Foodie Week(s)

Oxtail at Slow

Roses from Slow's Backyard Garden

The past few weeks have been filled with some amazing eating. I've recently started writing food reviews for a new student publication, The Starving Critic, which gives me a great excuse to eat out at fancy places that I might usually pass up in favor of cooking some pasta at home. Plus, as my time in Berkeley comes to a pause (I'll be back in SoCal for the summer), I feel the need to try every single restaurant on my Bay Area bucket list.

But this foodie half-month actually started out in LA, where I was visiting my boyfriend for the weekend. We set the tone on Friday night with an awesome dinner of asparagus with ricotta and poached egg, brussels sprouts, a burger, and churros with butterscotch sauce at Fundamental (which I've decided is the best restaurant in Westwood). We continued to eat burgers throughout the weekend, meeting up with my family at The Counter for my #1 favorite burger: medium rare beef with roasted garlic aioli, gruyere, and various other toppings (depending on my mood – this time it was an egg and some asparagus), all sandwiched between two lightly toasted buns. And complimented by a large amount of fries dipped in chipotle aioli.

The Counter's Burger. With an Egg on Top

Back in Berkeley, I had an amazing dinner at Slow, surrounded by gorgeous roses, to celebrate my friend's 20th birthday (I reviewed their equally awesome lunch service here). The next day we tried 900 Grayson's hobbit lunch, which was perfect – a seared ahi tuna sandwich and cantaloupe agua fresca, finished off with an alfajor (review here). Come Sunday, my roommates and I crossed the bay for Off the Grid's Picnic at the Presidio, which was way too crowded but also offered lovely views and good music (best thing I ate there was a surprisingly awesome double chocolate creme brûlée from The Creme Brûlée Cart). 

This weekend, my boyfriend came up to Berkeley and we had more good food – lots of kiwi boba from Asha, and a fancy picnic-in-bed from Gregoire (check out my review of Asha, and look out for a Gregoire review soon!). It's been an awesome weekend week month for exploring restaurants in Berkeley and LA – I hope you'll check out some of these delicious places! Look out for more recipes and ideas for meals at home soon.

Alfajor

My Roommate Looking Cool at the Presidio