PATH: A night that'll make the Italians jealous.

PATH stands for People Assisting the Homeless, and once a month I organize a group of volunteers to cook and serve the residents and staff. There are three PATH locations: W. LA, Hollywood, and Silverlake. I’m at the Silverlake because it’s the headquarter, offering the most beds –99, and the most convenient.

I learned of the organization through Pacific Crossroads that supports the ministry Hope for LA in which individuals organize volunteers to serve their community. Since the church started a DTLA service, I thought it just made sense to start one at Silverlake PATH. We started in back of March and it’s only til now that I managed to take some photos of the amazing food we’ve been making. Dinner was lasagna from scratch, and when I mean scratch I’m talking about the lasagna sheets, Caesar salad (dressing from scratch), French garlic bread, and tiramisu mousse.

Pre-shopping days I’m researching for recipes, calculating the amount for 80 people (less people at the shelter on the weekend, still not an easy job and I hate math!). For the most part I’ll do the shopping the day of…but since there was a BBQ party the night before…I was hoping to buy most of the food beforehand. Had to beg my boss to let me go to Restaurant Depot to leave work early just to find out that they close at 5PM on the weekdays. Great. Nonetheless managed to drop two carts of items off at PATH the day before. The day of I’m usually running around like a chicken with its head cut off, driving all around town, shopping, hauling the food and my entire kitchen since it’s not fully stocked up with the gears.

I am so thankful for Selena and Ronnie for showing up an hour before the other volunteers arrive. I’ll admit there were a few moments where I thought I was crazy for making the lasagna sheets from scratch…I even bought no-boil dry sheets just in case, but luckily Ronnie was a chef and comfortable making pasta from scratch.

I found the pasta recipe from Smitten Kitchen adapted from Gourmet Magazine. I was expecting Ronnie to make the pasta sheet with the food processor but he was, “no, I just use my hands.” Ok…Mr. Professional! Phew!

For the rest of the lasagna, I used Giada De Laurentis’ Classic Italian Lasagna’s receipe from the Food Network. I know, I’m crazy, especially when we’re cooking for 80…but hey, I love food, and I can’t serve food that I won’t eat. I just have two main rules: 1) try to make everything from scratch with fresh ingredients and 2) stay away from high fructose corn syrup. I think the apricot jam for the apricot glazed ham (April’s menu –did an Easter theme) was the only thing that had h.f.c.s. Oh yeah, ketchup when we made meat loaf in May…

While Ronnie worked on the pasta sheets, Selena’s duty was the pasta sauce, which was another concern since the receipe said the sauce needed to cook for an hour…we had 3.5 hours to cook before we serve.

May showed up and gave her the responsibility to make the becamel sauce. We were concerned that the sauce wasn’t thickening in the one pot so we split it into two pots to speed up the boil time.

Note to everyone, don’t use the thin metal pot when making the sauce. It didn't heat the sauce fast enough yet at the same time burned the bottom. We had to toss one batch, because you take the metal burn. Yuck. The nutmeg was a nice touch to the sauce.

Emme and her sister Lisa, who was also in the restaurant biz showed up. They made the ricotta/spinach part. I used fresh spinach instead since there were a few comments on excess water from the frozen spinach, and plus, it’s better to use fresh!

They also made the Caesar salad (with no croutons since we’re already having French garlic bread). The dressing was taken from Smitten Kitchen as well. Can you tell I love Smitten Kitchen? My friend Sharon turned me on to that site. I used shaved Asiago cheese. I remembered the first time we made the Caesar salad a few residents were in awe of the cheese. Nothing better than sharing your love of food with others!

Natalie’s responsibility was the meat. I love that Silverlake PATH has a griddle! The W. LA location has a much smaller kitchen with only one oven, no griddle but then again they house 1/3 of Silverlake’s. A number of people have complained that Giada’s lasagna was bland so I added Italian sausage, garlic, and onion to the meat. It was delicious.

Alas all the ingredients were done and on to the assemble part! Here’s Ronnie getting silly, tossing the dough up like he’s making pizza…think I missed the dough in air in the shot…

We were going to start the pan with the sheet but then Lisa added common sense into the mix and made us realized it’ll be burned…so I think the layer went like this: tomato sauce, sheet, becamel sauce, sheet, tomato sauce, meat, sheet, ricotta/spinach, sheet, and mozzarella, garnished with chives and parmesan. Gorgeous!


We made about five pans of meat lasagana, and a smaller pan with no meat –we just replaced the meat with spinach. It was effing good! Granted dinner was served a half an hour later but the wait is worth it.

