In February ‘09 Hello Kitty and MAC put out a collaboration.  Most of it was limited colors but some colors, like the ones in the eye shadow pallets, were MAC original colors.  The only thing that I didn’t purchase was the light powder, the tote, the lipsticks, 3 of the glosses and 2 lip tints.

My collection.

Hello Kitty x MAC leather plush

I’ve been really lazy keeping up with GastronomicsAnonymous so I’m transitioning my blog to be more about me.. me! me! me!

I was cleaning my car and I found a chicken nugget under my seat.  It was really hard, so I threw it at my friend.  I was really mad that I found this because I’m sure I would have really enjoyed eating this nugget when it was fresh.

In my quest to find good eats at a reasonable price, I stumbled upon Gyenari (with the help of my partner in crime/ roommate), an Americanized Korean BBQ restaurant in Culver City.  Now I’m not here to be a critic so I’ll simply just talk about the food that I liked and how it makes me feel.

At Gyenari, their small bites menu was created by one of the chef’s on The Next Food Network Star, I was so excited when I was this.  The Food Network is awesome.  To something that praises food as much as I do, the Food Network is church. Many items on the menu (offered mainly in the lounge) run roughly around $5.  I ate way too much but the two really good items that I got were the kimchee fried rice and because I’m a loser and forgot my very nerdy GastronomicsAnonymous notebook, I didn’t write down the name of it.  But I did not forget the taste.  If you read my last blog entry, I went on an on about my very public love affair with bacon.  At Gyenari, I got these small tube-ish rice cakes covered in bacon.  That is the key word here.  BACON.  If bacon was not surrounding these small gluten-ous  tubes, there would be no other circumstances that I would eat these.

Now the Kimchee Fried rice was yum diddily dumscious.  It was fried rice with small fried tasty pieces of pork belly, veggies that I did not pay attention to because one top of this mound of yum was a fuckin’ fried egg.  I am only cussing because egg-so-good.  This dish was $4.  So worth the price you pay!

I have been going to Father’s Office since 2007 when they was only one tiny location and the fries a la carte looked like they came in a baby shopping cart.  Last year they opened up a new location by the Helms bakery in Culver City.  The venue is much bigger, but there’s still difficulty finding a place to sit if you arrive there anytime after 6:00pm.  On Friday, they are open for lunch.

Every time I set my foot into Father’s Office I never fail to get the same thing.  I order an Officer Burger, which many of us do, with a side of shoestring fries AND the sweet potato fries a la carte.  I get both fries because I never know which one I want more.  Plus the dipping sauces for both are different.  The sweet potato fries adds blue cheese to the dipping sauce, shoestring fries does not.  In addition to my order I always add a nice hoppy red beer.  I’ve become a big fan of Alaskan Red Ale and when I want something hoppier, I get Red Seal.  However, yesterday I decided to abandon my comfort zone and move away from my old reliable burger and fries.  When I walked in I craved the garlic, blue cheesey delicious aioli.  I was salivating for a piece of medium cooked meat and the melted cheese. GOOD LORD THE CHEESE!  Gruyere.  Bomb. Blue cheese. Bomb.  Carmelized onions where the bacon, yes bacon, hides.  Bomb..  I had to fight off my instincts to get what I craved for the sake of trying something new. I was able to delay gratification for the burger long enough to order the Berbere Spiced Sonoma Lamb and the “pee wee” potatoes”.  After I placed my order to was unsure about what I got.  The amount was about the same price as a burger and a la carte fries and I prayed that I’d be satisfied from this meal.

The meal looked good and tasted better than I thought.  The lamb was a skewer covered with a light, goat milk yoghurt that had a slight kick of spice to it and topped with pickled Persian cucumbers.  I was unsure about the pairing but I was unexpectedly impressed.  The meat was tender and very flavorful.  I usually prefer a lamb shank but this was good.  I also enjoyed the potatoes, they came in a shallow bowl of cute little ‘tatoes with an oil/ herb drizzle.  I finished my whole meal, which is rare, and left content.

After I found myself reaching over and eating fries off of my man’s plate and eyeballing his burger.  At least I delayed gratification for 20 minutes.  Overall I enjoyed my meal.  F.O. is considered a gastropub for a reason and it not just because they make a mean friken good burger. Their menu has a variety of deliciously sounding items.  The next item for me to try?  Maybe the Duck Confit Salad or the Braised Pork Belly with a side of Office Burger and all of the fries please!

Lastly, if they recommend a beer to you, I suggest you take it.  The guys at F.O. know what they’re talking about when it comes to beer.  One of the gents that works at the counter coordinated the Craft Brewfest that was held in May at the Echoplex.  I know, I waited in that line for over 2 hours and I kept asking him how much longer I’d be in line for.  At least I won a snack for answering a beer question correctly.  Too bad I had to share it with 3 other people. ;) The guy kept calling it hot nuts, I’m just going to refer to them as kettle cooked nuts.

I’ve decided to start this blog because of my love for food.  I don’t just love food, I live food.  I don’t eat to live, I live to eat.  Boy, isn’t that true.  I try to incorporate food into my curriculum as much as possible.  I am constantly watching the food network with the Best Thing I Ever Ate being one of the top shows on my food network list.  Cooking and eating is an integral part of what makes me me.  I love trying new foods, eating at new places and being an inventor in the kitchen. It’s not that I am a picky eater, or that I think I am a food connoisseur but I know what tastes good and the type of food that satiates my hunger.  I love a good gourmet burger and lamb, but I also like chicken nuggets and kraft mac and cheese.  Food makes me happy.  The foundation for many of my friendships revolve around food.  Without food, I am a grumpy mess.  Don’t F with me if I am hungry, I am not a pleasant person.  I’m sure some of you are the same way.  If you love to eat, then I hope you keep reading.