Ice Cream Lab

Ice cream is one of my guilty pleasures. I always try to stay away but I have some great excuses. Such as it’s summer in LA and hot. I mean, I thought it was a good excuse…

I heard of liquid nitrogen ice cream first through a webcast and was instantly interested in finding a place to try it.

I thought I’d have to wait until my travel to San Francisco where the home of the nitrogen ice cream, Smitten, lies but luckily I found something a bit closer to home.

Ice-Cream Lab in Beverly Hills is the first scoop to order shop in Los Angeles. Almost like a factory; milk, cream and sugar are transformed in seconds to a smooth and creamy concoction.

As you watch your ice cream develop behind the fog, your mouth may start to water in wait for your creation to be finished. I watched like a little kid in a candy shop as they made mine, it was such a fun process. 

I’m a big raspberry fan (I always steal handfuls of them from my grandparent’s garden) so I ordered their raspberry swirl loaded with fresh raspberries, vanilla bean ice cream and white chocolate drizzled topping. 

Andrew tried their Salt Lick Crunch with organic vanilla ice cream mixed with pretzels, caramel, and sea salt. It was a perfect combination of flavors. 

Jon tried their Banilla with fresh diced banana, nilla wafers and caramel. 

At Ice Cream Lab, everything is created right in front of you. As a plus, there’s no additives, preservatives, or chemicals. If you have an itch you can’t scratch for a frozen treat, Ice Cream Labs is the perfect place to get your fix. Ice Cream Labs is located at 9461 S Santa Monica Blvd. and if you’re going for a double whammy of sweets you can always walk down to the Sprinkles atm. (Which we of course did…shh)

Don’t forget to find me on BLOGLOVIN/ TWITTER / INSTAGRAM  / TUMBLR

First Fridays in Venice

On the first Friday of each month, food truck lovers flock to the streets of Venice.

Countless food trucks line the streets awaiting hungry bellies and open mouths.

Be warned, you will be parking a bit further than you think. Get there early and get ready to fight a bit of a crowd.

As we walked along the streets the first truck that caught my eye was the B Sweet truck. I didn’t think it was humanly possible to have such deliciousness come from a truck but I was proved wrong, very wrong. I’m hoping I don’t come across this truck for a while or I’ll be needing to do a lot more hiking.

Since I moved to LA I’ve been in search for a cronut imposter and they had them!

Bad news bears: They were sold out 😦

BUT just look at their plethora of bread pudding flavors…

Starting with dessert, we ordered their glazed bread pudding.

It came out ooey, gooey and warm. The bread pudding is made with glazed bar donuts and topped with melty cream cheese frosting.

It was…heaven. Just so good.

And if you don’t believe me… just look at Jon, he seemed to be enjoying it. (He may also have a slight bread pudding obsession but hey, it could be worse.)

We weren’t done yet…Next came the tornado potato. I kept seeing people roaming the streets with twisted potatoes and had to have one. Wouldn’t you?

We ordered their original truffle oil twisted potato.

And then we saw the VCHO truck selling mexican cokes.

There’s a myth that Mexican coke tastes more natural and has more complex flavor than American coke.

Maybe it was just the really cool big glass coke bottle but…

We enjoyed it.

After we were refreshed, it was off to fill our bellies with more food of course. 

The Bun Truck is a gourmet food truck serving Korean-Mediterranean fusion. They are known for their Korean BBQ gyros and steamed buns. (But I heard their duck fat fries are delish)

I ordered the Katsu Bun with deep fried pork, cucumbers, cilantro and sweet & spicy sauce.

The buns come out soft and steamy. The Katsu had a nice combination of flavor and texture. It was very spicy, I could definitely smell the flowers after. 

After we were a bread pudding, potato tornado and Katsu bun in there was just one more thing left: Dessert.

We hadn’t been eating that all night or anything…

We ordered the original churros calientes. Just like fried dough in a stick.
I may have been in a small food coma by the end of the night. At least I have just about a month to recover. See you all at First Fridays on Abbott Kinney in August! xx

Find me on TWITTER / INSTAGRAM  / TUMBLR

Lemonade LA

I’m a huge lemonade fan. If it’s tart and sour you’ve won me over.

Luckily, I knew of the mother of all lemonade places: Lemonade. Difficult name, right?

Oh, and they have sunflowers so that gave them extra brownie points in my book.

I guess you could describe their food as Southern comfort with a modern twist.

Lemonade is one of the rare places that is delicious and affordable…and actually pretty healthy. Foodies rejoice!

Lemonade is set up like a cute cafeteria. You can pick as many items as your heart desires to put on your plate. The prices are based off of the amount of proportions you choose and each portion is about $2.50. Not bad, not bad at all.

Oh and a little secret? You can do half portions so…for say 3 portions, you can try 6 items.

I ordered their passionfruit pepper lemonade and my lips puckered immediately. If a lemonade can make me pucker my lips, it gets a gold star.

The blood orange lemonade was also good, sweet and flowing of juices.

Sharing plates is a great idea because the portions are actually pretty big and then you get to try even more (more to try! that’s usually how my mind works).

Portions from left to right:

Pineapple chicken, green beans, coconut, apple jerk dressing

New Mexican chili roasted butternut squash, white corn

Soba noodle, kimchi marinated vegetables, toasted peanuts

Brussels sprouts, red flame grapes, pistachio, parmesan

It was a bit of a mix of diverse dishes but each dish was full of flavor and the ingredients mingled perfectly together.

And of course when you’re going down the line…you notice the desserts. I had to get their lemonade cake. It was worth the bit of indulgence. Lemonade has a ton of different locations around LA. This one was in Venice located at 1661 Abbot Kinney Boulevard. It’s a great place to grab a quick on-the-go meal and of course, a refreshing lemonade on a hot California day.

Pucker up!

Find me on TWITTER / INSTAGRAM  / TUMBLR

Juicebox Truck LA

Juicebox is LA’s first mobile juice company.

They’ve been serving all over LA from the Rose Bowl to the Voice season finale.

I stepped in line and couldn’t wait to get my juice squeezed. (HA) jk.

They have a bunch of different mixes. Their mixes include totally interesting flavor combinations and when they’re put together become a delicious, refreshing juice. 

Jon got the beach box. 

I ordered their special called the basil box over on Abbot Kinney. It includes basil, cucumber, apple & lime juice. I loved it, it was tart and flavorful. My favorite.

The only thing that could make it better? If it came in an actual juice box. I just think that would be pretty awesome. If you’re reading this Juicebox, take note.

You can load up on enzymes and their vibrant juices almost any day of the week. Find their location of the day here.

Happy Sipping!

Find me on TWITTER / INSTAGRAM  / TUMBLR