But we’re not done here…while everyone was making the lasagna, my cousin was working on the tiramisu mousse—receipe taken from Bon Appetit by Kriss Harvey. A volunteer wanted to make tiramisu but for fear that we wouldn’ t have enough time to chill –I made tiramisu before and it was still soupy after being in the fridge for 4 hours but then again I’m much better at eating than cooking/baking. Plus, I didn’t think we had enough spring-foam pans and didn’t really want to do the math on the amount of food since the pans might have been in different sizes. Note to self, no round desserts unless they are served in cups.

Natalie joined in when she finished the lasagna meat. They did an amazing job!

Last but not least the French garlic bread. Since Matt came late (he was coming from Malibu!) I gave him the hardest task. The receipe is from 101 cookbooks, “My Dad’s Garlic Bread.”

A few volunteers thought we went crazy with the garlic, so we were forced to remove some of the garlic. It gets pretty messy in the kitchen..

Matt almost burned the place down…since both ovens were being used for the lasagna, we took the bread to the lower level where used the family’s stove. The pan was too big to fit in the conventional stove so we thought it was smart to put it on the rack. He dropped the heavily oiled & buttered bread..and smoke just started coming out…oops. Luckily one of the staff was there….

Dinner was served at 630. Once we finished serving the residents and staff we join in on the meal and converse. Everyone was not going to miss this meal! Making the impossible possible! Amazing! Thank God!

If you’re interested in cooking and serving at PATH, feel free to email me at servepathsilverlake@yahoo.com.

Please Don't Tell...

My mom that I was binge drinking in NYC, after all it’s the city that never sleeps. Please Don’t Tell or better known as PDT is one of New York’s popular speakeasy bars.

Speakeasy bars are bars that don’t have a sign and a bit of pain to get in for those who are not familiar with them. The famous Milk & Honey was my first introduction to speak easy bars. I had to research the hell out to find the phone number of the joint to make reservation, but having a drink made by Joseph Schwartz is so worth the trouble (apparently reservation procedures have changed at M&H).

PDT’s phone number was much easier to locate but getting through is another story. The phone line opens up at 3PM, and you can only make the same day reservation. Noticed that “line” is not plural because there’s no call waiting. You can risk showing up early and hoping that there’s a table open (no standing allowed) but being the planner I am, I noted to call them in my calendar, and when the time came I told my cousin to call as well, so we would have a better chance getting in. After ten minutes after 3, redialing for the millionth time, my cousin managed to get through. Thank God. What a girl needs to do to get her drinks on…

PDT is located in the “secret” room of Crif Dogs in the East Village. You must make a phone call in the booth, and once you are confirmed the wall/door opens up for you to enter PDT. I love it! It’s the perfect bar to hide away!

The bar is cozy; the perfect date place because it’s intimate, and they keep the music at a reasonable volume. I think it has ten tables or less..? They only have two big tables. We were a party of 7.

My choice of booze is very limited…so I passed on their drink list and told our waiter to have the mixologist to make me something with vodka and sweet. He came back with this…

I forgot what the drink was…it’s either a gin cosmo or a vodka old fashion… Note to self: write the drink’s name before sipping…My second drink was some vodka/pineapple concotion.

They also serve food from Crif Dogs. I had to order their tator tots.

The tots certainly helped soak in the alcohol…now are they really special? Honestly tots are tots to me but all the cheese and toppings made it more “special.” Now for their waffle fries w/ cheese dip? I prefer Chick-fil-A’s waffle fries.

Crif Dogs’ hot dog was not bad.

Bar rules are posted in the bathroom:

From what I remembered, Milk & Honey’s bar rules were more entertaining..

Although I enjoyed the atmosphere, I was disappointed with the drinks. At $15 a pop, I was hoping the mixologist would be more adverterous with my drinks. I was giving his time to shine and he failed! Our bill was over $200 (one person didn’t drank alcohol and a couple had beers). Drinks are not cheap here! Nevertheless, it was a neat experience.


Address: 113 St. Marks Place, NY, NY 10009
Phone: (212) 614-0386

Shake Shack

The first time I saw a Shake Shack was a few years back near Union Square, and I thought to myself there is no way in hell I'm waiting in that long ass line. The line was ten times longer than for a Pink's hotdog. For those who are not familiar to Shake Shack, it is the "In-N-Out" of NYC. They are also famous for their milkshakes.

