A Day at the Races - Santa Anita Park
Despite living quite close to Santa Anita Park, until a couple of months ago, I'd never been to the horse racetracks. I'm not much of a gambler.In early October, my friend Chrissy reserved a club box at this beautiful racetrack in Arcadia, complete with a short lesson on reading the form and betting. On top of that, they were hosting a food truck festival in the infield.
A couple of us enjoyed the very warm ladies' day out and it was another great excuse to take photos of the gorgeous horses and park grounds.
Grounds:
Food from infield:
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| iced Kona coffee from Mauie Wowie |
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| Lobsta Truck - lobster roll with butter |
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| Waffles de Liege - Belgian Liege waffle with Speculoos |
Wildly Creative Dishes at ink.
In general, I don't do straight restaurant posts. But when during a meal there are a couple of unique and memorable dishes, the dishes scream to have their own post.I've had the pleasure of eating Chef Michael Voltaggio's food in the past and his creations definitely do not lack the "wow" factor - be it in taste, presentation and overall creativity. It's no wonder he was the Top Chef Season 6 winner.
Here are some of the highlights, in random order, from the family style small plates at his new restaurant, ink.
quail beet juice sorrel salad
This dish contains a lot of my favorite ingredients and perfectly blends the gamey quail, earthy beet and light greens and foam.
The shadows of the beets on the plate added a visually exciting component.
The clean, modern dining room with open kitchen evokes an energetic vibe that makes the modern food feel more accessible.
charred avocado hen of the woods whipped fish sauce mushroom chicharron
berkshire pork tenderloin charcoal crust macaroni and cheese leeks
The meat wrapped in ashy charcoal definitely is original, but for me this dish was all about the mac and cheese.
I normally want my mac and cheese not too gourmet. But an al dente pasta tube stuffed with Fisacalini Farms cheddar cheese that melts in your mouth leaves nothing else to be desired.
The choice of dishes and place setting displayed the food so beautifully and added to the experience.
Looking at my dinner plate of the first round of food, I can't say I've ever had anything that looks or tastes like this. And I'd definitely go back for more.
One of the plates I stared at for a long time before breaking up the stunning composition. Then marveled at how great it tasted too.
The shadows of the beets on the plate added a visually exciting component.
The clean, modern dining room with open kitchen evokes an energetic vibe that makes the modern food feel more accessible.
charred avocado hen of the woods whipped fish sauce mushroom chicharron
This mostly vegetarian dish contained so many "meaty", hearty flavors. I'd never had charred avocado and didn't realize the chicharrons were mushrooms until I read the menu.
The foamy, white fish sauce struck me as genius level seasoning.
octopus and hiramasa romaine hearts fried caesar dressing
And if only the genius stopped there.
The tender octopus glued together into these stained-glass like rectangles formed the base of this dish, topped with a beautiful hiramasa crudo, baby romaine hearts and the inexplicable fried caesar dressing.
The dressing, minus some of the liquidy components came encased in a light batter. Everyone at the table spoke of wanting to eat about a dozen of them.
spaghetti giant squid squash hazelnut ink pesto piment d'espelette
octopus and hiramasa romaine hearts fried caesar dressing
And if only the genius stopped there.
The tender octopus glued together into these stained-glass like rectangles formed the base of this dish, topped with a beautiful hiramasa crudo, baby romaine hearts and the inexplicable fried caesar dressing.
The dressing, minus some of the liquidy components came encased in a light batter. Everyone at the table spoke of wanting to eat about a dozen of them.
spaghetti giant squid squash hazelnut ink pesto piment d'espelette
I wondered how he could possibly top these ideas. Then this dish came. It looks like a bowl of pasta. The spaghetti is half squid noodles and half spaghetti squash noodles, also warmed up with the hazelnut pesto, herbs and chili pepper.
Perfection.
sea bass cream of dehydrated potato black olive oil lemon caper
And just when I thought every item would wow me with its strange creativity, we got this sea bass dish.
I'm sure modern techniques rendered the perfectly cooked sea bass, but it reminded me of the simply grilled fish I had in Italy or France.
The juicy fish with crispy skin and the right amount of creaminess and acidity makes this a superstar.
