All posts filed under: Italian

FOUR SEASONS SUNDAY BRUNCH

Published by Nicole Isaacs

I’ve been to a lot of brunches in my life, and the Four Seasons Beverly Hills Sunday Brunch takes the cake. It is by far my favorite brunch. We celebrated Mothers Day there this past weekend, and it was the perfect choice. First of all, the Four Seasons is an exquisite hotel. We sat on the indoor/outdoor patio, and every table had pretty fresh flower center pieces. The room was draped beautifully with curtains and chandeliers. It was alongside a beautiful lush garden and the weather was perfect. As far as the food goes… the buffet is huge. The lay out is in four different areas and is quite impressive. There is nothing they don’t have at this buffet- there is something for everyone’s taste. They even have a kids table with PB&J sandwiches, grilled cheese, mac n cheese, jello cups, chicken fingers, french fries, burgers, etc., which is actually my favorite part (don’t judge me). ALL the food is excellent. Even on a regular Sunday, their brunch buffet is just as good. I tend …

A DAY IN DOWNTOWN LA! DRAGO CENTRO, LOS ANGELES

Published by Nicole Isaacs

MY DAY IN DOWNTOWN LA This past weekend I wondered around Downtown LA to some amazing locations and took some pictures just for fun! There are so many beautiful, artsy locations down there you would never think to travel to. Later in the day, I had dinner at the well known restaurant, Drago Centro in the heart of downtown. It was really great Italian food. We loved it. Check out my food pictures from Drago and I also wanted to share a couple pictures I took that day 🙂 l’insalata di cesare romaine, caesar dressing, shaved parmesan, garlic crostini This was a great ceaser salad to start out the meal. la mozzarella buffalo mozzarella, balsamic, tomato, basil, crostini The mozzarella was so creamy and delicious. It almost tasted and had the same texture as burrata cheese which I love. This is also the perfect appetizer. gli spaghetti con il pesto alla trapanese basil spaghetti, sicilian almond-tomato and basil pesto The basil noodles were flavored with a pesto sauce as well as tomato sauce. It was …

MADEO, LOS ANGELES

Published by Nicole Isaacs

Dinner date at Madeos! I just ate at Madeo the other night and it was such a great dinner. This old school Italian restaurant has been a “Hollywood” hot spot for years and the food is delicious. If you can get past the paparazzi outside the restaurant and the prices being on the expensive side, Madeo offers excellent Italian food with an old-school, classic vibe. CARPACCIO Filet mignon, carpaccio, served with artichokes, parmigiano cheese and rucola I am a big fan of carpaccio. This melted in your mouth and had such great flavor with the Parmesan & mushrooms. I think this is the perfect appetizer! SPAGHETTI ALL’ ARAGOSTA W/ fresh maine lobster in a tomato sauce It was a nice twist to your traditional “spaghetti bolognese”. It was good and satisfying, but didn’t blow me away. TAGLIOLINI W/ shaved black truffles I loved this. I love creamy pastas and this was a really delicious one. It was the perfect amount of “creamy”. I’m also obsessed with anything truffle so it was a win …

2013 VENDY AWARDS- BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Published by Nicole Isaacs

Lobster grilled cheese, Philly cheese steak, pizza, pulled pork sandwiches, empanadas, tacos, dumplings, curry, fried anchovies………..it didn’t stop! My sister and I attended the Vendy Awards in Brooklyn a couple weeks ago-also known as “the Oscars of street food”. The Vendy Awards is a food truck competition that identifies and celebrates NYC’s best street food vendors, fundraising to support the nonprofit organization, Street Vendor Project of the Urban Justice Center. I had a press pass and got to try all the best voted food trucks in New York City. Let’s just say I couldn’t move afterwards. I wish I had a bigger stomach to try everything but I only could fit so much in there lol. A little overwhelming for someone like me who wanted to try everything, but there was just too much. Not going to go into detail in this post about all the amazing food, I just more want to let everyone know about this awesome event. I was in food blogger heaven! Please note: I labeled each food truck with the …

RUBIROSA, NEW YORK CITY

Published by Nicole Isaacs

I was recently in New York for Fashion week and obviously had to hit up some good food while I was out there for my blog. On my lunch break my friend and I decided to head to the heart of Nolita to the Italian eatery Rubirosa. My friend was craving good Italian food and I was recommended to go to this place so we decided to give it a try. It was perfect. We had such a great lunch! FETTUCCINE ALFREDO This wasn’t on the regular menu, it was a special for that day. Our server recommended it and said it was a really good pasta. It was! It was a lighter version of your typical take on fettuccine Alfredo- the sauce wasn’t as creamy as your traditional Alfredo sauce, and the pasta had lots of vegetables in it so it tasted healthier and not as heavy. It still had great flavor and the pasta melted in your mouth. You could tell by the texture that it was all fresh, handmade …

SUMMER 2013 DINELA WEEK!

