FIG Santa Monica

I said I wouldn't be reviewing restaurants, since that is what I use my yelp account for, but I will make the exception for superb restaurants that require a double review.

FIG is located in the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows on Wilshire and Ocean.  But FIG is not a hotel restaurant.  Though it is actually in the hotel, it totally stands up for itself.  First there is the gorgeous interior, with marble table tops and big comfortable armed dining chairs, the epitome of California Style.  The bar houses many wines, knowledgeable bartenders, and a delicious looking tray of cheese.  The menu changes faster than the seasons with a careful selection of sustainable local ingredients made into innovative contemporary dishes.  The bottom of the menu informs you as to what is currently in season, what ingredients they will be getting soon, and what is going out of season, that way you can imagine what you might try the next time you return!

My favorite was the scarlet quinoa salad with chard, apple, and heirloom carrots.  I also had a yummy drink with tequila, pineapple, and strawberry, but I can't recall the name of it.  My husband enjoyed the three onion soup which was suuuuuuper cheesy (he loved that part of it)  The soup was huge, enough for a meal for some people.  We also tried the buffalo mozzarella with hand mashed pesto, tasty, but nothing special, not worth the price.  And finally we shared the pastaless lasagna.  I highly recommend it.  It is also very cheesy (the chef loves his cheese!) and the sweet potatoes, zucchini, and eggplant mixed with the sauce did not make me miss the noodles at all!

Oh, and the bread and butter they bring at the beginning of the meal, don't get me started!  It's the most crispy outside with super soft and warm inside served in a cute little FIG paper bag and a big tub of arugula butter.  Mmmmm, I HAVE to have more arugula butter!!!

Of course I had dessert.  The chocolate pot au creme with fresh berries and little butter cookies on the side.  It was good, but next time I will try the churros!

We will be back.

The Grade:
Interior: A-
Wait Staff: A+
Flavor: A
Look of Food: A
Price: B
Overall Score: A-

I heart cookbooks

Being a vegetarian and my husband not, sometimes it is hard to please the both of us without me slaving over multiple meals in the kitchen all day.  In walks this cookbook.  Almost every recipe that I have made from this 200+ page book has been a crowd pleaser to the veg and the non-veg.  It's something about the simplicity of the ingredients and the flavors which meld together perfectly in each recipe that make them so tasty.  As a vegetarian for over 3 years now, I have learned a lot of ingredients that are out of the ordinary to most American omnivores.  These ingredients are often hard to find and expensive, but this book keeps it simple with things like sweet potatoes, chickpeas, green beans, you know, the usual.

Tonight I cooked one of our faves, Moroccan-Spiced Sweet Potato Medley, which is a one pan meal that consists of onion, sweet potato, tomatoes, bulgar wheat, chickpeas, raisins, cilantro, and spices.  Along with the ingredients being relatively easy to find and inexpensive, most recipes, such as this one, are super quick and easy.

The Grade:
Readability: A+ (most recipes have a clear image of what they should look like)
Design: B-
Ease of Recipes: A
Taste of Recipes: A+
Price: A ($14.95)
Overall Grade: A

If you can't find the book yourself, check out Good Housekeeping Recipes.  The book is published by Hearst/Sterling.

click here for savings

no, click here.  What is it?  Imagine: You are shopping online and right before you check out you have to search all over the internet for a coupon code to plug in so you can get free shipping and maybe 10% off.  Well this site does most of the work for you.  With tons of stores to choose from, Ebates lets you shop a store or brand through their website and you get anywhere from 3-20% (or so) cash back after your purchase.  I'll admit, I haven't actually made any purchases yet, but my friend Jessica at The Eagle's Nest has, and she received a cold hard check in the mail.  It almost sounds too good to be true, but it's not.  I can't wait to start shopping.  I think some new boots are in store for me.  And maybe some new makeup and lotions to review.  If you are cool, you will join ebates.  Do it!

The Grade:
Usability: A
Does what it claims: A

Overall: A

Update:  I have now earned $8 just from signing up and one small order from DSW...I will never shop in stores again!!!

Whole Foods sells Shampoo??

