American/New American Restaurants – Page 14

Road Trip (During Covid-19) – The Black Sheep (Santa Barbara)

November 14, 2020 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Cocktails, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Travel

I spent a good month planning our road trip….the dates; not only was the Missus and I burnt out from work, but also from all the toxic politics and hate being spewed. I knew it was going to boil over during election week. Since I had already voted by mail, we decided to leave on the Sunday right after Halloween. I had basically planned out all the dinners….we really don't eat lunch….just having croissants, fruits, nuts, and bars when travelling. We save our calories for dinner. I had decided to stop overnight in Santa Barbara, where we could pick-up wonderful looking bentos from our favorite restaurant on our previous visit to the city and eat on the patio of the motel we were staying in. Unfortunately, a week before our trip Yoichi's decided to stop take-out service and prepare to reopen for dining in and were going to be closed until further notice. I immediately did a bunch of research and picked out a couple of places and let the Missus decide. Which she did and I made reservations for an outdoor table at the earliest time available.

It was a wonderful morning when we left San Diego.

We got to Santa Barbara in record time and arrived early. Our motel was on State Street, but not on the portion to the South that was now a pedestrian only zone. I basically chose the place because of the location and this was the only stop where I actually went in and wiped down the room before we settled in.

Getting to SB early meant that we had time to kill, so we headed down State Street. The Trinity Episcopal Church was having services (this was a Sunday) when we passed…..outdoors.

And it was a pleasant walk as we passed very few people….everyone wearing a mask, along the way.

And State Street was closed from Sola Street to Haley Street, creating a pedestrian zone with outdoor dining areas created.

And with very few people, being able to walk in the street, really enabled one to distance.

I got a kick from the Earth without Art is just "EH" sign and also took note of the business below that sign.

After checking to see where we'd be eating that evening…..to also scope out the outdoor situation we headed back to the motel; we always include a medium sized ice chest when we do road trips and I grabbed some sparkling water, almonds, and an energy bar. We ate on the empty elevated patio of the motel and when we finished, our room was ready.

We freshened up and took a short nap.

We headed down to our dinner destination.

The place the Missus chose for dinner was the Black Sheep….She was fascinated by the rather eclectic menu and the cocktail list.

And got to chose our little table outside in the covered garage like area. Where we saw an amazing sunset……

Our Server was wonderful, very warm, friendly, gracious. While there were several "hiccups" with our meal, we really enjoyed our experience as a whole.

The menu had quite a collection of dishes; from Potato Tacos to Ramen to Duck Confit….I was quite surprised that the Missus had chosen this place.

We decided on what we were going to order and then took a look at the cocktail list….which, unfortunately only had 4-5 drinks on it. A far cry from the online cocktail menu. When we asked what was going on with this we were told that they just lost their mixologist….sad, there's nothing to be done about that, so we went off that list.

I decided on the Yuzu Margarita.

Which, while being a light on the Tequila and Triple-sec, was nice and refreshing. The Missus got the Black Sheep Manhattan which was passable, but could have used a large sized cocktail ice cube or two.

The first dish out was the Australian Wagyu Beef Carpaccio….we laughed when we were told it was "A7 Wagyu" and instantly knew it wasn't Japanese Wagyu.

The dish supposedly had uni and dashi; but we didn't see any on the plate. The beef was very good however; clean tasting, no hints of metallic-off flavors, the basil oil was wonderful and the Missus loved the potato puree

The Missus also really enjoyed the Bone Marrow Bruschetta.

This was wonderful play of textures, from the buttery, very beefy bone marrow, the panko, perfectly toasted baguette. The port sauce wasn't overly sweet….it was closer to a veal jus, the mustard greens added a pleasant bitterness, and the pear a pleasant tart-sweetness.

The potato tacos weren't bad either.

This version used a wonderfully dense, slightly sweeter-nutty purple potatoes, which was really highlited when combined with the pickled onions and tangy crema. Call it hipster tacos if you will; but this wasn't too bad.

While munching on the tacos and bruschetta, we asked the Server about the Uni and Dashi on the carpaccio…..he kindly asked us to hold on for a second while he checked with the kitchen. About ten minutes later he came back out with the chef who had a bowl in hand. Apparently, they'd forgotten the uni and dashi on our carpaccio and decided to give us a special dish using the wagyu beef, uni, and dashi.

Along with the sweet-spice from the sliced chilies; this was really good. In fact, the Missus and I think that had the uni and dashi been used with the carpaccio; it might have just been too much, clashing flavors. Here there was a nice oceany-beefy cleanness to the dish. Kudos to the staff for making things right.

At this point the Server told us he'd bring us our check….but…..we had also ordered the Boqorones. Which they'd kind of let slip. A few minutes later; things were corrected.

Perhaps we had pushed our luck a bit on this one….having had Boquerones in Spain and Portugal…this was a bit too "fishy" for the Missus and the crostini was too hard.

Regardless, in spite of the hiccups, we really loved the service, and the folks here were very warm and kind…..perhaps it had been so long since we'd actually had a meal out (232 days)? But I think not. We really did enjoy our experience and the carpaccio (both ways!) and the bruschetta were delicious.

