Tony's Pizza Napoletana

Place: Tony's Pizza Napoletana
Location: San Francisco,CA
Website: tonyspizzanapoletana.com
Recommended by: danae

Summary:

After my first heavenly experience with Grimaldi's in Brooklyn, I became a pizza snob. I no longer could handle greasy cheeses, flavorless dry crusts, or sub-par quality ingredients. Nope, an awesome pizza became all about awesome cheese, perfectly crispy yet chewy crusts, and top of the line ingredients. i tried many a pizzeria in the bay area, but none compared to Grimaldi's until Tony's came along.

I first heard about Tony's when ooj sent me a link about a new pizzeria opening in San Francisco. I immediately recognized Tony's name, having watched the food network pizza challenge episode twice (I know, I'm kind of a loser like that). And it lived up to everything i hoped for - their margherita pizza is AMAZING. first of all, the crust is awesome. i think I've read that their pizza oven for this particular pizza (Tony's has 3 different pizza ovens on locations, all to create different types of pizzas) heats up to 900 degrees, and they cook the pizza for 90 seconds. 90 seconds!!!! They have mastered the perfect balance of a smoky charred crust without it being *too* crispy. It's napoletana style, which i understand typically has a somewhat soggy middle... which I don't totally mind so much, though I would prefer it to be a little less soggy. The cheese and basil are perfect and amazing, but what really sets this pizza apart is the sauce. I am usually not a tomato sauce fan - I usually find it too acidic and a lot of times it overwhelms the other flavors. However, the pizza sauce on Tony's pizzas is absolute perfection. No hint of the typical sourness, and it's in fact slightly sweet. The sauce here makes the pizza, which is a testament to just how good it is.

Big thumbs up for the margherita. The fig pizza is ok... I find it a little too sweet and just a little *too* unconventional for my tastes, but j enjoys it. However, stay away from the new haven style clam pizza. It's just not good.

Roasted chicken

Place: Pollo A La Brasa
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Website: http://www.yelp.com/biz/pollo-a-la-brasa-western-los-angeles
Recommended by: ooj
Summary: Expertly cooked so the breast meat is still tender, and the meat bursting with flavor, this is hands down the best chicken I've ever had. The aji sauce is spicy for gringos, but I recommend eating the chicken without it anyway. The chicken is that good.

-- edit --

Bouchon is better. :)

Cupcakes

Place: Sprinkles
Location: Beverly Hills, CA
Website: http://www.sprinkles.com/
Recommended by: ooj
Summary:

LA cupcake rankings (and recommendations):
1. Sprinkles (cinnamon sugar, red velvet)
2. Vanilla Bakeshop (vanilla)
3. Polkatots (strawberry shortcake, dulce de leche)
4. Dots (red velvet)
5. King's Hawaiian Bakery (red velvet)

Italian sandwiches

Place: Roma Italian Deli
Location: Pasadena, CA
Website: http://www.yelp.com/biz/roma-italian-deli-and-grocery-pasadena
Recommended by: ooj
Summary: The 4'6" man who makes one kind of sandwich. Yelp reviews say it's a sandwich you can only get in Italy. I say it's one of the yummiest sandwiches I've had. Different slices of meat, cheese, a drizzle of olive oil on the bread...and I believe everything is imported from Italy. Yelp warns to never tell him what you want on the sandwich. He might scare the living daylights out of you.

One more thing to pick up at Roma is the pizza, Pizza Romana (Annie saw these at Target too). It's not quite as good as Tony's, but it's a quick fix. Actually, I like it better than most LA pizzas.

