Sushi Nozomi: An unexpected surprise

As my regular readers are aware, I eat a lot of sushi; I am pretty picky about the sushi I eat and there are only two people (Song and Alex) that I go to when I want it. Unfortunately, neither of my friends is currently available so I was prepared to abstain for a while. Tanya, on the other hand was not. Tanya is an interesting case because she only recently started eating sushi and she was only familiar with Song’s fusion style of preparation. Since we knew Song was selling his business, Tanya had been talking about visiting a …

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Some of our favorite places to eat

I was going through some photos I have taken over the last nine days and decided that since I had not put them online yet, I would take the opportunity to talk about three locations Tanya and I visit on a pretty regular basis; and always have a good time. These locations are Beachwood BBQ & Brewing in Long Beach; Abigaile Restaurant in Hermosa Beach and Benihana Restaurant in Torrance. The first batch of photos are from Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, a brewpub in Long Beach that specializes in barbecue style foods. As you might imagine, because it is the …

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Schooner at Sunset, Sunset Beach

These photos were taken Saturday at a new gastropub, Schooner at Sunset, which is located at 16821 Pacific Coast Highway, Sunset Beach, CA. For those not sure where Sunset Beach is, it is the very north end of Huntington Beach, just south of Seal Beach. Your car’s GPS is most likely going to call it Huntington Beach, so don’t worry, it is all the same place. To be honest, I am not really in the habit of going down there unless I am taking a weekend motorcycle ride down the coast. The fact of the matter is, when I initially …

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The Rockefeller Gastropub, Hermosa Beach

Last month, during American Craft Beer Week (ACBW), I accidentally discovered The Rockefeller Gastropub on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach. I will never forget our first visit there. It was day six of ACBW and it was my goal to find as many American craft beers that I had never tried before as possible. The fact that I was able to come up with 12 new brews at that point of our adventure truly said something about the quality of the brews they pour. As Colleen, the manager, said, “We try to keep a good turnaround of quality brews.” They …

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Matsuyama Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar Grand Opening!

The residents of Orange County, Westminster to be specific, have a new sushi restaurant in town, Matsuyama Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar. I am here to tell you that if you are a fan of great sushi, you do not want to hesitate checking it out. I promise you, you have never had a sushi experience like this. In my youth I looked forward to things like Christmas and getting my driver’s license. As I got older, things like tax refunds and stock dividend checks were anticipated anxiously; they all pale in comparison to how much I was looking forward …

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Rock and Brews, El Segundo

A couple of weeks ago, my buddy Phil told me about a new restaurant in El Segundo that had 50 beers on tap, so it did not take much convincing to get me to head over to Rock & Brews last Saturday to check it out. Rock & Brews is partially owned by Gene Simmons, so it was a safe bet that with the combination of rock and roll and 50 beers on tap this was going to be a pleasurable experience. The weather was so-so, but we wanted to go for a bike ride and I figured it would …

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China Tea House Torrance

I enjoy being introduced to restaurants I have never tried and I really like Chinese food, so when we were invited to join some friends at the China Tea House in Torrance I was quite eager to try it out. Besides, free dinner is always good. I was told that the place always had Chinese people dining there, so it had to be authentic. When we arrived there were not many people there and the only Asian that was not an employee or in our group was getting something to go. It was early, so I was not going to …

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Thirsty Bear: Tapas and craft beer

A couple weeks ago I went up to San Francisco to attend Ad Tech and the Marketers Ball. As I only went up for the day, I did not have a room to go to while killing time between the two events; I had a parking spot and there was no sense moving, so I called Tanya and had her do a search for a micro brewery that might be within walking distance. After a few minutes she came up with the Thirsty Bear, which happened to be just a couple of blocks away from where I was at the …

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A touch of Germany at the Alpine Inn in Torrance

This review is of the Alpine Inn at Alpine Village in Torrance, CA. A couple of weeks ago, Tanya and I had lunch at the Alpine Inn during a networking event with the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce. We were impressed enough with the lunch that we figured we would have to make a return visit. As we were exiting I noticed a large chalkboard with numerous micro-brewery beers on tap listed. An Oatmeal Stout caught my eye, and I knew we would return. As it turns out, it was sooner than expected as we returned this past Sunday. I …

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Big Itzik Grill, Encino

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend and I were invited to experience an authentic Israeli meal. Since our host is Israeli, when he told me it was the real deal, I really had no reason to doubt him. After all, he wanted us to experience what a true Israeli meal was like, and if this was the best example he knew of in the Los Angeles area, I was game. We were not disappointed. We met him at Big Itzik Grill, which is located in a strip mall on Ventura Blvd, in Encino. I have to say, I am beginning …

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