My Shaky Alibi

This past weekend I made a fabulous culinary discovery with my dear friend Jessica, based on an episode of Throwdown With Bobby Flay.  In that episode, Bobby was bested by a champion liege waffle maker, leading Jessica to seek and find Shaky Alibi — a local coffee bar and wafflerie in West Hollywood.

That the hell is a liege waffle, you ask?  Um, it's freakin' amazing, that's what it is.  To get a little more technical, it's a waffle made from yeast dough rather than batter, coated with Belgian pearl sugar, making it  dense and chewy on the inside, caramelized and crunchy on the outside.

We had ours two ways: sweet, with strawberries and preserves (they do not require syrup), and savory, with cheddar and bacon ... and Louisiana hot sauce.  Naturally, I flipped for the juxtaposed flavors of pearl sugar and salty bacon, and the kick of heat put the whole thing over the top.

Overall, the place is warm and friendly, with a charming staff and owner — the kind of place you hit often on weekends to grab a coffee, sit with friends, and otherwise relax.  If you're from LA or just visiting, you won't find good liege waffles many places.  A must try for locals and tourists alike.

Don't Call It a Donut

Only in LA can you find a bakery that makes healthy faux-donuts that are still delicious, cravable, and trek-worthy.  Why?  Because LA houses the movie industry, which is all about illusion.  The prettiest people in the world live here, but just because they're obsessed with fitness doesn't mean they like bacon or mac and cheese any less (California is the birthplace of McDonald's, peeps).  It just means they'll work a little harder to attempt having the best of both worlds.

Sometimes these Angelenos fail (um ... vegan hot dogs).  But sometimes, oh sweet lord, they are triumphant.  The owners of fōnuts on 3rd Street in Los Angeles belong to the latter group.  According to their website:

[Fō•nut] n. - A doughnut that is baked and/or steamed, never fried.

With flavors like Blueberry Earl Grey and Maple Bacon, they are truly players in the bakery game.  And with a charming, open California shop that serves Fresh • Hot donuts (or doughtnuts, if you prefer) until 10pm, the experience is both inviting and surprisingly satisfying.  No, these aren't Randy's Donuts (my whole-planet favorite) nor even Dunkin' Donuts.  But they do make healthy taste terrific.

Go get in line.  You're welcome.

Guns + Stark = Innovative Illumination

Philippe Stark is awesome for so many slick, modern, stylish reasons, but anyone who can blend my loves for interior design and guns into one classy magical creation is a true genius.  Personally, I'm leaning towards the handgun table lamp.  Or the rifle.  Or ... the ... um, all of them.

These Chrome Gun Lamps by Philippe Stark, available from Plunder Guide, are not cheap, but then, awesome rarely ever is. I'm sooo going broke.

Run For Your Lives! (With Me)

The last few months have been full of upheaval, change ... and very few blog posts.  End of one job.  Beginning of another.  A huge move.  But sadly, little time for adrenalin.  No guns, no sweat ... yet lots of continued bacon and cocktails!  While this last fact is awesome, it also isn't making me feel very fabulous.  There has been no balance ... and without balance, we fall over.

Well, folks ... that changes now.  Drastically.  It's two-thousand-freakin-thirteen and I'm taking a bite out of it.  LITERALLY.
I've just signed up for the 2013 So-Cal Zombie 5K Race.  If you read my blog you'll remember I did this mud-run-meets-post-apocalyptic-obstacle-course last October with my dear friends Katie and Keri.  We got all dressed up in cute pink sparkly headbands, tied a flag belt around our waists, and then willingly sprinted three miles being chased by bloody zombies, hiking through mud, crawling under electrified wires in ice cold muck, and otherwise running for our lives.  We were Team Tastes Like Chicken.  And we lived (well, two of us did). 
But this year, I've signed up to be a runner ... and a zombie.  Think pink sparkly headbands snapped and shredded and covered in guts.  There will be photos, I promise.
Check out the Run For Your Lives video above and tell me it doesn't look amazeballs.  Sick, but amazeballs.  
Balance. ;)

Cool Comfort Food @ Kitchen 24

It's been awhile since my last post, largely because life has been chaotic.  New job, new home, and a move — I confess my little obsession suffered under the pressure of real life obligations.

However, this new reality also brings me back to an old favorite, which is now, after my move to West Hollywood, a new luxury: Kitchen 24, which I first experienced at a ridiculous hour after a night out in Gay WeHo with some of my fabulous boys.

Now just minutes away, I have become addicted to their lazy, casual Sundays with bottomless mimosas, spicy tomato soup, bacon avocado sandwiches and sweet potato fries.  Much of their food is classic diner fare, but with a spin and a quality that makes it a must-have.

Kevin, one of my boys and a no big fan of sweet potato fries, surprisingly ate nearly my entire cone of them on our recent lunch (which is fair, since he put my kitchen table together).  I'm a fan of saying it doesn't need to be unique to be amazing, and most of K24 fits this bill.

Um ... but then there are the desserts.  Ridiculous.  They change, and there are secret desserts, like their "special shake," a vanilla milk shake with one of their signature cupcakes blended into the ice cream.  Heartstopping (literally).  My favorite, though, is probably the Reese's chocolate cake Kevin and I devoured after about 17 mimosas ... a frothy mix of peanut butter icing, chocolate cake, and a strategic smattering of various Reese's candies.  Remarkably, light and not too sweet.  Just delicious.

I'm thrilled to be in one of my favorite eatery neighborhoods in all of LA, so I promise ... I'll try not to disappear again.  Welcome back to gluttony! :)

Bullet Cufflinks + Bond = Badass

Having been a moderate Bond fan my entire life (loving Sean Connery but not all of his successors), I was thrilled to see Daniel Craig refresh the role.  I was even more thrilled to see Skyfall, which firmly shoved me from moderate to ridiculous in my love-of-Bond (no, not just because Craig is delicious, but because the story, action, gadgets and eye candy were all equally fun ... and smart).

The film is a perfect blend of new world and old school, and I've been eating it up ever since I left the theater.  That said, I absolutely had to share these clever 007 Bullet Cufflinks from Dupont Collector.  They are hot, they are genius, and they are, unequivocally, Bond.  James Bond.