Ice At Santa Monica

Not interested in visiting the mountains during the winter holiday season? Do you like to ice skate? ICE At Santa Monica is a premier outdoor ice skating rink located in Downtown Santa Monica, CA. It is also located a few blocks from the Third Street Promenade and roughly one mile from the Pier with many activities to do and restaurants to dine at.

There are other outdoor ice skating rinks to visit during this holiday season. For more info, visit this site.

Patina

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, home of the L.A. Philharmonic and Symphony. It was designed by Frank Gehry who built the concert hall with a modern decor. There are two options for dining at the Walt Disney Concert Hall: Patina and Concert Hall Cafe.

Side note: I had a $50 birthday coupon to dine at Patina as December is/was my birthday month. Guests can choose between a three course meal or a seven course meal. I chose the three course meal. Each course is "petite", but a three course meal was sufficient for me. I made reservations for "Table For One", but I plan to return again, hopefully with another guest who is willing to spend money for at a fine dining restaurant.

Patina is a very elegant, upscale French restaurant, founded by Joachim Splichal in 1989. Patina was originally located in Hollywood, CA. Then it moved to Downtown Los Angeles where it is now located the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Patina Bar

Dinner Roll in a napkin beautifully made into a "flower"

Amuse Bousche - yogurt with kumquat

Sweetbread with cauliflower, fried capers, toasted pinenuts, and brown butter sayabon

Milk fed Porcelet - with crispy belly, mustard, medjool date, trotter and fuji apple

Apple Strudel (or apple pie) with crispy apple slices, and fennel ice ceam

(I can't remember the other items  that were mentioned to me and the menu description was very vague). 

Complimentary dessert after the dessert

Complimentary Birthday Box of Chocolates

Mac And Cheese Smackdown 2016

Time Out Los Angeles is an online ultimate guide to explore all that Los Angeles has to offer and now recently a magazine that comes out every three months. Time Out Los Angeles hosted a Mac and Cheese Smackdown, a popular food event, for the second year in Downtown Los Angeles where participating local restaurants battle it out with this cheesy classic. Dark Horse Wine, Angel City Brewery, and Rekorderlig Cider offer beverages for the guests.

Congratulations to BOA Steakhouse for winning the best dish at the Mac and Cheese Smackdown!

Max City BBQ

The Hudson

Pop Champagne Bar & Restaurant

Rekorderlig Cider - Strawberry Lime

Rekorderlig Cider - Wild Berry

Little Pine Restaurant

BOA Steakhouse - Santa Monica, CA

Creme Caramel LA - They did not participate in the Mac and Cheese Smackdown, but offered delicious desserts!

Trencher

GC Martketplace - GC didn't participate in the Smackdown, but offered a delicious tasting

Comfort LA

The Brass Lamp Bar

I recently went to Romeo Chocolates kickstarter (kickstarter link) event party. At the event, I won a raffle drawing for a gift basket that included a gift certificate to The Brass Lamp located in the heart of Downtown Long Beach, CA.

The Brass Lamp is a book bar and lounge. It also started off as a kickstarter project one year ago. This is a great location for study groups, book clubs, meetings, or to hang out with friends. There are also plenty of different events happening here which includes live music, open mic, and Wine & Cheese Tastings. Just make sure you check their calendar for event schedule.

Hazelnut Latte with Hazelnut and Caramel

The Brassmelt

Romeo Chocolates

Are you a chocolate lover? Are you someone who loves to support small businesses? Romeo Chocolates has a fundraiser kickstarter project to open up a brand new chocolate boutique store in Long Beach, CA to which will have a Grand Opening near the end of January 2016 or beginning of February 2017 located at 460 Pine Avenue. In the meantime, Romeo has several pop-up events for those who wish to sample various chocolate creations made by Romeo! You can also order online through the website or from local retail partners.

Romeo is his real name. He discovered his passion as a Chocolatier when he enrolled in some workshops making chocolate. He then travelled to Belgium to learn from Master Chocolatiers and the about the profession. Through his learning experience and journey, he wanted to become a Chocolatier.

With the help of his friends and family, he will be opening a chocolate boutique store, but he needs your support! Please contribute on his kickstarter project. No amount is too big or too small, but you get "rewarded" by donating a certain dollar amount. Please visit the kickstarter project to see more info.

The Poke Shack

The Poke Shack was started in Venice Beach, CA by two brothers in 2014. One of the brothers was into real estate and architecture and started The Poke Shack in Los Angeles, CA. 

One Poke bowl comes in two sizes: "Lil Daddy" (small) or "Big Daddy" (large). They are build your own bowls in a similar fashion as Subway. Choose your protein Ahi Tuna or Salmon with choices of toppings, sauces and base of brown rice, white rice, seaweed salad (extra charge) or organic kale (extra charge). However, the protein is raw yet fresh.

The Dog Cafe L.A.

Do you love dogs? Want to hang out and play with dogs while drinking a cup of tea, coffee or flavored lemonade? The Dog Cafe will become your new favorite hang out spot in Los Angeles, CA. What if you fall in love with a dog and want to take him or her home with you? Great news is that all dogs here are rescues and are adoptable. Dogs here are rescued from local high kill shelters and everyone of all sizes get along well here which makes each dog perfect for an existing dog, who may be bigger or smaller, already living at home.

Perhaps you cannot adopt and own a dog for a variety of reasons. The Dog Cafe is a great place for those who just simply want to hang out with a few pups for an hour.

While walk-ins are welcome, space is limited and reservations are strongly recommended. There is a fee of $10 which is good for one person with a one hour time limit.