Olallieberry Pie!

On a recent road trip, we stopped in Cambria, a quaint little town along California's coast. Though it's a beautiful town, there aren't a lot of food options so we looked to Yelp to help us out. One of the must eats listed was the Olallieberry Pie from Linn's Restaurant. The pie was featured as Marc Summer's pick on the Food Network's Best Thing I Ever Ate: Sliced. I'm not sure how much I trust the former host of the slime time show, Double Dare, but he has been on a host on the Food Network for many years and he is an OCD sufferer, an almost formidable trait in my eyes.

Like me, I'm sure you're wondering what an Olallieberry is. It's a cross between a loganberry and a youngberry. A loganberry is a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry. A youngberry is a cross between a blackberry and a dewberry. A dewberry is related to a blackberry but resembles a raspberry. After all that, it's essentially it's a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry.

The olallieberry pie a la mode was extremely delicious. Though baked, the berries retained their form and did not become mushy making it the perfect mixture of sweetness and tartness. The crust was the perfect crust, not too flaky or too soft. The slice is not the same without a scoop of vanilla ice cream so be sure to order it heated with a scoop. If you're ever craving a pick me up on a drive along the CA coast, stop and get a yummy slice of pie.

LA Food Fest

As all the of LA fled or stayed in during Carmageddon weekend, we ventured to the Pasadena Rose Bowl for the second annual LA Food Fest. The impressive line up included trendy LA food trucks as well as a number of established eateries. The judges for the best dishes included Michael Voltaggio from Top Chef, Pulitzer Prize winning food writer Jonathan Gold, and Mayor Antonio Villarigoso (who was supposed to be staying home to set an example of how to avoid and prevent Carmageddon chaos). Although we didn't quite agree with the judges, here are some of our faves and disappointments:

Border Grill Truck's Quinoa Fritters - I've been looking forward to these ever since I saw Mary Sue make these on Top Chef Masters. They lived up to the hype. The sauce gave the right amount of kick to the crunchy fritter.

Ramen Jinya + Robata Jinya's Ramen - All ramen = yum. The noodles were the perfect firmness and the broth had just the right salt.

Cacao Mexicatessen 's Venison Chorozo Verde - Venison tacos sound a bit odd but this one was sitting on a refreshing slice of jicama rather than a oily taco. On a hot day, it was just what I needed.

Tione's Quality Meats Lamb Shoulder and Grilled Peaches - It was nice that a stand put out a dish where they really thought about pairing ingredients together to create a flavorful mouthful.

Other standouts were Maggie's Meat & Breat Choripan, Great Balls on Tires Ballywood meatball, Mo-chica + Picca's Peruvian Cau Cau, and Sabina Bandera's Sea Urchin Tostada

Some disappointments were Flying Pig for not showing up, Frysmith's cold and bland Poutin, and the winner of the whole show Mision 19's Pacific Oyster Asada with Chicharron Short Rib, Serrano Ponzu Butter, and Lemongrass foam. Normally, this sounds right up my alley and I was pretty excited to eat it, but this was one of the saltiest things I ever ate in my life. I'm a bit surprised it won the competition. Maybe I had a bad batch.

All in all, it was an overeating extravaganza, but all worth it. I even got sauce on my toe.

Poutine!

What is Poutine? Doesn’t sound particularly tasty by name alone. In fact, the name was originally used as slang for “mess”. Look beyond your trepidations at the plateful of french fries and cheese curds, covered in gravy (or whatever else your imagination can conjure up), and experience the deliciousness of this Canadian comfort fare!

I had poutine for the first time in a tiny hole in the wall during a freezing winter vacation in Quebec City. It’s the combination of three of the most comforting foods on their own, and I’ve been since on the search for the best poutine stateside.

I read a while back about a French Canadian restaurant called Soleil that was beginning a service of poutine. Not only were they going to have poutine on their menu, they would serve the traditional plus 8 other variations! Yes please! We settled on the “Poutine Celine”, fries with curds and Bolognese sauce and a twist on the original, “Poutine Christine”, Fries with curds and a cognac peppercorn sauce. The fries were perfectly crispy and didn’t collapse under the gravy or Bolognese sauce. Both were a deliciously comforting treat and I can’t wait to go back for the others. 2 down, 7 to go!

Soleil Westwood
1386 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024

A little Poutine history (courtesy of Wikipedia)