Boyfriend and I double dated with Brandee and Brian at Fatima restaurant in Cupertino!  It is a Chinese Islamic restaurant and most dishes can be served with either beef, chicken or lamb.  They also have an extensive seafood selection as well.

I had been instructed by my co-worker to order the sesame bread with scallions.  It was definitely popular as we noticed practically every table near us with an order of it.  The star of the dinner was definitely the homemade knife shaved noodles.  To my dismay, I am in love with carbs and these noodles were perfectly thick and chewy.  The thing I liked the most was that the noodles were not greasy.   There is another Chinese restaurant in Mtn. View that I go to for their knife shaved noodles but those are greasier and heavier.

We all picked a dish to order.  Brandee chose cashew chicken, Brian chose the noodles, Boyfriend chose shrimp with snow peas and I went with the dry fried string beans.  This has become my signature dish to order at Chinese restaurants and I really liked them here a lot.  They were very flavorful and not soggy.

The next time I go, I will most definitely get the noodles again!  I’d also like to try one of the soups because every table near us also had soup or hot pot ordered.

10125 Bandley Dr.   Cupertino, CA

I went with a couple of co-workers to the Sunnyvale Art Gallery for lunch.  Richard is friends with the owner and has been helping out the past couple of months to prepare for the grand opening.

The building used to be a furniture store so the space was ginormous!  In celebration of the Sunnyvale Art Club’s 50th Anniversary, members of the club have their art up for sale.  The place recently opened so it is still coming together but there will be a store to the side which will sell various art supplies.  (there were already a few items – canvas, sketch pads, etc. being sold but I can tell there is an area being prepared for much more.)

Richard and I split our sandwiches half / half so that I could try two on this trip.  The Monet is a ham panini with artichoke spread and brie cheese.  If it weren’t for the meat being cold in the center, it would’ve been a great sandwich.

David, Richard and I all had the Da Vinci.  This is probably the star of the menu.  It is a bulgogi and provolone cheese panini.  I like when Asian flavors are combined into “American” dishes.  I heard that in the future, there might be grilled onions in this sandwich.  That’d be a great addition!

They also have tons of flavors for Italian sodas. 

There is so much space to work with here and it’s a great concept.  Food plus art – two of my favorites!  There is free Wi-Fi and lots of natural lighting in the seating area.  I’m excited to see the place when the menu is finalized and the art supplies are ready for sale.

251 W. El Camino Real   Sunnyvale, CA

I went to Las Vegas last weekend for this concert!! 

Justin Timberlake hosted the Shriners Open Golf Tournament all of last week and ended it with this concert with featured artists Jay Sean, Taylor Swift, Alicia Keys, Ciara, TLC, Snoop, Timbaland and himself.

Then I went to the after party at the Mandalay Bay Beach where Justin Timberlake and Timbaland showed up!

The concert was ah-ma-zing!  The after party was am-ma-zing-er!   Listen for “Carry Out” which is an awesome song.  It will be on Shock Value 2 coming out next month!

This is so unlike me but we didn’t really have time to plan any meals on this trip because we were so busy at the golf tournament, concert and after party.  Right after we dropped Julie, Justin and Kelly off at the airport and right before we returned the rental car, we saw a Sonic.

I have seen commercials for Sonic for many years now but never even knew of any remotely close to where I live.   When I saw the sign, I just knew we had to stop and try it!

It was so weird ordering from your car in the stall and having the waitress bring your food out to you. 

We tried a Mocha Chip Java Chiller and a strawberry cream slush.  The mocha shake got a little too sweet for me towards the end but it was delicious and hit the spot!  The strawberry cream slush tasted like a sweeter, slushier version of Guri Guri!!

If I weren’t full from our late lunch that day, I would’ve wanted to get the chicken fingers meal.  Instead, we tried the jalepeno poppers with ranch dressing.  I had one and that was enough for me.  Next time, I’ll probably try the chicken fingers or tots… or just stick to the drinks!  All drinks and regular slushes are half off during their daily happy hour between 2 and 4 PM. : )

various locations Las Vegas, NV

A lot of people really love Ramen-Ya.  It’s convenient, fast (when it’s not packed – it’s a tiny place) and reasonably priced but I don’t think it’s all that.  In fact, I usually end up ordering fried rice at Ramen-Ya when I go.  I’ve been here with lots of different friends and if anything, I go for nostalgic purposes and not the food.  Maybe I’m a ramen snob because I lived in Fukuoka for two years but this place doesn’t really compare to any place in Japan or even Hakata Ramen in Gardena.

On this particular day, I was craving noodles because it was cold outside and decided to go with the tan-tan men.  It wasn’t as spicy as promised but the soup with the egg dropped in was oh-so-warming.

