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May, 2014 - DineDelish

May 2014

The Veggie Grill – All Hale Kale and the Fake Burger

by Franklin on May 27, 2014

Some days, you just have to treat your body good. As a food blogger, I eat some gut busting, heart unfriendly meals. Fried pork belly this, carbo-rich that, and anything fried, laden with butter, sugar, and Nutella is the name of the game for a food blogger. Sometimes, you have to treat your body right. The Veggie Grill offers some awesome vegetarian dishes as well as salads. The extra needed healthy foods really regenerated my digestion and rejuvenated my body. For a moment, I thought to myself that I can eat like this every day. Eating healthy is important indeed, and The Veggie Grill makes it a little easier to handle.

Kale has been a huge part of my healthy diet these days. Back in the day, it was only good for food decor, but now is considered a super healthy food. The All Hail Kale salad was wonderfully zesty and flavorful. It included marinated kale, quinoa, red cabbage slaw, corn salsa, and agave-roasted walnuts. I switched out the ginger papaya vinaigrette for the lemon vinaigrette. I am not a fan of sweet dressings at all. The lemon vinaigrette was fresh and the flavors popped. The bitter greens and the acidic flavors melded together to great a healthy dish.

For some, there is no substitution for beef. At The Veggie Grill, substitution is the only option. As a natural carnivore myself, eating the boca protein “beef” in the All-American Stack burger was a shocker. I know it wasn’t meat, but it really tasted like beef. If someone had to make a meat substitute to be the closest thing to meat, this would be it. It just had the consistency just right and flavor. Topped on this gorgeous burger, it really didn’t feel like it was missing anything. Topped with grilled veggie steak, pickles, lettuce, tomato, crispy onion rings, and thousand island dressing, the “burger” tasted quite like the real thing. With the addition of sweet potato fries, nothing was missing. I know having fried onion rings and fried sweet potato isn’t quite the healthy meal you were looking for, but come on. Compare that to a full on fatty beef patty, and this is quite healthy.

The Veggie Grill is probably my go to healthy joint. It has some great options for meat lovers like me. The salads are on point and always offers a fresh option for everyone. They even have protein style bowls and entree plates as well. This is indeed a perfect place for a vegetarian looking for some meat.

Veggie Grill on Urbanspoon

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Cake Mix – Duff Goldman Makes it Our Own

by Franklin on May 20, 2014

This event was an experience all on its own. Not only did I get to eat some wonderful cake, but I got to design my own as well. Once I entered Cake Mix, I was greeted with specialty cocktails. Red velvet cake martini? Yes please! Entering Cake Mix, I felt like I was inside Duff Goldman’s brain. The colors and the smells of the sweet treats was a sensory overload. As we stood around the gorgeous cakes, we got to try some of Duff’s new creations. Delicious as always.

We were then seated around already decorated cakes. We were then given materials to decorate our own cake. We rolled fondant, piped frosting, and sprinkled sprinkles. The winner, the best designed mini cake got to take the center cake home. I would like to state that this whole cake decorating business is hard business. I had a good concept (a macaron cake), but the execution was horrible. Nonethelss, I had a blast decorating the cake. I felt like a kid again.

Duff Goldman came around and judged our creations. I of course, did not win. After a trip to the photo booth, and a quick sticker placement on the cake, I was all ready to go home. Not of course without my swag bag filled with wonderful creations and eats. Twas indeed a sweet night.

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Kentro Greek Kitchen – Another Reason to Eat Greek

by Franklin on May 16, 2014


Greek food is often times overlooked. Everyone goes for Italian, or the all time classic burger, but Greek is always not given a second chance. On a recent trip to Kentro Greek Kitchen, I was surprised by the look and feel of the restaurant. The ordering system is similar to that of Panera Bread. You order first, get your number, then the food comes out. Despite this fast casual concept, the restaurant is elegant and classy all around. From the food and the staff, everything is top notch. Greek food was never overlooked again.


We started things off with the calamari saganaki. Typically a lover of fried calamari, I didn’t mind this one was not. Bathing in a perfect tomoato sauce, the calamari was succulent and tasty. It was cooked just right — soft as can be. The addition of the sharp tasting feta, it was a perfect match. The bread was hearty and a perfect blank slate for the saganaki. This was perfect to get things going.


The Manouri flatbread was probably my favorite. The flatbread had arugula, figs, oregano, attiki honey, and olive oil. The best part of this flatbread is the imported manouri cheese. Manouri, a by-product following the production of feta is a perfect ingredient for this dish. It was light and the flavors were very subtle and a hint of salty. Paired with the very sweet figs and attiki honey, the sweet and savory balance was perfect.


My go to item at Kentro is the lamb sandwich. It is cheap, and you get a hearty meal out of it. The lamb in the sandwich is soft and flavored heavily. The combination of the sweet peppers and bitter arugula make a nice contrast in flavors. The crusty bread soaks up all the ajus and makes for a nice, easy bite of everything in between. The Kentro fries are pretty spot on as well. Peppery and salty, it is a nice sidekick to the near perfect lamb sandwich.


