Miserable Monday . . . the dreaded day AFTER cheat day!!
Flaca
Week two of the Slow-Carb diet is now under our belt (so to speak) as is our second cheat day which happened to fall on Mother’s Day. Sadly both of our moms are more than 2,700 miles away so while we were unable to celebrate with them, we thought we would celebrate it in their honor instead (and me. . . as I am the mom to a 4-legged offspring).
With careful planning (location, cuisine and most importantly, all-you-can-drink options) we chose Little Fork in Hollywood.
They describe themselves as Boston by way of Montreal. in LA.
“Serving you the flavors of the Northeast Atlantic, with the bounty of California. Chefs Jason Travi and Josh Rabbie present classics like a Lobster Roll on a parker house bun and an evolving array of Poutine, from bourguignon to duck– and pepper them with colorful finds from the local farmers market.”
But what really sold us was the Endless Bloody Marys, Bloody Larrys, Mimosas and Punch AND the fact that I could have lunch and Mike could have breakfast. The perfect combo. And with unlimited alcohol, we once again opted to take the bus and figured we would UBER home.
We were running late and hoped to delay the reservation a bit but they said they were booked solid and would do their best to hold our table. The gods were with us and we only waited about 75 seconds for the bus and arrived at our stop with 25 minutes to spare. Just enough time for a quick walk through the famous Hollywood Farmer’s Market.
Figs, our bounty of gold.
While walking we heard someone say “Oh my god, you MUST taste this fig!!” We both looked at each other and enthusiastically inquired “Figs!!! Where????” After being pointed in the right direction, we found our pot of gold. Some of the most glorious and freshest figs we have seen (and tasted in quite some time).
On a side note about figs. . .
Pršut
We were staying at Villa Levanda while visiting friends in a village called Vela Stiniva near a town called Zastražišće on the island of Hvar in Croatia. We would walk about a mile and a half up hill each morning to the local bakery for three small loaves of freshly baked bread. We would eat one on the walk back (we needed our sustenance :-D), pick 6 of the freshest figs off the tree outside our room, grab some freshly sliced pieces of pršut (dry-cured ham treated with sea salt and other seasonings; which is not to be mixed up with the Italian prosciutto which is smoked) carved off the leg in the basement and made the most delicious and freshest breakfast:
Breakfast fig & pršut sandwich
I digress. Back to Cheat Day.
The start of endless Bloody Mary’s and Punch
We arrived at the restaurant and were promptly taken to a lovely table for two out on the back patio. We were quickly welcomed by our server Dylan who started to explain the Endless Drink Options for brunch. We had done our research but sat quietly while he explained what a Bloody Larry was (Bloody Mary with bourbon) and what the punch was (bourbon, rum, peach puree, lime and soda). I stuck to my guns with my Bloody Mary and Mike switched to the punch at the last minute. And boy was he thrilled. We noticed Dylan eyeing our “bag of gold” and before he left to put in our order, we offered him some. He came running back to thank us once again as he too agreed that they were amazing. So we gave him another.
Unbeknownst to us at the time, we each ordered a dish that they are quite renowned for:
Breakfast Sausage Poutine
Lobster Roll
Breakfast Sausage Poutine with cheddar, chicharones, pickled onions, sunny-side eggs and maple syrup (obviously for Mike) and the Lobster Roll on a Parker House bun, housemade sea salt and vinegar chips (and of course a side of well-done fries with ketchup and aioli). Our choices were perfect.
However we noticed a few things to try next time:
Maple Eggs: served in what looks like an egg shell, in it is a dollop of maple cream, crispy bacon and scrambled eggs, all to be eaten in one bite. Even this girl who really doesn’t like eggs was intrigued.
Housemade Brioche Pain Perdu: with macerated fruit, streusel, goat cheese chantilly; not really sure what it is but anything with goat cheese chantilly is worth a try in my book.
And of course the Clam Chowder with bacon, oyster crackers and tabasco. Who doesn’t love a good Chowda??
They also have Oyster Hour Daily from 5-7 and Friday and Saturday from 10PM to closing with $5.00 Oyster of the Day and some drink deals as well. I also notice Merguez Sliders with turmeric onions and ratia at the bar which would be quite tasty after some oysters. Looks like we will be back and not just for brunch.
But were weren’t done yet. Our food was served quite promptly and each was prepared to perfection. I am just glad we waited a few seconds before diving in to at least get a picture!!
