Magic 24 Carrot Cocktail. This cocktail, created by mixologist Chris Amirault of Otium, is as orange as its featured ingredient, but it doesn't taste a bit like salad. It's based on Woodford Reserve, a small batch bourbon from Kentucky, combined with ginger-honey, sugar, lemon, carrots and flowers, according to the recipe posted at the James Beard Foundation's Taste America.
Wood oven baked Brie at Wally's Santa Monica. The Brie, along with truffle honey and shaved Burgundy truffle, is stuffed into a baguette, which is then wrapped in foil and baked in a wood-burning oven for 12 minutes. To finish, it's unwrapped and put back in the oven for 5 minutes so it melts from the inside. And you'll melt with joy when you eat it.
Wally's Santa Monica, 214 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401. (424) 293-5500.
Mushroom ramen at The Bazaar by José Andrés. Holly Jivin of The Bazaar presented this dish in appetizer portions at the James Beard Foundation's Taste America. Delicate and elegant, it combines the mushrooms with quail eggs, nori, fried garlic and pork belly that is torched just before it is added. Jivin finished each serving by pouring in hot mushroom tea.
Pav Bhaji at Annapurna Cuisine. You can pretend you're on the streets of Mumbai when you eat pav bhaji, because that's where you'll find it. Annapurna makes it the authentic way, serving grilled rolls to eat with a spicy mixture of vegetables that includes potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and peas. The traditional garnish, onions and cilantro, is on the plate too.
Date-stuffed cookies at Kunafa King. Anytime I am in Fresh Choice Marketplace in Garden Grove, I go to Kunafa King to see what the bakery has on hand. Almost always, I buy a box of these delectable cookies. Stuffed with date paste, they come with seeds on top or without. Either way, they're delightful with coffee in the morning or tea in the afternoon.
Kunafa King, located inside Fresh Choice Marketplace, 9922 Katella Ave., Garden Grove, CA 92804. (714) 486-5028.
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