author: Nicole Isaacs

THE LOCAL PEASANT, SHERMAN OAKS

Published by Nicole Isaacs

The Local Peasant is a gastrobub in Sherman Oaks with great food and drinks. There is no sign from the outside, so it’s easy to miss from the street. They have a great selection of unique beers and cocktails, as well as interesting and delicious finger foods. MAC N’ CHEESE W/ BACON & BLACK TRUFFLE OIL Pretty good Mac N’ Cheese! Love the truffle flavor, and it was perfectly thick and creamy. BLUE CHEESE FRIED OLIVES OMG so amazing! This was one of my faves of the night. It came with a chipotle sauce and it literally melted in your mouth. Don’t really love blue cheese because of the strong flavor, but these weren’t strong. They were perfection. Obsesseddd! CRISPY PORK BELLY W/ PICKLED WATERMELON RIND AND SWEET & SPICY TAMARIND SAUCE My other favorite dish of the night. I can’t even describe how much flavor this had. It tasted like the most flavorful, crispy, yet tender piece of bacon I’ve ever had. Pork belly is my new favorite thing lol. Never had a more …

CRUSTACEAN, BEVERLY HILLS

Published by Nicole Isaacs

Crustacean is one of my favorites restaurants in LA. It is also known as the “Home of An’s Famous Garlic Noodles”. This 5-star restaurant was created by the An family, a Vietnamese family who immigrated to the US from Vietnam. All of Hollywood’s hottest celebs have dined at Crustacean- from Oprah, to Shaquille O’Neal, the walls are filled with press and celebrity pictures taken with the An family inside the restaurant. Crustacean has a “secret kitchen” where chefs that are very close to the An family for many years are only allowed in. The An family until this day will not reveal the secret recipe of their infamous garlic noodles as well as other famous Crustacean dishes. This is what drew me to this restaurant in the first place…I had to see what the big deal was about these noodles. Crustacean is upscale and also very pricey, but well worth it! With a big aquarium on the wall with exotic, tropical fish right when you walk in, and a serpentine aqaurium pathway to lead you into the main dining …

CAFETERIA, NEW YORK CITY

Published by Nicole Isaacs

Casual but trendy, this 24-hour, open 7 days a week restaurant is the perfect choice for a casual breakfast, lunch or dinner. Hearty and great food for a reasonable price, as well as being open 24/7, this place is a safe and easy choice for any time of the day. I went for dinner with friends on a Friday night, and it was packed- you couldn’t find a place to stand to wait for a table. Luckily four pretty girls didn’t have to wait long, and we got seated in less than 5 minutes lol. Warm, cheese biscuits to brought to the table with our waters. Yum! CAFETERIA MAC & CHEESE- MAC ATTACK TASTINGS ~Cheddar & Fontina~Truffle Oil~Smoked Gouda & Bacon~ Delicious Mac N’ Cheese. Each sampler was so flavorful- perfectly cheesy and creamy. I loved the different flavors of each one. They were all amazing. I loved the truffle one and the gouda and bacon. They were all made perfectly. Highly recommended! TOMATO BASIL SOUP– w/ Mini Fontina Grilled Cheese It kind of …

BUDDAKAN- CHELSEA, NEW YORK CITY

Published by Nicole Isaacs

Buddakan in New York City is located next door to the charming Chelsea Market. This place is one of the most trendy and expensive restaurants in the city. The restaurant was even featured in the movie Sex & The City for Carrie’s engagement dinner to Mr. Big! lol. Serving unique contemporary Asian cuisine, not only is the food amazing but the decor of Buddakan is extravagant, grand and absolutely beautiful. My sister, friends and I had a great experience. The service was great, the food delicious and the atmosphere was fun and lively. EDAMAME DUMPLINGS- Shallot-Sauternes Broth Best thing of the night. I would have never in a million years ordered this off the menu, but our amazing server brought these from compliments of the kitchen, and I couldn’t believe how delicious it was. Inside was an edamame puree, in a delicate, thin noodle dumpling. The sauce tasted like truffle oil broth. It melted in your mouth and had amazing flavor. For not ordering this myself, it happened to be my favorite dish of the night. It makes me think of how many incredible dishes …

SARABETH’S- NEW YORK CITY

Published by Nicole Isaacs

My girls and I with our Peach Bellini’s! A Sarabeth’s favorite brunch cocktail. Brunch at Sarabeth’s never looked so good lol. My ladies and I made the atmosphere even that much more cute 🙂 We went to Sarabeth’s across Central Park for brunch and it was the cutest brunch place. There were a couple baby & bridal showers going on (which is the perfect place for that). Sarabeth’s is very charming and the menu and decor reminded me of a bakery shop or a bridal shower invitation lol. It had that “pastel color charm”. Sarabeth’s is a very popular breakfast, brunch & lunch spot in New York City- the place was very busy on a Saturday afternoon. There are a couple of Sarabeth’s around the city, so look online to see a location near you. GUACAMOLE W/ HOUSE MADE CHIPS This was very good. The chips were made from scratch in the kitchen. They were crispy & salty. The perfect chips with fresh guacamole. ALMOND CRUSTED FRENCH TOAST W/ FRESH STRAWBERRIES I liked this french …

