FIG restaurant - Santa Monica,California

The Fig restaurant motto is "ingredients first." Located in the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, the bistro certainly lives up to its motto. Since our hotel package came with breakfast, we ate their every morning. 

Fig restaurant head chef Ray Garcia coming back from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market with food for that day's menu. 

According to their website, their "menu is built around what is grown in season" which they buy from local farmers. We know this is true because we ran into Fig's head chef Ray Garcia at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. Ray is one cool chef who was very eager to tell us about his restaurant.

Over the course of several days, we tried a few breakfast entrées (see below). It was cool that Fig made some of it's own products such as butter and syrup.

Scrambled eggs (the best we've ever tasted!), sausage, herbed potatoes and roasted tomato 

Fig makes some of it very own maple syrup and butter.

We loved these potatoes so much we asked the waiter how they were made He said they were baked with fresh oregano and garlic, and the onions are sautéed.

Toasted bread came served wrapped in a napkin. 

Lemon ricotta pancakes with blueberry, almond butter, and syrup. My mom said it was the best pancake she had ever eaten.

Fig's homemade granola with fresh yogurt and strawberries.  

                                                                  

                                                         Charles eating the American Breakfest.

Fresh squeezed orange, grapefruit and cranberry juices served in these cool bottles. 

Grilled asparagus as a side dish

There was nothing we ate that didn't have the most fresh and pure taste.  Also, it was presented in fun and simple ways like the toasted bread served in a napkin.

We also ate dinner at Fig once during their “Fig at Five” special where everything on the menu including drinks is half priced if you order it before 6 o’clock. We don’t have dinner pictures to show you because we ate with friends and just enjoyed our meals.  But we can say that the food was just as good at dinner....and our parents loved the half priced value.

The restaurant got it's name from the historic fig tree that stands at the entrance to the hotel. Can you see how big the tree is compared to us standing at the tree base?

Overall, FIG restaurant was an adventure in itself. The restaurant space was very open, airy and comfortable especially the seating area overlooking the pool with ceiling to floor windows. And the food....was absolutely fantastic!!!!!!  We looked forward to getting up and going to the restaurant every morning.

Charles gets a surprise for his 15th birthday

Charles celebrated his 15th birthday while we were on a family vacation in Los Angeles, California recently.

We had many Cali food adventures that we'll share with you.  But the highlight of our trip was .......

The hotel we were staying at - The Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica - found out it was Charles's birthday and surprised him with a chocolate cake delivered to our room.  The cake was presented on a platter that had "Happy Birthday Charles" written in chocolate!!!!

Moist chocolate cake layered with strawberry and chocolate
 filling covered in a rich chocolate ganache (chocolate & cream glaze) 

This is definitely the best chocolate cake we've EVER eaten.  Thank you Fairmont Miramar Hotel .... BEST HOTEL EVER!

More to come on the Fairmont Miramar's restaurant Fig in our next blog.......

Breezy Willow Farm CSA Dinner

What did we make for dinner with our  Breezy Willow Farm CSA vegetables, eggs and bread ????......

 Charles eating outside on our deck.  

Breezy Willow Farm fresh spinach with garlic & herbs and  store bought
roasted asparagus with parmigiano cheese 

Breezy Willow Farm romaine lettuce, cucumbers and mushrooms 

Mom's  herbed baked chicken 

Thomas 

We decided to also try the chicken cutlets in a sandwich with lettuce & mayo on the Great Harvest Rosemary bread that came with our  CSA share

Charles toasted his sandwich bread while Thomas didn't.
We liked it both ways. 

Our first week - Breezy Willow Farm CSA

Our family has belonged to Howard County's Breezy Willow Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for a number of years.  Breezy Willow is a certified organic farm located in West Friendship owned by the Caulder family.

Charles with farmer RJ Caulder.
She and her family (husband Ken, son Jason and daughter Casey)  own and operate
 Breezy Willow organic Farm in West Friendship 

What's a CSA?  It's when the community buys a "share"of what the farmer grows.  So, we signed up for their 24 week spring/summer CSA which runs from June to November.  Each week we get a huge selection of organic, seasonally fresh fruits and vegetables, local bread and eggs.