Kentro in Downtown Fullerton is a great place to have Greek food. It is casual, the price is just right, and the decor inside is quite nice. From flatbreads to sandwiches, to pita wraps, they have it all and all of it tastes great. Whenever I am in Fullerton, Kentro is my go-to place.

Kentro Greek Kitchen on Urbanspoon

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KTOWN Night Market Recap

by Franklin on May 13, 2014

LOS ANGELES – On April 18th and 19th, the highly anticipated KTOWN Night Market welcomed an estimated 80,000 guests to the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools for its twoQday community festival. In partnership with the City of Los Angeles District 10, the free to enter event showcased over 100 multi ethnic food vendors, merchandise booths, art exhibits, carnival games, and live entertainment.

Both nights featured a food truck lineup curated by Seoul Sausage, which included two winners from Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race”—Grill ‘Em All and Lime Truck. The “Food Truck Alley” also included locally renowned trucks like Fluff Ice, India Jones, White Rabbit, East LA Tacos, Bowled & Beautiful, CoolHaus, Jogasaki Sushi Burrito, and Carb & Nation—the fanQvoted winner of the event’s Last Food Truck Facebook contest. The “Food Truck Alley” was so popular that most of the vendors had to cart in more food after selling out earlier than expected.

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Cole’s – French Dip with Pickles

by Franklin on May 10, 2014

There is an on going feud going on whether the French dip sandwich was born at Philippe’s or Cole’s. I can’t tell you where it started from — I wasn’t there, nor was I even born during that time. Legend says that someone ordered a beef sandwich, and the cook dropped the bread in the au jus. Ina hurry, the customer just took the sandwich as is, and thus, the French dips was born. I can’t tell you if that is true or not. What I can tell you is this. I prefer Philippe’s, hands down. If not for the tastier beef, for their hot mustard.

The French dip was tasty, but the beef was a bit bland and dry — definitely not as “wet” as Philippe’s. Albeit, your an dip your sandwich into the au jus, I personally rather just pickup and eat a wet me say sandwich. The pickles were pretty tasty and helped the sandwich immensely. All in all, it was a solid French Dip.

French Dip vs. French Dip, Philippe’s definitely takes it. As for other items, like the mac and cheese and garlic fries, Cole’s may have an edge. Let’s not forget about Cole’s awesome Bloody Mary’s and bar drinks. With that said, the two restaurants are completely different. You go to Philippe’s for the French dip and epic hot mustard. You go to Cole’s for everything else.

Cole's on Urbanspoon

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Society Cafe (Encore) – Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

by Franklin on May 5, 2014

Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve been to Vegas. Saving up for a wedding and paying off student loans isn’t something one should take lightly. As for me, my trips to Vegas have been somewhat not as frequent. Fortunately, I have my blog to remind me of the wonderful places I ate at. One my latest trip out, I visited the Encore and fell in love with the property. Before, I assumed it was exactly these me as the Wynn, but it was quieter and definitely more my style. For a nice brunch, I found Society Cafe. The menu and price was that of a cafe (affordable), but the inside decor was impressive and elegant.

We started off with Pretzel bread sticks with mustard butter. These were perfect as starters. The pretzel had a tough skin and a soft inside. The mustard butter was and is an amazing invention. Fatty butter mixed with the acidic mustard was a perfect condiment for the pretzels. The salty, soft, and mustardy treat was a nice start.

We came here for the ultimate steak and eggs sliders. Though we came at the cusp of breakfast ending and lunch starting, the chef graciously prepared this for us. The bacon cheddar muffin hosted filet mignon, scrambled eggs, and creamed spinach. This really was a treat. I was thinking the steak would be too tough for the delicate ingredients inside, causing everything to spill out. The eggs and spinach was such a nice combination, but the filet minion was soft as can be. It was a very elegant, yet comforting kind of breakfast sandwich.

The Mac N Cheese Bites were quite an indulgence. The Mac and cheese bite by themselves were quite perfect themselves — cheesy and crispy. The truffle dipping sauce just created an explosion of flavors and even more creaminess. This was addicting and probably the mot memorable thing at Society Cafe.

We ended things with the frosted flake french toast. Topped with caramelized bananas and whipped cream, this cinnamon heavy, buttery French toast was such a perfect ending. The little nuggets of frosted flakes created such a crunch. It soaked up all that butter and syrup — a perfect combination of sweet, crunchy, custardy goodness.

I liked Encore’s Society Cafe. The ambiance was nice a chic — it’s definitely an upscale breakfast/brunch dining experience. From the appetizer pretzel bread sticks to the comfort food made classy cuisine, this place has my vote. It doesn’t hurt that it’s at one of my favorite properties on the trip as well. Brunch didn’t get any better on the strip.

Cole's on Urbanspoon

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