Joan's On Third: I.N.D.U.L.G.E (Part 2)

(A box of happiness)

In my mind, Joan’s on Third was about the closest you could get to Dean and Deluca and so, unsurprisingly, it’s been on my “to-go” list even before I moved to LA. Well, since we were in the neighborhood anyways after a super indulgent brunch at Little Next Door, I decided to pop into Joan’s and grab a little something (i.e. a little anything) from their baked goods counter.

I was stuffed from brunch so I was planning on getting just a cookie but, when I got to the counter and saw the little cupcakes, my heart wavered a bit. I asked the cashier if I should get the cookie or the cupcake and even before I finished my complete sentence, she blurted out “the cupcake. Go with the cupcake.” I was sold. Given the size (about half the size of a Crumbs cupcake), the cupcakes are a little on the pricey side at Joan’s ($3.00/each) but, hey, today was going to be super-indulgent day so I whipped out my debit card and got the cashier lady to box up a coconut cupcake, a peanut butter cupcake (peanut butter craving? Check!) and the raspberry filled vanilla cupcake. They all smelt soooooo good.

(Give me a P. Give me a B. But most of all, give me a cupcake!)

Usually, I’d head straight for the coconut but, like I said, I’ve been craving peanut butter like no tomorrow and since they ran out of the peanut butter cake when I went to Susina yesterday, I headed straight for the PB cupcake. OHMYGOSH, the cupcake was stellar stellar stuff. The crumb is so moist and the cake itself was sweet and light. For some reason, the fragrant smell reminded me of a really well-made donut. The ganache topping wasn’t overly sweet either – it was just prefect. The cupcake had a PB cream filling which was absolutely fantastic. The whole cake just exuded peanut-butteriness and I found myself licking up every last crumb. It was a good cupcake. A VERY good cupcake.

FOOD: 4.5/5
SERVICE: 4/5
ATMOSPHERE: 4/5

JOAN'S ON THIRD ($)
8346 W Third St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 655-2285
http://www.joansonthird.com/

Little Next Door: I.N.D.U.L.G.E (Part 1)

I’ve been having massive eggs benedict and peanut butter cravings lately (yes, INDEPENDENTLY of one another). It’s weird, I never really had a big thing for either…I guess personal tastes change when one ages…

Well, to satisfy le eggs benedict craving, we hit up Little Next Door for Sunday brunch. This place is so cute – just sitting there makes me feel as if I’m on vacation. Something about their outdoor patio makes me feel so relaxed; quite literally, I was pretty much lounging in my chair by the end of the meal.

In terms of the food, everything on the menu sounded really appetizing but I was determined to get my benedict fix so it took less than a heartbeat for me to decide on the smoked salmon eggs benedict ($14.00). Debs got the omelet du jour while the Sun ordered the Omelet Lardons ($11.00). The bread basket at Little Next Door is also pretty great. Their French bread is crusty on the outside and soft and pillowy on the inside. Mmmm…I always appreciate a good bread basket.

(Omelet du Jour)

(Omelet Ladorns)

Though seemingly unassuming at first, the food portions at Little Next Door are pretty damn big. And thank God they are because the food is pretty dayam kick-ass. My eggs benedict was soooo effin’ awesome. It came with a side salad which was a perfect balancer to the cholestral + carbs side of the dish. Instead of an English muffin, the poached eggs came on top of two slices of thick toast and the toast and eggs sandwiched a VERY generous heap of smoked salmon. The salmon was cured to perfection (not too salty, a la Katz deli but also, not bland at all) and it was absolutely amazing paired with the eggs. The first poached egg was a little too runny for my personal taste (it literally flowed like a river) but it was good to soak with the toast. The second egg I had was cooked to perfection – not so runny that it spills all over the plate. It was, in simple terms, quite gorgeous.

