At the Farmer’s Market the other week I bought a bunch of kale. Sometimes when I buy something at the market I know exactly what I’m going to do with it. In this case, I just bought it because I like kale. A few days later I was trying to decide what to make for dinner; I didn’t want to make pasta again, but I wasn’t sure what I was in the mood for. Suddenly my mind started repeating over and over to me: kale and eggs, kale and eggs, kale and eggs… I wasn’t sure why, at first, but I was convinced they’d make a great pairing. After a few minutes I remembered that I’d had a dish at Blue Hill which involved a poached egg and some stewed kale. I wasn’t sure how they’d made it, and I assumed it was rather complicated, but I knew how I could make something similar, but much simpler and easier.

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Howard: I last ate at Dirt Candy almost exactly a year ago, shortly after they had opened. I enjoyed my meal quite a bit, particularly the grits. When I expressed interest in going back, Donny surprised me by saying he wanted to go as well. Donny, eater of chicken feet and pig’s tongue, wanted to eat at a vegetarian restaurant? He most certainly did.

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Ever since Hanco’s opened their 7th Avenue branch, I’ve been eating their tofu banh mi at least once a week. Then a few weeks ago I was at the Farmer’s Market and spotted a beautiful daikon radish and an idea began to form in my head. Why not make my own banh mi? I grabbed a daikon, some carrots, a few demi-baguettes, a sprig of cilantro, and some eggplants (among other things) and began to plan.

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Recently my 2 of my friends made the move from San Francisco to Los Angeles. They had settled into the dreaded “Valley” of Los Angeles. When every Angelinos talk or think about the “Valley”, they have a disgusted tone of voice, “eewww the Valley?” Personally I have never been to the Valley nor do I know where the Valley is. When I googled map my friends’ address, it told me it would take 1.2hours. Greeeeaaat. So the next day, I gave myself enough time for the trek and off I went to this magical Valley place. Well 5.5hours later, I was tired, sleepy and hungry. What I nor my friends realized were that we would be sitting on a patio drinking sangria and having some good Mexican food at Hugo’s in Studio City.
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Our friends Matt & Phaedra went to Scotland on their honeymoon, and they brought back vegetarian haggis for me as a present! On a day after some heavy drinking, I decided to cook up a British hangover breakfast, featuring the haggis. I boiled the haggis for the required 45 minutes, then fried up some eggs, mushrooms, and tomatoes. The haggis was actually really good; filled with oats and other grains, heavily spiced, and very filling. I ate way too much of it and gave myself a stomach ache. Thanks and congratulations to Matt & Phaedra!

My friend Jess and I meet for lunch every few months, and lately she thinks there’s been a curse on the whole thing. We have had some bad food and some mediocre food, but the point is getting together and trying new places. With that in mind she had long ago suggested Westville, mostly because of their “market” menu. I also heard good things about Westville from my friends Jeff & Eva, so I thought it had some pretty good potential. Jess, on the other hand, thought this meant that the meal might be doubly cursed.

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