If you don’t know this man, first you should watch the video below. You might not want to eat hot dogs for a while though.
In the video, he had set the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog eating record at 66 dogs in 12 minutes, but this past July 4th, he broke his own record which is now at a whopping 68 dogs in 10 minutes.
This past weekend, he came to Little Tokyo to attempt to break his own record of 231 gyozas in 10 minutes, set last year. It’s the third year running of this modest eating event, but it was able to capture a very sizeable crowd at the Nisei festival. Young and old, Japanese and gaijins, gyoza lovers and those grossed out by professional eating, all gathered around to watch the spectacle under the big tent. There were even some loud, drunken frat-type boys in the back–official groupies of Major League Eating. I walked about a mile each way from my downtown apartment to capture the action and witness Joey Chestnut’s domination in person.
First, let’s introduce the Nisei Week Queen and her court of princesses. They have the job of bringing out the plates of gyoza to all the contestants. These lovely ladies are here to provide moral support and cheer on the contestants, while at the same time serving them their demise in pot sticker form.
On your mark.. and GO!
Joey Chestnut is the second one from left on upper row. Everyone else, well, thanks for competing. I believe he beat the next highest up (big man in the blue cowboy hat) by over 50 gyozas.
There’s a table set up on the bottom left for the previous year’s Nisei week princess court. All of them make up one team of eaters and put down a decent amount of gyozas combined.
While most of the amateur competitors pick up gyozas one by one, Chestnut uses the more advanced technique of grabbing a handful, squeezing them together, and then shoveling it down his pipe. He probably eats a third of the plate in five bites. The man is unreal.
Check in on the ladies’ effort, and they did pretty well. Better than most of the amateurs, but not quite pro level. Maybe the soy sauce makes the gyozas go down better. The girl next to Joey Chestnut, also one of the former princesses I believe, brought her own dipping sauce for the competition.
Then again, maybe no amount of sauce can help THAT amount of gyozas go down. That’s the face of “uh oh, what have I done to myself?”
More looks of defeat among the competitors. Apparently, the word “Gurgitators” was invented and coined just for this sport to reference professional eaters. Sometimes, though, they’re also called “Regurgitators”, as one unfortunate combatant was consumed by gyozas in the end. On stage, unfortunately. Wasn’t pretty.
Did I win? Did I break the record? I think my gyoza baby is starting to kick! Mr. Chestnut is just remarkably cool compared to the rest of the crowd after putting down more gyozas than most everyone eats in a full year.
To the victor goes the spoils. In this case, the spoils is more plates of gyoza. The extras were passed around in the crowd. I sampled one, which was pretty tasty. I’m sure it helps a food eating competition when the property is something that you would fancy digesting.
No, he didn’t top his old record. He didn’t even come close, actually. He was short by almost 50 gyozas (two more plates), which only makes that number even more ridiculous. Still, what an impressive display of domination.
So, I am thinking of making a move to the Westside in two months. Once classes start, It’s probably going to be too much to bust my butt from Downtown or Hollywood to Westwood four times a week. This makes me sad because I love it on the East side–Downtown, Hollywood, and everything in between along the 101–and I feel like I have so much more left to explore before I give it up. But then again, it’ll give me an opportunity to do some exploring of the other side of town that still remains very foreign. La Cienega might as well be the Berlin Wall to me, locking me in the eastern bloc–full of character, Angeleno history, and ethnic influences–but separating me from all the good stuff out west.
Lately, somewhere in my head I must have heard Ronald Reagan speaking out to me: “Tear down this wall!” If you seek perfect sunsets, beautiful people, peaceful days and nights, and even more traffic congestion, then Mr. Alexander, tear down this wall. Well the voice has resonated, and I have taken my metaphorical wall down brick by brick in the past days as I begin my exploration of the Westside.
First things you must find are places to eat and drink, and I may have found my new favorite pub and grub stop on the Westside last night. While a very early chapter into 2009: A Westside Odyssey, Bar Food has all the makings of a place I can see myself being a regular patron at. Wide selection of brews, easy-going patrons, friendly service, and top it off, bar food that’s worthy of talk.
