Grand Opening party at the Le Meridian Hotel Pasadena Arcadia. I’ll have to checkout their Brunch and Afternoon Tea in the future. #grandopening #lemeriden #hotel #afternoontea #brunch

Henry Parsons Project in Pasadena, JUST GO! Be sure to order the Biscuit!!! #henryparsonsproject #biscuit #pasadena #caterer

Oh, so you like tacos too? Wait, did we just become friends??? Chicken 3 Taco Combo from one of my favorite burrito places, Casita Taco Al Carbon in Burbank. A citrus marinated charbroiled shredded chicken tacos with rice, beans, lettuce, and limes. The Verde salsa is my favorite, has a decent kick too. #tacos #chickentacos #casitastacoalcarbon #burbank #tacocombo

THICC SMOKED PRIME BRISKET BURGER, Today’s Special at Moo’s Craft Barbecue in East LA. A very THICC brisket burger with cheese, onions, and pickles, Delicious! Got it with a side of Red Potato Salad. #brisket #brisketburger #bbq #eastla #mooscraftbarbecue

Toro Tataki Box Their Toro Tataki Bento features finely chopped Toro from sustainably-ranched Bluefin in Mexico. It’s served over sushi rice with ginger, kampyō, nori strips and Wakame, and topped with salmon eggs, masago and cucumber. Drizzle the included soy sauce over the dish and enjoy. Takeout item only. #torotatakibento #sustainablebluefintuna #bluefintuna #sugarfish #torotataki

Timing is Everything On the way home from running errands today, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. At first, I thought maybe they were closed due to a power outage or something. BUT, there were ONLY 4 cars in line at In-N-Out Burger at 1:12 PM on a Monday. I didn’t question why the line was so short, I just got in line. After I received my order, there were now at least a dozen cars in line. I wouldn’t be surprised if they thought the same thing and just got in line. “Sometimes you just have to ride the wave you’re given.” ~ unknown #timingiseverything #innout #doubledouble #burger

On Meatless Monday… Remembering the Mizuna Salad with Fried Tofu & Dashi Dressing from Izakaya Tonchinkan in Arcadia. If memory serves me correct, Mizuna is like a Japanese version of a Mustard Green. It’s usually pickled and served as a side dish. But this salad was delicious. Too bad they are closed today… #izakaya #mizuna #mizunasalad #izakayatonchinkan

Happy Meatless Monday! (aka Meatless Monday Pizza Day) Fresh Momma’s Favorite from Fresh Brothers in Pasadena Made with a pizza sauce/basil pesto blend, fresh spinach, mushrooms, and garlic. Helping to chase the Monday blues away… #meatlessmonday #meatlessmondaypizza #pizza #freshbrothers

Japanese Sardines don’t come in a can… “Iwashi” from Kumamoto, Japan, served with ginger and green onions, at Izakaya Tonchinkan in Arcadia. It’s a real treat when a chef knows the balance of salt, vinegar, and marination time when curing this type of fish and today it was close to perfect! Oishii . #iwashi #sardines #izakaya #sashimi

Happy FryDay! Pork Chop Fried Rice from Din Tai Fung in Arcadia. A Shanghainese-style fried pork cutlet, crispy on the outside and juicy in the center. It’s served over egg fried rice and my favorite at Din Tai Fung. #dintaifung #porkchopfriedrice #friedrice #porkchop

The Belly Buster from Cicero’s Pizza in San Jose. With Cheese, Olives, Mushrooms, Salami, Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Bell Peppers, and Onions on a crispy thin crust. You’re probably saying, it’s just a thin crust pizza, right??? It’s not a like a pizza on a cracker. The thin crust here is very crispy and hard to otherwise describe. I believe it’s lightly fried somehow, because it’s crispy like that. The toppings made this “Belly Buster” pizza very good. #bellybuster #thincrustpizza #pizza #cicerospizza #sanjose

Happy FryDay! . The Orange Chicken Sandwich from Panda Express Innovation Kitchen in Pasadena. . A crispy chicken breast with Panda’s famous Orange Chicken sauce, shredded lettuce, pickles, and spicy mayo on a King’s Hawaiian bun. . It had promise and wasn’t bad, I’d say a work in progress. I get the balance of sweet and spicy, the pickles were there to cut the fat and give it some acidity. . I thought my sandwich needed a bit more Orange Sauce and pickles to balance out the heavier spicy mayo. But, then again, I’m a pickle guy. . Otherwise, not a bad effort and I would order again. . . For a limited time at Panda Express Innovation Kitchen 📍 3867 E Foothill Blvd, Pasadena, 91107 . . #limitedtime #orangechickensandwich #pandaexpressinnovationkitchen #orangechicken

I’m Happy it’s Taco Tuesday! I enjoyed my #eatinroadtrip2021, but glad to be home. It was a rough 1st day back at work, but had Taco Tuesday to look forward to ending the day on a taco note… Tacos Forever #tacos #tacotuesday #tacosforever #tacotruck

It’s National Pepperoni Pizza Day! OK, so it was a “Mushroom Pepperoni Sausage Pizza” from CPK in Pasadena on Pepperoni Pizza Day 😂. With Cremini mushrooms, rustic pepperoni, spicy Italian sausage, fresh torn basil, Mozzarella and wild Greek oregano, one of my CPK favorites. I enjoyed some good pizza in Northern Cal last week, but it’s good to be home… #pizza #pepperonipizzaday #foodcalendar #foodholiday #sausagepepperonimushroompizza #cpk