As I was coming out of the 86th subway stop, heading to the Met Museum to check out the Alexander McQueen exhibit, it stopped drizzling, the clouds disappeared, the sun came out, and the angels sung, "Shake Shack." Ok, not really but when I saw the line was short I felt the angels were looking after me.

I went for a basic cheeseburger to compare it with the Angeleno’s favorite In-N-Out’s, and their talk about cheese fries. The wait time after you order your food is about the same as In-N-Out. Cost was a few bucks more. Seating more modern.

I’ll admit it, I got giddy when I saw my burger. You don’t need to take a bite to know it’s good, and it was damn good.

The patty was thicker and jucier. Yes, Shake Shake’s burger is better than In-N-Out’s…

Now their cheese fries…

were disappointing. Think Velveeta…which is not necessary a bad thing but I was hoping for more of a distinguish taste. The next time around I’ll know to order a milkshake instead, and of course, a cheeseburger.

Address: 154 E 86th St, New York, NY 10128
Phone: (646) 237-5035

La Casa Del Tikinxic

A popular dish on the Isla de Mujeres I kept reading about was the Tikinxic, the famous grilled fish seasoned with achiote, and at Playa Lancheros Restaurant was place to be. The restaurant is located on Playa Lancheros on the South End Bahia. You can take a taxi, a cart, bike it, or walk to there from the hotel zone in about 30-40 minutes. The restaurant’s name has been changed to La Casa Del Tikinxic.

You should go there around noon, order the dish and hang out at the beach because it takes about 40 minutes for them to serve it. The ocean in December was too cold for me so I chillax at the table with my daiquiri admiring the view.

It would have been better if there were more hot men but it’s the holidays so you mostly have families or hippo size tourists. If you’re sitting outside by the palm trees beware of the coconuts. The table next to me said one fell on them the other day.

The rough part of traveling solo in Mexico is the food quantity. Grande. There’s no half order of the Tikinxic. You have to order the entire fish….



The tikinxic was not bad. They grilled it for more than half an hour, so I was hoping it to be more flavorful. I know what you're thinking, looking at my drink, you're thinking that I might have been smashed. My daiquiri was weak so there was nothing wrong with my taste buds. I guess I was expecting more unique flavors since I was out the States. Nonetheless the dish was inexpensive. My total came out to $110MX not including tip.

Still, if you haven’t had the Tikinxic definitely try it, but bring a companion or a stranger so you can try something else.

The menu:


Address: South End Bahia, Isla Mujeres, Mexico
Phone#: +52 99 88 77 03 40

La Lomita

I am dusting my site, and starting to write...thanks to Miss Janet. Blogging is so hard to do when you have a full-time job, especially when your blog has absolutely nothing to do with your work. I am amazed by other writers who can do write-a-thons like the Minty who works full-time and Banana Wonder who's a full-time student; they both eat like Takeru Kobayashi, and write faster than I can eat.
Where to pick up from where I left off...? I guess I'll start from La Lomita and work my way back and in between write more current dining experience just to confuse both of us. Thus this entry is dated December 24th. No it's not Christmas Eve now but I was there on that date. That's the thing about food. I can't remember what I did on a given day, but if I can remember what I ate, the puzzles start to come together.

Every 2-3 three years, I go out of the States. Why every 2-3 years? Unlike most companies that give two weeks off, I must not take a vacation in one year to accumulate enough vacation days to make an int'l trip worthy because I'm not getting on a plane for 16 hours one-way for just 5 days. I remembered one year we had to decide if we wanted to take Christmas Eve off or New Years Eve...

Christmas Eve was my last night on the Isla de Mujeres. Isla de Mujeres or the Island of Women is a 30-minute boat ride from Cancun. I had made a ridiculous 10-page itinerary of all the things I must see and eat, and La Lomita was one of them. La Lomita is not the ideal Christmas Eve meal but due to time, it worked and did not disappoint me at all. It’s located on Avenue Juarez about a 5-7 minute walk from the hotel zone. There's no number for the address because the island is pretty damn small. It’s a typical eatery in Mexico: simple.

La Lomita is famous for their chili rellenos.

It’s served with a black bean soup and rice. They had a special Christmas Eve dinner but I was on a mission for their chili rellenos. Would it be better than La Casita’s chili rellenos? Yes, it was. Granted La Lomita’s chili rellenos are different from La Casita’s…it’s fried and the pepper is inside the dish…but what made it tasted better was the gooey cheese!