The Black Sheep
26 E Ortega St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
(805) 965-1113
Current Hours:
Wed – Sat 5pm – 10pm
Sunday 5pm – 9pm
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays

On an interesting note; this wouldn't be our last food (or drinks) on this evening.

Stay tuned for that one!

Road Trip (before Covid-19) – FLG Terroir and Annex Cocktail Lounge (Flagstaff)

November 1, 2020 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cocktails, Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Gastropub, Road Trip, Travel, Wine Bars/Wineries

After our wonderful tour of the Grand Canyon, we took a short rest, then decided to head out for an early evening. I had a place in mind, but as we wandered down North San Francisco Street (can't get the flaneur out of us, I guess); the Missus went into a shop called The Artists Gallery to do some shopping……..it seems that all of the folks who sell their art and crafts here were also at the Art in the Park the previous day. As we were leaving, I took a look upward and saw the "FLG Terroir" sign in the window above.

This was one of the places I had on "my list"; so we headed upstairs. Man, this place was quite large and the selection of wine was quite good.

The Missus enjoyed Her two glasses of wine and I reacquainted myself with an "old friend" from Belgium.

The seats with a view were taken; so we just sat at one of the tables. I went over to the counter and also ordered us some food.

Which arrived piping hot. First to arrive was the "Poutine" ($5) (after our time in Montreal, I needed to add the quotation marks).

This version had thick mushroom gravy, which wasn't too bad, the fries were crisp; but the cheese curds were mushy. Decent seasoning though a bit on the salty side. To us, this was the better of the two dishes.

Next up was the Shrimp and Grits ($10).

This version was made with red curry and coconut grits. Can't say I'm fond of this combination of flavors as it really overpowered the grits. The shrimp were fine, if a bit on the muddy side and the carrots and zucchini nicely prepared.

Overall, I thought the prices were quite reasonable. The food is a bit "fusiony", but the Missus enjoyed the wine selection, the service was very friendly…..one of the bar staff was even from San Diego!

We'd be happy to return when we're back in Flagstaff.

FLG Terroir: Wine Bar & Bistro
17 N San Francisco St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Currently only open for takeout

After heading back down to San Francisco Street, we headed south, crossing over Route 66 and arrived at our next destination. Alice, in her fine blog "Alice's Restaurants" lists Tinderbox Kitchen as one of her favorites. While we weren't quite in the mood for a full meal; the folks from Tinderbox Kitchen own three properties lined up right next to each other. One of them, called "the Annex", a cocktail lounge serving some basic eats seemed like just the thing to end our evening.

It was a beautiful evening so we headed to the area called "the yard", which was quite interesting….especially the wall in the back of the property. I later read that this was once a Basque Handball Court.

We decided on something simple to munch on; the Annex Nachos with Chorizo ($12), which turned out to be quite good.

The chorizo had a nice, mild smoky-spice. The chips were crisp, the avocado heavy, thick guacamole very nice.

I had the Hip Stag – a Pineapple Infused Mezcal based cocktail. Loved the notes the cilantro-lime bitter added. This was slightly smoky and not overly sweet.

Meanwhile, the Missus was captivated by the smoked cocktail menu and started off with the "Coffee and Cigarettes" which featured Pipe Tobacco Smoke and Espresso Beans. I didn't think She'd like it; but the Missus really enjoyed this…..so much….that I didn't even get a taste!

She definitely wanted another drink after this one and settled on the Irish Whiskey (and Pipe Tobacco Smoked) "Red Badge of Courage".

Which She enjoyed even more.

And then it happened. A group of younger folks were having a competitive round of Jumbo Jenga. One of the young men was really "chirping" quite a bit….and he was backing things up by beating all his friends. He saw us watching and started trying to convince us to play……there's no way I'd play. But the Missus; bolstered by a couple cocktails decided to have a go before we left.

I was amazed to watch Her beat this guy in three moves! The young man was stunned and asked the Missus how often She played. Her response? "I've never played this before….but it's all math….geometry. Maybe you should spend more time in class and less time out drinking?" Oooooh snap!

As you can tell, we enjoyed the cocktails, the vibe, and the service was wonderful. The Missus really does want to return here.

Annex Cocktail Lounge
50 S San Francisco St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Current Hours:
Thursday 3pm – 9pm
Friday 3pm – 10pm
Saturday 9am – 10pm

We stopped at a couple of shops on the way back to our hotel. We talked about how much we enjoyed the friendly folks in Flagstaff.

And look forward to returning again someday. The Missus will want Her smoked cocktail fix!

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip (Before Covid-19) – Antelope Slot Canyon, Lower Antelope Canyon, and Dinner at Shift Kitchen and Bar (Flagstaff)

October 24, 2020 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Road Trip, Travel

***** Warning; this post is super long.

Man, it's been over a year since we did this road trip. I thought I'd better get my posts done. The Missus wanted to do a road trip over the Labor Day weekend last year. She had been wanting to check out Antelope Canyon for years. So, after doing a bit of research , I came up with a plan, to do both Antelope Slot Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon, check-out Horseshoe Bend, and even do a small group tour of the Grand Canyon over the weekend, with just taking the Tuesday after Labor Day off. Frankie's Auntie "Alle" had just returned from visiting family in Italy and graciously said she'd love having Frankie around over the weekend.

