http://grubtrotters.com Two words: Chow, fun. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:11:29 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_934" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Baby Blues B.B.Q."][/caption]Happy Fourth of July weekend! Just to get you in the mood for the grill, here's a shot of our BBQ platter from Baby Blues B.B.Q. in Venice. We were so hungry, we started eating before we remembered to take the pic. So if ... http://grubtrotters.com/2009/07/03/bbq-time/ A straw would have been handy. The real temptation was to lift the bowl and lick up the rest of the sauce like a 4-year-old at a picnic table. But even for someone who isn’t exactly an Emily Post enthusiast, the licking option was out. Now a few days later, regret ... http://grubtrotters.com/2009/06/27/ludo-bites/ Culver City has a new French brasserie with a lovely sidewalk cafe called Le Saint Amour, a couple doors down from the Starbucks on Culver Blvd. From the chef/owner of Angelique Cafe, which closed in 2006, Le Saint Amour opened three weeks ago, and I stopped by for lunch ... http://grubtrotters.com/2009/06/25/first-lunch-at-le-saint-amour/ [caption id="attachment_872" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Ado\'s Prosciutto di Parma e Burrata"][/caption] Only in Venice would a neighbor at the next table see me salivating over her truffle pasta and offer me the first bite. It was Saturday night at Ado, the cute little Italian joint in the homey space formerly occupied ... http://grubtrotters.com/2009/06/24/adorable-ado/ Well, that was quick. Chef Conny Andersson's AK Restaurant + Bar on Abbot Kinney in Venice is closing after just seven months, citing creative differences with his financial partners. The restaurant got a nice review from the LA Times, but we had mixed feelings about it after an uncomfortably cold ... http://grubtrotters.com/2009/06/19/ak-closing/ [caption id="attachment_849" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Intelligentsia Coffee"][/caption]The uber-chic new Venice outpost of the Chicago-based Intelligentsia coffee bar -- already well known to the caffeinated Silver Lake crowd -- officially opened on Abbot Kinney today, just in time to satisfy my need for an afternoon pick-me-up. I gave up coffee a ... http://grubtrotters.com/2009/06/08/intelligentsia-invades-venice/ Flora Springs 2005 Trilogy from Napa Valley is our wine pick of the day. I had an opportunity to sample half a dozen Flora Springs wines at a dinner hosted by the third-generation, family-owned winery at Wilshire, one of my favorite Santa Monica restaurants, back in March. The 2005 Trilogy is ... http://grubtrotters.com/2009/06/08/wine-pick-of-the-day/ [caption id="attachment_806" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Soup Dumplings at Hunan Cottage"][/caption] Now that I've tried juicy buns, I can't get enough. I'm totally hooked on these Chinese soup-filled dumplings. In the past couple of weeks, Vic and I slurped up pork and crab juicy buns for dinner with his parents at the excellent ... http://grubtrotters.com/2009/05/25/juicy-buns/ BBQ Duck Fried Rice from Wirin Thai in Venice. Decadent and delicious. And they deliver, too. Photo from www.orderinfood.com http://grubtrotters.com/2009/05/24/takeout-tip-of-the-day/ [caption id="attachment_762" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Tea Smoked Duck"][/caption] I have been traveling nonstop for the past three weeks and haven't had any time to stop and post. Between Florence, Siena, New York and New Jersey, I have had some amazing meals that I hope to find time to blog about in ... http://grubtrotters.com/2009/05/10/cheng-du-23/