Published by Nicole Isaacs

DineLA STARTED THIS WEEK! DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT WHAT RESTAURANTS ARE BEING FEATURED. http://www.discoverlosangeles.com/dinela-los-angeles-restaurant-week DineLA’s description: dineLA’s Restaurant Week is a 12-day dining event (July 15-26) showcasing Los Angeles as a premier dining destination, highlighting the diversity of culinary experiences LA has to offer. Locals and visitors have the opportunity to enjoy a selection of specially priced prix-fixe lunch and dinner menus from some of LA’s best restaurants.

AVENTINE, HOLLYWOOD

Published by Nicole Isaacs

I had an amazing dinner at Aventine in Hollywood. This Italian trattoria, bar and patio is Hollywood’s hottest addition to the Los Angeles competitive dining and social scene. Whether you just want to have cocktails on the rustic Mediterranean patio, or choose to have an authentic & delicious Italian dinner, both options are ideal at Aventine. The restaurant is pretty perfect for any occasion— romantic dates, business meetings, any special occasion or even to pre-game with friends before hitting the Hollywood night club scene. It’s hip, sexy, packed with beautiful people, and just has an overall good vibe. I had the pleasure to interview two of the partners of Aventine, Sylvain Bitton & JT Torregiani about the restaurant. BURRATA Baby arugula pesto, reduced cherry balsamic, black lava salt, evoo, grilled crostini The burrata was creamy and heavenly. It melted in your mouth. I could just eat it alone it was so delicious, but mixed with the arugula pesto on top of the crostini made the perfect bite. I loved this appetizer. The flavors …

TERRONI, LOS ANGELES

Published by Nicole Isaacs

Good times at Terroni in mid-city Los Angeles! I left dinner feeling like I just ate at a restaurant in Rome lol. People were speaking Italian, the food was authentic and delicious, and we overall had a great experience. The pastas were great, take a look below to see what we ordered! TAGLIATELLE AL RAGU’ Tagliatelle in a traditional Bolognese meat sauce & parmigiano It was good, but wasn’t amazing. The other two pastas you’ll see below were better. But still a decent traditional Bolognese. AGNOLOTTI NE’ Handmade agnolotti filled with braised beef in a butter parmigiano and sage sauce This was my favorite of the night. The sauce was so delicious. It was creamy, cheesy and buttery and just had overall great flavor. The pasta itself is handmade and it was tender and tasted fresh. The sauce is what made this dish. Definitely recommend it! BRANZINO Light and flavorful. Sometimes with branzino it can taste bland, but this had a nice flavor. TONNARELLI WITH SAUSAGE & SHAVED BLACK TRUFFLES This seems …

PACE, LOS ANGELES

Published by Nicole Isaacs

ON MY WAY TO DINNER AT PACE 🙂 Tucked away in the heart of Laurel Canyon is a cozy, romantic, Italian restaurant Pace. I love the vibe there- it’s dim, cozy and very charming. I think it’s perfect for any occasion. I went for a friend’s birthday dinner and we had such a nice meal. Here are some of the things we ordered…. MY FRIEND BROUGHT THIS EXPENSIVE & RARE BOTTLE OF RED WINE. IT COMPLIMENTED OUR MEAL PERFECTLY. GRASS-FED PRIME DRY-AGED RIBEYE prime cut and seasoned with mediterranean sea salt on a bed of arugola I had a bite of this steak and it honestly was one of the most flavorful steaks. I have to go back and order this for myself because I remember it being very flavorful and cooked perfectly. HERA’S PIE pesto, mushrooms, arugula, fresh tomato and fontina cheese PEACE PIE fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce, mozzarella and oregano Both pizzas were good and baked fresh! Loved the crust. I recommend ordering a …