In honor of the Olympics, when international pride and cultural curiosity run high, I thought I’d share with you one of the best places to get some good ol’ non-American treats. From Jammy Dodgers and Digestive Biscuits to curry powder and fat little rose-scattered tea pots, The Friar Tuck Shop gives us humble Valley folk the glory of all that is great in UK sundries.
About: Jamie
I believe at my core I am a theater nerd. Other than that I love animals, nature (yes I hug trees) FOOD (baking, cooking, writing, photo-ing) music, filmmaking, songwriting, dancing, drumming, and many other things which have pushed and pulled me in many-a-direction throughout life. I live in LA, I'm from LA, adore California, went to school in Santa Cruz then UCLA then left to be an actress. I still have my heart in SF, dream of Paris and love almost anything British. And I make a mean hot chocolate.
Tea Time in the Valley: Friar Tuck Shop
August 15th, 2008 Written by: Jamie · 1 Comment
→ 1 CommentTags: Restaurants · Reviews
Sherman Oaks Farmer’s Market Gets Macarooned!
August 9th, 2008 Written by: Jamie · No Comments
Having the good fortune to live just blocks away from someone who makes the freshest, chewiest, most ridiculously soft and sexy coconut macaroons is just plain great luck. But when that neighbor then takes a chance and hires you to photograph the heavenly things, ah, that’s something different. That’s just straight awesome. Not only was I lucky enough to do something I love, I was introduced to this seriously amazing little treat.
Susan Hecht has created “MyMacs“, her pretty much flawless incantation of the classic coconut macaroon, both plain and chocolate dipped, and has just started selling them at what is now the new Sherman Oak’s Farmer’s Market. At last, we have our own Farmer’s Market! Double hurrah for this week!
→ No CommentsTags: Food and Drink · Local Happenings
Travel Tip: Miette in San Francisco
August 1st, 2008 Written by: Jamie · 3 Comments
Sometimes you just gotta say ‘To hell with LA, I’m going to San Francisco.’ That’s what I did this weekend and I know, I know, this really has nothing to do with food any more local then your own computer screen, but what I found was just too amazing to leave alongside my heart.
Miette (French for “crumb”) is a French pastry shop located at the indoor farmer’s market in the Ferry Plaza and I simply stumbled across their darling little storefront while waiting for my sister. Seriously people. Words do not describe.
All I can attempt to say is when I took a bite out of their French macarons (Rose Geranium and Chocolate) I gave birth to every single pastry shop that every existed in Paris, fused them all together with pure sex, married the fusion and then took it on a honeymoon to god’s bedroom.
Though they are only a small San Francisco company, they deliver their macarons via their website. Hey, that means you can bring them TO LA! Problem solved. Even so, a trip to San Francsico would not be out of order. Just get them in your mouth.
→ 3 CommentsTags: Edibles · Reviews
La Frite, C’est Chic!
July 25th, 2008 Written by: Jamie · 2 Comments
If someone had asked me to define what “Christmas in my mouth” meant a week ago I might’ve guessed a mouthful of melting chocolate or perhaps a large bucket of popcorn during The Dark Knight. Such pleasures wouldn’t have come close to what I now know is the true meaning of this heavenly phrase.
At French bistro La Frite in Sherman Oaks, there exists a burger unlike any gourmet burger I have ever had. Grilled with fire, open-faced and topped with a melting blanket of sweetly pungent, smokey bleu cheese, this goddamn burger saved my life. That, my friends, is Christmas in your mouth.
I had been to La Frite once before with my boyfriend and we had dined blissfully together on the baked brie appetizer, indulging at dusk under the breezy outdoor awning. Sadly my food-loving man and I are no longer together, and when you’re going through a breakup the last thing on earth you want to do is eat.
→ 2 CommentsTags: Restaurants · Reviews
Olive Bakery - Sweet Soft Korean Love
July 18th, 2008 Written by: Jamie · 1 Comment
When my boyfriend’s mother came to visit she stayed in Koreatown because she’s Korean. Bearing Korean pears from the neighborhood and armfuls of small plastic bags from Olive Bakery she showered us with her foodie finds because she loves her son. When the bag of pastries fell before our eyes in a crinkling heap of bountiful bliss upon the counter, they were gone within 10 minutes. Because we have standards. And when someone offers you a free sampler of tender, brioche-style sweet breads filled with coffee, peanut butter, chocolate or vanilla flavored cream, red bean curd or whipped butter, you have a responsibility to your tongue to get that joy inside of your mouth as fast as you can. As a pastry lover, I can’t really say I remember a finer day in recent history.
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Shish - Simple, Fresh Mediterranean Cafe in Studio City
July 11th, 2008 Written by: Jamie · No Comments
There’s a great little mini-mall right near my apartment. Wow, I never thought I’d say something like that, but in the Valley I’m finding anything is possible if you just take a chance. And I’m glad I took a chance on Shish.
