After a surprisingly good dinner at Shalhoob's and a nightcap at Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company, I thought I would have a nice night's sleep. Well, that was not to be. I did anticipate JJ's 4am morning "puppy potty", but I had a hard time sleeping because of the traffic noise from the 101. I really enjoyed the Moxy Hotel, but it was right on the 101 and the traffic noise kept me up for most of the night. Oh well, cant win 'em all.
When morning arose, the Missus and I made some quick plans. We had lunch reservations at our favorite restaurant in the area and added in what we thought would be a fun visit for JJ.
But before all of this, we decided to head down the block. I had noted that right across the way from Figueroa Mountain Brewing was Helena Avenue Bakery. I decided to get my croissant fix, since they supposedly made everything inhouse.
It's quite a charming spot, the bakery shares the space with a wine tasting room. It also shares the address with a place we had really looked forward to eating at that kind of disappointed us on our previous visit to the area.
You order at the counter and are given a number. We had a seat at one of the lovely outdoor tables.
Soon enough my Americano and Croissant was ready.
The Americano was fairly smooth, with a nice kick.
Seeing that the ridges were falling off the viennoiserie made me somewhat concerned, but the pastry did not shatter into crumbs upon consuming. The exterior was light and crisp, the interior fairly fluffy and "honeycombed". It was sorely lacking in butter and even salt for that matter. Quite bland overall.
A "halfway there" croissant if I've ever had one. Liked the vibe of the place, though I'm not sure what it would be like if busy.
Helena Avenue Bakery
131 Anacapa St. Suite C
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Since we had lunch reservations in Los Alamos, we decided to head on up to Solvang which is sort of on the way. We thought that JJ might enjoy the place and since it was a Monday during the slow season, things wouldn't be too hectic.
And we were right. It was calm and relaxed, we enjoyed strolling around. And JJ kinda enjoyed his "photo-ops".
This was when we thought it would be fun staying in Solvang with JJ, which would be our next "road trip".
We took a short break at this little coffee shop.
Where I had my second Americano of the day. This one was smooth and easy to drink. We just had a seat on the porch and enjoyed things.
It was a nice break in the action for us.
Good Seed Coffee Boutique
1607 Mission Dr.
Solvang, CA 93463
We did a bit more walking; then it was time to head off for lunch. Which was going to be at our favorite restaurant in the area; Bell's in Los Alamos. Over time we've come to conclusion that we enjoy lunches at Bell's more than the prefix dinner. It's much more classically French, with local produce and such. And since this is my fourth post on the place; I'm just going to mainly do photos. You can click on the preceding links for more info on our previous visits.
Perhaps because it was 11am on a Monday, we had the place to ourselves for a while. The back patio is dog friendly and the chef even came out and spent some time with JJ!
We ordered what we usually do at Bell's. They still make one of my favorite versions of Beef Tartare.
Love the cut of beef, with a wonderful texture, perfect ratio of capers and pungency, so rich and decadent.
Of course the Missus had to have Escargot.
The Country Terrine is nice and porky, with hints of winey-sweetness. It goes well with the cornichons and grainy-pungent Dijon.
We also enjoy the slightly offally, mildly sweet Chicken Liver Mousse.
The strawberry jam works as a nice sweet "foil", with the cornichons sour-acidity clearing the palate. Our only issue is with the crostini which were hard rather than crisp.
As with our previous we enjoyed our lunch at Bell's and would return again in a few weeks.
JJ enjoyed his first visit to a Michelin Star restaurant and got treated so nicely!
Bell's
406 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440
Now it was time to head back to the hotel and get a much needed nap…..if I could block out the freeway noise; before dinner!
Thanks for stopping by! Hope you had a great weekend!
The filling was fairly tender, not overly sweet, very classic seasoning. The regular bao was a bit too wet and doughy. The "Black Bao", obviously made with activated charcoal had an almost gritty-crunchy texture, though the flavor was less sweet, but not substantially different from the "regular" one.
The Peking Duck was "almost there". The fat had been nicely rendered, but the skin was still a bit rubbery. The flesh was very tender, the flavors spot on, good gamey-earthy notes, five spice, a hint of sweetness. The dan bing weren't up to the task and tore easily. Still, the duck was not bad at all.
My favorite of the two I ordered was the Cabeza. It was tender, beefy, with a side of "funk". Nicely seasoned and cooked, so very juicy. A squirt of lime to cut the richness, cilantro and onion to add pungency, and it was darn good. The tortillas were fine; they were doubled with some queso in between to hold it together.
The piece of battered and fried fish was quite large. But the batter was soggy and the flesh of the pescado was slimy-fishy-muddy, not my favorite flavors and textures when it comes to fish. Not even the lime and the salsas….I preferred the verde (green), which had a bit more acidity and herbaceousness, but I really didn't enjoy this.
This was quite the bowl! There was shimeji mushroom, quail eggs, fish balls (not my favorite thing), some ground pork, a couple of slices of char siu-ish pork, fairly tender shrimp (not deveined), and two, really tasty fried crab.
The skin hadn't been fried crisp and were rubbery. The "tomyum" was a a packaged powder that was overly salty. The wings were moist and tender, but the drumettes really dry and tough.
I like the folks working here, there is quite a variety of dishes on the menu so I will definitely return. They have some Com Tom dishes so I'll probably drag the Missus along. They have outdoor tables, so maybe JJ might join us. I know my friend "CY" said we'll grab lunch here in a couple of weeks. With Saigon Corner and 
Granted, there was a lot more veggies to shrimp than I recall. But the nice crunch, variety of flavors, with a dip in the wasabi and ginger enhanced Tsuyu, alternated with the perfectly cooked slightly stretchy soba was just what the doctor ordered on this day.
I prefer my cheesesteak to have thinly sliced beef, not chopped too finely like this was. One could not complain about the portion size nor price. Looks like a great neighborhood place to take the family for some slices and maybe enjoy the art, but perhaps not for a cheesesteak. Looks like I'll be headed to Evans or Wise Ox soon…..boy do I miss