tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38218876987971412192011-09-25T13:29:49.445-07:00For the love of food, friends, and culture...One man's adventures in Gastronomy from LA and BeyondATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125FoodieMonsterhttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-28204962218348319582009-02-17T08:37:00.000-08:002009-02-17T08:45:01.451-08:002009-02-17T08:45:01.451-08:00

Man...been a REALLY long time since i've posted to this Blog. I'm so lame. It hasn't been for lack of desire though. Fact is, I have a TON of pics from various restaurants, endeavors, etc. that I just need to sit down and write about. Problem is finding the time to actually sit down and write. You see, for me writing a blog post isn't a quick, jot something down kinda thing. I like to put thought

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-32211524220392366582008-04-15T22:50:00.000-07:002008-04-23T07:12:13.420-07:002008-04-23T07:12:13.420-07:00

When someone mentions cupcakes, there are usually two places that are at the forefront of peoples' minds...both of which are preceded by their reputations and the long lines associated with trying their wares. The East Coast has Magnolia Bakery in New York City, who's popularity has definitely been bolstered by appearances on shows like Sex and the City and in NYC based movies like The Devil

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-78307027252291341062008-03-22T21:35:00.000-07:002008-03-23T10:43:06.380-07:002008-03-23T10:43:06.380-07:00

Three days after dropping my MacBook off to a "Mac Genius" at the local Apple store, I picked up my trusty steed fortified with a fresh new hard drive. Unfortunately, it is now a completely empty hard drive, devoid of any of the pictures or files I previously had on it. To say that that smarts a little is a bit of an understatement. Every day I remember more stuff (pics, files etc.) that were on

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-51443688260708446152008-03-14T07:46:00.000-07:002008-03-23T10:41:39.671-07:002008-03-23T10:41:39.671-07:00

They say lessons are best learned the hard way. Well, i'm in the process of learning a very hard lesson...The lesson of why you should regularly backup your information on the computer you store ALL your information on.... Recently my trusty MacBook's Hardrive decided to give up the ghost for no apparent reason. My wife was using it one minute then all of a sudden got the dreaded permanent

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-44848783198687694332008-02-08T07:18:00.000-08:002008-02-25T22:05:37.951-08:002008-02-25T22:05:37.951-08:00

It's no secret that I've been a burger lover for a long, long time. A good, juicy burger really holds a special place in my heart. So simple, yet so satisfying. Knowing that, my friends back in Baltimore have been dying to take me to a new burger joint that opened up a little after my wife and I made the move out West. We've been back to visit several times since we moved, but the trips have

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-56990113866046848932008-02-06T23:16:00.000-08:002008-02-25T22:26:30.554-08:002008-02-25T22:26:30.554-08:00

Being a native East Coaster, I have come to notice that there are certain city specific foods that just aren't available here on the left coast. Well, it's not that they're not represented at all; it's that they're just not represented well. The first things that come to mind are Philadelphia Cheesesteaks (Pat's is KING in my book!), Buffalo Wings, and of course New York Style Pizza. In the 2

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-53357958759853548502008-02-04T18:17:00.000-08:002008-02-04T22:41:55.401-08:002008-02-04T22:41:55.401-08:00

I had stated in one of my first posts on this blog that I wasn't going to grade restaurants on some kind of numbering scale. Well, I lied...sort of. It's not a numbering scale but I just decided to add a little pictoral representation of my thoughts on each restaurant. I thought it would be nice to have a visual representation of my opinion so that at a glance, you the reader could get a feel for

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-29116132898858453782008-01-30T17:56:00.000-08:002008-02-04T08:44:58.090-08:002008-02-04T08:44:58.090-08:00

On many occasions during my 30+ years growing up and living in the Baltimore area I ate what I knew as Western Fries...either as an accompaniment to a meal, or sometimes as a "snack" to tie me over till an actual meal. Western fries, generally speaking, are thick cut potato wedges that are seasoned (usually some form of batter) and deep fried (of course!). They are quite common in the Baltimore

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-76069974666305480642007-12-01T10:25:00.000-08:002008-02-25T22:26:55.489-08:002008-02-25T22:26:55.489-08:00

Aaahhh...the French Dipped Sandwich. How could you not love a sandwich filled with hot roast beef and cheese and dipped in salty, beef flavored au jus? I've always been a fan of the French Dip but had never known that it's origin was based in LA until moving to the LA area. Here in LA there are 2 establishments that hotly debate over who is the originator of the French Dip; the first of which is

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-22186169543902764762007-12-01T10:23:00.001-08:002008-02-25T22:27:13.644-08:002008-02-25T22:27:13.644-08:00