So, we left on Saturday morning. I'd planned a couple of stops along the way. When we stopped right outside El Centro….good lord, it was in the high 90's and the humidity was crazy, so we drove through Yuma and decided to get gas in Dateland at the travel center. The Missus actually enjoyed shopping at the Travel Center and even bought a couple of packages of dates.

We then headed out east on the 8, then headed up the 85, onto the 10 East, then straight up the 17 toward Flagstaff.

Then it happened. About 15-20 miles out of Flagstaff, my transmission went out. I pulled to the side of the road and we tried calling AAA. Unfortunately, cell phone reception was very bad. I finally found a high spot off the freeway and got thru to the Auto Club. Unfortunately, they weren't able to find our location….I even got the latitude and longitude, but no bueno. What I neded up doing was calling the Highway Patrol and getting a location after they pinged the cell phone tower and I walked up about a mile and got the milepost as well.

And then it was just waiting……good thing I could still start my vehicle and run the AC and such. And we waited…..I think this cloud kinda looks like Frankie, what do you think?

And for some reason; a version of an Eagles song went through my mind; "stuck on the shoulder outside Flagstaff, Arizona……"

After about 90 minutes a tow truck arrived and we got hitched up and were on our way to Flagstaff…….except about 5 miles down the road, our tow truck broke down….soooooo; we now needed a tow truck for our tow truck! About an hour later, a fleet of tow vehicles arrived, including the owner of the tow company who was so nice and apologetic.

This time they used a car carrier and we drove to the Flagstaff Toyota dealership. Now, I'm not big on fancy cars; my little 2005 RAV4 had over 220k miles on it….the Missus decided it was time I got a new car. Which is how we went on a roadtrip and I ended up getting a new RAV4. By the time all the paperwork was done and the car was prepped it was 9pm and we headed off to Page. Which was a 2 1/2 hour drive. We got into our hotel at around midnight and immediately crashed….it had been a long day.

The next morning; we had the hotel breakfast and checked out. I had made two reservations for the day….we'd be visiting upper and lower Antelope Canyon. Antelope Canyon is located in the Navajo Nation so all access is by tour groups.

Our first visit was to Antelope Slot Canyon. We headed into Page and arrived at the designated location for Antelope Slot Canyon Tours by Chief Tsosie. Based on our reservation time; we were loaded onto minibuses and headed out. Our guide was amazing; so knowledgeable, even fielding questions and making recommendations for other places to visit.

There were quite a few vehicles parked as several companies do tours here.

And what you don't really see in photos are the crowds of folks entering.

Though they do a really great job of keeping distances between groups allowing folks time to take photos and take in the beauty of the canyon.

Before entering we were given a little lesson on how the canyon was formed. We were asked how the canyon formed in the specific way and no one answered; so I finally went, "sandstone erosion based on fast flowing floods". The guy stopped and cracked up, telling me "I've been doing this for a decade and that's the best answer I've ever had." Not sure if he was just making feel good……and I got an elbow and a whisper of "don't show off" from the Missus for my effort.

Like I mentioned; our guide was amazing. He went over the famous "sites" and set-up and took photos of everyone in the group. He kept folks together; even the two groups of "selfie Instagram girls". He told us stories of Antelope Canyon; the flash flood in 1997 that took the lives of 11 people, with only one survivor (see the link if interested), about Peter Lik's black and white photo of Antelope Canyon fetching 6.5 million dollars, and that National Geographic is banned from Antelope Canyon, how the canyon had been closed twice because folks were illegally dumping human ashes in the canyon.

The lighting does play tricks with you…….

Other well known locations were pointed out; like the "Dragon's Eye".

Let your imagination run wild……

This tour was super easy; the terrain is level so there were quite a few people on the tour. It does get a bit cramped at times, but I as very happy we did this.

We had a little over an hour between tours. I had a well regarded fried chicken place in mind for lunch; but it was just too hot for us to think about having that. Instead, I just bought some cold cuts and a salad from the Safeway across the street from the tour office. This would be enough to hold us until dinner. We planned to be in Flagstaff by then.

After lunch we headed off to Ken's Tours Lower Antelope Canyon. Man, the waiting/office area was packed. Luckily, we had made reservations months earlier. When we were called, we queued up and then headed down a trail. Just looking out, you really couldn't tell that there was a slot canyon here.

And after a short walk, we arrived at some pretty steep stairs and headed down into the canyon.

And while our guide at Antelope Slot Canyon was definitely better; the lighting here was amazing. Also, foot traffic here is one way thru, you don't have to turn around to head back, which made things less cramped. And did I mentioned the lighting????

The lighting, shadows, red sandstone just adds to the otherworldly feeling.

And you start seeing shapes…….some of them are quite well known. This is "Bruce the Shark".

And don't forget to look up. I actually saw the shape of a seahorse in the view to the right.

This was quite an amazing place to visit and I'm glad we did it.