Boyfriend went with the mabo ramen which, as you can see, has tofu in it.  It’s kind of strange to have tofu floating in your ramen but Boyfriend seemed to enjoy it. 

Stacy and Kevin were with us and both ordered regular ramen.  Chashu and something else.  I didn’t even get pictures of their food because we started eating so fast!

11555 W. Olympic Blvd.  Los Angeles CA

Jill and Faye are the biggest Slurpee lovers I know.  They get Slurpees almost whenever they pass a 7-Eleven!  For a limited time only, Domo-kun is at 7-Eleven stores.  He’s on the cups, straws, food containers and even plush dolls are being sold.  (He is the mascot of Japan’s NHK television station.)

Fanta Fuji green apple Slurpees are supposed to be sold but they didn’t have any when we went.  We ended up getting our usual Coke Slurpees instead.  I hope I can find the green apple Slurpee somewhere soon!  Domo-kun hates apples because of something in his DNA and therefore, won’t be stealing any of our Slurpees.  : )  Jill kept all the cups as a souvenir.

This particular 7-Eleven sells flowers outside the store.  We didn’t buy any but that was the first time I had seen flowers at a 7-Eleven before!

630 Wilshire Blvd.  Santa Monica, CA

You’d think we would have had enough to eat after lunch at Cafe Vida but we just HAD to leave room for dessert!  (Not to mention the fact that we had stopped at 7-11 before heading to Pacific Palisades and all got slurpees and Boyfriend and I got corn dogs as a snack.)

We went to Crumbs Bake Shop in Malibu for cupcakes.  It was cupcake and frosting galore in there!  So many choices!

(From top L going clockwise.)  Boyfriend got a peanut butter chocolate cupcake.  He kept raving about how much he liked it.  I went with an Oreo cupcake.  It was quite boring and the half Oreo on top was soggy.  Next time I’ll be more exciting and not get something so predictable.  Faye got a Snickers cupcake with pieces of Snickers candy bar on top which she said was very good.  Jill got her usual, Red Velvet.  Jill once got a Red Velvet cupcake from Crumbs and said they put buttercream frosting on it instead of cream cheese, the nerve!  She gave them another chance though and this time she approved. : )

3939 Cross Creek Road   Malibu, CA

Jill and Faye have raved about Cafe Vida for as long as I can remember.  I went in without knowing what kind of food they served or anything.  Everything there is organic, even the Heinz ketchup they serve!

Boyfriend went with the Breakfast Sandwich Meltwhich was 2 organic eggs over medium, cheddar, bacon, tomato, lettuce, onion, avocado, lite basil mayo on grilled multigrain or sourdough bread. Boyfriend went with the sourdough.  He could choose between  fresh fruit or organic green salad on the side.  I tried a bite and it was messy goodness!

Since Day 1, Jill has always ordered the Tex Mex Grilled Chicken Salad.  It has organic greens, shredded carrots, avocado, fresh pico de gallo salsa, fresh corn, tortilla strips, lite balsamic vinaigrette, garnished with ranchero cheese.  It must’ve been amazing because she cleaned off her plate!

Faye often goes with the Huevos Rancheros Vida Style: 2 organic over medium eggs on top of 2 low fat corn tortilla, quesadillas, topped with homemade red and green salsas, organic black beans, organic spanish brown rice and guacamole. 

I loved what I got and would definitely get it again!  I got a Grilled Chicken Chipotle Quesadilla.  It is on a whole – wheat tortilla with low fat mozzarella, spinach, salsa, guacamole and chipotle sauce.   It was the perfect blend of chicken with spiciness.  Jill and Faye said the sweet potato fries are great so I got that as my side.

I can’t wait to go back and try other stuff on their menu!  And possibly have a celebrity sighting next time too. ; )

15317 Antioch St.   Pacific Palisades, CA

We were in LA again (yes again) last weekend for a quick trip.  Faye recommended Anisette Brasserie so we decided to stop by for a quick breakfast since it was right down the street from where we were staying.

This place totally brought me back to Balthazar in NY for some reason.  Faye said everything on the menu is good and it’s an oyster bar at night.  Their pastries are baked fresh daily.

She highly recommended the croissants.  I couldn’t decide between a chocolate or almond one when the lady suggested I go with the “double whammy” – a chocolate almond croissant!  We also got a plain croissant with jam.

Since it was nice out, we got them to go and sat on a bench on 3rd St. while we ate.  I was quite disturbed that I forgot to grab napkins because these croissants are buttery messes (as they should be!) and got all over my fingers.  The plain croissant dipped in jam was perfect and I’m not sure there are words for the chocolate almond one.  It had chocolate, almonds, powdered sugar and cocoa powder in every bite.  It was another kind of perfection!