Why do we buy from a farmer rather than buy all our food in a grocery store? It's a win-win situation because we get better quality & better tasting farm food and we support farmers in our own county so they can stay in business. Plus, we get to know the farmers who actually grow our food.

He's how it works.  Once a week we go to Miller Branch library (one of their many Howard County pick-up locations in addition to their farm).

We sign in with the farmer at the check in table. Then we carry our bags and fill them with an assortment of farm produce from bins that are laid out in an assembly line.

This week we received the best strawberries EVER. Melt in your mouth strawberries that barley made the car ride home.

This weeks selections included cucumbers, lettuce, strawberries, radishes, squash, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, beets, eggs and bread. 

Radishes

Beets

At the end of the line we get to choose from a variety of Great Harvest Bread company breads including Challah, Cinnamon Chip, Honey Whole Wheat, rolls, blueberry loaf & more.  At the suggestion of the farmer we decided to try the Rosemary sliced bread.  He said that it was very dense, but if we used a toaster on a bagel setting we wouldn't be disappointed.  He wasn't kidding....it was amazing!!!!

For more information on Howard County's Breezy Willow Farm click here (localharvest.org) and here (HowChow Blog) for reviews.  Or visit the farm website here

Thomas's 13th Birthday....back to Rudy's!

For my 13th birthday, I decided the perfect place to eat was at Rudy's Mediterranean Grill. We arrived there on Saturday, May 5, one day after my 13th birthday. As we walked in, we were warmly welcomed by Rudy and his wife. They thanked us for writing a blog about them.



They found out that we were celebrating my birthday, so they gave my entire family official Rudy's t-shirts. I was so excited I put mine on right away.

We enjoyed another great meal at Rudy's - we ordered pretty much the same thing we had the first time we ate here. Click here to read our first review of the restaurant. 

One interesting thing we learned was that Rudy's serves a breakfast buffet in addition to a full breakfast menu.  Rudy said his breakfast service is really good because he can take the time to make dishes to order rather than being rushed like most big restaurants or diners. 

For more news on Rudy's check out HowChow blog's recent post  here and HowChow's first blog entry about Rudy's here.

Halal Meat - Catonsville

Halal Meat 

My family and I were on Route 40 in Catonsville when we saw the sign for Halal Meat in a shopping center just passed the Howard County line.  Curious what it was, we walked right in. Inside the Middle Eastern market it looked like a small grocery store with items lining the walls on both sides of one middle isle.

The first thing we recognized was the cherry juice containers.  Last year when we went to Istanbul there was a popular drink made from cherry, orange and lemon juice.  It was sold everywhere and we loved it.  When we asked how to make it, we were told it contained cherry and orange juice but not just any juice ....the one that comes from these juice boxes because they have a sweeter taste.  We plan to make the Istanbul drink at home so look for another post soon about this drink!

At the end of the store was the meat/fish department and a small produce section.  We ordered 2 organic whole chickens and a ready-made kabob mixture of chicken and spices.  They told us the chickens were from local farms.  A HUGE electric saw is used to cut the meat anyway you like....we got it in very small pieces to use on the  grill. Oh, if you want....they sell whole lambs and goats.

 When we were looking around the store another customer was really nice and give us a lot of suggestions on what to buy.  He was behind us in line when we were paying for our items. It was then that he reached inside the glass enclosed cold drink container and handed both of us a soda called Limca.  He said it is made in India and he buys it by the case for his family.  He wanted us to try the sodas.  When the owner heard the customer was treating us to soda, he offered to spilt the cost of the two sodas.  How cool is that!  You never know what could happen! And for the record it tasted good....had a lemon-lime taste. 

We couldn't find a website for Halal Meat but it is located at 5224 A Route 40 in Catonsville (a few stores down from Panera and Pier 1) (410) 455-0055. 