After the tour, before heading to Flagstaff, the Missus had one more place on Her "list". A place that was actually made famous by social media, a destination made popular by Instagram, Horseshoe Bend. Back in, say 2014, about 40,000 people a year visited Horseshoe Bend….but after folks started posting photos on Instagram, you know, the selfie generation, it is estimated that over 2,000,000 folks visit the site right outside Page every year.

And so we found a parking spot and made the short pilgrimage down the trail to the look-out.

Notice the folks sitting on the bench? Well, it was pretty darn hot already on this day.

We saw several young people sitting and vomiting…..heat stroke…I guess perhaps they'd partied too hard or hadn't hydrated properly. What was even worse were the knuckleheads who brought their dogs out. We saw one vomiting….a guy was running past us in the opposite direction; his poor dog was having seizures! What morons.

We joined the masses to take a photo that I guess everyone now needs to have.

We saw quite a few people head over the railing to get "that photo" of themselves here. Crazy. Even with the overlook in place, folks still find a way to kill themselves.

We headed off to Flagstaff. I'd booked two nights at the Residence Inn in "Flag" as I heard residence call the city. Home to Northern Arizona University, both the Missus and I enjoyed our time in the city…..folks were friendly, there's a kind of artsy, hipster, chill vibe. At around 7,000 feet elevation, the weather was much cooler than Page. Also, I was a bit surprised to see the pine forests surrounding the city.

We also lucked out as right across the street from our hotel, the city was having it's "Art in the Park" festival.

Where we managed to do a good bit of shopping and purchase some gifts for folks back home.

It was a fun time….folks (including the four legged ones) were so friendly here.

Gifts in tow; we headed back to the hotel for a short break before heading out for dinner.

And while our dinner destination was a mere two blocks from where we were staying; we took our time. We really enjoyed the historic downtown area of the city.

For dinner, I did a bit of research and decided on Shift Kitchen and Bar; the focus on shared plates and an interesting cocktail list seemed like just the thing for us.

We were seated across from the bar area; a perfect place for us as we could see what others ere ordering and still had some privacy.

The cocktails were good; my favorite of the evening was the Smoked & Dirty Martini.

There was one item that drew me to Shift. The Missus loves salt and vinegar chips and the Pickled French Fries with "Secret Sauce" seemed like something She's love.

Wonderfully "pickly" with a good amount of salt, the Missus just loved this. She really didn't need the "secrest sauce" (think Mickey D's). As a matter of fact, we had a second order of this.

The Duck Liver Tart, was well, a bit too "tart" and sweet for our taste.

We loved the greens, though the pickled pears were much too sour for us.

The Smoked Bone Marrow was quite good; though the garnishes added perhaps a bit too much acidity for our taste.

Loved the bone marrow; savory-buttery goodness on the toast. Could have done without all the mustard seed and really acidic pickled veggies – jalapeno which really detracted from the goodness of the bone marrow.

All-in-all, a decent first meal. Friendly, amiable service, solid cocktails…..we (the Missus) would definitely return for those fries.

Shift Kitchen & Bar
107 N San Francisco St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Current Hours:
Wed – Sun 5pm – 9pm

We'd had a pretty busy 24 hours….we drove from San Diego, got stuck on the I-17, bought a new car in Flagstaff, drove to Page and spent the night, visited Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend, and were really enjoying Flagstaff. Man, would I sleep well on this evening. Dreaming of red sandstone shapes rising toward the sky……

Thanks for stopping by!

Covid-19 Takeout – Luce Bar & Kitchen; which is now also open for dine-in

May 23, 2020 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cocktails, Gastropub

I needed to head on down to Siesel's yesterday. The Missus was working until late and I decided to also grab something to eat while I was in the area. I had noticed the previous week that Luce had reopened for takeout. They had pretty much held out for a bit. While places like Bay Park Fish Company, Poseidon Project, and even Dan Diego's had started doing take-out. I decided to go ahead and do a takeout order and pick it up after shopping at Siesel's.

What really surprised me was that Luce (as well as Bay Park Fish) had already started doing dine-in, since the approval was just given on the 21st, the day before! Talk about moving fast!

And there were indeed folks eating at both places.

We ( the Missus and I) are not quite ready to take that step yet…….I ordered the Lamb Tacos to go, along with a "Serrano Rita". After completing my shopping at Siesel's I walked over and picked up my prepaid order.

Here's a quick hint if you do order cocktails to go from Luce. Ask that they not put in on ice, as I was surprised to find my drink in a to-do plastic cup on ice. I quickly drove home and strained the drink removing the ice to ensure that it didn't get too watered down. And poured over fresh ice before consuming.

Things came packed nicely…..the photo is deceptive as the tacos were fairly hefty. I removed the tacos, which was more than enough for a light dinner.

The lamb was tender, though the marinade was a bit too sweet for my taste which really blocked out that "flavor" of the pasture of the lamb, which I usually enjoy.

Still, This wasn't bad.

The portion size of the remaining salad was quite generous and the Missus had that when She got home from work.

This was fine.