Always on the quest for something to take my thin and limp hair to big and sexy without a lot of harsh chemicals, I stumbled upon ctonics, thanks to YDT.  Ctonics is totally natural, vegan, sold only at select Whole Foods Markets, yada yada yada...  There are different formulas with intriguing names like "tranquility," "tantra," and "passion."  Each is formulated with different natural ingredient meant to help different hair types.

Being the adventurer reviewer that I am, I went to Whole Foods and searched the whole body section for the concoction with the name "pulse."  Pulse promises to "cleanse, awaken and energize the scalp, delivering nutrients to promote and stimulate growth and strengthen hair; making it a perfect tonic for both men and women with fine, thinning or receding hairlines."  How could I not give it a try?

It has been almost two months and I just finished the 8 oz bottle this morning. (I wash my hair 6-7 times a week)  Have I noticed thicker hair?  No, but my hair is definitely looks and feels healthier, though seems even flatter (which I find to be the case any time my hair is healthy, like the time when I went au natural for a year)  It's a little different to use the first few times, but it quickly becomes second nature.  You have to shake it to ensure the ingredients are well mixed.  Then you massage a quarter sized amount into the crown of your head.  You wet your hair a little bit to help mix it around easier then add another quarter sized dollop to the rest of your head.  Leave it on for at least two minutes before rinsing.  (NOTE:  it is natural, so it doesn't lather like regular shampoos, which makes it a bit tricky to know if you are cleaning your whole head)  Also, as I'm sure is obvious since this is sold only online and at Whole Foods, it is pricey.  $25 for 8oz.  Ouch.

Here's my grade:
Packaging: A-
Ease of Use: C
Price: D-
Does as it claims: B- (because it did make my hair healthier, but not thicker)
Environmental Friendliness: A-

Overall Grade for Ctonics Pulse shampoo: C+

I'm baaaaaaaack...for now.

Ok, so here's the skinny:  I read my friend's blogs daily, and am made to feel bad whenever I don't EVER update...but the thing is that I have been brainstorming for a while now a sort of blog resurrection, focusing a bit more specifically on one particular area.  I realized that one thing I love doing is trying anything that is new and interesting and telling everyone I know about it, good or bad.  So I plan to be a savvy reviewer of many products and a few places.  I yelp, and eat out quite a lot, so I don't want to make this a repetition of my yelps.  Not to mention that I'm incredibly busy:  1)working a full time job 2)going to school at night 3)inspiring to be a yoga/aerobics instructor/personal trainer in my spare time 4)taking care of a husband who is in the midst of studying for an exam which will determine his future and 5)a little pup who is my world, but very demanding....among other things...  So bear with me as I take time from my demanding schedule a few times a week to bring you products and places that you have always wanted to try but weren't quite sure of.  I will tell you my honest opinion of how things work, look, taste, and/or feel.

Welcome to the new Eclectically Modern, still eclectic and modern, yet so much more.

the buying of the chair

this post is looooooooong overdue.  my friends tina and jannae helped me navigate the streets of 3rd and melrose to find the perfect chair one saturday nearly a month ago.  i know what i like and i know what is quality and what is a good price (i'm not a designer for nothing you know!)  the first place that we went to was enough, it is called floorplan and i really wish they had a website because you just have to see how great this place is!  for now just check out the yelp reviews, or better yet, get your ass over to 3rd street between the bev center and the grove, where you will find this quaint little store with a super friendly artist owner (who claims to be straight.  straight eye for the straight women?)  anyway, he was super nice and knocked a lot off the price, telling me he had a lot of new inventory coming in the following week and needed to make room (it is a bit crowded in there, but crowded with amazing furniture, so it's ok.)

the chair is perfect. i am happy with my first "real furniture" purchase (i don't consider ikea to be real furniture because nobody keeps that stuff for longer than they have to.)  but really, the only thing that matters is that napoleon approves.

these are my confessions...

i love earrings.  i could do without rings, bracelets, and necklaces...but when i leave the house without earrings in, i feel naked.  during college there were many days that i stumbled out of bed, tucked my sweatpants that i slept in into my fake uggs (i know, i know, but they were sooooo comfy!!!) and began walking to my morning class only to realize halfway that i forgot to put on earrings.  egad!  i would then turn around to go back to my apartment, up the three flights of stairs, open up my finicky door, storm into my bedroom to grab a pair and dash out again, hopefully to make it to class on time (my approximate walking commute time to my classes was 7 minutes, as long as they were in the architecture building, 1 minute if in the fine arts building.)

