The Gout got me

Well all my years of eating rich, decadent food has finally caught up to me, I have gout! Known in the past as the King's disease(that's kind of cool right) is because of too much uric acid. The uric acid creates crystals in the foot that hurt like hell when you walk. The things that create uric acid are beer, red meat, pork, shell fish, seafood, high fructose corn syrup, you know all the stuff I love. Gout goes away but it will come back, so for the last week I've cut out all those things. I have not eaten out once, I've cooked everything I've ate. I feel good, my foot is about 85% and I'm excited about the future. So your asking me Jason what is your diet like now? Chicken and veggies, I ate cottage cheese for the first time ever this morning. I still have coffee though. It's strange I didn't realize until I started writing this how much I was going to miss eating out :((( Well life goes on and so will this blog, I might have to jump into the past for restaurant reviews or start posting pictures and recipes of what healthy stuff I'm eating!!

SAPP Coffee Shop

Yes the only reason I went to SAPP is because of Anthony Bourdain and his very brief LA visit on No Reservations. Well Anthony decided on what is definitely one of my favorite and always consistent restaurants. SAPP is in the small group of eateries that I had to sample again within 24 hours after the initial visit. I should almost call it a pilgrimage; when my mother visited LA to see me for the first time ever, SAPP made the list of places we ate. When you go to SAPP people will tell you to get the boat noodles, (very tasty) instead get the jade noodles. WOW!!! Yeah I like it if you can't tell. Crab, roast duck, BBQ pork, salt, chilies & sugar top green noodles. The trick is you mix it all together, give the lime a squeeze and your good to go! The only problem at SAPP is they close at 8 most nights, so sorry no late night munchies :( Please check this place out you will be impressed. By the way I don't know why they call this place a coffee shop, who knows?

The video below is the segment from Anthony Bourdain's stop through SAPP.

Not my photo above please don't sue, it looks amazing!!!

New Places to eat in LA

A few new places have opened around Los Angeles. One of them is a hot dog joint blocks from underrated Papaya King which closed early this year, let's hope Dog E Style can fare better. From the LA Weekly article below this sounds like a place I hit in North Vegas my last trip through. Check this place out and tell me how it is, I'm sure I'll be trying out myself sooner than later.

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2013/11/dog_e_style_hollywood.php

A build your own dog at Dog E Style now open in Hollywood

Anyone who reads this blog knows how much I love Tex Mex, especially from Bar Ama in downtown. It looks as though East Hollywood will be getting some Tex Mex in December. Briana Valdez's HomeState looks like the real deal, none of this retooling of the classics, these are the classics, straight from Austin. Check out the article from the LA Weekly and I'll see you there. 

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2013/11/brianna_valdez_homestate_deep.php

Check out these breakfast tacos.

More Pics from Instagram

Here are some random photos from my Instagram, Parkereaglerock is my handle.

These are some late night chicken waffles I got from Uncle Andre's BBQ. The chicken was really good, juicy in the middle with a great shake & bake style crust that reminds me of grandma's. The waffle on the other hand arrived cold. My other problem with this place was, it took 30 minutes for my meal to be ready and there was no one else there.

 This is from Tomo Sushi in Burbank. I really only like to eat rolls when it comes to sushi, was never a fan of the raw stuff. This place is a nice little place that has been in Burbank forever.

 This giant slab of prime rib still connected to those giant beef ribs is from Samba, a Brazilian BBQ place at the Universal City Walk. The food was amazing, there must be 20 different cuts of meat. Worth a try for sure.

 My favorite Mulitas!!! From Gus's Lunchbox!!

 A cup of Handsome coffee, black as always.

 Strawberry Rhubarb pie and a cup of Stumptown at Republic of Pie in North Hollywood. This is a super cute little place, worth checking out for sure.

Where is the Worse Restaurant in America?

I came across this article on the Daily Meal website. The 100 worst restaurants in the country! The closest to me is number 2 Sun Taco in the Hollywood & Highland mall. I'm actually going to see a movie in that facility tonight, maybe I'll pop my head in and see what all the fuss is about. Great article check it out.

http://www.thedailymeal.com/are-these-america-s-worst-restaurants-slideshow

One of the worst dining experiences I have ever had was at the Capri in Eagle Rock. I won't get into my experiences at the Capri but I suggest you watch the episode of Kitchen Nightmares below, this should explain everything! I promise you won't be disappointed, except by the food if you happen to eat there.

Random Food Pics

I went through my Instagram and here are a bunch of random food photos.