What was interesting were all the folks eating out……for the first time in probably almost ten weeks…..it seems like folks are just desperate for some kind of social normalcy.

I think I'll wait a while though……

Luce Bar & Kitchen
1959 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

Bonny’s Cafe (El Cajon) revisits (Breakfast and Lunch)

January 22, 2020 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

Kirk is busy at work and mmm-yoso!!! is being written by Cathy today.

I wrote about Bonny's Cafe in 2018. This Mom and Pop East County Diner which serves breakfast and lunch has been around now for more than 25 years. The interior is quite large with tables, booths and a sizable counter/bar stool area.There are white boards with Specials listed at both doors (there is a large parking lot next door (opposite the Veterinary Hospital side) with a back entrance next to the Tatoo Parlor). This was the order of banana walnut pancakes ($6.95) add bacon and eggs ($3.25). The fluffy with crisp-edged, buttermilk cakes were wonderfully flavored-and even better topped with the fresh bananas and walnuts. The eggs were perfectly poached and the bacon added a good salty bite. Yes, that's some 'would you also like some whipped cream?' in the soup cup.
The Breakfast sausage croissant with a side of cottage cheese ($10.95) is large, hearty and very tasty. There were leftovers to take home.
Dropping in for lunch, I couldn't decide and ordered that way- Soup, salad and a half sandwich ($10.50). That's really the charge for a half sandwich and a choice of two sides. Side choices are (in addition to the soup and salad): slaw, steak fries, waffle fries, Cajun fries, onion rings, cottage cheese and potato salad. There were several soups available and I chose Navy Bean; a wonderful version is made here. The Mister and I each had a house salad, His with Blue Cheese and mine with Thousand Island.
The tuna salad sandwich is made on grilled sourdough bread with American Cheese and a tomato. The tuna salad itself is simple and made with sweet relish. The dill pickle along with the sour, crispy, buttery grilled bread added the right amount of salty to the meal.
This is why we are here for lunch. A proper Monte Cristo. ($11.95) The three slices of bread, with the center slice separating Ham and Swiss from the Turkey with Swiss, quartered, battered and flash fried then sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with strawberry preserves is the way a Monte Cristo should be prepared; not half battered and fried then cut-less area to soak up the custard, leaving the bread a bit dry. This is an absolutely wonderful, memory inducing sandwich.

Always a great stop with friendly servers and great food, Diner Style.

Bonny's Cafe 596 Broadway El Cajon 92021 CLOSED TUESDAYS, otherwise Open Wed-Mon 7 a.m.-2 p.m. (619)579-3464

2020 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade Showcase of floats, Lunch at Costa’s (Covina)

January 6, 2020 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to reading mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog, on this beautiful January day. Cathy is writing and the first part of this post is about the 2020 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade Showcase of Floats, and at the end is the part about the food we ate that day.

When the Rose Parade ends, the floats line up end to end on Sierra Madre Boulevard and they can be viewed from about 1 p.m. on January 1 and from 7 a.m.- 4 p.m. on January 2. There are three entrances, each one easily found with a colored balloon (you can see the red balloon here).

The Theme of the 2020 Parade, "The Power of Hope" logo was on the Opening float, parked in the Pasadena High School parking lot.
The Burbank Tournament of Roses Association presented "Rise Up", depicting a mythical Phoenix rising from the ashes (of the 2018 California wildfires) to create hope, rebirth and renewal.
"Hope Knows No Limits", presented by Shriners Hospital for Children celebrated the carefree spirit of childhood that is born of Hope. Notice the 'child' on the swing has a prosthetic leg."First Responders Bring Hope, Presented by the Oddfellows and Rebekahs and had multiple First Responders, in uniform, riding the float and being applauded along the Parade route.
"Hope Keeps Us Going" by the City of Alhambra was a cute contribution to the variety of 46 floats along the route.
"The Voyage of Hope-1620" presented by General Society of Mayflower Descendents embodied the parade theme in that the 12 passengers who embarked on the journey in a cargo ship 400 years ago were motivated by the hope for freedom religion and a better way of life.
Details of so many of the floats are missed when viewing on television. the Welcome Credit Union float, "Hope Creates Community" showed the story of a community coming together to help a young (squirrel) family fix up their new 'tree home'. Such detail.

Speaking of details, here are some close ups of signage on some of the floats:
So many of the float designs also had details you might have missed if you were watching the Parade on television.

46 floats, thousands of volunteers, tens of thousands of man hours. Impossible to document it all; I have over 300 photos. This post has links to all of the float road tests we attended. This is a link to Phoenix Decorating Company, one of three float builders (in addition to the six self-built float builders). This link to The Rose Examiner has so many articles about the Tournament as well as float winners and better photographs.

The theme and President of the 2021 Tournament will be introduced in just about two weeks.

