I hate Terroni

This is upsetting for me. The one restaurant in LA opened by a Torontonian, I have to insult. But, I have no choice. My father in law came to visit so I chose a restaurant that many of those close to me rave about and patron on a regular basis. To be honest, the food was pretty good. The sad part is that the rest of the experience was so atrocious and infuriating I can't possibly see myself going back. I heard that their shtick is 'no substitutions, no additions, deletions, modifications, etc..." yadda yadda yadda. Ok, fine. But, in a business where the customer is always right, why would you go with a theme that makes people feel stupid? I'll list the idiotic details below:

1. We asked for balsamic vinegar to dip our bread into. Answer: NO. "Our olive oil is so delicious that it would be ruined by mixing balsamic into it. So no you can't have any." Wow. Its not like I'm in an Italian restaurant that uses balsamic in almost every dish. Oh wait! Yes I am and she just told me I'm an idiot and have the tastebuds of a neanderthal.

2. We don't like mushy bread. We asked for the bread to be toasted. Answer: NO. Hmmm, don't you cook food such as pizzas here and it would take you 2 minutes to make your patrons happy? Sorry!

3. We ordered a pizza. Apparently, somewhere in Italy its normal to serve pizza uncut, so for the sake of authenticity, the pizza came as one huge circle. Ok. I don't know how to shove a giant pizza in my mouth so we asked them to cut it. Answer: NO. And that no came with a giggle as well. That one put it over the top for me. Ok, you want to show everyone in AMERICA that you serve food like they do in ITALY. I live here and I don't care what dumb things people do across the world. I want you to cut my pizza - I'm paying for it! But no, why would I try to make my customer happy by cutting a massive piece of food to make it easier to eat?? By golly, that would be madness. So, I had no choice but to cut it. Of course I had a crappy knife and mangled most of the giant pizza. What an authentic Italian experience.

4. Finally, we asked for some parmesan cheese to be sprinkled on our pizza. Answer: NO. But it gets better - "We don't serve parmesan cheese on our pizzas." Strange, because there were about 12 parmesan cheese bottles on the table next to us for what seems to be, SERVING purposes. We didn't even get the reason behind this one but I imagine it would be something along the lines of "our chef will hang himself if he knew you were putting cheese on your pizza." What a joke.

So there. I won't even give you the address because I don't want you to go there.

Farragut North...Yes!

I love the theatre. Unhappily, I rarely get the chance to go. Luckily, in the past few months, I've had the pleasure and privilege of visiting the Geffen Playhouse at UCLA a couple of times thanks to a very lovely and close friend. The most recent glimpse into the arts that I had happened to star two very yummy men - Chris Noth (Mr. Big of Sex and the City) and Chris Pine (the very young, gorgeous and latest version of Captain Kirk). Farragut North is not your ordinary play. It is a tale of power and greed; a glimpse into the fast paced and secret world of politics. Variety sums it up best: "a crackling good entertainment set in the snowy wilds of an Iowa Democratic presidential primary". If you are a fan of a great story, strong characters and a seriously hot lead, you must get your booty over to the Geffen. Unfortunately, I believe I went to the second last show in LA, so check your local listings for its next stint. All in all, Farragut North is hot, sexy and current; something I rarely find inside a playhouse.

More Chocolate! Edelweiss in Beverly Hills

Today I had a very special treat. In honour of Sage's birthday (Happy Birthday Sage!), we took a stroll down to the best little chocolate shop in Beverly Hills. Edelweiss opened its doors in 1942 and has been a chocolate maker of delicious delights ever since. We had the pleasure of getting a little behind the scenes tour and watched them make chocolate baskets from a giant vat of melted chocolaty soup. We also saw the chocolate conveyor belt that was the inspiration for the famous I Love Lucy chocolate episode; Lucille Ball was a faithful Edelweiss customer. Some of you may not know about my obsession with chocolate, and to see firsthand a pool of chocolate made me a little crazy. For those chocolate lovers out there, take a stroll down Canon Drive and pop your head into this little piece of heaven. Every kind of chocolate you can imagine - the chocolate pretzels are my fave. Now I have to go eat some sugarfree chocolate (diets suck).

Edelweiss Chocolates
444 North Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
www.edelweisschocolates.com

Read Variety!

This is why its cool to have your own blog. You can say what you want and toot your own horn 'til the cows come home. Well, here it is. Yes, my company, Ten/Four Pictures, is on the map, and the article below proves it. This rocks.

Click here.

Chicken + Waffles = Heaven

Yes, we finally went. Rich has been dreaming about enjoying some fried chicken at this legendary LA restaurant for years now, literally. So, in an effort to entertain my sister Tzipora who was visiting this week, we took her along on our journey. Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles is DAMN good. I never thought this would be a winning combination, but I was never more wrong about anything in my life. We chowed down on some fried juicy chicken and chewy sweet waffles, which were smothered with so much butter and maple syrup, my eyes popped out of my head. OK, not good for my cholesterol, but heaven for my taste buds. I also had some scrambled eggs with onions and cheese, which was hands down the best eggs I ever had. The dirty bird has some serious competition.

Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles
http://www.roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/

Wow...MJ?! Rest in Peace...

How does a perfectly fab day go by and then this...Michael Jackson has officially left the building. Its incredible that www.tmz.com was the first website to announce the news...hours before cnn.com. Good for them. Well, its always sad to hear that someone died of course. MJ will be best remembered for his music, which I will love forever. The part that is tricky is all the child molestation stuff that makes his memory sorta iffy. In any event, I look forward to hearing more MJ on the radio for the next little while - its underplayed anyways!

ps - What is my favourite MJ song? I think the all time absolute best, and I'm obligated to pick my favourite because that is the theme of this blog - THRILLER. Go!

Let Them Eat Chocolat!

On my recent trip to Toronto, the gang decided to drink somewhere other than Hemingways - go figure! Instead, Sabina and Arie (mwah!) suggested another Yorkville spot called MoRoCo. And do you know what it was - a CHOCOLATE RESTAURANT. What?! Yes, you heard correctly. MoRoCo specializes in chocolate - using Valrhona chocolate (my favourite!), they make sipping chocolate, fondue and s'mores. The best by far is the dessert platter which includes (drumroll please): Spring Rolls (filled with chocolate, banana and peanut butter), Kiss Me Kake (dark chocolate cake with cream cheese filling), Brownie and Clyde (classic brownie with whipped cream) and MoRoCo Burger and Fries (with a chocolate mousse patty, cookie 'fries' and raspberry 'ketchup'). You can even enjoy a DJ'd brunch on Saturdays and Sundays on their lovely patio. For those of you in Toronto, enjoy some freaking chocolate already!! Mad at you.

MoRoCo Chocolat
99 Yorkville Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
http://morocochocolat.com/