Jamaican-Style Beef Patties… Two Beef or Not Two Beef, This Is My Order! I would’ve ordered three, but that would be harder to find a Shakespearean-style quote. 🤷🏻‍♂️ On a rainy Friday night, taking a couple of hours off of work, before going back to close. I spent my off hours tonight with these delicious Beef Patties from Caribbean Gourmet in San Gabriel. #beefpatties

It’s National Fried Chicken Sandwich Day! Worked all day and then had to do laundry afterwards, but I was able to get a Free fried chicken sandwich at Burger King to celebrate the day. Order on the app tonight and enjoy! #foodcalendar

Some days, you just need to be thankful… The leader of our kitchen was hit by a car on the way home from work the other day. From what I know, he’s in the hospital and doing ok. The bad thing, he doesn’t remember what had happened or how he got hit. I’m just thankful he’s still around and hoping for a speedy recovery. So, I needed the famous Turkey Dinner at Tallyrand Restaurant in Burbank. Served with roasted turkey, herb dressing, cranberry sauce, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy. It’s a lot of food, includes soup or salad and warm sourdough bread. AND according to the menu, a “👍 Huell Howser Favorite” Get well soon! #turkeydinner

The Pasta Sampler at Alex Di Peppe’s Italian Restaurant in Arcadia. ½ order of Lasagna and choice of any two of the following: Spaghetti, Penne, Angel Hair, Gnocchi, or Ravioli. The best way to celebrate the end of the week, right???

Late Night Eats… Having to close last night, as one of our managers is out ill, so I’ve closed the last 4 nights with tomorrow night my last for the next week or two. I picked up Spaghetti and Meatballs from Little Toni’s in NoHo and saw my friends at Raising Cane’s from the other side of the intersection for Texas Toast. I couldn’t see Clayton Kershaw’s last home game live before he retires at the end of this season, but I did bring home a late night dinner to watch the highlights from Apple TV’s Friday Night Baseball. What an amazing career, 18 season with one team, 222 wins and 96 losses, and a career ERA of 2.54. I’m Ready for October Baseball, I hope the Dodgers are too! #spaghetti

Life’s too short to say no to tacos… It’s Taco Tuesday! Beef Taco at El Tepeyac Cafe in Boyle Heights. In time to watch the Dodgers and the Phillies tonight. Tuesdays mean tacos, baseball, and good times. #tacos #beeftaco

CANstruction at South Coast Plaza Canstruction® is using one can of food as a catalyst for change. One Can to represent the building blocks of massive sculptures. One Can to prove that every act of kindness makes a difference. On display until the end of September #canstruction

Whenever life gets tough, just add more cheese. Dinner with my niece. Although we both ordered pasta dishes, BUT had to order a cheese pizza too at Alex Di Peppe’s Italian Restaurant in Arcadia. “Sweet dreams are made of cheese” wasn’t it Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics’ who sang of cheese OR something like that??? 😂 #cheesepizza

When you can’t decide… Traditional beef noodle soup with tender cuts of beef,and fresh noodles topped with pickled veggies, daikon radish and bok choy. Beef Noodles at Bafang Dumplings in Arcadia.

Dumplings and the Dodgers… Dumpling Rice Bowl from @manduyo_sg in San Gabriel. I ordered Pork Dumplings (or Beef) and sauce over Rice and got home for game time. Watching Will Smith throw out 3 base runners and Blake Snell pitched 6 scoreless innings tonight beating the Padres 6-0. Go Dumplings! I mean, Go Dodgers!

Cooling down in the Valley… Strawberry Shake: Real strawberry hand spun with Shake Shack’s house-made vanilla frozen custard. #strawberryshake #frozencustard

When you’re at Costco AND you want a Chili Dog… You pick-up chili from The Hat and make it home just in time to watch Max Muncy hit a home run and the Dodgers take the lead in the 4th inning. #costco #chilidog

It’s a Scorcher in the Valley! Had to cool off with a Yuzu Twist Lemon Tea from Philz Coffee in Studio City. A classic duo of cold brew tea and lightly sweetened lemonade with a vibrant twist of citrus Yuzu and fresh mint. Two of my favorites, iced tea and Yuzu, the Japanese fragrant citrus. #yuzu

Sunday Dinner… “The most essential part of my day is a proper dinner.” ~ Rachael Ray When you work most weekends, it’s a treat when I work in the morning and have a free Sunday night. I drove through Hollywood on the way home. Was going to stop in Thai Town for dinner, but the restaurant was closed for some reason. On to Plan B… New York Steak and Shrimp at Norms Restaurant in Hollywood. New York Steak (Medium) with 6 Fried Shrimp, Soup, Salad, Baked Potato, and a Daily Vegetables. Tomorrow is another day!

This week, my boss is on vacation. As the AGM, I’m filling in taking care of the admin this week and thus working more mornings. So, I get to leave while the sun is still blazing hot. I wanted to go to another restaurant, but there wasn’t any close parking. Since I have a torn calf muscle, I can’t walk too far. I ended up at my Plan B restaurant in Burbank with a very large parking lot. Spicy Tuna Don at Emon Japanese Restaurant in Burbank. Every time I have Spicy Tuna, I’m disappointed, as it’s either really spicy or has no flavor. This one was just ok. I need to make my own

It was time for a Shake… OREO® Cookie Funnel Cake Shake from Shake Shack in the San Fernando Valley. Enjoying this shake on a hot afternoon.