The hollowed out potatoes tasted great and provided an interesting, modern touch.
banana polenta
And just when I thought every item would wow me with its strange creativity, we got this sea bass dish.
I'm sure modern techniques rendered the perfectly cooked sea bass, but it reminded me of the simply grilled fish I had in Italy or France.
The juicy fish with crispy skin and the right amount of creaminess and acidity makes this a superstar.
The hollowed out potatoes tasted great and provided an interesting, modern touch.
banana polenta
Two creamy side dishes, very different, also rounded out the meal. This was my favorite.
The banana polenta I remembered from Top Chef, possibly being a winning dish from one of his challenges. I always wanted to try it after seeing it on the TV show.
The first bite felt a bit sweet and odd, then it got more savory after a couple more bites. Polenta of any flavor is comforting and creamy and really hard to not like. A couple of fellow diners didn't like this one too much so I happily polished it off.
berkshire pork tenderloin charcoal crust macaroni and cheese leeks
The meat wrapped in ashy charcoal definitely is original, but for me this dish was all about the mac and cheese.
I normally want my mac and cheese not too gourmet. But an al dente pasta tube stuffed with Fisacalini Farms cheddar cheese that melts in your mouth leaves nothing else to be desired.
The choice of dishes and place setting displayed the food so beautifully and added to the experience.
Looking at my dinner plate of the first round of food, I can't say I've ever had anything that looks or tastes like this. And I'd definitely go back for more.
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| Meeting Chef Michael Voltaggio at Taste of the Nation in summer 2010 |
End of Summer in the Garden
With daylight savings, my time in the garden gets cut back drastically. It's fully dark by the time I get home. Growing slows down. I limit myself to light maintenance and watering.During the summer, it was a different story. This post covers the whole summer's garden activity, until about mid-October.
All in all a fairly high yield of plants bloomed despite the heat mid-summer.
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| black mondo |
The black mondo with its adorable lavender blooms is something I chose for my large, new redwood planter. I hope it spreads sideways.
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| sensitive plant |
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| sensitive plant |
When you touch the leaves, as I'm doing on the 2nd photograph, the leaves close up.
They don't last long so I'm trying to plant it into the ground, hoping it will spread and grow a bit.
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The asparagus fern thrives in sun or shade, little watering or through rain. This new, yellowish leaf sprouted and eventually turned green.
This one may also eventually live in the redwood planter since it can tolerate shade.
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| sea drift and verbena |
This cute sea drift didn't last long but looked cute while it lasted. I'll try this one again next time they return to the nurseries.
I use these marigolds to plant around my tomatoes and eggplants, as they serve as a natural, organic pest and animal repellant.
This hydrangea started growing from a branch cutting. Due to the shade in this spot, it grows slowly but surely.
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| dahlia |
I didn't expect the dahlia to bloom in late summer and fall, but it quickly sprouted up, rested on the adjacent lemon tree and bloomed.
My neighbor gave me cuttings of these succulents, which grow beautifully year round, it seems.
These shallow pots with mismatched, glazed saucers work well for starting off various succulents as well.
I combined several plants that grew in smaller pots. It will be fun to watch how they grow into each other as the plants get larger.
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| ice plant |
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| green, unripe guava |
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| rosa bianca eggplant, growing from seeds |
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| Japanese eggplant |
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| green, unripe tomatoes |
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| mint and shamrock |
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| lemon cucumber |
My curry plant grew a new floor or two! After a long period of shock, it's great to see the plant getting larger and healthier.
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| purslane |
Purslane appeared on its own in the yard and in some of the potted plants. With such graceful leaves, I let them grow wherever they'd like. It's always fun to have edibles to pick as well.
Ivy can never get accused of not being fertile. I've tried to eliminate the ivy from the front planter and side slope from day one, but it grows back in any little spot it can wedge itself into.
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| new trellis - at planting |
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| trellis after 3 months - with Black Eyed Susan vines |
The hefty trellis came up to serve as a makeshift screen against the neighbors' sewage pipes, storage area and den of coyotes!
Once again, in the shade, it's amazing how fast the sweet little Black Eyed Susans are filling in. The trick is to disentangle them from the neighboring bushes because they do tend to overtake everything in their way.
I'm grateful for all this activity as it gets colder, and plan to post another update for the next season or two.
