Eat LA: The Gastrobus Food Truck

The Gastrobus is one of my favorite food trucks in LA. Anytime I spot the yellow mystery machine, I always check it out. You never know what they are going to be serving that day, but you can always count on it to be fresh and locally sourced from a farmer's market or local food shop like McCall's butcher in Los Feliz where they get their meat.

Today I had the Pumpkin and Green Bean Tempura. It was drizzled with Plum Mustard and served with Ponzu dipping sauce on the side. It was one of the best treats I've had in awhile. I also tried their comforting Spiced Apple Cider.

You can regularly find them Sunday morning's at the Los Feliz Farmer's Market where they have a tapas style brunch menu for "Organic Sundays". Check them out this Wednesday night at McCall's and follow them on Twitter @thegastrobus.

Cookies by Maria

At the neighborhood clean-up, I met some great people. Lily and Maria were awesome. They were both very sweet and extremely helpful. Maria made some delicious cookies - Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, Raisin, Chocolate-Chip Cookies. Chewy with slightly crunchy edges. I took 6 home! YUM!

Baby Asian Pear

I ate ate a baby Asian Pear my friend Kimmy gave me grown from a friend's tree. It was so small, but so tasty. Sweet. Crunchy. Refreshing.

Inner Sunset Farmers' Market Logo Winner!

Everyone knows I love to go to the Farmers' Market every week for my produce and much more (especially after seeing Food, Inc. last night). I also am a firm believer of being involved in the community and giving back the best way you can.

I recently entered a logo contest for local Inner Sunset Farmers' Market, which I frequent on Sunday mornings. Several people entered, including this very cool post-modern logo by a young kid. I was afraid, it would win... They put the logos out together at the market for a couple weeks and let the public vote.

I'm happy to say, I just found out my logo was the winner! Thanks for everyone who voted for me!

Drawing: Cherry Cherry

Mixed media drawing with Watercolor and Ink.

Painting: Temptation

I've finished the painting "Temptation". You may have seen earlier versions of it on my blog. It's hanging at Darla's for the month.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

I just made a delicious sandwich for lunch! Pulled Pork with Cuban Style Slaw on Dutch Crunch. MUNCH!

NEW! Watermelon Tee for Summer

Here is one of the first designs for Summer Collection 2009 for WOOLVES.

This shirt is called "MELON". The front has Watermelon as a whole and cut into different slices and wedges. Says WOOLVES Above two wedges of melon.

I have a limited number of t-shirts for pre-sale. Order your shirt now for only $25 + shipping. ONLY 24 SHIRTS AVAILABLE AT SPECIAL PRE-SALE PRICE. These will go quick!

Available in Mens/Unisex sizes S - M - L - XL - 2XL

T-Shirt design by Xhico

Deez Nuts

Chocolate is my favorite thing. Only second to sex.

Growing up in my home town of Oakdale, the air frequently smelled thick of rich chocolate permeating from the local Hershey factory. This was true, especially in the early morning when the chill of the frost made the air cold. Unfortunately, Hershey moved it's production to Mexico. Many of the people in my town lost their jobs last year as a result of Hershey clsoing down their production. Needless to say, I don't buy Hershey anymore.

Fortunately, when Hershey's closed down in my town, another (even more delicious, high quality) chocolatier open in the factory's space. Sconza. Sconza has been around the bay area for over 50 years. Now their operation in Oakdale employs some of my old friends again. Hazel always hooks me up with chocolates she helps produce at Sconza. This is one of my favorites "Chocolate Toffee Pistachios" - sweet, crunchy and buttery richness. Try deez nuts.

Foster Freeze

On my adventure for Equality today, we stopped at Foster's Freeze. One of my childhood favorites. We had a small one in Oakdale that I used to get treats at regularly. The Derby is a favorite. A soft-serve vanilla ice-cream cone dipped in chocolate shell on a cone. It made me a sticky mess but was so worth it.

The Pizzle with Pesto

I got to go to one of my favorite sandwich shops today for lunch... Ike's Place on 16th and Sanchez. I love The Pizzle on Dutch Crunch. I swear the Dutch Crunch bread almost tastes like Round Table Pizza crust. The Pizzle is Chicken, Cheddar, Bacon, Ranch, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickle - I pass on the Onion and Pepperoncini's. The guy recommended trying pesto on it. So, of course, I did. It was pretty killer. Grub!

Omnivore

I'm not sure if this makes me want vegetables or meat more. Nonetheless, this sign is pretty rad. Painted on an awning of a market on Mission in San Francisco.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing

Look what I made! Yummy Chocolate Cupcakes topped with Peanut Butter Frosting!


Yummy switch from normal chocolate cupcakes. It's even good using cupcake batter from the box and making peanut butter icing using peanut butter, cream cheese, butter and confectioner's sugar. Delicious!

La Palma makes me Tutifruti

I had some delicious tortillas and tamales from La Palma "Mexica-tessan" for Christmas. A yummy, sugary Tutifruti Jarritos too. If you live in San Francisco, you should definitely visit La Palma and give it a try. 

I discovered that a Mexica-tessan is a wonderful market and taqueria combo in the Mission District on the corner of Florida and 24th Street. Get some fresh, homemade tortillas for your dinner one night. You'll find a huge difference from what you are used to buying in the store. Their corn tortillas are soft, rich in flavor and "two-ply"; they have an airy pocket in the middle. The tamales have a good flavor. I preferred the regular tamales over the Salvadoreños style. They have a very rich flavor, wrapped in a banana leaf, rather than a husk. They also have a an olive in the middle. Watch out for the pit!

Philippe Burger - Yummo!

Illustration by Xhico

I went today to my favorite lil' restaurant in Palm Springs, Chez Philippe. I recently designed some charcters (above) and some display menus for him. He added a Burger to his menu, so I had to give it a try... DEE-LISH-US! It was a great burger!

The Kobe Beef patty with thick, juicy and full of flavor. It was simply seasoned and the full flavor of the beef really came through. The toasted Brioche Roll offered a slightly crusty, yet light compliment to the hearty patty and thick melted layer of Swiss Cheese. The burger was moist and need very little condiments, so a dab of Garlic Aioli did the trick. It was traditionally finished with tomato, onion, and hearts of romaine. Though the romaine provided a nice crunch, I would have preferred Arugula to add a bit of a peppery bite.

The burger was served with Mixed Greens with a tasty house vinagrette. The French Fries were, well, French Fries. Nothing special - they could have been a bit more gourment to really compliment the burger. Skinny, crunchy fries would have been perfect!

Overall, another delisious meal at Philippe's. Bon Appetit!

Musubi

I didn't know there was Spam "sushi". Musubi (pronounced moo-soo-bee, with no accent) is a Hawaiian way to eat Spam. Today at Hawaiian Bill's, I ventured out to try the Musubi. It was oddly delicious. Something about the salty, briny taste of the meat, then the soft texture and mild flavor of the rice and then the crisp, sharp salty bite of the nori wrapped around, made this an interesting treat. I would definitely try this again.