SAN PEDRO FISH MARKET- SAN PEDRO, CA

Published by Nicole Isaacs

Located on the harbor in San Pedro, is a long boardwalk of fresh seafood and fair food. Candied apples, kettle corn, funnel cakes among freshly caught grilled fish, oyster and ceviche bars, crab and lobster tanks, and heaps of grilled and fried shrimp served with huge loafs of garlic bread. Oh, and how can I forget, fully stacked bars with frozen daquiris, margaritas and a Mexican staple, Micheladas. There are several seafood shacks to choose from. Take your pick, or try a bunch of different places and enjoy! High quality, freshly caught seafood for cheap. You can’t beat that. Such a fun thing to do on a weekend with friends. Take a look! CAUGHT MY OWN LIVE CRAB! COOKING HEAPS OF GRILLED SHRIMP AND VEGETABLES LIVE MARIACHI BAND PERFORMING AT TABLES MICHELADA- SPICY HOT SAUCE BEER! BAR-B-QUE CHICKEN & FRESH GRILLED TORTILLAS OYSTER BAR- THEY ARE CRACKING THEM OPEN! LONG GRILL OF FRESH FISH SHRIMP PLATE W/ FRESH GARLIC BREAD SHRIMP PLATE, CORN, GARLIC BREAD OCTOPUS CEVICHE- FRESH AVOCADO, LEMON, HOT SAUCE OYSTERS THE VIEW FROM OUR …

CHOCOLATES BY CHOCLATIQUE

Published by Nicole Isaacs

My new favorite chocolates. Choclatique sent me a beautiful box of chocolates for me to try and blog about, and I have to say…kind of obsessed now. My face literally LIT up when this box of delightful treats were delivered to my work desk at E!. Choclatique is a privately owned , super-premium, award winning chocolate company. All the assortments are beautifully packaged and the chocolates are colorful, uniquely flavored and absolutely delicious. I was sent the “Designer Donuts” assortment, which is a collection of 15 pieces of chocolate beautifully wrapped in a brown and gold box. The flavors were unique and exciting- flavors such as White Chocolate Cinnamon Spice, Jelly Donut, Johnny Appleseed’s Apple, Marshmellow Mint Chip, Fluff-A-Nutter, Carrot Cream Cheese, Vanilla Creme, Chocolate Peanut Butter & Jelly, etc. You can customize your own box and have over 200 unique flavors to choose from in all shapes and colors. It’s so fun to do on the website! You pick the box you want, and click and drag the pictures of the different flavors …

THE PENTHOUSE AT THE HUNTLEY HOTEL-SANTA MONICA, CA

Published by Nicole Isaacs

Sippin’ my watermelon mojito! Cheers! For DineLA week, my friends and I chose the Penthouse in the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica. I heard it was a beautiful restaurant and had been wanting to dine there for awhile. The restaurant itself is gorgeous. With a 360 view of glass windows, you get a spectacular view of the city of Santa Monica and the ocean. All the tables against the windows are white cabanas with chandeliers, and in the middle of the restaurant is a big bar and a DJ booth- the whole scene is very chic and trendy. Three of us ordered from the DineLA dinner menu, three courses for $34, and one ordered from the regular menu. We ordered a couple bottles of wine and some cocktails. Overall, it was a really great dinner- everything was good. APPETIZERS BOTTLE OF PINOT NOIR & BREAD/BUTTER VEGETABLE PUREE SOUP I LOVED this. Great flavor. ROCK SHRIMP Fanny’s Old Bay & Creamy Grits I usually order creamy rock shrimp tempura, so this was …

ABBOT KINNEY FESTIVAL- VENICE BEACH, CA

Published by Nicole Isaacs

On Sunday, September 25, 2011 from 10am-6pm, it was the 27th Annual Abbot Kinney Festival in Venice, CA. There were thousands of people, tons of food, drinks, jewelry and clothing tents, a couple rides, etc. It was quite a festival. I love festivals because its street food heaven for me lol. Some of my favorite food trucks were there, such as the Grilled Cheese Truck, Lobsta Truck, etc, and along Abbot Kinney all the boutiques, restaurants, bars and wine stores were open as well, so the whole street was pretty poppin. FOOD ABBOTS PIZZA COMPANY The line was out the door at this place. Hole in the wall pizzeria, totally reminded me of a place in NYC. NY style pizza, and so good. They had amazing unique pizzas as well, and all slices came with a side of sauce. That’s my shit! TOMATO, BASIL MARGARITA CLASSIC PEPPERONI Our slices came w/ a spicy chipotle sauce. AMAZEBALLS. Great NY style pizza in LA. Loved it. STREET MEAT LOL GUACAMOLE AND CHIPS TENT, SO GOOD! MORE …