Comfort food, you’ve got to love them. It wasn’t soggy from being deep fried, but definitely filling and hit the right spot from walking on the island all day. I can’t seem to find the receipt but La Lomita is fairly inexpensive and perfect if you’re looking for authentic Mexican dishes. I heard their mole is die for. I would if I had room. I’m not a bean person so their black bean soup tasted like a black bean soup.

The one ingredient that was missing from my meal was a mojito. They offer beer and sodas.
The mosquitoes in Mexico ate more meals off of me, but I think it’s just because they know who eats good food. A Christmas Eve dinner to remember!

Address: Avenue Juarez, Isla Mujeres (Cross Street: Centro)
Hours: 9AM-11:30PM Mon-Sat (d/c)

Mango Cafe

I have been seriously eating like a hippo. I guess if you’re not consuming 5,000 calories a day you’re not really having a vacation, right? To off set calories I decided to walk to Mango Café. I took the scenic route, waking around the cliff,…behind people’s back yard. I was waiting for someone to call the police but apparently a local informed I that it’s open to the public…weird but neat. Here’s a cool house I came across:

They are really living in a seashell by the seashore. I wonder if the owner’s name is Sally… anyway the scenic route took me about an hour to walk to Mango Café from the Hotel Zone. Mango Café is famous for their French toast. I’ve been informed that their dinner is great but everyone is talking about their French toast. Their French toast takes two hours to make. Well, it took me less than two hours to get there, arrived around 10AM on a Friday, and they were SOLD OUT. Damn. I thought if I shed some tears of coming all the way Isla de Mujeres would help but it didn’t. Damn. The story of my life…

Mango Café is a cute, cozy restaurant. It was mostly Americans dining. The best part of traveling solo is that you are forced to talk to strangers…or not. I was conversing with an American and she was ranting about how her siblings didn’t want to travel outside the States yet at the time all she wanted to do on the Isla de Mujeres was to lie on a beach and tan…ironic.

Menu is located on the board:

They forgot to 86 the French toast…talk about a buzz kill. Well since it was brunch I went for the shrimp Benedict…minus the shrimp.

The Hollandaise sauce was a bit off but it wasn’t bad. It certainly filled me up. I definitely appreciate that they charged me less since I told them that I was allergic to crustacean.—that’s VERY RARE. They charged me $80MEX instead of $100MEX.

I guess I’ll have to come back to try their French toast…

Address: Colonia Meteorologico | Across from Guadlupe Church, Isla Mujeres 77400, Mexico
Phone#: 011.52.1.998.230.8489

La Taquiza No. 2

On Memorial Day my neighbor, Carlos and I decided to grab lunch at La Taquiza No 2. No 1 is in South Gate by Downey. For a change No 2 is more popular than No 1 but that’s just because it’s near USC where students can grab good, cheap Mexican food. By the way, they're starting their delivery service soon. I figured I could grab good Mexican food and check out my church’s new DT service location.

La Taquiza is home of the Mulitas. Mulitas is basically like a sandwich but with corn tortillas instead of bread. I found out after I check into Foursquare (if it’s your first visit there, you get a free mulita…a good reason to check in first and not when you’re finishing your meal)…even though it says it on the building. I’m really bad with foreign words…I have a tendency to read only what I know, and tacos are what I know and that’s what we ordered. They have a pretty extensive menu.

You order at the counter, and they call out the items when they’re done.

As you wait, you can mosey over to the salsa/toppings bar and grab some marinated vegetables and salsas. No limes, only lemons.

The chips and guacamole were the first to come out. Their guacamole could use more salt but I was pleased that it had enough lemon juice. Chips are slightly greasy—nothing special.

Then the carne asada, al pastor and pollo tacos came out.

The carne asada was dry. It was probably the worst one out of all the tacos we ate.

The al pastor was good—flavorful and not dry. This was my 2nd favorite taco.

The pollo was our favorite. It was juicy and had a nice smoky flavor to it. The next time I’m coming here, I’m just going to get pollo , well maybe the al pastor too.

The chorizo was interesting. The texture was a bit crunchy. Carlos hated it. I wasn’t expecting to look like this…

The short ribs…well let’s just say the Koreans can do Mexican but Mexican’t do Koreans.

Our last taco, the Ensenada fish was ok. They battered heavily but the filet was soft and meaty.

Carlos and I were stuffed but how could we refuse free food? We went with pollo for the mulita. It was pretty tasty but it’s just like a quesadilla…

Yum!

The next time I’m here, I’m going to get an al pastor taco and a pollo mulita.

Address: 3009 S Figueroa St, LA, CA 90007
Phone#: (213) 741-9795
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