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In 2018, Phoenix Decorating Company moved the construction barn from Pasadena to Irwindale and that gave The Mister and I plenty of new restaurants to explore following our observing the float road tests. One restaurant we really liked was Costa's Family Restaurant in West Covina, where we enjoyed dinner after decorating floats in 2018. We hadn't been to Costa's for more than a year! It was January 2 and the lobby was still decorated for Christmas. Being a weekday, there were several 'lunch specials' on the menu. Time for comfort food to start the year, and follow the miles of walking to view the floats.
Liver and onions (calves liver; tender, thin and with a wonderful flavor). $8.29. It came with the salad or soup, dinner roll and either a beverage or dessert.
The hot turkey sandwich ($9.99) on a slice of white bread, served with vegetables, mashed potatoes and lots of gravy (along with -yes- canned cranberry sauce) was really wonderful, filling, flavorful and satisfying. The (baked here) dinner roll; wonderful. The mixed sherbet dessert was just a perfect ending to this meal and just enough to make the drive back home to East County without needing to stop for a snack.

Costa's Family Restaurant 851 E. San Bernadino Road Covina, CA 91723 Open Daily 5:30a.m. – 9 p.m.

Happy New Year!

FireBirds Chicken

December 26, 2019 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Sandwiches

**** Firebirds Chicken has closed.

Almost a quarter century ago….though it seems even longer than that; I was in Nashville. I'd heard about Hot Chicken and on my first of two nights in the city, I sought it out. I was told that the place to try was Prince's Hot Chicken Shack, so with map in hand (Smartphones wouldn't be around for another almost another decade), I headed out and found Prince's, braved the line, got a leg quarter XHot….which was more than enough, served on a slice of white bread, which soaked up all of that lardy goodness that dripped off the chicken, and soothed my pain with coleslaw and potato salad. It was surprisingly crisp, moist, with some straight forward burning heat, slightly smokey, the dark meat had great flavor……it was without a doubt memorable. So when Dennis mentioned he was going to Nashville a few years back, I told he had to try some hot chicken, preferably from Prince's. You can read his post here (man, it's been eight years! Dennis, we miss you!).

So, when read that a Nashville Hot Chicken place was opening, I was intrigued. But, after looking at the photos….which, by the way, didn't look like Nashville Hot Chicken to me, I decided to wait until I got back from my trip before making my way to FireBirds.

If the location looks a bit familiar, it's because this is where Asmara was for many years and where Pho Saigon Alley was for a blink of an eye.

I arrived at right about 11am…..the place was empty. The set-up looks rather temporary and sparse.

The system is like most fast-casual/fast-foodish places; you order and pay at the counter, take a number….though since I was the only customer in the place, they didn't need to give me one. Service was pleasant. There's one big difference with regards to the "fast" casual concept though…..there's nothing really "fast" about the place; at least on my visits. Wait time for my food was at over 25 minutes during each visit. At least everything is supposed to be made fresh.

I ordered the Big 'ol Chicken, with a single piece ($9.99). Not quite sure how the spice was, I went with medium.

Which was a mistake since this wasn't the least bit spicy….at…all. The fries were more spicy than the chicken. At Prince's I really enjoyed the fact that there was a dark meat option….even the quarter breast had the wing attached. And since it wasn't a "sandwich" per se….you got slices of white bread to sop up all the goodness oozing from the chicken. Here it looked like a typical Sysco fairly dry, boneless chicken breast. The batter was mushy and bland, the sandwich had coleslaw which added texture to the chicken breast. The mayo based sauce really detracted from any flavor the chicken would have. Pickles are always a nice touch for spicy food; but since this wasn't spicy……heck; I think even KFC's (no not that kind of KFC)Hot Chicken is spicier, crisp, and has more flavor than this.

The roll had a mild brioche sweetness to it; but was definitely not what I'd call a "Hawaiian Roll".

Like I mentioned earlier; the fries were spicier than the chicken; the dusting of cayenne assured that. Sadly, it either not fried at the right temp, or not long enough as it lacked crispness and was really dry.

And since it didn't seem to be salted at all; I had to add salt form the shakers on the table.

Well, that was that……it wasn't Nashville Hot Chicken as I recalled….though even if it wasn't close, if the flavors, prep, and cooking had been good, I'd be all for it.

Still I left wondering how spicy the "Hot" would be so I decided to return and this time went with the "sliders" ($10.99). These came with four "sliders" each with a good sized half tender in them.

I actually enjoyed this a bit more…..it was spicier; though still not even a Nashville Hot Chicken "mild" in my mind. While the tenders were on the dry side; at least the batter was a bit more crisp; though I think there's just way too much mayo on these. Just having coleslaw should do it……. The mild sweetness of the rolls helped.

The fries were more crisp; though still needed salt added at the table to balance things out.

On this visit the place was two-thirds full and folks seemed to be enjoying Instagramming their food, if not thoroughly enjoying their meal. Such is the current state of things. To quote Billy Crystal quoting Fernando Lamas:

“It's more important to look good than to feel good."

As a whole, okay prices, lower level fast-casual prep, quality, and flavor. As for being happy that we have something that is at least Hot Chicken……sorry; I just can't call it Nashville Hot Chicken….. You know how it goes with me. I'm not happy to "just to have something" available……

FireBirds Chicken
4155 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105
Hours:
Tues – Thurs 1030am – 930pm
Fri – Sun 1030am – 1030pm
Closed on Mondays

2020 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade float decorating. Dinner at Peppertree Cafe (Glendora).