(Mmmmmm-ness: Salmon eggs benedict)

(When runniness = good times)

And to cap off a perfect brunch, I ordered my usual suspect combination of macarons ($1.75) – pistachio, vanilla and dulce de leche (ok, I usually get caramel but this was the closet thing they had on offer). I started with the pistachio which was…SO GROSS. Yes, I was bitterly disappointed. The shell was dry and crunchy. WTF? I’ve NEVER had a crunchy macaroon before. And the filling to shell ratio was way off – half of the macaron was glopping with pistachio ganache while the other half was completely void of any filling. Ech. Disappointed, I moved on to the dulce de leche which, thank God, was a redeemer. The shell was the perfect balance of soft and chewy and the sweetness of the caramel filling balanced the mildness of the shell. Good stuff – I guess the pistachio was just from a bad batch. The last one was the vanilla which was definitely not as good as the dulce but also, definitely not as bad as the pistachio. The shell was a little too delicate – it shattered even before I finished biting into it. So I guess consistency is a little bit of an issue in terms of desserts at the Little Next Door.

(Flourless chocolate cake)

(Panna Cotta)

(The good, the bad and the ugly: Dulce de leche, vanilla, pistachio)

Service is fantastic. The waitstaff are all all-smiles and friendly. Our serving waitress kept thanking us for enjoying our food. Awwww…I love friendly service. The food is pretty pricey though and although I enjoyed every part of Little Next Door (save the pistachio macaron), I think I’ll keep it as a indulgence, lazy afternoon brunch place rather than an “everyday eatery.”

FOOD: 4/5
SERVICE: 5/5
ATMOSPHERE: 4.5/5

Little Next Door ($$)
8142 W Third St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 951-1010
http://www.thelittledoor.com

[NYC '09: Dinner, day 2] Katz Delicatessen: When Dorothy met Deli

I have a soft spot for greasy Jewish-American diners and I have another soft spot for cheesy 90s chick-flicks. Put the two together and what do you get? Katz Delicatessen in N-Y-C!

Katz is definitely a New York institution. The ordering system can be super overwhelming for an out-of-towner – we were all really confused about the ticket vs. waiter system. It took three UCLA educations to finally crack the system and we eventually grabbed a table near the front. The self-serve counter is where most of the action is. It’s the epitome of NY speediness: you come in, put down your order, grab your sandwich and go. But we had been trekking around East Village and the Lower East Side the whole day and all we wanted to do was plop our asses down and have a meal.

(Welcome to a NY diner: pickles)

(Fries should be FAT. With Lox omelet)

(Debs' Pastrami Omelet)

Although I had planned on returning to a carnivorous diet during the NY trip, I didn’t want to overwhelm my palate with five inches worth of sliced pastrami on rye after over five months of meatless-ness so I opted for the lox and onion omelet ($13.40) instead. The omelet was huge and came with a generous portion of steak cut fries. The plate was greasy as hell but whadda’ expect? This is, after all, an American diner. The omelet was pretty good but I couldn’t find any onions at all in it :s the lox was also good but a little bit too salty for me. The omelet was too overwhelming for me halfway through – both in size and saltiness and I just couldn’t go through with the whole thing. I did pretty well though. The fries were the bomb though! Thick crunchy wedges with fluffy, piping hot innards – I finished all of them with no problem. I also got a bottle of their in-house lemonade ($2.50) which was the perfect washer-downer for the food.

(Trust me, skip the snapple)

I wouldn’t say that the food was amazing (but the fries were!) but Katz does have an absolutely fantastic atmosphere. It’s SO New York. The subway musician eats at the table next to the Wall Street financier just off from work; the waiter (yes, SINGULAR) has been working at the diner for years, stays for a chat, cracks jokes and asks if you want “caw-fee” at the end of your meal. Katz is not just a diner serving greasy sandwiches and omelets. It’s part of New York and there lies its charm ♥

FOOD: 3.75/5
SERVICE: 4/5
ATMOSPHERE: 5/5

KATZ DELICATESSEN ($/$$)
205 East Houston St.
New York, NY 10002
http://www.katzdeli.com