All posts filed under: Travels

THE PENTHOUSE AT THE HUNTLEY HOTEL-SANTA MONICA, CA

Published by Nicole Isaacs

Sippin’ my watermelon mojito! Cheers!      For DineLA week, my friends and I chose the Penthouse in the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica. I heard it was a beautiful restaurant and had been wanting to dine there for awhile. The restaurant itself is gorgeous. With a 360 view of glass windows, you get a spectacular view of the city of Santa Monica and the ocean. All the tables against the windows are white cabanas with chandeliers, and in the middle of the restaurant is a big bar and a DJ booth- the whole scene is very chic and trendy.       Three of us ordered from the DineLA dinner menu, three courses for $34, and one ordered from the regular menu. We ordered a couple bottles of wine and some cocktails. Overall, it was a really great dinner- everything was good. APPETIZERS BOTTLE OF PINOT NOIR & BREAD/BUTTER VEGETABLE PUREE SOUP I LOVED this. Great flavor. ROCK SHRIMP Fanny’s Old Bay & Creamy Grits I usually order creamy rock shrimp tempura, so this was …

ABBOT KINNEY FESTIVAL- VENICE BEACH, CA

Published by Nicole Isaacs

     On Sunday, September 25, 2011 from 10am-6pm, it was the 27th Annual Abbot Kinney Festival in Venice, CA. There were thousands of people, tons of food, drinks, jewelry and clothing tents, a couple rides, etc. It was quite a festival. I love festivals because its street food heaven for me lol. Some of my favorite food trucks were there, such as the Grilled Cheese Truck, Lobsta Truck, etc, and along Abbot Kinney all the boutiques, restaurants, bars and wine stores were open as well, so the whole street was pretty poppin. FOOD ABBOTS PIZZA COMPANY The line was out the door at this place. Hole in the wall pizzeria, totally reminded me of a place in NYC. NY style pizza, and so good. They had amazing unique pizzas as well, and all slices came with a side of sauce. That’s my shit! TOMATO, BASIL MARGARITA CLASSIC PEPPERONI Our slices came w/ a spicy chipotle sauce. AMAZEBALLS. Great NY style pizza in LA. Loved it. STREET MEAT LOL GUACAMOLE AND CHIPS TENT, SO GOOD! MORE …

SEVILLA RESTAURANT & TAPAS BAR, SAN DIEGO

Published by Nicole Isaacs

If you go to San Diego, Cafe Sevilla is a must. This is one of my favorite places to eat when I’m in Downtown San Diego. This Spanish restaurant and tapas bar has authentic Spanish ambiance and decor, and is a lively fun spot for mojitos and sangria at the bar or a delicious and festive dinner with friends. The food is really great at Cafe Sevilla, I recently just had one of the best dinners I’ve had in a long time. It was really a treat and I have been raving about it ever since. I went with a couple of girlfriends for a birthday dinner and we ordered small tapa plates to share for the table. Everything we ordered was delicious. They have big entree meals, but we thought it would be fun to share small plates so we can try more stuff on the menu.   SEVILLA’S FRESH BAKED BREAD & LEGENDARY HOMEMADE ALIOLI W/ ANDALUSIA TOMATO SAUCE You can choose between an Artisan Kalamata Olive Loaf or a French Country Baguette. This was …

KOI- LOS ANGELES

Published by Nicole Isaacs

Dinner & Drinks at KOI w/ friends. Our servers jumped into the picture too 🙂      Can’t go wrong w/ dinner and drinks with friends at LA hotspot, Koi. This upscale, chic & trendy, asian-influenced restaurant has a beautiful atmosphere and great Japanese cuisine. I went with a group of friends and we all ordered small dishes, and lots of champagne lol. Koi is great for a romantic date night, dinner with friends, business meetings or any special occasion.  KOI CRISPY RICE Spicy tuna on crispy rice w/ sliced jalapeno on top. One of my favorite dishes to order at sushi. You can’t get this dish wrong! Amazing. FRESH OYSTERS ON THE HALF SHELL If you like oysters, these were great. Not too big, (the big ones freak me out), they were smaller and with hot sauce and lemon they are very fresh and good quality oysters. SALMON CARPACCIO W/ BLACK TRUFFLES, CITRUS SAUCE Loved this dish! I love anything with black truffle, and I’ve never had salmon carpaccio before so this was something different for me. …