How did you find us?

Big food weekend, people. (Dont tell Kenny the Torturer)

Burgers at Father's Office: very, very large and very good. All of the hype is probably true. I'm slightly put off by the "no substitutions, no alterations, no table service" etc etc attitude, but I will put up with a lot to get at carmelized onions and blue cheese.

Discovery: El Parian. Reputed to be one of the best taquerias in Los Angeles, but the owner/manager seemed very surprised to see us. "How did you find us?" he asked, not unkindly. He personally put together a sampler plate of their meats so we could choose (how nice was that!). He included the house specialty barbecued goat, carnitas (deep-fried pork), and carne asada. All had their charms: the goat was very nice and tender, but we were slightly put off by the bones and skin, the carnitas were delicious, but the carne asada really stood out. I tried to order 2 tacos, but the o/m gently cautioned that their tacos are not the small ones that they serve at the roach coaches in town so we all scaled back to one carne asada taco, rice & beans, and a cold negra modelo. A rough neighborhood, but a very friendly place.

Sunday Supper at Lucques. Starter was a grilled asparagus salad w blood oranges. I'm not a fan of fruit in my salad, but it was a really nice balance of sweet and savoury. We all opted for the braised lamb with baby sprinig veg including turnips. I've decided turnips get a bad rap and instantly resolved to eat more of them. The lamb did more than fall apart, it disintegrated (but in a good way). Dessert was an almond cream tart with blueberries and candied kumquats - light and tasty. We had the suggested California Zinfandel with the lamb, and blood orange sours to start. Another successful dinner at Lucques.

Other highlights:

• we tried the banana cream pie at House of Pies - nice banana content, but the use of whipped topping instead of whipped cream, was a disappointment. I'm going for the butterscotch pie next time.
• Hollywood Farmers Market: beets and strawberries looked beautiful. bought some mint, dill, and sage plants in another probably doomed attempt to start an herb garden. and, of course, bought the frozen tamales from the tamale man for later enjoyment.
• We skipped Shaherzad in Tehrangeles, because of the enormous burgers earlier in the day. We went to the local sushi bar for some palate cleansing raw fish.
• In case you think that all we do is eat out, I did make some grilled tandoori chicken on Thursday and broiled trout w steamed broccoli on Friday. So there.

Mozza tonight! I LOVE having visitors in town!