FOOD.D.LOVE

Beautiful stonework at the entrance When visiting new hotspot Kyma in Roslyn, you feel as though you've been swept away to a sexy Greek isle. Pronounced "kee-ma", which means "wave" in Greek, the restaurant focuses heavily on fresh seafood. In fact, they have a huge selection of fresh fish beautifully displayed on ice near the kitchen. Located on Old Northern Boulevard, just down the road from some of my favorite restaurants such as Kotobuki , Besito and MP Taverna , another popular Greek restaurant, Kyma definitely attracts your attention as you drive by. A large outdoor seating area spills out from the front of the restaurant and is surrounded by greenery, and on a weekend night cars are lined up to valet park. Once it's dark outside, the front is illuminated by blue uplighting. As you walk in, you can't help but notice the beautiful, gleaming white decor and expansive double-sided bar joined by arched windows. Bar on the lounge side  

A couple of weeks ago I co-hosted my little sister's bridal shower brunch at the breathtaking  Inn of the Seventh Ray in Topanga, California. Nestled away in the mountains above Malibu in the quaint woodlands of Topanga Canyon, Inn of the Seventh Ray is considered one of the most romantic restaurants in Los Angeles. In fact, my cousin got engaged there! Most of the restaurant is located outdoors overlooking a flowing creek. Trees and woods surround the space, and little tables for two are tucked away in private spots all throughout the restaurant. We were there on a Sunday during the day, so this review is based on their buffet brunch and bridal shower service. Not surprisingly, the Inn also hosts a lot of weddings. The shower was held on the "waterfall patio," a large terrace overlooking the creek topped with a clear tent from which a beautiful old chandelier descends. Overlooking the creek Chandelier  We opted for the buffet brunch for ou

On the second night of my sister's bachelorette weekend, we rented a limo and went out on the town for the evening. For dinner, we had a "cantina party" at Border Grill in Santa Monica. Border Grill is owned by two trailblazing female chefs, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, the "Too Hot Tamales" of old-school Food Network fame, and more recently of "Top Chef Masters." I remember watching their Food Network show after school as a teenager and I loved how passionate they were about cooking authentic, gourmet Mexican food. I was really excited to finally visit Border Grill as it has always been on my "to-do" list of restaurants.   Since we had a large group, I planned a set menu of appetizers and taco platters, and we had a drink package which included bottomless margaritas, sangria, beer and wine. I tried two different margaritas, the classic and the "skinny." I found them both to be too sweet and sadly not very strong. 

Last weekend I had the pleasure of co-hosting my little sister, Kristen's, bachelorette and bridal shower weekend extravaganza in Malibu, California. My sister and 13 of her closest girlfriends rented a huge house in Malibu for three nights and it was one of the most fun, relaxing and soul-filling weekends I have ever had. On the first night we decided to stay in and cook a nice Italian-themed meal. After an afternoon of lounging by the pool, drinking wine and nibbling on grapes, cheese and nuts, we ventured into the spacious kitchen to start what would be an hours-long night of cooking, drinking wine and, eventually, eating! I think we all agreed that this was one of the best nights of the weekend and we would love to do it again.  I chose five recipes and we all broke off into groups of three or four to begin cooking our dish(es). Since we were in a foreign kitchen, we spent a lot of time searching for various utensils and cookware, and ended up improvising quite a bit (hence