HPK - Highland Park Kitchen

A new restaurant, HPK (Highland Park Kitchen) in walking distance to our house, soft opened last week. We were patrons at their first brunch service on Saturday. It was entirely empty except for us, the coffee vendor setting up the espresso machine, the sweet waitress, the chef, and the friendly owner, Rudy Martinez. He sat with us for quite a bit and we chatted about the restaurant and the neighborhood. He got us pretty excited about some of the things that are slated to happen on York, like a WINE BAR. Maybe even two! Ahh! But back to HPK (formerly Los Lobos, formerly Marty's).

First, they have classic brunch cocktails: your choice of Red or White Sangria, a Mimosa, or a Bloody Mary. And for $15 your glass is bottomless! yowsa! I ordered the White Sangria. Sergio didn't order anything but after chatting for bit....out came another glass and the entire pitcher! Probably because we were the only ones in the place. The Sangria was pretty nice and went down real easy. It was sweet and perhaps a bit more fruit floating around would have been more lovely, if only for effect. But I'm not complaining. It totally hit the spot.



As for food, I ordered the very fluffy Lemon Blueberry pancakes. I really liked this dish because it wasn't super sweet. It was tarty and tasty, and the juicy blueberries were inside the pancakes! Not just on top. I think maybe the dish could have been benefited from a little extra syrup on the side in case I did want to kick up the sugar levels, but I was happy. Sergio ordered the HPK breakfast which was two eggs, toast, bacon and hash browns. Sorry I didn't get a photo. He said the hash browns were pretty special.



We sat in the coveted window spot inside...but just think of all the leisurely brunches that are going to be had out in the dog friendly patio! We're intrigued by some of the other items on the menu for lunch and dinner, and prices seem good. We're just so happy to have another good restaurant on the block.



HPK officially launches with a party on Wednesday, February 29. Sergio and I will be there to show our support and mingle with our neighbors. Will you?

Iberico Tapas, a pop-up restaurant

Last Sunday, after our ritual weekend coffee from Cafe de Leche, we came across a pop-up restaurant happening in El Chapin, our local Guatemalan restaurant and cafe. As of this posting, the Yelp listing says El Chapin is closed, which is not true. It was for a second but now it's open again.

The chef for Iberico Tapas hails from Spain and his wife told us they were hoping to open a permanent storefront someday. The menu featured an interesting and diverse mix of tapas dishes, and a smattering of entrees. We choose one entree and two tapas to share.






I'm sorry I didn't steal a menu so I could describe the dishes we ordered properly. They all had beautiful Spanish names that I could not pronounce.

Terrine of truffle potato mousse topped with poached egg and American caviar.
Braised pork with potato and egg
Cod puree spread

Regardless of what they were called, each dish was SO delicious. Yummmy. We liked it so much that we want to call all our friends down for a brunch there next Sunday! The pop-up will be running every Sunday, 11AM - 3PM, until the end of the month (I think).

Thrifty Thursday 1.6.11

You know, it's rather dangerous to have a good vintage store in walking distance.

I actually saw this a month ago but decided to purchase another piece instead -- one that was made by Mim and reminds me of sea anemone. I'll have to remember to post that one some time too. Anyway, at the time, Mim put it aside for me. So I waited until I felt enough time had passed to qualify as a respectable waiting period before buying yet another necklace. Seriously. It's a bit out of control.

I feel like Cleopatra when I wear it.

A Lot of Potential

Gloomy day but still touched with whimsy.



Seed bombs of potential fulfilled for the day:

1. Happy thrift shop scores.
2. Art show where we fell in love with a new painting. We kept going back to it to stare. I wonder if they would consider taking payment in installments. It would take us a few years... Sigh.

Now preparing to have Ethiopian food for the first time with some good friends. Can't wait!

Monthly ritual. Big burrito. Little treasures.

We hit up the monthly neighborhood sidewalk sale this morning, and then breakfast to examine our spoils.

Here I am wearing one of the items. The monthly sale takes place on the kitty corner behind, clearly reflected in the window next to me.



Sergio had the breakfast burrito. I had a Guatemalan pastry.



My husband photobombed the close up of the necklace I took when we got home! silly.