Thai Aroma - Ellicott City

Thai Aroma

 We ventured out into the world of Thai food when we went to Thai Aroma located in the Lotte Plaza on Rt. 40.  The atmosphere of the room was very clean and modern- Thai paintings depicting Thai culture surrounded the restaurants walls. We found these paintings very interesting.

Steamed Dumplings

 We started our meal with two appetizers - steamed dumplings and spring rolls.

The dumplings were stuffed with crabmeat, shrimp, pork, and water chestnuts. The dumplings had a thin tender skin but we weren't crazy about the taste - although my parents loved them.

Spring Rolls

The spring rolls were so hot when they arrived we had to wait to eat them. They had a distinctive taste similar to an egg roll that gave it a great flavor. But the texture inside the spring roll was not as thick as an egg roll and contained more veggies.

 Our food came surprisingly quick. It came literally 5 minutes after our appetizers..

Thai Fried Rice with chicken and shrimp

 The Thai Fried Rice was delicious to say the least. The rice was very soft and flavorful. The shrimp and chicken were cooked to perfection. We absolutely think that this is one of the best dish on the entire menu. We would definitely come back to this restaurant just to order this.

Panang Shrimp Curry 

 We're not big curry fans but my parents enjoyed this Panang Curry. If you like spicy food and enjoy curry you should defiantly try this the Panang Curry.

Volcano Beef


The steak was amazing and it went very well when we put it on the Thai fried rice. The sauce was a bit thinner than we prefer but very tasty.

Thai Aroma does not have a website but you can find their menu here .  Or call the restaurant directly at

 (410) 480-5100

The Shanty Grille - Ellicott City

UPDATE - 

Restaurant CLOSING December 31, 2014

Read the announcement from the King family here

We went to the Shanty Grille  (formerly Crab Shanty) for Saturday lunch. It's been a landmark in Ellicott City for over 34 years! 

I remember my mom telling me that it was well known when she was a kid growing up in Howard County. It still is today.

The decorations seemed old fashion - a cross between antiques and western. Almost everything in sight is made of wood and more wood. For some reason, they had Christmas decorations on the upper walls of the restaurant such as a non-working fire place next to a huge red sleigh, and a miniature train display. Weird since we ate there in March.

Christmas decorations - huge red sleigh and giant fireplace

 The place was dimly lit, (which made us a bit drowsy) and there was a flurry of senior citizens who came in. I guess people have been coming here for many years. Our waiter was very nice but we waited a long time to order and receive both our drinks and meals. Which was curious because there were only a few other tables occupied. 

Maryland Crab Soup

The Maryland crab soup had a bit too much Old Bay seasoning for our tastes. But it did have a lot of vegetables. The other soup of the day was the Bacon Cheeseburger soup. This sounded very unique but the thought of a soupy hamburger was not appealing to us.

Calamari Bowl 

The Calamari Bowl appetizer is one of the top five best we've ever had. Some calamari can be chewy, but this was soft to the bite. It was fried with a light, crispy batter. It came with two sauces - house marinara & remoulade. We loved the remoulade sauce.

California Burger

Basil Chicken Salad

Three of our party members ordered the California burger - 1/2 lb. burger topped with red onion and pepper jack cheese on a brioche roll -  w/guacamole optional. We all agreed the burger was tasty but the bun and the fresh cut potato chips needed improvement.  The bread was chewy, doughy and bland. Plus, we were looking forward to the homemade chips but they were crispy in some parts and soggy in others.

If you want ketchup, mayo, or mustard with your meal, we recommend you ask for it when you order. We had to request it when the burgers we're served, then we had to wait a long time before the condiments came out.

The Basil Chicken Salad sandwich had the same issue as the burger: the chicken salad tasted good but the bread and the chips were not great.

Lastly, we had to try the Crab Cake sandwich because the restaurant is known for this dish.  It didn't disappoint.  While it wasn't the best one we've had, it was well seasoned and full of crab meat. It was served with asparagus and baked potato.

There are a lot of dishes we didn't try that sounded good like the Coca-Cola Ribs, Shanty Cuban, Smoked Carolina BBQ and Coconut Chicken bites.

Let us know if you try any of these dishes or other menu items.