Date Night

Date Night experiences with Mrs. G.

Day 289: French Friday

Carcassonne.

Carcassonne.

There wasn’t anything particularly French about today, but my wife and I played Carcassonne so that gave me a chance to use the alliterative post title. After an early dinner we watched Book of Life (good animated movie), went out for ice cream, and came home to play the game.

Carcassonne is a city in the south of France that I’d love to visit one day, if only to see the actual landscape that inspired this modern classic board game. In my mind it’s a mellow place since that’s the feeling I get whenever I play. Draw a tile, play the tile, place a meeple if you want, and score points if possible. Simple, relaxing, and I have no idea why I let it sit in storage for years before actually playing it.

Day 279: Laughs in the Empire

After the show with the hilarious Jenny Yang.

After the show with the hilarious Jenny Yang.

Me and the missus skipped tonight’s episode of Fresh Off the Boat and the Internet after-show Fresh Off the Show. We’re not weekly TV series watchers, preferring to binge on shows on Netflix whenever we have time, but we always watch FOTB and FOTS.

Not tonight, though. While we missed the show and Phil and Jenny’s always-funny recap, we couldn’t miss Jenny at the Improv in Ontario. She was the host for an event that featured Asian American female comedians and that’s something we don’t get very often in the Inland Empire.

There was no way we were not gonna be in the audience tonight … especially after Jenny tweeted out a code for 50 percent off tickets.

We laughed, we were inspired by seeing each woman (and one man for “diversity”) own the stage, and my wife got a kick out of Jenny giving me a shout-out at during the show.

I like to think my wife thinks I’m cool (I mean, she married me and all), but having the host call out your name onstage? My coolness factor just grew exponentially and I finally get to use the hashtag #humblebrag.

Thanks, Jenny!

 

Day 270: littlemeatsLA

Cast-iron skillet kimchi fried rice with smoked pork belly and 14-hour smoked brisket.

Cast-iron skillet kimchi fried rice with smoked pork belly and 14-hour smoked brisket.

Over a month ago, my Yelp buddy Alex posted some photos from a supper club in L.A. The food looked delicious, but when I saw the 14-hour smoked brisket I knew I had to drive out there as soon as I could get on the list.

I’m a sucker for anything cooked low and slow.

My wife and I made it for tonight’s dinner and it lived up to all the hype and then some. Not only was the food phenomenal, but the company was fantastic. Our host Robin and our chef for the evening Stevie were personable and passionate and it was easy to see how much love went into our tonight’s #EthnicAmerica get-together.

littlemeatsLA was successful in creating a space where strangers could have a family experience. Old school hip hop served as our background music as we got to know our fellow diners. Conversation flowed freely and easily; one minute I was talking to an attorney, the next an owner of a popsicle business.

It was an amazing and inspirational meal, highlighted by the kimchi fried rice with 14-hour smoked brisket. It was comfort food elevated to an art form, with every bite savored and enjoyed by all of us.

On the way home, my wife and I couldn’t stop talking about the experience: the food, the conversations, the sense of community when people get together like this … and, of course, our next visit.

Tonight’s menu:

Appetizer:

“Ants on a Log” with Ssamjang butter

Main: 

Cast-iron kimchi fried rice and accoutrements, with smoked pork belly and 14-hour smoked brisket.

Dessert:

Pineapple shiso sorbet

Day 255: Huy Fong Foods

Special 35th anniversary bottles of sriracha

Special 35th anniversary bottles of sriracha

I was fortunate to score a pass to the Huy Fong Foods factory tour today, the first day of the chili-grinding season at the world-famous sriracha maker. Last year I tried to make reservations too late and everything was booked, so this year once the announcement was made, I immediately booked online and got a 2pm slot for today.

My wife and I took our good friends Dave and Liz, fellow foodies whom I consider family, not just friends. We arrived early and saw lots of people milling around with all kinds of sriracha gear, from hats and shirts to socks and capes(!).

Here’s a pictorial of our day at the factory’s open house and tour (click on the photos for a larger version):

Truck full of chilis.