so earrings are important to me, and boy was i excited to see a great variety of my favorite accessory at unique LA this past weekend (see previous post.)  i did a good job at being frugal, purchasing only two pair.  i had to tell myself that i already owned plenty of earrings (truth) and that there will be other unique LA's or other shows in which i can buy amazing one of a kind jewelry.

from gambetta beads are these one of a kind earrings made of ceramic and glazed in some beautiful glazes that make this great color and texture on the baked clay.  i took a ceramic class and made a sculpture in a similar glaze.

And these babies are from osec.

unique LA

this was definitely the place to be on this beautiful saturday.  unique LA is a great event held at the California Market on the corner of 9th and main in downtown LA. it is the largest independent design show in the country where attendees get the chance to meet and shop directly from over 300 designers and artists.  it is all about buying local, supporting LA's economy and supporting amazing artists and designers.  there were a few free workshops that popped up throughout the day.  there was free water from function water and honest tea was there with free bottles of tea (yummers!)  there were some local gourmet foods such as platine bakery (the best cookies i've ever had, ever....will probably have to be a future post solely on this bakery) and burlesque bakery (cute and amazingly delicious mini cupcakes with cutesy names like brigitte bardot, temptest storm, and bettie page---i tried this one which is chocolate cake, marshmallow fluff filling, bourbon buttercream, garnished with potato chips.)

anywho.  my friend tina and i went this expo today and it was the best way to spend our day for sure.  the set up on the top floor of the california market center was the perfect place.  our $10 entry got us this awesome bag from keith scharwath as well as the aforementioned free drinks and all sorts of other free loot from various booths.  also, i am now officially going to join etsy.com and add the majority of the designers that i saw today to my favorites list, and shop away!  i did come home with a few items, which i will blog about throughout the week.

i heart frank gehry

i'm having an affair with a famous architect.  his name is frank gehry, and he is a genius.
i'm not really having an affair, this is him:

the first gehry structure that i was able to witness up close is his work in millennium park in chicago.  the jay pritzker pavillion, the great lawn, the bridge, the titanium clad everything!!!  love to go here and dance around the great lawn and walk across the bridge.  and hug gehry's titanium, of course (do what?!?!)

the pritzker pavillion:

What brings me to the topic of gehry and his work is not this first experience a few years ago, but my newest experience here in la:  the walt disney concert hall.  this place is beautiful and decadent.  it completely inspires me to be everything that i know i can be.  frank gehry, will you teach me?  i will be your protege.  you could be like batman and i, robin.  ok, these metaphors are getting a bit creepy, but seriously, frank o gehry is one of my fave architects and the disney concert hall is a must see, so go check it out, and hop over to the moca too, it's pretty cool.

Oh the places you will go.

did you know that frank gehry graduated from the usc school of architecture?  i am applying there next year, i hope to get in.  he is also a studio instructor this coming year.  how cool is that??

santa barbara

ok la, i've had enough of you, and now that i've discovered santa barbara, i think i'll be moving there.  oh, wait...i guess maybe i should wait until danny is finished with school...so give me 5-6 years.

seriously, why do more people not live here?  this has got to be one of the most beautiful, laid back places on earth, no?  ok, there are probably some places in italy and southern france which beat it out, but for socal, i think this is the place.  it may have beat out san diego for me as my favorite city.  hmmm...maybe not, but one thing is for sure, it is the one place that after having only been there for a day, my husband and i can both agree that we want to live there...someday.

santa barbara just has that laid back college town vibe. it is sandwiched between the beautiful blue pacific and the gloriously green mountains.  what's not to love?

my husband and i went on a whale watching tour where we saw hundreds of common dolphin, sea lions, and at least 4 humpback whales.  sweet.

ucsb is literally right on the water.  i want to go to there.  why don't they have an architecture school?  arg.

there is a cute cafe just off of state street called crushcafe.  part of it is also crushcakes, supposedly the best cupcakes ever.  i'll be the judge...next time, this time we ate far too much cheese at a wine bar on state street. don't worry, there will probably be much more to come in my blog regarding santa barbara as the husband and i intend to spend a lot of our summer there.  yay.

