no profound thoughts or anything...but i thought this will bring some cheer!  i saw a sale ad from ralph lauren in my e-mail that sparked an interest....  haha...the pup is so ridiculously cute...yet....the prices on some of these things are absurd.  if you are paris hilton...you can afford a $63 puffer jacket for your pooch (on sale!).

is it me???  i swear the second yorkie looks like it's totally smirking b/c it's sporting a ralph polo-t.  $30-something bucks later...your pooch will smile like that! 

once a year several major metropolitan cities across the state participate in a dining event where the participating restaurants will offer prix fixe 3 course menus.  for an appetizer, entree and dessert, lunch varies between $15 and $22 and dinner at $25 or $34 is really a steal.  a few of my foodie colleagues/friends have tried out several restaurants for our 2-hour lunches and it has only gotten better. 

circa 55 at beverly hills hilton. 

for lunch:  the wild arugula salad with fennel, roasted garlic and marinated artichokes in balsamic vinaigrette was mediocre.  the kobe beef burger was dry and the salmon was fishy smelly.  eh.  the dessert, orange panna cotta or the flourless chocolate ganache cake was the best part of the meal.  overall quite disappointing and obviously i would not be going back!

simon la at sofitel. 

for lunch:  bluefin tuna tartar and eggplant cakes was delicious.  a kick of spice on the tuna tartar with a slice of jalepeno and topped with a dash of lemongrass oil.  for the entree, surf and turf tacos was nice, but nothing wowies.  and....dessert....super moist ny cheesecake with orange maramalde and a chocolate rum pudding that would go hand in hand with a glass of syrah.  the food was well-prepared, however cf slipped on the hardwood floors and ended up on her ass.  she sprained her ankle.    i told her to tell the hostess that she is okay if lunch was on the house.  

patina. 

3 hour lunches.  nice..but i'm paying for it this week.  anyways...oh well you live once.  i guess i'm not feeling in the mood to work these days.  so we started off with a beet salad with goat cheese cloud (foam) and goat cheese ball rolled in pistachio nuts.  yum!  beets are soooo good.  i seriously could have eaten three servings of this salad.  the entree was a nice and hearty merlot-braised lamb osso buco with saffron risotto.  soo soo good....and to finish it off....we had chef's selection of dessert.  mini-bite-size raspberry jelly, chocolate ganache, and some stuff i cannot pronounce.  anyways...totally recommend.

til next time....back to my research paper and reading...