AV/LA

Matt has a pizza oven imported from Italy. He makes his own dough using two different types of flours.

Last night, a group of Sara and Matt's friends gathered for AV/LA, which stands for Audio Video Los Angeles. Everyone presented something they have been working on: music videos, documentaries, music or performance. It was fun and inspiring to see and talk about each others creative pursuits in such an intimate atmosphere. Sara moderated while Matt,with help from Marc, made simple and delicious pizzas. The first out of the 700 degree oven was ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese with wilted arugula.

Cavolo Nero with mozzarella and Marc's homemade chili oil.

Butternut squash with carmelized onions, goat cheese and rosemary.

Mexican Christmas: plain tomato sauce, peppers (from Marc's garden) and anchovies from Greece.

Classic Margherita

MOZZA

Mozza is my favorite pizza place in LA. I love their dough, it's chewy and crispy. We started with a mixed salad and tuna stuffed peppers.

Pizza with anchovies

Pizza with mushrooms, fontina cheese and thyme.
I love this dessert. Butterscotch pudding with rosemary cookies.

ELF CAFE

I couldn't be more proud of my friend Scott. He designed and built Elf Cafe himself and created a restaurant that he wanted to have in his Silver Lake neighborhood. It's vegetarian and the neighborhood loves it. It's packed every night. We went early and were able to get a seat at the bar where you can watch the action in the open kitchen. Tonight's special was pumpernickel toast with egg salad, roasted radishes and cauliflower (above) We then had saffron papparedelle with roasted pepper.

Turkish Salad with roasted vegetables, halloumi and grilled Meyer lemon.

Homemade labneh with date and olive tapenade.

ARCH AND SOUL

I'm not a big runner or anything but it's still fun to have athletic shoes that seem pro. At Arch and Soul they ask you to walk around the store and watch how your feet land so they can recommend the right shoe for your step. The shoe they suggested was very ugly but I bought it anyways. I think that is a sign of being an adult.

DAICHAN

Marc recommended this place so you know it's got to be good. Daichan is a small Japanese place in Studio City. I didn't know what Poke was, but I was planning to get it (because Marc suggested it) and I ordered it, even though the annoying woman next to me recommended it also... I didn't want to give her the pleasure. Poke is a Hawaiian version of sushi where the fish is cut into small pieces and usually mixed with soy sauce, etc. I loved it, and I will definitely go back.

JAR

I like sitting at the bar of Jar and ordering dinner. We shared the fried clams to start. I had the Char Siu pork chop. I think it's the same thing as the pink pork chunks you find in fried rice, you'd think it would be dry but it was moist. We also shared the pea tendrils.

There were a lot of celebrities there last night. Justin Timberlake came in with his motorcycle helmet (that's him in the background) and joined a group that included Amanda Seyfried.

Amy Poehler was there with her husband Will Arnett and a small group.

I think one of the things that I don't like about LA is that I get caught up in the excitement that surrounds these famous people. I don't want to care that any of them were at the same restaurant as I was. (Is that correct grammar?)

LUCQUES-SUNDAY DINNER

This is great. Lucques has a Sunday dinner with a limited menu. You choose an appetizer, entree and dessert for 44 dollars. Everything about it was perfect. The bartender told us about when he served Michelle Obama and her kids. I had the arugula salad with blood oranges, chicken paillard with a soft egg, and sticky toffee pudding.

HATFIELD'S

Hatfield's is plain. The inside is all white and everything is simple. The food is too, it's boring. It's frustrating because it has the "trappings" to be good but everything was bland and disappointing. We tried a bunch of things, raw scallop with citrus (above), beet cured fluke (below)

Salad with dried apples and Manchego cheese

Charred Octopus

Goat Cheese Raviolo with beets

Cod

LOTERIA

There are tons of great Mexican places in LA but somehow I end up going to Loteria all the time. It's good. My favorite is the one in the Farmer's Market, but today I went to the Studio City version. I had the ceviche and one carnitas taco and one potato taco with peppers.

LILY'S

Lily's in Venice is a good spot for a large group on a Friday night. It's French. Most of us had the frisee salad (with lardons) and Hanger steak with fries.

M CAFE

You almost always see someone famous at M Cafe, but not this time. People go here because everything is fresh and healthy-seeming. For lunch I had tuna tataki, soba noodles and brocollini.

BOTTEGA LOUIE

It was great to see old friends. Before going to Bottega Louie downtown, we went to see our friend's art show at the Pacific Design Center. This restaurant is gigantic and packed. There are lots of options on the menu and it's very crowd-pleasing. Most of the tables were filled with USC girls celebrating their birthdays. We had pizza and beet salad, short ribs and asparagus (not pictured).

LUCQUES

I accidentally left my new camera in the car before going into Lucques so my photos aren't so great. This is one of my favorite places in Los Angeles. I had a citrus salad and striped bass with pomegranates. We talked about Columbian neckties and the hilarious and heart-breaking book Rodeo in Juliet.

HUGO'S

I don't really look forward to coming to Los Angeles but there are two things I really like: Hugo's and seeing celebrities. I had the protein scramble and tumeric rice for breakfast and saw Jennifer Jason Leigh. Annie Liebovitz was on my flight here.

KIN SHOP

I've been wanting to try out Kin Shop for a while. Winner of Top Chef season one, Harold Dieterle (who was there last night, expediting) opened his Thai place in my neighborhood a few months ago. Phil and I shared scallops in coconut sauce.
Aquatic vegetables (water cress, water spinach, water chestnuts)

Fluke ceviche.

Wonton noodles with chicken sausage.