I found out about this place through, what else, Yelp. It’s got a very admirable 4.5 stars overall and many glowing reviews from elite members. I decided to come with two friends and see what all the fuss is about. For a gastropub owned by an Irish man, it certainly wasn’t what I expected. The place was dark, but had a swanky feel. As you walk in, you see the bar in the center with its dozen tap handles in all its glory. A sign says to seat yourselves, and we find plenty of available tables with comfy seats. It appears this place used to be a sushi restaurant, and you can see plenty hints if you look around. There’s a Japanese-style door curtain by the kitchen and the jars of pickled who knows what on the wall. My guess is the bar in the center used to be where the sushi chefs sliced up maguro and hamachi before it was converted into the suds pouring center of Bar Food.
Our first bites were the potato puffs. Delicious bites these were. Creamy mashed potatoes deep fried and served with dipping sauce. A crispy fried exterior but a soft mushy center. Surprisingly, I haven’t seen this dish almost anywhere else. For mashed potato loves Marny and I, these were just great.
The Bar Burger may appear to have the buns of a big mac and the meat of a six dollar, but it’s a quality burger. Not the best burger in LA, but definitely can satisfy your burger cravings when you’re here.
Spicy Tuna served on top of crispy rice. Pretty yummy, although I’m not a fan of that much green onion. They must have taken some cues from the previous Japanese kitchen because many dishes served are topped off with the green garnish. Not a very spicy tuna, and the rice was crispy.
Mac and Cheese. Now, this is what I came for. I had a deep urge for Mac n Cheese, and this place does it well. I wouldn’t rave about it and tell everyone that they have the best in town, but it’s a good dish to go along with the lagers and pale ales that I’m downing. Very cheesy, and baked with a little crisp to it.
Finished off our meal with Ice Cream Cones. They come two on a plate for five bucks, and it’s served in those cones you remember as a kid. I’m not sure why they decide to turn it on its head… but maybe they just don’t have the stands to keep it from toppling over. Either case, I guess you can make the point that it’s a unique way to serve. Only vanilla and chocolate are offered, unfortunately.
For beers, I had the house’s Bar Lager and a Stone Pale Ale. I need some more trips to really take advantage of the nearly two dozen beers that they have on tap and in specialty bottles. The bartender that night, Hans, was very warm and helpful. Same with all of the table service.
Happy Hour is the perfect time to come in and take advantage of a place like this. It runs from 5-7pm. House beers are 3.50 and many of the dishes are marked down 30-50%. Not to mention that they serve free hot dogs for those two hours. I guess that’s why they call it Happy Hour, after all.
When you’re nursing a Sunday morning “headache”, it’s definitely not the most welcome sound outside your window. This, however, only reminded me that Little Tokyo’s annual Japanese-American celebration, Nisei Week, has snuck up on me.
For those that missed it over the weekend, there was a two-hour parade through Little Tokyo on Sunday evening. It featured a ton of floats, traditional dance, taiko drumming, anime characters, and the lovely nisei-week court. The crowd was great and the atmosphere was very fun and inviting. It definitely reminded me of my summer days in Japan and attending these matsuri’s (summer festivals).
Nisei Week is a whole weeklong celebration of Japanese culture and Japanese-American community residing in Southern California. There will be other events such as traditional dance practice and other cultural events (including a rubik’s cube contest, for some reason). The noteworthy highlight of the week for food fanatics to enjoy will be the Gyoza eating competition featuring headliner competitive eater Joey Chestnut.
This Saturday afternoon you can spot “Jaws” try to take down his record set last year with 231 gyozas eaten in 10 minutes. He tells Downtown News that he’s trying for 250 this year! Will he do it? I’m totally eager to see him try. Pride of San Jose right there.
I’m just hoping there won’t be an encore of Taiko drums early in the morning.
But you already knew that probably. She’ll be playing the role of Sarah Brown in this weekend’s production of Guys and Dolls at the Hollywood Bowl (July 31 – August 2). One of my favorite musicals since the spring of ’99 when my high school decided to make it our spring production, I have a lot of fond memories of the music and acting.
Well, does it get any better than seeing it on a warm summer night, under the stars, in front of one of the biggest starlets in Hollywood? Probably only if Frank Sinatra were to play the male lead. If you’re a fan of musical theater, then a good time can be had for cheap this weekend. Buy some cheap seats in the back, bring a bottle of wine, and make an evening picnic out of it. Just bring your opera glasses for a closer look.
During my last trip to New York, I had pizza from 4 different places, fully satisfying my desire for “true” New York style pizza. All respect given to Chicago and their carbtastic, deep-dish pizzas, New York has the best pizza there is in our great country. Why is that? Well, I just saw an episode of Food Detectives on the Food Network that attributes it to the municipal tap water. According to their findings, NY makes the best pizza because the most important ingredient, water, is head and shoulders above what LA and Chicago have running through their underground pipes. The panel of judges in the show were able to unanimously pick the correct pizza in a taste test that was created with Manhattan H2O instead of samples from the other two cities.
