Chocolate soft serve ice cream, the real life poop emoji 
happy holidays. may we all still fit in our clothes come january.
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Those do look friendly.
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Daichan. Been a while since I had last eaten at this Studio City gem.
Kamagaa
Daimyo Chirashi with mackerel, unagi, yellowtail, scallop, salmon, tuna and salmon roe.
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Spent the afternoon in the DTLA area for the USA Today Martha Stewart Food & Wine festival. Lines were super long for some of the more popular stations, but I got a nice risotto from Otium, a pork jowl nigiri from Hock + Hoof, a play on ceviche on a stick from the Terranea resort group, and a Philly cheesesteak from the Bazaar.
Hopped over for a snack at Chinchikurin.
On the way home, decided to hop off the 5 by the Citadel to check out a gelato place I saw months ago. Gelato by Stick Station in Commerce is about 5 minutes away from the Citadel off of Washington. Chef Brandon Choi became enamored of gelato and decided to spend 18 months in Bologna studying the art of gelato. He recently moved from Pasadena to a space that would allow him to expand his production. He was super friendly and very passionate about his product. We had a nice chat about making gelato and ice cream. My brother was a big fan of his Nutella-inspired gelato. I really enjoyed his roasted hazelnut. He has his gelato available in traditional form and in stick form…a la PopBar.
He also has some interesting flavors like corn gelato. I picked that one up for my sister who loves corn. I got sorbetto pints for my own family to try. This might not be outer worldly like Bulgarini, but it is a lot closer to my house.
P.S. My sister had the corn gelato last night. She said it reminded her of butter-popped popcorn. It was a delightful blend of salty sweet. I didn’t get to sample it. The family loved the sorbetto. The chow pups couldn’t decide which flavor (Meyer lemon or strawberry) was better.
On a side note, while traveling south on the 5…maybe an exit or two before the Citdel Outlets, I noticed a brightly colored churro truck parked on the street running along the northbound side of the freeway. Couldn’t find details about it on Yelp. Does anyone know of it? I think it would be brilliant to stop there for churros and then roll over to Gelato by Stick Station.
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Steamed flower crab and 陳村粉 with Hua Diao wine and chicken fat at The Chairman in Hong Kong
Fan-fuking-tastic
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What is 
?
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That Martha Stewart Event was just awful unless you got there really early or had VIP. I had a few good bites before the ferocious lines started:
Noree Thai/Luv2Eat - Tofu, Noodle and Curry
Border Grill - Barbacoa Taco
Gracias Madre - Jack fruit Taco (I think this was my favorite bite)
Can’t recall who had it ? - Escargot inside a fried arancini ball
Bazaar - Philly Cheese Steak
There was a super nice looking paella being done by Preaux & Proper but I could not get near it.
Wine and beer lines were equally horrific.
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We got there late because my plus one had a previous engagement. The rum bar was ridiculous, but the wines down that neighborhood were easily obtainable.
I thought it was just me being old and not being excited about lines. Lesson learned. Probably going to stop going to these events in the future.
Cal Mare did an arancini but I’m pretty sure there wasn’t escargot inside or maybe they had run out of escargot by the time I got over there.
That’s why we ended up in Little Tokyo for Chinchikurin for takoyaki and okinomiyaki afterwards.
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No it was not cal mare - they were in the gaggle of places with parks and border grill. This place was in the line that had makani, Noree Thai, cut. Might have been Antonia Lofansa’s (sp?)
Garlic & Chives (Artesia)
House special lobster…you can’t see it, but there are lobster noodles underneath. We loved the healthy aroma of lobster, butter, and aromatics. It was a female lobster, so there was also a healthy amount of roe.
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It’s like cheong fun but thinner, smoother, and a little more chewy. Supposedly, it came out of a very specific region/village in China.
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For lunch #2, I got takeout from the soft opening at new XLB purveyor Dan (in Pasadena). (Lunch #1 was at original Arcadia Din Tai Fung, just to calibrate my tastebuds.)
Takeout comparison: Din Tai Fung (left), and Dan (right): The fillings were comparable in flavor and flavor. The skin is a bit thicker on the Dan XLBs (understandable; to properly contain larger volumes, a thicker membrane is necessary, given the same material). I actually like the thicker skinned XLBs here.
Scallion pancake: These tasted a bit too fried and taut, and not as supple as many might expect. And why is there a dipping sauce for these scallion pancakes? The pancakes are traditionally meant to be tasty enough to stand on their own.
“… It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do…”
I’ll come back to try Dan again after Grand Opening.
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Had really awesome Amatriciana and then polenta abruzzese with a sausage and pork rib at a neighborhood spot in Rome called Al Passetto di Borgo. Roasted chicken was good too
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It’s so refreshing to see pasta that isn’t outrageously over-sauced.
Loaded up on persimmons at the farmers market!
Then had lunch delivered from Nong La Cafe and enjoyed some craft brews from NorthCoast Brewing with our pork bun. Mine had the addition of jalapeños!
This resulted in a nap…
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Thanks for the report @J_L. Nice bang-bang as well. 
So is it too early to tell, or do you like Dan’s more?
Any word on when the Westwood outpost of Dan is opening?
Ruen Pair
Late night meal, “siu yeh/xiao yeh”.
Ordered from Ruen Pair’s Thai-Chiu Chow/Chaozhou menu
Plain Rice Porridge
Salty Turnip and Egg
Water Spinach with Fermented Soybeans and Garlic with Fish Sauce/Lime/Garlic/Chiles
Thousand Year Old Egg with Basil and Chiles
Pho 79
Because eating Beef Pho is a flip of the coin but not a big ol hunk of Oxtail
Uncle Fung
SKIP the Char Kway Teow…wet mushy no heat not much different than 99% of Pad See Ews and Chow Funs in So Cal. No char no airyness no wok breath no fragrant
But the Laksa Mee with a generous squirts of that homemade hot sauce with handmade egg noodles that are springy is a damn good bowl of noodles!!
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Holbox x Chichen Itza
Shrimp torta 
They changed the batter from breaded to some sort of wet batter, I prefer the breaded version myself but this was still delicious.
Crispy chicken tamale
The sauce was really good, I dunked that fucker in the sauce and ate it with my hands cuz I’m classy.
Potato salad
I always get their potato salad, the habanero it it makes it slightly fruity.
Panuchos
I went classy with these as well and ate them with my hands. I don’t know exactly how to eat these, but I folded it like a taco and ate it. It tasted much better eating this way than with a fork and knife.
Smorgasburg
Ugly fuckin Drum
I don’t like their rye at all, I think I’ll be getting the meat by the pound next time.
Super Frites - pommes frites
These were pretty good, can taste the grass fed beef tallow although if I didn’t know, I probably would be able to detect it
Musubi Mama - SPAM musubi w/ tamago
Really good, first time trying because the lines were so long before. The nori they use is excellent, really tender. The furikake and the glaze together made the musubi a little too sweet, but overall I really enjoyed it.
WTF, is the food at Smorgasburg LA getting better?
Class 302 - Downey
Fried squid and popcorn chicken
I got mild and these fuckers still made me sweat. Last time I got medium and it was almost inferno hot. Is this location hotter than other locations?
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