After checking in and putting on the required hairnets (and a facial hairnet for yours truly), we began the self-guided tour. We walked through the ginormous space filled with crates and crates of sriracha (think the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark) and found ourselves at the loading dock, just as a truck full of chilis pulled up. While none of us could smell the chilis when we got to the factory, we could definitely smell them in this area. It was a sight to see … and smell.

Chili grinding

Chili grinding.

We watched the truck dump its contents into the grinder. So cool! These are some potent peppers and my wife was really feeling it. Once we re-entered the building into the main processing area, she was having trouble breathing. Note to any of you potential tour-takers: the smell is strong inside the this part of the factory. If you don’t do spicy, beware. And even if you do like sriracha (like my wife), it can still be pretty overwhelming.

55-gallon drums of the magic sauce!

55-gallon drums of the magic sauce!

It was quite a sight as we walked a few stairs for an overhead view of the entire operation. There were 55-gallon drums of hot sauce everywhere and I couldn’t help but crack Breaking Bad jokes: “Now we know the secret ingredient: crystal meth!” Later, my wife joked, “There was a fly in there.”

Chinese Lion Dance.

Chinese Lion Dance.

We finished the tour in about 30 minutes. There was a cool Chinese lion dance that wound through part of the facility and continued outside, where the free samples were located.

Free sriracha food samples!

Free sriracha food samples!

As part of the open house tour, each guest received free food samples: sriracha popcorn, sriracha potato chips, sriracha croutons, sriracha beef jerky, and sriracha ice cream. Surprisingly, everybody liked the ice cream the best. Each bite was cool and creamy ice cream with a bit of heat as you ate it. We were all impressed by how well they pulled off this balancing act of flavors.

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Free sriracha swag.

Along with the free tour and free samples, we also received a free plastic Huy Fong Foods cup, t-shirt, and bottle of sriracha. Awesome! We stopped by their gift shop, which was filled with sriracha-themed clothing, food, and novelties, all priced reasonably (I scored a $5 shirt for my dad, a $1.50 I Love Sriracha button for myself, and a few other things).

I almost forgot to mention that we got to meet David Tran, the founder of Huy Fong Foods! We all took photos with him and it was an honor to meet this living legend. His sriracha has saved many a mediocre dish for me and elevated a few of my better meals as well.

A fantastic day spent with fantastic people. I could get used to celebrating chili-grinding season like this.

Day 250: Movies and Games

Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead

Since two of my favorite things are watching movies and playing games, here’s a short list of movies that pair well with games.

  1. Trading Places (the classic Eddie Murphy rags-to-Wall-Street comedy) and Pit (the classic card game that recreates the chaos of Wall Street trading).
  2. The Station Agent (a wonderful and underrated film starring a pre-Tyrion Lannister Peter Dinklage as a quiet fan of railroads and trains) and Ticket to Ride (my choice for the perfect gateway game; easy to learn and fun to play).
  3. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (a documentary about a sushi master) and Sushi Go! (a sushi-themed card game with cute art and fast play).
  4. Clash of the Titans (the original movie featuring the guy from L.A. Law as Perseus) and 7 Wonders (a civilization game using a card-drafting mechanic that you can play in under an hour).
  5. Shaun of the Dead (hilarious zombie movie featuring Simon Pegg in his breakout role) and Zombie Dice (a light press-your-luck dice game that you can play while watching Shaun of the Dead).

Day 248: Cuteness Overload

Lazy Bear's jumbo crab stir-fried curry.

Lazy Bear’s jumbo crab stir-fried curry.

I was back at the 626 Night Market tonight representing the Yelp brand. My wife joined me this time and along with our fellow Yelpers Jennifer and Wayne, we spread some Yelp love for a few hours.

Just like at the event I did last month, I enjoyed meeting so many Yelp users and fans. People genuinely like using the app and a few of them were kind enough to share stories with us.

My wife and I had a lot of fun handing out the Yelp swag. During the downtime she picked up our dinner (pictured above) from the Lazy Bear booth. It’s the cutest thing I’ve eaten in a while.