This makes sense to me, really, because water is a key ingredient for the crust, which is what usually defines the best pizzas. Face it, there’s really not a whole lot you can do to make your toppings taste better. You pull your pepperoni/mushroom/bell peppers out of a reach-in, slice it up, and top off your pie. Where along that process do you improve on taste? The pizza sauce and crust are the two parts where the ingredients and how you make it shine out the most.
If what the show found was true, then Chef Mario Batali has found some way to either import better water or outperform the limitations of Los Angeles’ finest. The crust on each pizza I’ve ever had here (and I’ve tried over half a dozen different kinds) have all been amazing. The texture, the fantastic crunch, the fresh from the oven taste… it’s a perfect symphony of yeast and H2O. So good that it almost doesn’t matter what you top it off with. Hell, it’s so good, I would even get a pizza without meat for that matter. Fill it up with Brussels sprouts, fermented soy beans, and crickets, and I’ll gladly eat it. It’s just so good.
Before the pizzas get to our table, we gotta get our appetizers. For me and my friends, the two must-haves are always the Mozza Caprese (pictured above) and the fried squash blossoms. The Mozza Caprese is the best I have had anywhere yet. The mozzarella is deliciously fluffy and fresh, and the presentation is as impressive as the taste. The squash blossoms are lightly fried to a crisp but with no greasy taste, and they’re also stuffed with a little ricotta.
So many pizzas, it’s hard to remember which one my favorite’s been. Oh, they’re all good. Like I said, it really doesn’t matter what your toppings are in this restaurant (prosciutto and rucola pictured). Each pie comes with six slices, perfect for a group of six. Don’t come here with seven, as one poor shmuck will be left out. If you come here with five, there will be fights for the last slice.
The butterscotch budino is the recommended way to finish off your meal at Pizzeria Mozza. I’m not much of a dessert guy, and each time I only get a spoonful and I’m good, so I can’t comment too much about the taste. If you like desserts and creamy butterscotch is your thing, get this. Our group also had gelato and caramel copetta, which were just as pleasing. I had a glass of the muscato, which was a refreshingly sweet ending to my lunch.
The waits for reservations can be a bit long at times, but I recommend coming here for lunch. Parking on the streets is free and will be easier, as well as landing that reservation time. The prices are very reasonable for a group lunch that’s a notch or two fancier than you’re probably used to. If you’d rather not wait for a table and just take it to go, there now is Mozza 2 Go as an option for take-out.
If the pizza crusts are this good here, it only makes me wonder what they would be like if they were made with the ‘superior’ New York water instead. No, that city already has enough good pizza, Los Angeles deserves a magnificent pizza such as this.
Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Now that my Comic-Con adventure is over, I am about to hop on the train back to Los Angeles. Lucky for me, I landed Anthony Bourdain’s book on my LA library hold queue just in time for my ride back.
I read the first handful of chapters on the way down. Already loving his show for his unique point of view when it comes to traveling the globe and exploring cultures, food, and libations, I’ve so far been very engaged with his book. I had no idea what working in a kitchen is like before reading this book, and I’m sure I won’t after finishing Kitchen Confidential either. I only expect to get more of Bourdain’s entertaining snark and wit as he exposes all the juicy details of his life in the kitchen. He warns: “There will be horror stories. Heavy drinking, drugs, screwing in the dry-goods area, unappetizing industry-wide practices. Talking about why you probably shouldn’t order fish on a Monday, why those who favor well-done get the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel, and why seafood frittata is not a wise brunch selection…. But I’m simply not going to deceive anybody about the life as I’ve seen it.”
I think Anthony Bourdain in the last year has jumped to #3 on my list of Celebrities I’d most want to have a meal with. That combination of experience, sarcasm, culinary success, and traveling adventures he’s had would probably entertain me with endless stories, possibly more than a day could handle. I only hope he’s as easy to talk to and enthusiastic in person as his show and public persona have allowed fans to believe.
In case you’re wondering, #1 and #2 are Derek Jeter and Warren Buffett. Derek Jeter, because there is no other athlete/celebrity out there that I respect more. He’s the team captain of arguably the most publicly scrutinized sports franchise in the world and has only handled it with the utmost professionalism and integrity that anyone could expect. Oh, and he’s won four World Championships too. I’d also ask him how he keeps landing girls like Jordana Brewster, Vanessa Minnillo, and most recently, her.