It’s Sandwich Saturday! Tri-Tip Sandwich from Handy Market’s Saturday BBQ in Burbank. One of my longtime favorite sandwich from my days at The Walt Disney Studios. #tritip #sandwichsaturday

Happy FryDay! This week, I went to go see my friend Tommy san at his restaurant, Sushi Happy FryDay! This week, I went to go see my friend Tommy san at his restaurant, Sushi Dragon, in Sun Valley. I couldn’t decide, so I ordered the Dinner Combination with Chicken Teriyaki, Tempura, and Sashimi (tuna, salmon, & yellowtail). I ended the night with Sea Bass sushi with lemon and salt and Japanese Scallops sushi, tonight’s special. This restaurant is a hidden gem in the valley, originally opened in 1968 (if I remember correctly). It’s a small restaurant with a good selection of fresh fish, Tommy san goes to the fish market every morning and knows his fish. It’s old skool, the kind of place I grew up going to as a kid. Go see Tommy san at @sushi.dragon in Sun Valley. #sushi #bentobox

Sunday Dinner… It was a crazy Sunday at work, getting ready for a new drink menu and scrambling for product for the new summer menu. So, after work I was hungry for a Spicy Tuna Bowl. I thought about making my own, but was too lazy with having to get up before the sun, it’s Inventory Monday! I ended up at Shin-Sen-Gumi in Rosemead for a mini Spicy Tuna Bowl, that I doctored up with chili oil, rice vinegar, togarashi, and soy sauce. Yep, made it better! Of course, I had a bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen with an extra noodle and more red ginger. Now, I’m ready for Monday! #spicytuna #ramen

It’s finally FryDay! I stopped by last week, but the line was too long. Today, I came early for lunch. I usually visit their restaurant TOT Little Tokyo for tonkatsu and I picked up food many times during the pandemic. Millefeuille Katsu from Kagura Monterey Park. A multi-layered sliced black pork loin cutlet, thinly sliced cabbage, pickles, rice, and miso soup. Happy FryDay! #tonkatsu

Whoever said, “there are no stupid questions” NEVER worked in Food Service! A woman came in, I guess trying to be sophisticated, asked “is your salmon alive or dead?” My reply (trying not to laugh out loud), “it’s farm raised.” SMH She’s was probably trying to ask, wild caught or farm raised? A couple of customers, did give me “the office” stare or “breaking the fourth wall. Miso Glazed Salmon Plate from sweetgreen in the San Fernando Valley. A miso glazed salmon with a scoop of white rice and wild rice, pickled onions, spicy broccoli, and a balsamic vinaigrette is how I ordered this dish. BTW, I didn’t need to ask if the salmon was alive or dead

Open to Close Averted! The person who was scheduled to close tonight called out. It was me and the boss at the crack of dawn taking inventory and I wasn’t too pumped to work a double-double shift. But, our new supervisor, it was her first day at our location, said she would close tonight if she can have Saturday off? I made the sacrifice to work on Saturday and we’ll figure out my other day off tomorrow. So, after working 11 hours and 50 minutes today, the Dodgers were losing tonight and with traffic, I wasn’t in a hurry to get home. Emon Combo at Emon Japanese Restaurant in Burbank. With Chicken AND Beef Teriyaki, Shrimp Tempura, Rice, Salad, and Bean Sprouts. Wonder how long it’s going to take to get home now? It’s just another manic Monday… #bentobox

A Day Off with no real plans… except for washing my car. Speaking of cars, I started the day at IMAX to see F1. 👍👍 Since F1 was during lunch, I headed over to try a new restaurant (for me anyway) for lunch, only to find it closed today, holiday perhaps? Plan B, I wasn’t going to get there before they close for lunch. I was hungry and just wanted something with a potato, not fries, and then I saw the Sizzler sign… Steak & Grilled Shrimp Skewers at Sizzler in Los Angeles. All natural wild-caught shrimp served with hand-cut 6oz tri-tip sirloin and a baked potato. I hate when they set-up the plate upside down, occupational hazard. AND I got my car washed. Thankfully, I didn’t go and see the new Jurassic World Rebirth. I didn’t feel like being chased by dinosaurs this afternoon, it’s too hot. #steakandshrimp #steak

Chasing the Monday Blues… After spending the weekend with the parental units, I wanted a Tri-Tip Sandwich on the way home. I ordered a Tri-Tip Sandwich from Willow Ranch in Buttonwillow. The correct sandwich appeared on the order screen as a “Tri-Tip Sandwich” I also asked for salsa and potato salad. Not sure if I received a Tri-Tip Sandwich, since it had peppers and onions with it and no salsa. I didn’t realize it until after I got gas and wanted to eat half. A bit disappointed, but I was hungry and it needed sauce. I stopped to see some friends at their restaurant to say hi AND to picked up some BBQ sauce for my sandwich, the salsa would’ve been better. I’ll stick to Harris Ranch in Coalinga next time. #tritipsandwich

When you can’t decide… Biscuits and Gravy OR A Breakfast Burrito? Why not get a Biscuits & Gravy Burrito from Busy Bee Cafe and Catering in Capitola. With Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, Sausage Gravy, Bacon, Biscuit, Honey, and Green Onions in a tortilla. Served with a Green Sauce that was delicious. #burrito #breakfastburrito