This was Clam Chowder in a sourdough bread bowl at some bar inside SFO

 This was the prime rib breakfast at the Windbreak in Wasilla Alaska.

 Cafe Dolce, a cute place in Little Tokyo serving Stumptown

 Wine and an Italian sandwich at some random airport

One of those smokey flavored drinks popular at bars now days, think this was La Cavita in Highland Park, not sure if Highland Park was cool yet when this photo was taken.

 Mystery burger at Chego paired with mystery boba in Chinatown

 My favorite, the Intelligentsia flagship store at the Junction.

 This chorizo and queso is pretty amazing, it's from Guelaguetza

 Mulitas and sope from Gus's Lunchbox

 Nutella cookie from Burbank's finest Quenelle

 Something with fried pickles at Tin Horn Flats

 Best breakfast in Valdez Alaska at Old Town Burger

Square One Dining, the place hidden behind that Ugly Blue Building

Square One Dining in East Hollywood (that's what the locals call the area, who am I to disagree) is nestled behind the bluest thing since Violet Beauregarde, the Scientology palace on Sunset. I love the food here but I do have one major problem, the service is soso when it gets busy. So that means Monday thru Friday for breakfast instead of the weekends. Oh and there will be a 15 minute if you go on the weekends. When I say love referring to the food, I don't mean best friend from high school love, I mean Mom & Dad thanks for the Sega Genesis on Christmas Love!! If you want to start with coffee your good because their serving Intelligentsia. From there you have three must try options. Maybe more but I'm still in a rotation of these three. A must try is what they were originally famous for, pancakes covered in a homemade Carmel bacon syrup. Yep, your drooling now, I know it, because so am I. Next on the list is the french toast covered in candied pecans and a to die for homemade vanilla whip cream. This is amazing and I'm not even a huge fan of french toast. My favorite though, and the thing I order the most is the in house cured smoked salmon eggs benedict on potato pancakes. Growing up in Alaska I became quite a smoked salmon snob so I'm weary any time I see it on a menu. I decided to give it a try and it was just like home, by way of Los Feliz that is. Please go and try this place, I promise you won't be disappointed, unless they lose your ticket for an hour. Yeah that happened to me on a weekend trip there lol.

I don't own these photos

I'm in love with Coava coffee

I've finally found some good coffee in Burbank! The place is Coffee Commissary and the coffee is Coava's Kilenso from Ethiopa. Coava is based out of Portland and the Kilenso is the best consistant cup of coffee I have ever drank. Love it and hope you can pick some up. I just got a 8.8 oz bag tonight for use with my Hario V60.

How great do their mugs look! The also use La Marzocco's La Strada, the ferrari of of espresso machines.

Quenelle Ice Cream & pastry is now open in Burbank

Being a foodie in Burbank is like being a race car driver who's car is on E. Things are starting to change though; first was the opening this summer of Cafecito Organico(locals still don't know what to do with this non Starbucks coffee shop) and now we have former Lukshon pastry chef John Park opening Quenelle. The ice cream flavors are amazing and the pastries are all top notch.

I don't own these photos

LA Weekly Pancake Breakfast Part 3!!! Yeah it was that great

I've always been a big proponent of the LA Weekly; I believe Jonathan Gold's tenure at the paper made me a better foodie with the knowledge he passed on. Even though Mr. Gold is gone I still love supporting the food events they have and am always surprised about how well they turn out. The Pancake breakfast this year was no exception. The highlights for me were the savory pancakes at Gottsui, blueberry pancakes at BLD, the cronut at semi sweet bakery and prime rib quesadilla Chego's own Roy Choi was serving up. On the coffee front Kris Fulton from LAMILL was pouring amazing single origins thru the Hario V60. The crew from Handsome Coffee was there also with espresso, americanos and ice coffee, hope you didn't ask for sugar when you stopped thru. Pastries were plentiful with Village Bakery and Monica from Nickle Diner. Met so many great people at this event, can't wait for the next one.

Wicked Clam Pop Up 2

Amazing sea food was served today in front of the Colorado Wine Company. 2 hours into the event all the Lobsta rolls were gone. The fish & chips and chowder both had a great flavor with out being too fishy. What a culinary success for Dave Evan's and his crew! Hopefully Dave will make this pop up a regular event. If you see him say, "hey I want the Wicked Clam every Sunday, well at least until it starts raining on a regular basis".

More from Alaska

My friend Seth and I BBQ'd these pork ribs before finishing them in the oven. In Alaska everything goes with Crown Royal, it's the state drink. The ribs were a little charred but they still tasted amazing!