The cutest overload of the food didn’t stop me from going all Hannibal Lechter on it, though; it was delicious, even without fava beans and a nice chianti.

Day 246: 626 Night Market

Grilled Squid at the 626 Night Market.

Grilled Squid at the 626 Night Market.

The final 626 Night Market of the year is this weekend. Pictured above is one of my favorite foods there: grilled squid. While it’s not as good as Gerry’s Grill, it’s my go-to food at these outdoor shindigs.

The 626 Night Market is a huge Asian-themed food festival, but it’s much more than that: there’s vendors of all sorts, live music, DJs, artists, and a great people-watching scene, as well as a growing number of non-Asian food choices. It gets bigger every year and, honestly, you’re better off going to any of the nearby San Gabriel Valley eateries to get quality Asian food at non-festival prices (aka cheaper).

Still, for only $3 (and free parking), it’s worth it for the entertainment value alone. I can only handle a few hours of the madness, though, since these days I’m more of a eat-my-squid-and-go-home type of guy.

Day 227: Nisei Week

Manichi Ramen

Manichi Ramen

We did a family trip to Little Tokyo today to celebrate Nisei Week. It’s the 75th celebration and even though we’re in the middle of a heatwave, we had a fantastic time.

Admission to the Japanese American National Museum was free today, so we checked out the current exhibitions. First was Sugar/Islands: Finding Okinawa in Hawai’i – The Art of Laura Kina and Emily Hanako Momohara, which featured paintings and photographs documenting the migrant workers in Hawai’i. Next was Before They Were Heroes: Sus Ito’s World War II Images, a fantastic collection of candid photographs of Japanese Americans fighting in WWII. I really liked this exhibition, since it showed the day-to-day lives of the soldiers and it also touched on the dilemma facing most of the soldiers: they were fighting for a country that sent most of their families into concentration camps.

Of course, in between all of the sightseeing and museum-ing, we did some eating. On our way there, we stopped at 85 Degrees for pastries and ice coffees, then noshed on ramen, mochi, poke, and ice cream. Yes, even the heatwave didn’t stop us from scarfing down bowls of hot ramen from Manichi Ramen, as shown above.

Day 225: Bingo

Bingo Under the Stars

Bingo Under the Stars

I’ve played bingo in smoke-filled halls. I’ve played it at family get-togethers. I’ve even volunteered at a church bingo event.

Tonight was the first time I experienced Bingo Under the Stars at the Americana at Brand and it was a blast!

The game itself was standard bingo, with a few of the fun versions included (blackout, four corners, criss cross, etc.), but the event was better than a typical game, thanks to “Bingo Boy” Jeffrey Bowman and his lovely assistant Devon. They were hilarious and kept the game moving quickly.

Even though my wife and I didn’t win anything, we enjoyed every minute and laughed a lot. I learned a few new callbacks (actually, quite a few, since the only one I ever remember is “B-4 … and after”).

It’s nice to start the weekend early with a Thursday date night. It’s even nicer when we get the VIP treatment, thanks to Yelp.

Day 193: Nepal Cultural Festival

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My wife and I love the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. We attended a few of their Fusion Friday events last summer and today’s Nepal Cultural Festival and Earthquake Relief Fund was our first visit this year.

The festival happened to fall on Second Sunday, when the museum offers free admission. We made the trip before noon and were treated to traditional and fusion Nepalese music and dance. There were a few crafts tables where you could make your own Nepalese mask and one of our favorite food trucks, the India Jones Chow Truck, was there.

Of course, a trip to the museum wouldn’t be complete without a walk through the museum itself. We liked the copies of Snakes and Ladders that were available for play; as explained here, the ancient game originated in India and is still played by children today in its modern version, Chutes and Ladders.

We enjoyed the Visualizing Enlightenment: Decoding the Buddhist Iconography exhibition. This exhibit featured a six-foot Buddha wood carving from over 500 years ago, with an explanation of its details.

The weather warmed up as the day wore on, but the pleasant vibe kept everyone in good spirits, as performers and audience mingled and danced together in the courtyard. It was a good-for-the-soul Sunday Funday.