Seeking Food - By Ketojinic

Bolivian food in LA? You must be kidding me, right? You mean, I don't have to fly to VA anymore to get some good Bolivian food?! OMG OMG OMG OMG. I had to go and see for myself. I took my mom and two brothers and we headed out to Beba's in North Hollywood. I've made many treks like this in the past only to find an empty or a burnt down restaurant, or a restaurant that never exist. When we got to Hazeltine Ave., we almost gave up driving up and down that street until finally, we spotted it. A small hole in the wall. So small you'd miss it if you blinked. Once inside, we noticed that the owners were Bolivian. They even played traditional Bolivian music videos on their television. It's a must see so ask for it to be played if it's not on. Also, do not laugh out loud. It may seem funny to non-Bolivians but Bolivians take their songs and culture seriously and who cares if they filmed it on an abandoned train or if the singers are wearing gangsterlike sunglasses rem...

This summer, I had the honor of being able to shoot one of our scenes for our latest film about food and love at Don Chow Tacos, a Chinese-Mexican fusion truck operated by Dominic and Lawrence. They were so fabulously hospitable and nice to us and let us try a couple of different dishes. Here are my faves: Introducing the Carne Asada Chow Fun. I think this is now a staple on their menu and I'm happy to say I was one of the first to try it! Seeing how it looks on other people's food blogs, I imagine they re-engineered it since I last tasted it. I can't wait to go back to see what is different. I remember thinking why chow fun doesn't actually taste like this! It definitely took the chow fun experience to another level and I think others agreed. The noodles were gone in less than five minutes. The Chimale!! This is a Chinese Mexican tamale with Kung Pao Chicken inside. We had the kung pao chicken and Chinese bbq pork tacos. I personally liked all their dishes that had kun...

The best thing that's happened since I got to USC - food wise. Mo-Chica is a Peruvian restaurant inside the Mercado la Paloma. What differentiates this place from other Peruvian places I've been to around Los Angeles is that this place takes Peruvian cuisine to a gourmet level. Sure, I've had Lomo Saltado only a thousand times but never have I had it in a deconstructed form (no pic yet of this dish but will update soon). Since I've discovered this place, I've been back three times. I've tried the Ceviche del dia, the Arroz con Pollo, the Arroz con Marisco, and the Lomo Saltado. The Ceviche del dia is delicious and many tend to agree that it's less slimy than most ceviches. It actually tastes and feels more like a sashimi. In this one, you'll notice that there are yams as well as two kinds of corn. My favorite hominy was in it. Hominy is indigenous to Peru and Bolivia (my hometown) so it takes me back to places I cannot enter soley through my i...

So I finally managed to upload the short video I made about brining the turkey. It's hilarious because I don't believe in formalities or going by the book. It's kind of a miracle that the turkey came out great. Check here for past Thanksgiving post. Yes, I understand how late this post is. Sorry, I'm a film student! Hopefully this will come in handy for Thanksgiving 2010.

      I really can't complain because I got a $75 lunch gift certificate from the blogger prom to come here! After reading through everyone's review, we decided to get one dish from the secret kitchen, and a few lighter options.       We ended up getting the colossal royal tiger prawns that came with the garlic noodles ($39.95), the traditional vietnamese salad (13.95), and the crispy rice paper roll ($9.00). We also got green tea ($7.00) and two desserts - the coconut cake with creme anglais, and the pineapple brioche with vanilla bean ice cream (both $9).       the garlic noodles were definitely tasty. panida r. mentioned it contained parmesan cheese. i could def taste it now. i was wondering what the smell was. the garlic and butter was heavy handed but definitely crack like for the first 3 bites. after that, it's a little too heavy to continue consuming without feeling your arteries clogging. the prawns were aii...

Oh Em Gee. I cannot believe the success of this event. I mean, I know how much people love Korean barbeque but this was ridiculously successful - so successful it was almost annoying. If you wanted to eat something, the lines were at least a 20 minute wait. Some lines moved faster than others because the restaurant owners were more efficient and set up some sort of cracked out assembly line. Other restaurants took too long to cook and then even longer to distribute. A lot of people were walking around with corn because they were cheap ($3) and fast. Next year, I hope they have a lot more sides featured. Korean bbq is awesome but Korean banchan is also a staple as well as a crowd pleaser. Apparently, there were 10,000 people who passed through the doors that day. That's so incredible. It's amazing to see how people come together for food. To organize this massive crowd to come to a charity event would be much more difficult, I'm sure. At $10-$15 a plate, the bbq plates were ...

On August 1st, I drove to the California Science Center for the 7th Annual Project by Project Tasting Benefit. Every year I've wanted to go but couldn't make it for one reason or another. I finally got to go this year and I'm so glad I did! Plate by Plate is not just for foodies. I mean, obviously foodies will be more willing to pay up for tickets to a tasting event but it's really all about helping out the Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program which in turn helps out micro businesses in Los Angeles, especially those of low income immigrants of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, and Filipino communities. So yes, not only do you have to have the stomach for this event but also the heart (cheesy, I know but it's true). I ended up bumping into so many people that I knew from the past, people who I fell out of touch with, and people who probably would not have recognized me even if I had introduced myself to them. It's amazing how food can bring people toge...