December 8, 2019 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!! is primarily a food blog. There are many reasons food is acquired. Cathy is posting today about another year end event when she and The Mister volunteer, along with their meal following the long work day. Kirk and His Missus are still 'on vacation'.

In January, the New President of the Tournament of Roses was announced and she announced the theme of the 2020 Rose Parade. (Details at the top of this post, along with links to all 2020 float road tests). This Saturday was the first day of float decorating. Check in kiosks, light rain and an excitement surrounded the Phoenix Decorating Company decorating barn in Irwindale. Soon enough, we were called in and met our Crew Chief who escorted us to the float where we would be working on this first of the 'dry' decorating days. Live flowers show up around December 26 or 27, so they will be fresh on the floats. These Saturdays before Christmas are decorations made with glue and tiny details of dry materials: peas, beans, lentils, coffee grounds, straw, dry flowers, dry parsley and so much more.
Walking past numerous floats
and material product (these are statice flowers, which are cut, dried and blended into a powder to be spread on floats needing large areas of blue or pink colors).
Colors are painted for easy material application. ('Soaring with Hope' presented by Kiwanis International).
Here's part of a thatch roof effect, almost finished before lunch. ('Growing a Better Tomorrow' by Western Asset).
Glue and onion seed being applied. ('Planting Seeds of Hope' by Sikh American Float Foundation).
Rotary ('Hope Connects the World') had a lot of volunteers this first day.
Shriner's Hospitals for Children ('Hope Knows No Limits') completed quite a bit.
These ladies, first time volunteers, were applying bended straw flowers to one of the homes on the SCAN Foundation float, 'Hope's Hope'.
The Lions Club float ('Hope for 2020')really has so many cute details all related to vision, one of their five tenants.
Part of the SCAN Foundation float had coffee grounds (on the frame of the window), sesame seeds (the yellow 'bricks') and poppy seeds (the darker half circle castle pieces). Across the way is the Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day float, 'Plant a garden, Believe in Tomorrow'.There's the Cowboy Channel float, 'Walk, Ride, Rodeo'.
Here's Trader Joe on 'It Takes a Flight of Fancy'. He's in a pickle barrel and holding a pickle in his left hand. Two floats are still under construction- Wescom Credit Union and Farmers Insurance. There's plenty of time(!)

Details, dry materials, glue: what a day.

Details for volunteering and artist renditions of some of the floats are on the Phoenix Decorating page. Details of Tournament activities are on The Rose Examiner page and more other Tournament activity details on the Tournament of Roses page.

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We stopped at Cream Pan for a quick breakfast on the way up, brought our own lunch for our 30 minute break and decided to head East, to Glendora, for dinner once we finished working. I posted about a breakfast here in 2018 There is a regular menu as well as a Special Menu on weekends.

Italian Wedding Soup-very good long simmered chicken broth along with the spinach and carrots, tiny beef-pork meatballs and tiny orzo pasta.
The house made thousand Island is excellent. A refreshing salad.
An eight ounce Top Sirloin along with five coconut shrimp and choice of potato or fresh vegetables (sautéed in garlic butter) ($13.99) Look at all those vegetables! The Top Sirloin was cooked to a perfect medium rare and had great flavor, the crispy coconut shrimp were so nice; plump, juicy and crispy.
Prime Rib ($15.99) was great- medium rare, large and flavorful, and the salted baked potato made this special meal after a long day just a bit more special.

We had really liked the breakfast here…dinner was also excellent.

Peppertree Cafe 1020 E. Route 66 Glendora, CA 91740 Website Sun-Thurs 6 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri-Sat 6a.m.-10 p.m.

Home Sweet Home Cafe (Escondido)

December 6, 2019 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

This is a food blog named mmm-yoso!!! Kirk usually writes here, but is busy navigating various forms of transportation in Europe while vacationing. Cathy is writing a short post today.

I've often said that everyone has two 'go-to' places to eat a quick meal; one near home and one near work. Usually those places involve fast food or chains but sometimes the 'near work' choices are even more limited to food trucks or an obscure, long time hole-in-the-wall eatery on a side street in a commercial area of town. After driving through the Escondido "Mile of Cars", continuing North into the area with all the various businesses located in large industrial buildings (even some repurposed quonset huts), there it is. The name and ownership changed in 2010 but it's been a breakfast-lunch restaurant for more than 20 years.
There's a 12 seat counter area and two rooms of tables. None of the coffee cups match, there are quirky signs (as well as anything with "Home Sweet Home" imprinted), the tables have advertising for neighboring businesses embedded in the tops (tables were made by a neighboring business). There is some holiday decor. I think we interacted with each of the friendly waitresses (who greet 'regulars' by their first name). A calm, familiar, cozy place.
The Mister tried the "Devon" Benedict ($11.50)- corned beef hash topped with poached eggs topped with Hollandaise sauce, all on top of a toasted English muffin. He chose home fries on the side. Not fancy, but very good. The hash was plentiful, probably from a can (the diced potatoes were a bit too perfect), the Hollandaise was house made, but didn't have lemon in it (I notice stuff like that). The potatoes were fried to a crisp edge with creaminess in the center, along with the bell peppers and onions.
I decided to try the 'French Toast Special' ($11) with three halves of French toast. Ignore the color; it is not burned. I was asked if I wanted cinnamon on my toast and I asked for it to be on two of the three halves. The bread was eggy and soft on the inside with the exterior just the right amount of light crisp. The over-easy eggs were perfectly runny and I had a choice of bacon or sausage links or a sausage patty…oh yes, an excellent sausage patty.