225 Santa Monica Blvd.  Santa Monica, CA

My favorite winery in Napa Valley was V. Sattui.  Yes, this was my first time in Napa and yes, we only went to four wineries but this one blew the others out of the water.  The wine went down so smoothly and left no aftertaste!  Every wine we tasted – and we tasted them all on the premium wine tasting menu between the four of us – was excellent and topped the one prior.  Even the port wine was excellent and I’m not usually a big fan of dessert wines.

I wish I bought a bottle of something here.  You can only buy V. Sattui at the winery, not in stores.  I was “saving myself” for the other wineries to come.  At least now I know and now I have a reason to go back!

Mr. George Sattui pictured above, was our pourer and at first we thought he was a grumpy old man who wasn’t being generous with his pours but he warmed up to us in the end and even shared a joke with us.

Since V. Sattui was our first stop, we decided to grab food at the deli / marketplace and eat on our way to the next winery.  I usually don’t like premade sandwiches but this one was special.

It was love at first bite!  (I think I have a strange love affair with great sandwiches.  Swoon!)  Boyfriend and I shared the chicken pesto sandwich which was on this sooooft focaccia bread.  I also had a bite of Elisa’s tuna sandwich which might sound boring but most certainly was not!  Elisa gets tuna at every single sandwich shop we go to without fail.

There was a BBQ going on outside and Elisa and Matt bought some oysters.  We had also bought some bread and cheese for our picnic we planned to have at Chandon later on in the day.  We walked around the beautiful grounds and ate outside in the beautiful weather before heading to our next few stops.

Side story: when we got to Chandon (two wineries later) they opened the TWO bottles that Matt bought so we were forced to drink them on the property.  One of which was a sparkling wine.  We had all already done our sparkling wine tastings there.  They told us picnics weren’t allowed when we laid out our blanket and busted out our food.  One of us, who shall remain nameless (but not Matt), became insanely trashed and has no recollection of even going to the last winery!  No worries, we rolled down the window and left him in the car while the rest of us checked out Hess Winery.  He was so sick that we ended up at some random Vietnamese / Asian fusion restaurant for dinner (hours later after he was conscious and able to walk on his own) and he ordered a $12 bowl of pho because that is one of the few things that helps him prevent hangovers.  Probably THE most expensive bowl of pho he has ever or will ever order.  He was a novice and I guess he did it right for his first time wine tasting!  Looking at the bright side though, since he was passed out in the car and was falling asleep in the restaurant at dinner, he had the most sleep he had gotten in the past few nights combined!  He woke up refreshed the next morning and even offered to go wine tasting with us that day if we were up for it!  Elisa, Matt and I just looked at him like he was craaazy.  : )

1111 White Ln.  Saint Helena, CA

We’ve been on the go quite a bit lately.  The weekend after New York, we were in town but last weekend, we went wine tasting in Napa with Elisa and Matt.  It was my first time in Napa and I was quite excited about the food AND wine there since I had heard so much about both!

One of the places I definitely wanted to try was Bouchon Bakery.  I had heard so much about Thomas Keller but didn’t particularly feel like splurging on one of his restaurants on this trip since I had been spending so much money lately.  Dessert was the perfect choice!

Everything looked so scrumptious!!  Bouchon Bakery is known for their various flavored macaroons and even though I don’t like coconut, I was almost tempted to get one because they looked so beautiful on the top shelf.

We tried the Chocolate Bouchon which was basically a small, rich brownie.  The size was perfect for its richness.

I decided to get the TKO.  I asked the guy if I should try their signature “TLC cookie” or the TKO and he said the TKO is his favorite item in the entire bakery and that I must try it!  I think I made the right choice because it tasted like a wonerfully fancy oreo cookie and I heart oreos!!  The cookies were subtly sweet with cream sandwiched between them.  *EDIT* I just found out that TKO stands for “Thomas Keller Oreo.”  It definitely tasted like a perfect oreo!!

Boyfriend went with the Thomas Keller’s version of a Nutter Butter.  (Can you tell he’s a huge fan of peanut butter?!?)  It was quite sweet and since we didn’t have water (or milk which would’ve been my preferred drink) we ate half and saved the rest for later.  The inside was smooth and creamy and smooshed between two peanut butter and oatmeal cookies.  I think the second half of the nutter butter almost tasted better after having been in the fridge!!

There are Bouchon Bakeries in New York, Yountville and Vegas… we didn’t hit the one in NY but we’ll be in Las Vegas in a couple weeks.  Maybe we can stop by if we have time!!!

6528 Washington St.  Yountville, CA