Apple Cider Donuts (image taken from YELP review)
Sated (but not stuffed) we ordered a few more rounds of our bottomless drinks and started discussing the rest of the day. We figured we would head back to the Farmer’s Market and grab some dessert. As we were about to ask for the check, a server came over to our table with an order of their renowned Apple Cider Donuts, with apple butter and salted caramel. No, no, no, we protested . . .we didn’t order that. Just as Dylan was walking by he grabbed the dish and told us we had been so much fun and so nice for sharing our figs that the dessert was on him! What a sweetie.
Sadly though, this time we did not wait and dove right in as it looked and smelled amazing. Two donuts, devoured in about 2 minutes. Beyond delicious and highly recommended!!
Now a bit more stuffed we thanked Dylan profusely, paid our bill and stumbled out. Actually it was more like rolled out.
Long story short . . . we never did call that UBER and before you knew it we ended up walking about a mile and a half and found ourselves at the bar of The Larchmont. But not without a detour through the famous. Hollywood Forever Cemetery and stopped by and said “That’s All Folks” to Mel Blanc.
By the time we left the cemetery we had basically sobered up and tried to figure out where to go and what to do next. Someway, somehow we found ourselves on the doorstep of The Larchmont which is located on Melrose between Larchmont and Vine. I only knew The Larchmont to be a restaurant (and I will say we were definitely NOT hungry) but we popped in nonetheless. When realizing we only wanted some drinks, they invited us over to the small bar where we were greeted by James the bartender.
With a few Bellini’s for me and some tasty smoky Mezcal for Mike (which was followed by a Pisco Sour, which while it tasted a little different than we remember from our time in Peru, it was quite tasty), we starting chatting it up with some of the staff. We even got to meet the chef. But the best news was that while they were indeed open for brunch that day since it was Mother’s Day, they were in the works to open every weekend for brunch in the upcoming weeks. WOO HOO. They said they would call us when they start as we cannot wait to try The Stoner (Peanut Butter Crunch French Toast, Maple Bacon, Roasted Banana) and for an additional $16 you could add Seared Foie . . . which you know we will!! And apparently the Caramel Roll (described as “Gooey, Nutty, Yummy”) will also be tested out.
Once they found our we were little winos, we started discussing their wine list. When the subject came to California Chardonnay, a varietal we are usually not fans of due to the excessive “buttery taste”, they offered up a taste of Patz & Hall 2013 Chardonnay Sonoma and I must say, we were impressed. Has just enough butter to satisfy those fans and it stops just short of full blown butter for the rest of us. Will definitely be on the look out for it the next time we hit the liquor store.
An hour or so later we stumbled out once again for the 1.7 mile walk home through Larchmont Village on the hunt for ice cream for our dessert after dinner. Sadly the line was out the door at the ice cream shop so we passed. and kept on walking.
It was now that I started to realize exactly how much pain I was in. Even though I was in totally comfortable shoes, I felt the beginnings of blisters on both feet. We were too close to home to UBER it so I just pushed though. Thank god there was alcohol to dull the pain.
Remember, cheat day on the Slow-Carb diet has no limitations whatsoever. Any type of food, any amount of food, any combinations of food . . . so we took total advantage of it.
A few hours later back home, after we were well rested from our afternoon excursion, we knew it was time to open a bottle of vino. We chose Trapiche Oak Cask Malbec 2013 (ah Trapiche, an old standby from our days in Buenos Aires) while we waited for the lasagna from our freezer to cook.
It was when we had finished dinner that we realized due to the long line at the ice cream shop we now had no dessert. But fortunately, Mike came through. We had some pudding cups in the cabinet which are totally off limits during the week (we had gotten them long before we started the diet) to which Mike added some sliced almonds and chocolate syrup. Not too shabby in a pinch.
Shockingly, we opened a second bottle of wine which we thankfully did not finish.
When it was time to hit the pillow later that night, we both acknowledged that it was indeed a good day!!
As for week two of the diet . . . our scale crapped out on us (step on it three times. . .get three different weights) so we are not really sure of the exact amount of weight lost. While we are both a little frustrated that we are not seeing as much success as we were hoping to (of course Mike has lost a noticeable amount . . .guys always do . . . and me, not so much), we do both feel as though our pants are getting a little looser. And now, not having the scale around to frustrate me, I think I will be better off by waiting til the end of the month to see what kind of real progress we made.
On to week three!!
