You can doctor up a not so flavorful punnet of strawberries if you macerate it in elderflower cordial.
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I was there this past weekend as well. Really great sandwich. Wouldn’t mind being able to buy a side of something pickled to eat along side
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That’s a really good point…
Bacon bar is what I call the breakfast bar at Whole Foods, because frankly, nothing entices me like the idea of 1 pound of fully cooked bacon for 8 bucks.
The smaller locations often times do not carry bacon.
You work in the valley, the WF in Tarzana is the one I go to for this.
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@Gr8pimpin have you been taking all of the bacon from the Brea WF on the weekend? The last few times the entire bacon section was completely empty.
It’s the best deal out there. Great value and no oil splatters all over the kitchen.
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Oh, I see how this is going to go, every time there’s a Whole Foods with no bacon I’m going to be accused of being the culprit LOL
I have indeed been known to lurk around WF and when no one is looking, fill the takeout container completely to the brim, so I am the logical suspect.
But… I have not visited Brea WF. Sounds like we have a copy cat LOL.
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I have seen the bacon bar @ WF Burbank but it’s usually depleted and sad looking by the time I get there.
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Hmmmmm… you don’t say 
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They also have it at Silver Lake although it appears to run out quickly (ie, after 10AM for my lazy bones) like any other location
It’s pretty well stocked at 7:30AM. Starts getting questionable at 9.
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Coffee and a muffin at Funnel Mill, one of my favorite coffee shops.
Aged Sumatra Toba Tiger #2
Ponchos Tlayudas at Bar Bandini
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Saw the delivery of two boxes of chicken today as I devoured my pork chop bun at pearl river delta. So your hainan chicken dreams might coming true tonight.
The pork chop bun is pretty glorious tho. Perfectly cooked, juicy slight pink center, crunchy breading. Agree it it could use pickle component only because it’s so rich.
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did you try out the char siu and soy sauce chicken?
just me today so didn’t get to try those.
Added some things to the vegan thread.
Other eats yesterday: Sustainabowl (groan ) in my hometown of Westchester. Got an instagram worthy poke bowl that didn’t taste anywhere near as good as it looked (competing flavors and unremarkable minced fish). No plans to return.
I tried Salt & Straw for the first time at the urging of my mom. We each ordered the fig and sesame butter cup specialty flavor. Loved the texture, didn’t love the radically unequal distribution of mix-ins. My mom’s scoop was chock full of sesame butter cups and fig swirl, while mine was mostly ice cream without the goodies. I had scoop envy 
I read the full description afterwards, and didn’t taste the cardamom flavor flavor in the ice cream (though it was plenty tasty). I’d happily return, and just hope that I have better luck getting the good bits in my scoop.
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Today was a visit to the legendary b.Patisserie in San Francisco. Interesting it was the first time ever I saw Belinda Leong (Sergia) there. For those that don’t know, she’s based in San Francisco, won the James Beard award for outstanding pastry chef in 2014, and also worked at Gary Danko, staged with Pierre Herme in Paris, Bubo, Lasarte, Noma, and DeWulf. Then became a pastry chef at Manresa before opening her own patisserie.
Turns out today was the second to last day of her Chinese New Year themed special offerings that lasts about two weeks. Dropped in for lunch and dessert.
The honey ham, Swiss, smoked Provolone, Gruyere tartine was quite excellent although very chewy
After that I only had room for two cakes. Here’s what they had today of the special once a year stuff
Black sesame Kouign Amann
Mango Kouign Amann
Honey tangerine tart
Brown sugar milk tea cake
Black sesame cake
Black sesame coconut tapioca pudding
The brown sugar milk tea cheesecake was a bit too sweet for me and didn’t quite taste like the Taiwanese stuff that’s plaguing social media. But the black sesame cake was so damn good. Rich creamy but light. Loved it.
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Tacos El Ruso
absolutely sensational flour tortillas that are soft, pliant, and elastic with a bit of chew. it’s just as good as burritos la palma’s!
carne asada - satisfying but mesquite notes were a bit too heavy for me and meat was chopped too finely…i much prefer tire shop
chile colorado - outstanding! rich, juicy and flavor had tons of depth
birria de res - it’s fine but i would head over to la unica or birria gonzalez if i’m craving birria
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Hi @beefnoguy,
For conquering Sushi Yoshizumi so many times, how could you not just order everything on the Chinese New Year’s menu and just try them all?! 
Nice report, thanks!
Pizzeria Ortica still putting out nice pizza. In OC a small notch below Fuoco and Angelina. Good spotted crust and the bread has great flavor. The right amount of sauce. Soupy center, more so than Fuoco. The spicy salami with mushrooms was our favorite.
Very busy on a Saturday at 6pm right before the show at Segerstrom. Remember the 2 hour free parking.
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Pizzana
Second time visiting this after a couple years, and I remember the pizza missing something. I personally don’t like it as much as Mozza or La Morra - the crust doesn’t have that ooomp. And the salads were overdressed.
Huckleberry Cafe
Always a nice standby - fried chicken sandwich
Jon & Vinnys Brentwood
Avocado toast on Gjusta bread - Yum!!
Margherita
Huge meatballs (also served with Gjusta bread)
Pearl River Delta
@JLee That Macau Pork Chop Bao is the most decadent thing I’ve eaten in a long time. A steaming hot deep fried pork chop in a sweet, soft bolo bun and doused with Maggi (aka liquid MSG). Wife was a bit overwhelmed but I loved this. It was still steaming as I was finishing at picking at the bone. Agreed something acidic on the side would be a good accompaniment.
The return of the Hainan Chicken (!!) - first time having this since the OG Chinatown pop-up a few years back; still lovin’ that rice (and the chicken ain’t no slouch)
Char siu with Egg Noodle - I think the char siu has been dialed in
Iki Ramen bang bang
A5 Wagyu ramen - I think it’s my favorite bowl at Iki now; there’s a really nice beef bone aroma to the broth, and they use a thick ramen, which fixes any nits I might have had
This is me after a nice meal at Iki
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