check out santa barbara car free for great things to see and do in santa barbara county sans vehicle.

more cupcakes

another day in la, another cupcake bakery.  wow, i probably could have a blog solely devoted to desserts.  i seriously have a problem.  but at least i work out and eat healthy, other than my sweets habit.

yesterday was a beautiful day in la.  i know you are asking, "isn't everyday beautiful there?"  well, no actually.  it has been cool and rainy all winter, especially on the weekends.  so yesterday's high 60's and super sunny sky was a pleasant surprise (especially since they were calling for rain all weekend).  in light of this wondrous day, my husband and i decided to hit up 3rd street in santa monica for a lovely stroll with our puppy, a quick lunch at buddha's belly, and of course, hitting up the cupcake bakery in santa monica that i was dieing to try, vanilla bake shop.

the store is tiny and you drive past it unknowingly, but upon walking into it you know that this is the real deal.  There are large cupcakes and baby cupcakes, along with an assortment of cold desserts in shot type glasses which looked really cute, but come on, i was there for the cupcakes.  i'm making it my (long-term) goal to try every cupcake shop in la.  (there are hundreds)  ok, so maybe i will just try the noteworthy ones, or the ones that have great yelp reviews.

vanilla bake shop is great because of the variety of their flavors, the fact that they have baby cupcakes, and their stuffed cupcakes cost the same as the non-stuffed ones.  their everyday flavors are vanilla bean, southern red velvet, mom's birthday cake, black & white, bittersweet dark chocolate, and chocolate vanilla bean.  Then everyday of the week there are 5-6 different flavors added on top of the daily flavors.  they don't make all of them in the small and large sizes (i don't think so anyway), but there are so many to choose from.  looking back, i wish i'd tried more, but here's what we got.

-large black & white for myself- not as good as sprinkle's black & white, but the cake was very dense and moist, the buttercream frosting is totally different from sprinkles, but both are equally delicious.
-large red velvet for my husband- he didn't like it nearly as much as sprinkles version of the same thing, but he still devoured it, so it wasn't bad, just not as good as sprinkles.
-baby key lime- yummy and very cute.  i'm not a big fan of key lime, but had a teeny lick of it.  my husband enjoyed it

-baby mom's birthday cake- eh.  not impressive.  it is just a yellow butter cake with milk chocolate frosting and a cute little purple sugar flower on top.  cute, and tasty to an extent, but not that great really...

-baby meyer lemon raspberry- yum!!!  5 stars.  it is a stuffed cupcake, so the baby version basically has the meyer lemon custard on the top and then it's topped with vanilla buttercream and a cute little raspberry atop that.  so tasty.

i like vanilla bake shop and depending on how long i live in la, will possibly come back.  it's not that i didn't like it, it's that i want to try all the cupcakes in la!!!  all of them!!!!!

crack. a.k.a sprinkles cupcakes

i swore i wouldn't give in to all the madness of the cupcake craze that seems to envelope all angeleno's (i'm more of a cookie kind of girl), but about two weeks ago, one of the vendors at work brought in sprinkles cupcakes and of course i devoured one (and a half) of those amazingly delicious, yet oh-so-sinful cups of butter, sugar, more butter, cream cheese icing....ohhhhh, the cream cheese icing.....

so yes, holly and kendra and the other girls next door are correct, sprinkles is amazing.  though sprinkles seems like it should be overrated and only hyped up because of the likes of hollywood stars, oprah, and food network, i am here to tell you that sprinkles definitely lives up to the hype.

the icing makes these little babies worth every last penny of the $3.50 you pay.  honestly, i don't understand all of the negativity surrounding sprinkles prices on yelp.  they use quality ingredients, it's on santa monica just a block from rodeo drive...$3.50 for something this scrumptious is a small price to pay.  the cake itself is also quality, super soft and moist, yet still holding a nice light fluffiness that i find desirable in a cupcake.

i have tried the two most popular cupcakes, not because they are the most popular, but because they are mine and my husband's favorites.  the black and white.  how could this not be perfect?  a deep belgian chocolate cake topped with the most amazing vanilla cream cheese frosting.  so thick. so delicious.  not too much either.  i have a problem with cupcakes that are over-frosted.  sprinkles knows when to say when.