I wouldn’t really need a meal with Warren Buffett, actually. Just enough time for me to write him a check with my life savings and say, “Here. Now please make me a millionaire when I retire!”
Is your partner not a vampire? Does trying garlic ice cream sound like a good idea to you? When you cook, do you go through a whole string of garlic in a week?
If you answered yes to any of the above, then this weekend is your mecca. Starting today, the 31st annual Gilroy Garlic Festival is going on through the rest of the weekend. Time to celebrate.
Situated in the “Garlic Capital of the World”, Gilroy is about 45 minutes south of Downtown San Jose. I’ve been going to this event for a long while now, and I’ve always had a great time. People here just know how to have fun and the festival provides plenty of entertainment.
There’s live music, chef demonstrations, shopping, beer gardens, and most importantly, FOOD. But here, all the food involves garlic in some way. You’ve got garlic bread, garlic fries, and garlic fried calamari as your staples. If you’re adventurous, there’s also garlic ice cream, garlic gator on a stick, garlic mayo, roasted whole stuffed garlic, and well, you get the idea.
PS. Go early if you want to try all the foods while the lines aren’t as long. Eat first, then drink your beers, find a comfy spot at the amphitheater, and listen to some country music for the rest of the afternoon.
Tucked inside the famed Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood lies a tiny burger bar called 25 Degrees. It’s called 25 degrees because that is all the Celsius that separates beef from being rare to well done. Pretty clever for a burger bar.
A group of 10 friends decided to start here before catching the Fourth of July celebrations over at the Hollywood Bowl. Having worked nearby on Sunset for the longest time, I’ve always wanted to give this place a try to see how their burgers stack up in the eternal greatest burger debate. Lucky Devils, another late night burger joint just down the street, has an amazing Kobe Diablo burger that will knock your socks off… and yet there are many out there that think 25 degrees is better. I must try.
Finding the place is pretty easy. We were planning to park at the Hollywood and Highland center and walk up to the Bowl to avoid absurd $20 parking charges and all the traffic that exits the lots up there. Another great thing about the place is that it’s open 24 hours to fulfill your burger cravings at any hour of the day.
Seating a large group like ours is a challenge. The restaurant looks like it can’t hold more than 60 people, and offers nothing bigger than a half circle booth so our party had to split in two. Lucky for us, happy hour runs 5-7 every day of the week, so beers, shakes, and sides were all half off. They have a small selection of bottled beers and sodas. I tried their very own 25 degrees red ale which had a good, rich malty flavor and my friend had an interesting kumquat soda that tasted only a hint of kumquat. Their shakes were all very good… next time I come I will have to try their Guiness Milkshake!
They have three specialty burgers (Number One, Number Two, and Number Three). I got the Number Three, made of mezzo seco jack, green chili, chipotle, and avocado (pictured above). I was a little disappointed, hoping for some more kick in it, but the chipotle mayo sauce was fantastic and I was in the mood for avocado that day. I had a bite of the Number Two, featuring roasted tomato, prosciutto, burrata, and pesto, and it tasted better. I would highly recommend that one.
Specialty burgers come with sides, of which I liked the sweet potato fries the most. The sheer quantity of sides that come out will definitely fill you up. I seriously thought I would never see the bottom of my cone of onion rings, and alas, I never did. These burgers are no small feat to chow down.
So, where does this rank in my book? Well I’d probably put it on par with Lucky Devils but a shade under Umami Burger. The bun at Umami still kills, while the meat of the Kobe Diablo is more flavorful. I do like the retro Hollywood glam decor of this all-night burger bar, and their shakes and sides chalk up a fantastic meal to go with your tasty burger. I still have to try Father’s Office, The Counter, and 8oz Burger Bar in the future.
Fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl. It was a fantastically good time kicking back some wine while listening to the LA Philharmonic and John Fogerty play some good, classic, American music. I’ll be back next year! Happy belated Independence Day.
25 Degrees
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
7000 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
I’ve fallen behind on my blogging. Work has been super hectic and I’ve spent a grand total of 5 days in Los Angeles over the past 4 weeks, so it’s been keeping me away from my computer. I have the content, just not the time to write it! Oh, but once things calm down in a few days, I’ll be able to release the gates and let a flow of backlogged entries out.