My wife (thankfully!) turned me on to the Sandwich Cubano (Cuban Sandwich) several years ago at a great little Cuban restaurant we found during a trip to Orlando, Florida and i've had a love affair with them ever since. This sandwich really has my name all over it...slices of roast pork, ham, swiss cheese, and pickles dressed with mustard come together inside of some nice crusty Cuban bread that

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-75978606306455481412007-09-11T23:40:00.000-07:002008-02-25T22:27:48.894-08:002008-02-25T22:27:48.894-08:00

If it wasn't for the part of my brain that thinks I should eat somewhat "healthy" (whatever that means, anyway) from time to time, I would probably be as close to a full fledged carnivore as a human can possibly get. No, not an omnivore that east everything, but a full fledged, practically meat only carnivore...well, with the exception of a side of rice or potatoes or some kind of starch to wash

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-50115350001778269632007-09-08T07:44:00.000-07:002008-02-03T12:42:40.984-08:002008-02-03T12:42:40.984-08:00

Two good Chinese-American friends of mine got married several years back, and of course they had a traditional Chinese Banquet as part of the Nupital celebration. The banquet was held at a fairly large, authentic Chinese Restaurant, kind of local to the Washington DC area. On the menu at the banquet were some of the more traditional Cantonese dishes (No General Tso's here...much to the dismay of

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-75604571912280895572007-09-03T09:26:00.000-07:002008-02-27T07:19:20.186-08:002008-02-27T07:19:20.186-08:00

My name is Alvin. I'm a professional BMW Certified Automotive Technician, Automotive Fanatic, and full-time Foodie turned nightime food blogger (I do most of my writing at night because that's currently the only time I have available). I started this blog to share my food experiences and love of food with the world in the hopes that others could benefit. If someone reads this blog and it

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-19109933740308226022007-09-03T08:58:00.000-07:002008-02-25T22:28:22.552-08:002008-02-25T22:28:22.552-08:00

My wife and I have been to Mitsuwa Marketplace many times since we moved to SoCal. However, our trips there are rarely ever to shop in the market...we go there mainly to eat at the food court. Mitsuwa's food court has around 7 or 8 (currently) small food stalls, mostly Japanese with one Chinese place and one Japanese Style Italian place. All of the places we've tried make pretty good food...

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-54194289723407056142007-09-02T11:21:00.000-07:002008-02-25T22:28:45.977-08:002008-02-25T22:28:45.977-08:00

Soul food and Southern style cooking has always had a special place in my heart...err, I mean stomach. There's something about that style of cooking that just speaks to my soul...must be how the food got the name. While i've never been to the deep south (other than just passing through during the drive out west from Baltimore) and experienced real, in it's element, southern cooking, I can only

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-66728813235890819412007-08-28T21:48:00.000-07:002008-02-25T22:29:15.312-08:002008-02-25T22:29:15.312-08:00

I have always been a big fan of Japanese Nabeyaki Udon. Ever since I was a wee little budding foodie, if I went to a Japanese restaurant and they had Nabeyaki Udon on the menu there was a high probability I was going to order it. I mean, how can you go wrong with thick udon noodles, some deep fried shrimp tempura, and select veggies in a savory broth? After hearing about Sanuki no Sato and that

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-68872771980181486622007-07-23T23:29:00.000-07:002008-01-30T22:43:34.929-08:002008-01-30T22:43:34.929-08:00

November of this year will mark the 2 year anniversary of my (and my wife's) move to the Los Angeles area. While my reasons for wanting to move to LA were numerous (none of which involved Hollywood or any of that socialite crap that dominaes the news here), there is one unexpected, and much appreciated "perk" to living here that I totally overlooked on my "pros for LA" list...Food Diversity!

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-28656287724752728832007-07-19T22:48:00.000-07:002008-01-30T22:44:02.397-08:002008-01-30T22:44:02.397-08:00

It's true...the internet is swamped with food blogs of all shapes and sizes. Some written by trained chefs and authorities on the subject while others are authored by people that are merely passionate about food and the pleasures gained from eating said food. To which of these groups do I fall into?Well, I definitely am not a formally trained chef, nor would I consider myself an authority on food

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821887698797141219.post-84454685635245841902007-07-18T00:03:00.000-07:002008-02-15T20:12:02.087-08:002008-02-15T20:12:02.087-08:00

I sat here in front of my laptop for quite a while brainstorming for name ideas for my food related blog. I wanted a name that was appropriate to the topic at hand (food and eating) as well as something that related to me directly. I also wanted a name with a little bit of humor built in and something that was catchy and easy to remember. After sitting here thinking about it for what felt like an

ATChipmunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07028221484426336913noreply@blogger.com3