Kona Coffee Ice Cream Float - Kope lani

Place: Kope Lani
Location: Kona, Big Island, HI
Website: http://www.kopelani.com/
Recommended by: danae
Summary: I LOVE coffee, but I'm kind of a wussy coffee drinker. I pretty much only drink coffee in the form of lattes and mochas, because I like sweet, sweet, creamy coffees. Dessert, basically. Also, caffeine is just bad for me, for several reasons, so I'm just not supposed to drink coffee. Even decaf sometimes does me in. So I try not to drink coffee often, but sometimes I just can't resist, since I love the flavor of really good coffee so much! When we were at the Big Island, I really wanted to try some Kona coffee, to see if it was worth the hype. And, well, it totally was. We went to like, 3 different locations looking for Kona coffee, and dude, apparently, people only drink coffee here in the mornings or something? It was about 3 pm, and everywhere we went was closed. Finally we found Kope Lani which was open all day... and better yet, they served a coffee ice cream float, which is 2 shots of kona espresso plus a scoop of whatever flavor of Big Island Ice Cream you want. I forget the actual name of the ice cream we chose, but it was kona coffee ice cream with cinnamon brittle. And O. M. G. It was SO GOOD. The ice cream basically fulfilled the cream and sugar requirement of the coffee, but also just really emphasized the glorious flavor of the kona coffee. And, since it was a warm day, it was nice to have the hot espresso countered with the cold ice cream. The only thing I would say negatively is that the ice cream melts too quickly (which, i guess is to be expected). Maybe if I ever go back here, I'd ask for an extra scoop of ice cream. Oh yeah, and it's kind of expensive... though, I don't think it's unreasonable. I think it was about $5, and if you think about it, a latte would be about $3 anyway, and a scoop of ice cream about $2. Anyway, it was so good that we ordered another one, that was exactly the same... and I totally ODed on caffeine and felt sick the rest of the day. But I think it was worth it.

Nasi Campur

Place: Warung Wardani

Location: Bali
Website:
Recommended by: manda
Summary: Although Indonesia is hot and humid, I love to eat spicy food there. And when I go to Bali, I always need to visit Warung Wardani for lunch. I'm not even sure what else they sell there, as I always order the nasi campur. It's a mix of everything - beef satay, fish satay, fried prawns, chicken, jackfruit, veggies, and of course some rice. They give a dollop of chili on the side, so you can keep it milder, but I like to just spread it all over and mix it all together. It is pretty spicy, that chili, so be warned! But the sweat and runny nose is worth it, to me. I'll be heading there in a few months, and my mouth can't wait! So definitely make a stop here if you're there. Beware, it may be busy!

N.Y. Italian sub sandwich, Thundercloud Subs

Place: Thundercloud Subs
Location: Austin, TX
Website: http://www.thundercloud.com/
Recommended by: danae
Summary: To be clear - I pretty much usually hate sandwiches. I find them dry, boring, and I hate how stuff falls out of them. And they usually get your hands dirty. However, on the flip side, some of my all-time favorite individual dishes have been sandwiches - and the N.Y. Italian sub sandwich at Thundercloud is one of those. Thundercloud subs are my all time favorite sub sandwich. Yes, better than Potbellys, in my opinion (but not by much... Potbellys is really yummy too!). For me, I think the key to the Thundercloud sub is the thunder sauce. I don't know what's in that thing... but it adds a kick of something that just makes the sandwich oh-so-tasty. The NY Italian is definitely my favorite - ever since having Blimpies in NY (another favorite), I've had a soft spot for sweet peppers.... mmmmmm! I do wish they had more bread choices, but I'm not complaining. This is one of the few sandwiches in my life that I have inhaled.

Tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen - akamaru

Place: Ippudo
Location: New York City, NYC
Website: http://www.ippudo.com/ny/
Recommended by: Eugene
Summary: Saying that Shigemi Kawahara (known as the "Ramen King") owns this place should be enough. That said I feel like this ramen falls short of its potential. The floury noodles were tasty but didn't seem like a good match for the broth. But the star, as always in really good ramen, is the broth. Tonkotsu broths almost never bad, but most are rather plain. Ippudo's broth has a subtle complexity to it. The chashu, although a minor point for me, was the best chashu I've ever had.

I'm not a big tonkotsu ramen fan, but this was totally worth the 3.5 hour journey.

Shio (salt) ramen

Place: Santouka Ramen
Location: San Jose / Costa Mesa
Website: http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenant/santouka/eindex.php
Recommended by: Eugene
Summary: It's been a while since I had Santouka, and honestly I've been slightly disappointed the past two visits, but it's still my favorite in the States (although not by much. More to come later). You get a broth with great depth, kansui noodles, and tender chashu.

Be warned that it is pretty salty. Ramen is supposed to be.

Brioche French Toast - Five Points

Place: Five Points
Location: New York City, NYC
Website: http://www.fivepointsrestaurant.com
Recommended by: danae
Summary: I'm not really a french toast person. I usually find it too soggy and/or eggy. However, the brioche french toast at Five Points was by far an exception. At the time I had it, they baked the french toast in a ceramic dish in a wood oven, so the tops and sides were crispy and crunchy - and that made ALL the difference! Top it off with the fact that they also serve churros and hot chocolate during brunch, this is one of my favorite brunch spots!