Cool video featuring Verve Coffee

Life & Thyme Presents: Prelude: http://youtu.be/Kam8gN7IKIo

This moody video shows that the morning starts for everyone the same. Included are some great shots of where I work, Verve Coffee at 833 Spring St downtown LA.

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!!

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.

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.

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.

LA Weekly Pancake Breakfast

The best bang for your buck LA food fest has to be the pancake breakfast the LA Weekly is putting on for it's third year. The first year was curated by former LA Weekly stalwart Jonathan Gold. The food was great but there was one problem; too many pancakes. Well last years breakfast with out Mr. Gold was a vast improvement. With baked french toast from Auntie Em's, pastries from Village & Nickle Diner and single origin coffee provided by Handsome & Cafecito Organico last years event became a great eclectic breakfast event. The best part is it's only 30 dollars, and they have an open bar! Hope too see you there.


Click the link below to purchase tickets
http://microapp.laweekly.com/pancakebreakfast/


The first year they gave away these great mugs from Harry & David; definitely worth the 30 dollar price of admission! I still use it everyday at work.

Terri and her mom from Auntie Em's serving up some amazing french toast at last years event.

LA Weekly presents TACOLANDIA!!!

I'm a big fan of food events, especially when the LA Weekly is the one who is putting it on. With Tacolandia the LA Weekly has brought together 30 restaurants for what will probably be the best deal in town this summer. The VIP tickets are $40 with access to an open bar. The $20 tickets gives you the food but with out the booze. Check out the web site below and hope to see you there!

http://microapp.laweekly.com/tacolandia/index.php

P.S Their are going to be mariachi bands

These are the restaurants that have already confirmed.

Bistro LQ
Bizarra Capital
Cacao Mexicatessen
Cafecito Organico
Chichen Itza
Coni' Seafood
Flor del Rio Restaurant
George's At The Cove
Gish Bac Restaurante Oaxaqueno 
Guerilla Tacos
La Guerrerense
La Monarca Bakery
La Tiendita Mexicana
Leo's Taco Truck
Loteria Grill
Mariscos Jaliscos
Mariscos El Mazateno
Mexicali Taco Co.
Mexikosher
Mo-chica
Paiche
Picca
Rocios Mole De Los Dioses
SoHo Taco
SOL Mexican Cocina
Spirit House Bar
Taco Maria
Tacos Kokopelli
Tacos Punta Cabras
Tamales Elena
Via Mercado