A few weeks ago, I was up in the Bay Area for a business trip and had a hankering for seafood. Not willing to drive all the way up to San Francisco to chow down at the famous Fisherman’s Wharf, I looked for other options in the south bay area. I happened to remember an entry a friend of mine wrote in his blog about a seafood joint called Old Port Lobster Shack that closed its doors in San Francisco to his dismay. Despite the tragedy, its counterpart in Redwood City was spared so that Bay Areans could still get a 5 inch sandwich stuffed whole of pure, succulent lobster meat.
Coming here with my foodie friend Julie, we agreed to share an order of The Double Play. You have two options for lobster rolls here: the Maine Roll, which features lobster meat mixed with mayo, green onion, and seasoning, and the Naked Roll, served up plain with mayo and butter on the side. Ordering the double play allowed us to get a taste of both for $35 (each roll is about $19, so it saves to double up). These are extremely pricey in sandwich terms, but if you think about it in lobster terms, you’re getting a lobster meal for two for less than $40. Sorry about the price tag, Julie, I know you just graduated college, but thanks for indulging with me. Fries and coleslaw aren’t anything worthy of writing about (or getting two orders of in this case), so I highly recommend going this route if you’re with someone to share with.
This is the Maine roll, glued together with the mayo sauce. I normally like my seafood to be simple and fresh, so I assumed I would prefer the Naked roll. The condiments in this case actually make the sandwich taste better and really glues the lobster together. Since it’s not the freshest of Lobster (being that Maine is 3000+ miles away), it probably also masks out a bit of the thawed lobster taste. If you like dipping your lobster in butter, then you’ll have to get the Naked roll. Either way, these things are just packed with lobster meat and if you put one down during lunchtime you can expect to be in a food coma until 4pm.
If you order an entree, you can add a chowder for $3. It pays to get a complete meal here since the chowders are six bucks normally. I can’t say it’s the best chowder I’ve ever had (I like them chunky and this one left a lot to be desired of), but if you think a seafood meal isn’t complete without it… you’ll be satisfied here. I just noticed in this picture that it says Napa Valley on the cup, which is… very confusing.
I never visited the location in San Francisco, but the location of this OP Lobster Shack in Redwood City is very odd. I’ve never seen a New England style seafood restaurant in a strip mall before. It’s next door to some office buildings and a Supercuts. In fact, we were sitting outside to enjoy the weather, but our table was about 6 feet away from the parked cars in front of the restaurant. Not exactly a wharf with seagulls flying overhead and horns being blown in the distance.
If you want one of the most amazing lobster sammiches out there, you must visit Old Port Lobster Shack and get your lobster roll on.
Shh. Listen up, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Tucked away in fabulous Bel-Air, there lies a secret garden. A secret Japanese garden that will power up your zen and leave you with a feeling of inner peace should you find it. I’m sharing this with you because, well, I found it and it was so serene and peaceful that I’m quite sure there is no place in LA like it.
Welcome to the Hannah Carter UCLA Japanese Garden. A carefully crafted space of sheer natural beauty and zen-ful peace over an acre of land in Bel-Air. It was purchased in 1965 by the Chair of Regents of the UCs and his wife, then donated to UCLA that very same year. Since then it has been property of the school, but open to free self-guided tours.
The garden is inspired by the Kyoto style Japanese gardens, and many pieces, such as this front gate, were made in Japan and then reassembled here. It was envisioned by two Japanese masters of landscape architecture and garden design for one very rich couple living here back in the 50s.
So much natural beauty here that you would swear that you’re not in Los Angeles anymore. Here is the view from the very top of the hill overlooking the entire garden (much like everything in Bel-Air though, it’s shrouded by trees and bushes).
Here is a shot of the Hawaiian garden, lying at the base of the running waterfall. You’ll find a tea garden, bonzai garden, pagoda, shrines, and tons of foliage over the land. I thought it strange to not include a rock garden or koi fish, but perhaps that didn’t fall into their plans. It’s absolutely gorgeous here and worth a visit.
Planning your visit may be the hardest part. It’s free, but hour-long reservations can only be made between the hours of 10-3 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. They should also be made at least a week in advance as they can only hold two cars in the parking lot at a time.
I was lucky enough to have come here after a scheduled meeting at FOX in Century City. The other party also canceled so I had the entire garden to myself to enjoy. Did I find inner harmony? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, it was the most serene lunch break I’ve ever had.
To book your reservations or for more information, check out their website here.
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