Love...on a budget

What a great deal! Why don't more places do this?

Stay tuned...!

Bottega Louie in Downtown Los Angeles

For this post, I will be ranking the food by YUMS. One YUM is the lowest and three YUMS is the highest!

Passionfruit Macaron with mini macaroons (Left to Right): Earl Grey, Raspberry, Vanilla

This wasn't the first dish I started off with but....I came here for my very good friend's birthday! This was her birthday "cake"--a classy remake of the traditional---the Passionfruit Macaron (in the middle) was a burst of fruity flavor and had three crunchy layers. TWO YUMS. Next, the three macaroons were soooo good. This was actually my first time having macaroons so I don't have anything to compare it to...but if I were to make a prediction, I bet these would be the best macaroons I will ever have! THREE YUMS. That's the highest rating so far.

Gourmet cupcakes also topped with macaroons

I didn't try these cupcakes, so I can't give a YUM rating. They just looked really interesting so I decided to take a picture of them! I love how each cupcake is topped with a macaroon. There is something about macaroons that makes everything look cuter :)

Sweet treats!

Again, not something that I tried but looked tasty! The little white balls remind me of tapioca though, but I'm sure it's something else...

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Did you read the caption? LEMON. RICOTTA. PANCAKES! Okay, I think I overhyped it when I was ordering, but I really thought it would have more lemon flavor. I tried really hard to taste it and I guess I got a subtle hint of lemon flavor, but it wasn't very apparent at all. My friend commented that maybe they forgot the lemon? Anyways, the ricotta definitely gave these pancakes a much smoother, and richer texture. Oh and they gave us their homemade blueberry syrup (not pictured) which made up for the lack of lemon flavor because that was soo good in combination with everything! One YUM.

Farmer's Market Breakfast Haul

So what is in this plentiful haul you wonder..I know it looks kind of simple, but sometimes the simplest dishes are often the best tasting (if you do it right). First, you have two softly-poached eggs topped with Reggiano parmesan. Then, throw in some haricots verts, potatoes, golden baby beets, shiitake mushrooms, and tomatoes..you know...ingredients that you probably would never have in stock in your kitchen. And voila. I give this dish double YUMS.

Portobello Fries

The Portobello Fries were quite unexpected---I thought it would have more crunch, but then again, I remembered that it was just a mushroom. The portobello fry itself is actually kind of tasteless UNTIL you add their special dip, then it goes from zero to 60 in terms of flavor impact! One YUM.

Macaroon HEAVEN.

On my way out, I just had to snap another picture of their macaroons. I love how they display them in these big clear jars, makes me want to buy macaroons in bulk so I can have them as a snack whenever I please :) Anyways, come to Bottega Louie to experience a comfortable, but upscale setting. It is perfect for a daytime lunch or brunch.

I'd love to wake up to this every morning...

Banana Walnut Pancakes, drizzled with lots of syrup

Croissant French Toast and of course, fresh strawberries

Nothing says a good morning like a balanced breakfast. Okay, maybe this breakfast isn't that balanced, considering the high sugar content...but nevertheless it looks so good! I was on Yelp with my friend trying to find a place for brunch that wasn't closed yet (it was 2:00pm when we started our food search)..and behold Chloe's Cafe in Noe Valley, San Francisco. The reviewers were right. Chloe's Cafe is very small (less than 10 tables), but gives off a "homey" feel with its simple old-fashioned tablecloths and wooden wall-panels.

Let me start off by talking about the Banana Walnut Pancakes--they had like the perfect proportion of walnuts to bananas to pancake mix. The pancakes were so soft and fluffy. I really didn't need to add the syrup because the bananas were sweet enough, but I wanted the pancakes to look shiny in the picture :)

Next up is the Croissant French Toast (see recipe at end of this post). When I took my first bite, I was seriously confused. I really couldn't say I was eating a croissant, or have french toast. It is a very surprising texture that I did not expect at all. It was hard to convince myself that it is a hybrid of croissant and french toast. But I loved it! One thing to note is that the price for strawberries is seasonal--we added $4 for some strawberries, which is kind of a splurge.

I felt like I wasn't in the city anymore and maybe on vacation somewhere...Anyhoo, would I come back again? OH YES. YES. & YES!

Croissant French Toast Recipe (EZ Version)
So after eating here, I found out that to make Croissant French Toast..is actually quite simple. The quick and dirty version is to just buy croissants and dip them in egg, and make cook it on the skillet how you normally would to make french toast. Pretty easy huh? I should probably start making this for breakfast..would totally jumpstart my groggy mornings!

Rachel Ray's Croissant French Toast Recipe (Fancy Version)
Croissant French Toast Recipe - Every Day with Rachael Ray

Stephen Scott Gross
Everyday With Rachel Ray

The ice cream sundae is 119 years old!

Yesterday, Google launched this logo of an ice cream in celebration of the 119th anniversary of the first documented ice cream sundae! And yes, yesterday was a Sunday.