We have a great Thai, sushi, and Mexican restaurant in that little square as well as the fabulous little yogurt place I reviewed a little while ago, and happily on schedule came Shish Mediterranean to round out the cultural food equation. Unassuming as most Valley food joints,this little cafe reveals fresh, high quality food behind it’s simple doors for a very reasonable price. Fresh, tangy hummus, crispy seasoned pita chips and the incredible chicken kabob plate are among the best of the small but classic Greek/Mediterranean menu.
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Butter Burgers - Food Lust Freedom for 4th of July Weekend
July 4th, 2008 Written by: Jamie · 1 Comment
Yay it’s 4th of July! That fabulous, summer crash-course of a holiday where we can forget our troubles and remember how great it is to live in this amazing country. A country “of the people, by the people, for the people”. A country free from corrupt government, a country whose civil liberties are still intact and, um… well…
At least we still got burgers.
→ 1 CommentTags: Edibles · Upcoming events
Vegan Plate - Thai m
June 27th, 2008 Written by: Jamie · 2 Comments
What more could a meat snob ask for then a menu without any meat!? Watch me, oh brave fellow food warrior. Watch me dive my fork mercilessly into a pile of god-knows-what with no fear of consuming a gristle-y, blubber-y or, (shudder) sinew-y snap of mysterious meat. I can handle cryptic veg any day, fool. Hail to Vegan Plate! The fresh, inventive, shockingly flavorful little Thai cafe in Studio City.
Once again my faithful foodie friends, Jordan and Vivien, have turned me on to a restaurant that sits right under my own nose. I jumped at the chance to try it simply because I trust them, not because I’m Vegan. In fact when I hear the word “Vegan” I usually just think of dishes devoid of dairy or cheese (in other words everything that makes anything good), promptly make a cringing-face and run off to eat a butter-baked calzone. Covered in milk. And ice cream.
→ 2 CommentsTags: Restaurants · Reviews
Porto’s Bakery in Burbank - A Big, Megawatt Smile of a Bakery
June 20th, 2008 Written by: Jamie · 1 Comment
If you’re like me, there will be only 3 things you need to experience about the huge, heavenly and happening Porto’s Bakery in Burbank to keep you coming back for more:
1. Guava.
Tangy, fresh… bright pink. Guava cheese strudel. Guava roll. Guava cake. Give it to me now tropical pastry king.
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D.I.Y Frozen Yogurt at YogurTree in Studio City
June 14th, 2008 Written by: Jamie · 2 Comments
Markets and hardware stores are starting to seduce us with that whole “do it yourself” thing, but unlike scanning spray paint cans or looking up SKU numbers for kiwis, serving your own frozen yogurt is actually kinda cool! Maybe it’s something that hearkens back to those days at Souplantation when I would pile up the soft serve and rain down spoonfulls of rainbow sprinkles, but I was amazed at how great it felt to “dispense” my own frozen yogurt at YogurTree in Studio City. (Or maybe I just like places that double-up on their middle letter like that…hmmm).
→ 2 CommentsTags: Restaurants · Reviews
Coffee Competition and Giveaway - Contestant 9: Funnel Mill
June 12th, 2008 Written by: Jamie · 15 Comments
Imagine, if you will, that your heart is singing a song. While that song rings through your chest and back into your mouth it creates a stirring combination of taste so harmonious and aromatic that every sense vibrates with a sweet, open chord of happiness.
That was me after 2 hours at Funnel Mill Rare Coffee and Tea. Such hazy love is usually only reserved for hour long massages and, well… you know. But if you get the infamous glow after having a cup of coffee then damn, you’ve struck gold.
Totally surprising since, when I first walked in to Funnel Mill, I felt the layout was sort of odd and not very cozy at all. It was calm and quiet with some lovely displays, but I can’t say it felt too much like a cafe, let alone a place where you’d come in to crash and hang out as though it were your own eclectic living room.
But honestly, after what I drank, I could care less. For the first time I can remember, the quality of (and care for) what I was consuming was so incredible that it didn’t matter where I was.
→ 15 CommentsTags: Food and Drink · Reviews
Coffee Competition and Giveaway - Contestant 8: Sabor Y Cultura
June 11th, 2008 Written by: Jamie · 4 Comments
“Sabor y Cultura”means “flavor and culture”. Stepping into the spacious, mellow cafe, it certainly looked like the kind of place that hosts a healthy attempt at “culture”: Local art hangs casually on the rich purple and light pumpkin colored walls, a local “community board” advertises local happenings, while relaxed, youthful Hollywood types tap quietly away at their laptops.
I loved the wide open windows that let in the cloudy-day light along with the calm created by some classic jazz music, but like a lot of cafes, Sabor y Cultura sells a little more than I personally think a coffee house needs to: A rack of snack-pack nuts, a glass case of jewelery and other odds n’ ends tend to ruin the aesthetic cohesiveness of a what could otherwise be a nicely concentrated local hangout.
→ 4 CommentsTags: Beverages · Reviews
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