the most popular is the red velvet.  on valentines day my husband devoured his red velvet so fast i'm not quite sure he tasted it, unfortunately it was also too fast for me to think quickly enough and grab a taste for myself.  luckily, i picked up a vegan red velvet for us to split that evening.  it. was. incredible.  you can slightly taste a little bit of coconut oil they use for the frosting, but this was a freaking amazing vegan cupcake!! (personally, i like the hint of coconut.  i like knowing that i am eating healthy-ish)  my husband even liked it, big surprise there.  i don't think sprinkles is trying to out-do babycakes...but i haven't tried babycakes yet.  the one in la just opened up, so look out for a review from me on there soon enough.

The store itself is actually quite beautiful.  wood adorns everything along the walls and a glass partition separates you from the cupcakes.  The cupcakes have there own little wooden holders and everything is perfect architecturally speaking.  sprinkles thought of it all, even down to the packaging.  your cupcakes come packed in simply pretty boxes and a sticker is placed over the top to seal it.  the bags are brown paper with the sprinkles logo subtlety gracing its simple structure.  you are offered wooden forks to eat your cupcakes with.  i ate mine with the wooden fork, it helped to slow me down.  my husband didn't, and well, you see what happened.

i can't stop thinking about those amazing little cupcakes.  i want to try them all.  i want to eat 2 or 3 right now. i told my husband that if i didn't mind being fat and dieing young, then i would eat only sprinkles cupcakes.  i think they put crack in their batter.

so the big thing with sprinkles is that they were the first bakery to make only cupcakes.  they started the los angeles cupcake craze which spread to new york as well as other various cities. (this is where the los angeles/new york socialite would ask, "there are other cities besides ny and la?!")  however, throughout my yelping i have found there to be another cupcake bakery just down the street from sprinkles.  it is called crumbs.  stay tuned for an upcoming sprinkles v. crumbs review.  i am so excited.  i will probably try out crumbs this weekend.

cupcakes is good.

remember that resolution...

yep, i went to whole foods again.  definitely can't make it a weekly thing, since my total was $110 and i feel like i have nothing to show for it.  ok, i got two bottles of wine.  but they were only about $9 a pop.  oh yeah, i forgot about california's crv, and tax, ugh.  i also bought my husband a stainless steel water bottle. so that was like $12.  oh, and that tea i just had to have, says it will help your skin be clear and beautiful. 


am i a sucker for advertisement or what?


anyway, what i want to talk about is raw food.  there are a lot of local raw food makers and their products are in whole foods.  the only one i actually purchased was very intriguing to me: a raw cookie.  ok, i'll bite.  what is in this raw cookie, how does it hold together, how is its texture, will it taste good?  here are the answers.

it was in one of the refrigerated sections in multiple flavors, it is kookie karma, holistic carob chip.  it is vegan, hand made, gluten free, soy free.  it is made of almond meal (one of my faves to bake with), xylitol, organic coconut, psyllium, organic brown rice protein, organic brown rice, almond butter, organic agave nectar, carob chips, chia seeds, and sea salt.  it is held together thanks to the almond butter and probably some of those other things, but im not a chef, i just steal other peoples recipes.  its texture is chewy, not too crumbly, similar to any good vegan cookie i've ever tasted.  and the taste is good too.  the first taste threw me and i was a little confused, but then you have to remember that this is not a regular cookie, so once you put it in your mind that this is in a whole other category from typical white flour, butter and egg cookies, the next taste was fabulous, and i almost ate the whole thing on my ride home from whole foods.  luckily i saved just enough to take a picture.

i highly recommend checking out the kookie karma site.  i just did and the story of the creator is really cool.  makes me want to open a bakery with some of my creations, though mine are not as exciting as hers, i wish i could sell a cookie for about $3 a pop.


oh whole foods, you sure know how to find the most expensive food items that i just have to have.


health tip of the day:  stop baking with white flour and refined sugar.  in fact stop buying white flour and refined sugar.  buy at least whole wheat flour, but also try out others like buckwheat (my personal fave) and brown rice flour, just to name a few.  you just have to experiment when you are making your cookies to get the right consistency with new flours and sugars.  i have found that using canola oil or something similar and liquidy helps make a denser, chewier cookie when working with whole flours and unrefined sugars.  


