Author: Nicole Isaacs

     One of my favorite pasta dishes of all time is at a cozy and charming French bistro called Cafe Bizou. The Cafe Bizou that I have been going to for years is on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, but there are two other locations: one in Pasadena, CA, and the other in Santa Monica, CA. Growing up, everytime my family would meet my grandparents for dinner, we would go to Cafe Bizou. The owner of the restaurant is a French man named Philippe. He is the nicest man and goes out of his way to make sure everything is well taken care of. He always greets me with the warmest welcome and asks about my family everytime I come in. Cafe Bizou has great food and great service for a ridiculously good price. It’s Cheesecake Factory prices with 5 star quality food. It’s a hidden gem- not many people my age know about it, but it is very popular amongst a more elderly crowd. Usually their diners have been loyal customers for many years. You can’t …

     Recently voted as LA’s OFFICIAL HOTDOG: the infamous BACON WRAPPED HOT DOG. Now, many of you I know find these things to be repulsive and gross, but let me just tell you- that’s your problem. You are missing out on something truly great, so your loss. And for those of you who don’t eat pork, I’m sorry.       ANYWAY, these little street meat creations have famously made its name in the “Hollywood club scene” for years now. They have been cooked by Mexicans outside all the hot night clubs on little stands, and when you are coming out of the club, you can tell one is close because of its smell. You usually see drunk girls in tight dresses and heels that look like hot messes scarfing down one of these screaming how good it tastes, or a bunch of guys surrounding the little stand ordering multiple hotdogs lol. THIS IS SOME SERIOUS GRUB FOOD. But the ones in Hollywood don’t even compare to what I’m going to blog about right now. Downtown Los Angeles, …

      On the corner of Van Nuys and Ventura Blvd., there is what I’d like to call a little  “gem” spot—Pita Kitchen. It is a tiny, cobble-stoned, hole-in-the-wall that has great Middle Eastern food; famously known for their shawarma meats and pita sandwiches. Being from Middle-Eastern descent, there are times I crave a good pita with flavorful meat, hummus and salad. There aren’t many great spots around where I live and nothing is obviously better than going to Israel and getting a shawarma pita on the street, but there are a few spots in the LA and surrounding areas where they have good Middle Eastern food. Pita Kitchen is one of them. Chicken Shawarma Plate with fries, salad & hummus After a beautiful day bike riding on the boardwalk at Venice Beach to the Santa Monica Pier, and enjoying the warm sunset on the beach in the middle of January, I built up an appetite and decided to head back to the valley and grab something to eat. I hadn’t been to Pita Kitchen in …

     Last night I went to Kushiyu for dinner in Tarzana. I used to go to this place for sushi all the time back in high school, but haven’t been in so long and last night I was craving sushi so decided to finally go back. If you live in the valley and like sushi, Kushiyu is a great sushi spot. They have great fresh fish, and not only is their sushi really good, but they are known for their wide variety of barbequed skewers of fresh fish, chicken, vegetables, etc. A little more of an upscale sushi restaurant, but it’s not terribly expensive. Last night I ordered: the Lemon Roll, Spicy Albacore Special Roll, the Asian Roll, Green Roll, Tony Roll, and the seabass skewers. I recommend all three of the above and the spicy tuna on rice cake of course! Spicy Albacore Special Roll Asian Roll…spicy! Love… Asian Roll Seabass Green Roll-garlic ponzu tossed greens on top! Tony Roll- one of my favorites! Lemon Roll w/ seabass skewers…YUM! Lemon Roll…so fresh tasting!     Great sushi spot …

     The other day I went to The Counter for my first time. They opened one up right across from E! Entertainment on Wilshire (that’s where I work), so I had to see what all the hype was about. If you are a regular on my blog, you know my favorite food is a good burger, so I was excited to see how good their burgers really are.       I went with a friend from work, and we were both starving. We decided to order by phone and they said it would take 20 minutes before it’s ready. When we walked across the street, the place was packed and buzzing with people that decided to come there on their lunch break as well. We decided to eat there, and waited around 15-20 minutes for the food to come out. Meanwhile, we sat at the bar, (which is kind of cool that have a bar there), but I realized it’s not your typical fast food burger spot. It is more like a casual restaurant. They have …

     So I have been on a roll posting about fabulous NYC eateries lately, but this will be the last post on places to eat in New York for awhile. I’m ending the NY posting madness and it’s time to move cities! But I had to end with a bang… Belgian Waffle with Spekuloos spread, strawberries, bananas, whipped cream and chocolate syrup Wafles & Dinges at the Union Square Market First visit to Wafles & Dinges…Got it with ice cream and strawberries! Wafles & Dinges is a famous NYC food truck. It was rated the #1 food truck in the NATION by a show on the Travel Channel and has been acknowledged by many media outlets such as MSNBC, the Daily News, The Today Show, The New York Times, New York Post, Fox’s Good Day New York, and many famous food blogs. This truck is an authentic Belgian waffle dessert truck that goes all over New York City and they post their locations daily through Twitter so people can know where they will be parked. …

How can you take a trip to New York City and not go to Serendipity? Even though I was born and raised in LA, I’ve been to NYC several times, and I know how to do it right. I absolutely love going to New York during Christmas time. It is the most festive time in NYC and one of the most beautiful places in the world to be during that time of year. Me in front of FAO Schwartz! Me at Rockefeller Center 🙂      After shopping down 5th Avenue, stopping at Rockefeller Center and making a stop at the famous FAO Schwartz, I of course had to make a visit to Serendipity for their FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATES. If you don’t already know about this, that’s unfortunate, so let me brief you real quick. First, do yourself a favor and go rent the movie Serendipity. It’s with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale (who is one of my favorite actresses, obsessed!). This movie is really what made Serendipity super famous and a New York City landmark. But …

Photo credit: http://www.balthazarny.com/      Balthazar is a french bistro located in Soho, New York City, right in the middle of all the best shopping. It is loud and always buzzing with people. It has a charming feel to it, and eating there definitely makes you feel like you are in Europe. They have assortments of baskets of freshly baked bagettes all over the restaurant, and they also have a Balthazar bakery as well that is attached to the resturant with a wide variety of fresh bread, sandwiches, salads, soups, and desserts to choose from. Photo credit: http://www.balthazarny.com/         I went with a group of friends, and there was an hour wait, so we went shopping and came back just in time to find our table being set. It was so crowded and there also was a long wait behind us. The ONLY reason I chose to eat at Balthazar was because Bobby Flay, (those of you who are familiar with food and cooking should know this famous chef), said that Balthazar had the BEST french fries he ever …

A more upscale tavern-style American cuisine restaurant known for their burgers, Rare is the perfect place to have drinks with friends and enjoy appetizers and good burger. Located in the beautiful Affinia Shelburne Hotel on Lexington Ave and E. 37th Street, Rare is a happening spot on any day of the week. If you are familiar with my blog, you may know that my favorite food is a good burger. My expectations are sky-high when it comes to burgers because I’ve had some pretty amazing burgers in my life time. At Rare, they offer unique burger combinations, similar to Umami Burger in LA, but you are also able to create your own burger and subsitute items if you please. I went to Rare on a Sunday night at around 9:00pm, and it was very much alive and busy. I went with a big group of people and we got seated in the back of the restuarant in a more secluded private room. Although Rare offers other items on the menu besides burgers, everyone in my group order a different kind …