When in SLO, gotta order the Cal Poly Burrito. With Tri-Tip, Rice, Beans, Pico de Gallo, Fries, Cheese, and Salsa wrapped in a Flour Tortilla from G Brothers Smokehouse in San Luis Obispo. With a side of giant house-made Onion Rings and served with Ranch dressing. Not only did I get my Tri-Tip, but got a great burrito and homemade onion rings too. The last stop on my #eatinroadtrip2021. #tritip #tritipburrito #calpolyburrito #sanluisobispo #onionrings #centralcaliforniabbq

Prime Rib French Dip from Adamson’s French Dip in Sunnyvale. A slow-roasted Prime Rib in a wood fired oven, sliced thin and served on a freshly baked French roll with a side of Au jus and of course I asked for horseradish too… I can’t visit Adamson’s without one of their Root Beers. I wasn’t hungry enough to order some beer battered onion rings today, but they are delicious. I love French Dip, but this one you can taste the smoke from the wood-fired oven and sliced thin the way I like it. They’re only open until 2 PM right now… (Closed Sundays) #frenchdip #primeribfrenchdip #adamsonsfrenchdip #sunnyvale

Spinach & Mushroom Stuffed Pizza from Zachary’s Chicago Pizza in Berkeley. Their pride and joy, made with fresh spinach, mushrooms, a blend of three cheeses, and special spices. I ordered it half baked and finished it off at my sister’s house, the family loved it! One of my favorite Chicago-style deep dish pizzas outside of the 312 area code. #zacharyspizza #deepdishpizza #berkeley #stuffedpizza #chicagostylepizza

What’s a trip to the Easy Bay without stopping at Top Dog??? I Have No Idea… Since I can no longer eat a “Hot” or Hot Link, it’s a”Kiel” or Kielbasa for me these days. 😂 A Polish sausage (2/3 pork, 1/3 beef) in a toasted sesame seeded French bun with a deli mustard and chopped onions from Top Dog (Southside) in Berkeley. #topdog #ucberkeley #berkeley #hotdog

I call it, “The Sandwich” If you know… then you know what I’m talking about. Porchetta Sandwich from the Roli Roti truck at the SF Ferry Building farmers market in San Francisco (Thurs & Saturday) Thin slices of juicy crispy porchetta on an porchetta drippings-soaked Acme bun with arugula, housemade onion marmalade and rosemary sea salt. It all works so well together! I have favorite sandwiches at many places, but THIS one is at the top of the list! Get a side of potatoes too! #porchettasandwich #porchetta #sfferrybuilding #sanfrancisco #roliroti #rolirotitruck

One of the stops on my Eatin’ Road Trip 2021… Tri-Tip Taco & Beach Balls from Rib Line By the Beach in Grover Beach, CA. Tri-Tip Taco was great, perfectly cooked with a good amount of meat. Beach Balls Hand rolled sweet potato balls w/ bacon, jalapeños and cheddar cheese in a Firestone DBA batter. Injected w/ ranch and topped w/ a red wine glaze. I loved that they used sweet potato in this recipe, it made it. They don’t look great, but had a good flavor. Ready for the next stop… #eatinroadtrip2021 #tritiptacos #tritip #sweetpotatoballs #groverbeach #bbq #centralcalifornia

Tri-Tip Pit Plate with the famous Corn Pie and Garlic Bread from Old SLO BBQ in San Luis Obispo, CA. Tri-Tip was seasoned well and cooked perfectly. The Corn Pie had a bit of heat to make it interesting and the Garlic Parmesan Bread was delicious. Minutes off the 101, friendly service, and delicious food, this was the perfect stop. #tritip #centralcaliforniabbq #cornpie #sanluisobispo #highway101

A trip to the mall after a haircut to pick up some of my favorites for dinner from Din Tai Fung at Westfield Santa Anita in Arcadia. Pork Chop Fried Rice Kurobuta Pork Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) Sautéed String Beans with garlic What are your Din Tai Fung favorites??? #dintaifung #xiaolongbao #porkchopfriedrice #arcadia

It’s been awhile since since I’ve been to the mall… I was walking around checking out the new food places (at least new to me anyway). . At one place, I was told the “Beef Ramen” is really good. I said, “I’m not familiar with Beef Ramen. I’m curious, do you know which city Beef Ramen comes from???” The answer I got was “ahhh…” Google couldn’t find the city of “Ahhh” 😂 BUT, I was told it’s “really good” For those keeping score, I didn’t eat Beef Ramen. Sometimes I can be a real wise ass. A few would say, “sometimes???”

On a warm day… OK, on a Hot Day, all I want is a Porta via Italian Sub from Porta Via Italian Foods in Pasadena. Served with shredded iceberg lettuce, mortadella, dry salami, rosemary ham, spicy capicola, provolone, spicy pepperoncini, and Italian vinaigrette on an Italian roll. The Italian vinaigrette made this sandwich for me, it was very good. #italiansub #submarinesandwich #sandwich #portaviaitalianfoods #pasadena

Old Skool Friday! The Chashu Shumai Combo from JiST Cafe in Little Tokyo. From the Tokyo Gardens days, this family recipe special combo is available for pre-orders from @jistcafe every so often, so you may want to follow them for next order day. House-made chashu pork and shumai, served over rice with shredded cabbage and a spicy soy mustard. #chashucombo #jistcafe #chashu #shumai #oldskool #littletokyo #dtla