A great find. Breakfast and lunch are served all day.

Home Sweet Home Cafe 662 Enterprise Street Escondido, CA 92029 (760) 743-2233 Open Mon-Fri 5 a.m.-2 p.m., Sat 5 a.m.-1 p.m., Sun 7 a.m.-1 p.m.

2020 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade Road Tests #5 and #6, breakfasts at Michael’s Superburgers (Irwindale) and other (regular) stops

November 24, 2019 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Bakery, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is primarily a food blog. So many events revolve around finding a place for a meal. Cathy (and Her Mister) have a regular pastime of viewing the Tournament of Roses Rose Parade floats being tested for mechanics and maneuverability before being decorated and participating in the Parade on January 1. Here's another post.

The Tournament of Roses is only a few weeks away. There are so many activities which will happen the week between Christmas and January 2- you can find comprehensive and updated listings in The Rose Examiner. The tournament is not just the Parade and the football game; there is Bandfest, Equestfest, Sip and Savor, Rose Bowl Bash, Rose Bowl Hall of Fame Induction and the Showcase of Floats. So much to see and do to ring in the New Year!

The past few months have been unusually busy for The Mister and myself that I didn't post the October Float Road Test at Phoenix Decorating Company in Irwindale. Here are a few photos (some are 'before and after') of both test days.

"Planting Seeds of Hope", presented by the Sikh American Float Foundation, describes the 2020 float: "Bhai Ghaneya Singh, a devout Sikh, leads the float as he symbolically pours water from his sheepskin vessel. He is remembered for his selfless service to all humanity with love, respect, compassion and humility. The water flows onto large sculpted flowers each supporting children from diverse backgrounds. A fantasy garden provides the backdrop to a nurturing environment in which we celebrate our greatest hope for the future….our children." Each year, I learn something from the Sikh float.
The SCAN Foundation has a float in the Rose Parade for the first time. The title of "Hope's Heroes" reflects the definition of this organization, "an independent public charity devoted to transforming care for older adults in ways that preserve dignity and encourage independence".
Shriners Hospitals for Children has the theme of "Hope Knows No Limits" and features Fezzy Bear pushing a young girl, with a below the knee prosthesis, on a swing.
Trader Joe, the Fearless Flyer, is depicted on the 2020 float, "It Takes a Flight of Fancy"…
spinning in a pickle barrel!Western Asset's 2020 Rose Parade entry, "Growing a Better Tomorrow" is quite a large float, depicting a series of tree houses in an exotic setting. Magnificent!
The 'Banner Float" is colored in and ready to be decorated to display the theme of the parade at the start.
The final two floats of the parade
will relay the upcoming Tournament of Roses Rose Bowl football game, to be played at 2 p.m. on January 1.

Decorating (dry/detail) begins Saturday December 7 (and the following Saturdays before Christmas) then the fresh flowers arrive and daily decorating from December 26 forward. There are links to sign up for volunteering on the Phoenix Decorating Company site.

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On to the Food portion of the blog. In October, The Mister and I stopped at 'the usual' place- Cream Pan in Tustin for a sandwich, a ham and cheese croissant and a strawberry croissant. After the float road test, we (again) returned to Portos in West Covina, where we shared an "Omelette Plato" ($6.45)-a cheese omelette topped with avocado and tomato which comes with crispy Spanish potatoes and an arugula salad tossed with a lemon vinaigrette. Filling, refreshing and there's enough room for other items…since this was the last weekend of October,
Dia de los Muerto decorated cookies and Pan de Muertos were purchased. The soft, eggy bread was filled with candied orange peel and orange blossom water; a wonderful bread.

Also, seasonal potato balls were available: filled with turkey, gravy and vegetables, rolled in a well seasoned crust, these are a very special treat (and only $1.05!). [photo credit to canine cologne]

We stopped at the Kolache Factory yesterday and the seasonal turkey with stuffing kolache was available (along with our 'always order' of a bacon and cheese kolache). Seasonal offerings are always special.

When leaving the Road Test, we went one signal light South and then East to the next signal light. On the Southwest corner of Arrow Highway and Vincent, this signage made me take a turn into the parking lot.
The breakfast menu behind the counter is straightforward.
I haven't ordered a bacon and egg sandwich ($6.99) in a while; have forgotten what I am missing. White bread, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, four thick slices of crispy bacon and a beautiful runny egg. Simple perfection.
The Mister ordered a chili cheese omelet ($9.99). At least there eggs, filled with cheese, topped with a really good chili that was topped with more cheese. Again, perfection. His toast was sourdough, the hash browns were wonderfully crisp.