Yummy Yummy good for my Tummy

Well, I've been M.I.A for a minute, but I'm back now with TONS to write about. I've been out and about eating like no one's business and I"m eager to tell you all about my latest food adventures! So I say, "YUM" to that!

Big D cooked dinner the other night and it was pretty damn good! We had fried sea bass with a raspberry honey glaze. The recipe is easy and fairly fast to prepare (thank you foodnetwork.com). Here's what we did:

1. Leave the port of Long Beach and deep sea fish. Pray you catch a sea bass. If you don't and you end up with a sheep head, sculpin, barracuda, or a tire, then you're out of luck. Have no fear, you can always drive to the market, pick up some sea bass and pretend you caught it.

2. Catch so much sea bass you don't know what to do with it (if you are buying your sea bass, then you are already one step ahead.)

3. Search for sea bass recipes on foodnetwork.com

4. Settle for the Texas Fried Sea Bass with a Raspberry Honey Soy Glaze

5. Begin to cook! Happy cooking!

The beer batter the fish is cooked in is delish! We used a bottle of Amstel light for our beer batter. The rest of the beer was consumed during the meal. Kill two birds with one stone, I always say!

I drenched my fish in the Raspberry Honey Soy Glaze.......it's better when it's wetter.

Our final product looked something like this


Let me know if any of you try the recipe.

Happy eating,

Your pal,
-D

Where have I been?

STARVING!

WWBE?

Sometimes, when I'm bored, I sit (or lay) and think about off the wall things, like, "would my Red Velvet cake really taste that much better with 2 cups of pudding?" Or, "Is it me, or does my left foot look a LOT bigger than my right?", "Does GIECO really have the lowest prices?".

Today, while in one of my deep thoughts, I began to wonder about Britney Spears. Not about old skool Britney that dated Justin, had cute hair, was all about virginity, but new skool Brit. The one that dates anyone (allegedly), has no hair, and thinks virginity is the name of a city in the mid west. At one point this girl had it all and had the privilege of eating at the finest establishments. Places I dream of dining at, she ate at every night. So as I sank deeper and deeper into thought, I wondered where she eats now. Is it TB run every night? Does she favor Pizza Hut's deep dish? Does she still frequent fine dining establishments?

And so I began to think WWBE? Where Would Britney Eat? If you were her, where would you eat? Where would the Britney of today eat? I'm curious to find out. I will be on the look out for places where I think Britney would eat. If you find any places where YOU think she would eat, please post it.

Remember.........WWBE

Your pal,

-D


Photo credit: Celebritybabylon.com

Ventura Dining part deux

It's all fun and games in Ventura until you hit this place: http://www.fiorerestaurant.net/main.html . Then the party is REALLY on! Not only does Cafe Fiore offer a variety of Italian cuisine, but it has a martini, mojito, and wine menu that Jack Daniel's himself would be proud of.

The start to our dinner wasn't the best. Let's be real here. Our appetizers sucked balls and since this is my blog, I will say it again. It sucked balls (please send all hate mail to above email address). We started with calamari. Yes, calamari. That's it. Nothing fancy shmancy, just calamari. The calamari must of been having a bad day because it decided to saturate itself in glops of oil before it hit our plates. I've had better calamari at Olive Garden. That being said, we barely touched it. When the waitress came by to ask how it was, we were honest. Again, being real is the way to go.

This is how amazing the service was at this place (brief synopsis): Waitress drops off calamari. Calamari sucks balls. We tell waitress Calamari sucks balls. Waitress takes said calamari away. Waitress returns in 4 seconds and tells us that she took said calamari off our bill. Manager comes by 4 seconds after that to check on us. We are OK. Manager comes back regularly to check on us. We are still okay. We are all shocked that they take their calamari seriously. We eat, drink, and be merry.

The rest of our meal was great. Everything was cooked to perfection and the taste was on point. Now to the even better part of this blog. How can you go wrong with this: http://www.fiorerestaurant.net/martini.html. That's right, a full Martini menu!!!!!!!!!! They have one of the largest Martini menus I have ever seen. EVER! They also have a long list of mojitos on their menu, but it is not posted on their website, but trust when I say there is something for everyone there.

With all the yummy drinks they offer, I don't want to overlook the fact that they offer a Spa Menu (geared toward the conscious diner. That better not be anyone reading this blog).

Despite the rocky start, Cafe Fiore kicked ass.

Cafe Fiore is located at 66 California St. in Ventura

Happy dinning, your pal,

-D

Dining in Ventura

I just celebrated my 7th wedding anniversary! Yay me! Since Big D is still working, we couldn't take a long vacation. Our options were limited so we ended up getting away for the weekend on the Ventura Beach. We ended up booking a room the day before we were set to leave at this place www.pierpontinn.com . This place is AMAZING!

To our surprise, they had a cozy ocean view restaurant (Austen's) and bar inside the main lobby where we had dinner and brunch. Austen's menu is reasonably priced and offers a wide selection.

We began our dinner with Seared Jumbo Scallops. The scallops were not what I considered jumbo (I've had and seen larger scallops at other places), but the preparation was to die for! The scallops were bedded on a fruit chutney surrounded by a sweet corn broth. The corn broth was yummy and added to the flavor of the scallops. Despite the size of the "jumbo" scallops, it was a great way to start dinner.

For our entree, we opted for the Chateaubriand for two. This too was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! It was served with a mountain of garlic mashed potatoes, vegetables, and my favourite, asparagus.

By the time I was done with dinner, I had to be rolled back to the room. Not because I had about 7 Blueberry Martinis, but because I was stuffed like a turkey at Thanksgiving.

Our brunch there was equally as tasty. We both ended up ordering an off the menu item. We ordered Eggs Grenadine, which is basically a twist on Eggs Benedict. Instead of ham and hollandaise sauce, they use filet mignon and bernaise sauce. So as not to look like a total lush, I opted to skip the 7 martinis this time around. My Eggs Grenadine are pictured above because I don't know how to post pictures quite yet!

Austen's is located at 550 Sanjon Rd. in Ventura
To see their complete menus, go here: http://www.pierpontinn.com/food_menu.php

After all that, I now have to go and run about 80 miles.....before I forget, I need to mention that Austen's DOES offer a variety of food specifically for vegetarians and vegans......now how about that? Oh, I also forgot to mention that they had a kick ass looking bouillabaisse with clams, scallops, etc. I didn't have any, but it looked and smelled yumalicious.

Your Pal,

-D

Hello and Welcome!

Hello Everyone,


Welcome to my blog! If you enjoy food as much as I do, then this is the place for you! I will be posting my thoughts on local (and not so local) restaurants, bars, cafes, etc. I hope to cover everything from fine dining to the best taco carts in the area.

I look forward to your thoughts, comments and dining recommendations as well.

Please note that I am in no way, a master taster, master cook, master chef, master bater, etc. My only qualifications are that I like food and I own a computer. I will be posting my first review shortly.

Your Pal,

-D