happy eating.

french+japanese+modern art=coolest restaurant ever!

so what is this ambiguous place that i speak of?  royal t cafe, of course.  its website does it no justice, so allow me to blog about it.

first of all is the exterior.  it is a building covered in greenery (fake i think) with a pretty neon pink crown as it's only marking.  anyone who wouldn't know any better (i.e.: me until a few months ago) would believe this place to be a store, or an art gallery.  oh, but it is so much more.

upon entering, you see the barista behind the bar to the back left making teas and all sorts of other yummy concoctions .  walk through the "hallway" which is glass walls showing the store on the left and the current art displays on the right.  we were greeted at the hostess stand by the barista who was wearing all black and at first i was a little sad, since i knew already that the servers were supposed to wear french maid costumes.  within a few minutes though, we saw the server dressed in a cute brown french maid outfit.  they serve brunch from 10-3 everyday, and this time that is what we decided to order.  but first the tea!


The barista took our tea order, we went with a large pot of their special milk tea which is made with black tea, vanilla, rose petals and soy milk, among other things i'm sure.  my husband and i split it and afterward really wished we'd gone with the small pot.  not because it didn't taste good, au contraire!  it was soooooo good and i am particular about my "milk tea" (i usually sip on authentic chai when i go for black tea).  the reason was that the large pot is extremely large for two people to share, so we ended up getting full on just tea. 


then our food arrived.  i went with the spinach and mushroom quiche.  it was alright.  honestly, i was more impressed with the dressing they tossed the organic greens in.  but in defense of the quiche, that dressing was really really good.  my husband ordered the brioche french toast and loved it.  i tried it and yes, some of the best french toast i've ever tasted.  it was covered in berries, and not just strawberries which is pretty typical, but raspberries, blackberries and blueberries (oh my!) it was also dusted very lightly with powdered sugar and had the syrup on the side.  there is just something so much better about brioche french toast than any other style bread.


after our meal we had to look around the store.  it. was. awesome.  i love japanese culture and tea cups and books about art and architecture.  guess what?  the store in royal t has all of that.  plus a little plastic toy dinosaur that was the only thing my husband was remotely interested in which was marked at $100.  not everything was that expensive though, so i look forward to going back soon to make some gift purchases for a few friends!


all in all, royal t cafe is a great modern space that is incredibly eclectic, so it fits my personality and style to a t.  :)  i will go back here, and it is definitely a place i will bring friends when they come to visit!

drunk'n goat in paris

drunk'n goat in paris...that was the name of the delicious artisan sandwich that i consumed friday during my lunch break.  it was perhaps the best sandwich i ever had, which is why i am blogging about it.  buckwheat was my bread of choice, though the sandwich is recommended on sourdough wheat, i couldn't pass on the rarity of a slice of buckwheaty deliciousness.  first they slathered on a generous helping of chevre goat cheese infused with herbes de provence.  next came the granny smith apple slices, sliced ever so thin, ever so perfect.  then was the layer of onions with a balsamic reduction.

stop there, please!  no way this sandwich could get better?!...

well my friends, it did.

next was an extremely generous layer of cranberry chutney.  this is what makes the sandwich.  i have never had anything like it before (a sandwich with cranberry chutney that is, not the cranberry chutney.  i actually have a jar in my fridge, i eat it with naan, both from trader joes.)
but, we are still not finished.  the last part is what truely makes the goat drunk in paris: the brie.  i like brie.  ok, i love brie.  it was a few large slices of brie too.  no skimping here.

all in all, like i already said, best sandwich ever. better than the turkey apple and brie's i used to eat at the artisan in college before i became a veggie. i think this made up for the fact that i walked 8 blocks (city blocks mind you) 3 of them where up a very steep hill, which i didn't know existed in downtown l.a. (guess i need to get away from the office a bit more.)  only to discover when i got back that there was a new location only 3 blocks from my office, no hills.  at least i know that i will be frequenting medicino farms in the future.

did i mention that mendocino farms is a green certified restaurant and that their menus change seasonally to utilize fresh, local ingredients?   green tip of the day: support businesses that take the initiative to go green.  also, buy organic and locally whenever you can.  going to your local farmers market is the easiest and most fun way to do this.