A Proper York Blvd Welcome

We had kept Micheal's arrival a surprise. Jenny and Chi were speechless. It was funny. My mom certainly acted surprised when she came through the door. But then, she let us know that the surprise was ruined right before she walked out the door of her house. Steve, Mike's brother, called, looking for him. Dang it. Oh well. It was still fun!

I had fleeting fancies of cooking dinner but it was just not realistic. I've been so busy, there just hasn't been time to plan or shop. Our fridge was so sadly empty. I joked about it and Mike graciously said, "No, I saw you have eggs." Thai Eagle Rox (on york) and Sergio to the rescue! He picked up the giant order. When he got to the restaurant and asked for our order, they said, "Oh, the expensive one?" Funny. It was A LOT of food. It was tasty and dinner turned out to be quite fun. The bottle of wine we opened up was especially wonderful. At least the fridge wasn't empty anymore after dinner.




After dinner, we sat around the living room chatting. We YouTubed a few videos -- Lady Gaga acoustic, Michael Jackson...it was a bit incongruous yet so very now to be gathered with my family around my laptop and surfing YouTube. I suppose if we had cable TV or suitable unwatched DVD we would have watched a movie. I think though, they ended up popping in Fearless, a Jet Li movie. Surprisingly, one or both of my parents hadn't seen it yet -- the DVD belongs to them. Thinking back, it's probably because I snuck off with the movie before they got a chance to watch.

We decided to take a jaunt down to The York after Mom and Dad went home. We met some fun people. There was an extraordinarily drunk Scotsman named Scott who was celebrating this birthday with his wife, Priscilla -- also very drunk. We sat and chatted loudly with them for while. Also met very drunk girl named Ana who works at Roy's downtown. She grew up in the area and we reminisced. Her buddies had left her at The York and went to Marty's up the street. I was kind of worried for her because they had her money, but she said she just needed to go to Marty's and she'd be fine. It's only a couple blocks. As we were leaving, we did walk with her a little since we were hittin' up Estrella too...


Before Estrella though, Mike tried his first bacon-wrapped hot dog. They had a great location right outside the bar. There was this guy sitting with them whose face was all beat up. You can sort of see the cuts on his face in the picture (left). The vendors didn't know who he was or why his face was messed up. He looked amiable enough though.

At this point, all my pics are pretty blurry to match my blurry voice recorded for posterity on the videos at the bottom of the post.

La Estrella came through as always. Mike and I tried El Pique too. I think the al pastor is better marinated there (ack, I know! blasphemy!) but the red sauce is unparalleled at Estrella. Yeah, I'm a little obsessed with it - as evident by my video commentary.




Most of Mike's stay was about the eating. I have a few more posts worth of meals. Poor guy. He's on a diet too.

:)

Videos: Mike tasting 1) bacon-wrapped hot dog; 2) la estrella al pastor taco

Tacos La Estrella Taco Truck

3 tacos: carnitas, al pastor, carne asada. Red sauce on the side please. And a grapefruit Jarrisco soda in a glass bottle. $5 total.

Location: York / Ave. 54. Permanently parked.
Hours: 24/7.

I had read a lot about this place. Lucky us! We moved into walking distance!

The carnitas was ok. The carne asada pretty good. The al pastor --- wow. smoky, flavorful, tender... yum. I'm getting a burrito next time -- al pastor all the way. And the famous red sauce? OMG. wow. perfection. I wonder if they bottle this stuff?!?



On the way home, we stopped by El Huarache Azteca for a couple of super sized agua frescas. Watermelon for Sergio and Horchata para me.

We also witnessed a crazy surreal site:

Hopefully those firefighters can take down that fire soon!

Next taco truck tasting: El Pique! Just several yards from La Estrella.

BTW: Mia ate again on her own tonight. We are ecstatic!!

Exploring York Blvd.

Note: These pics were not all snapped on the same weekend nor the same day. And they are from a few weeks back...egads it was hot.


It's great to be able to walk a few blocks down to York Blvd. businesses. But I guess if it's a hot day, don't expect the Manic Panic Salon to stick around. It was insanely hot that weekend though.





Cafe de Leche is a cute little coffeeshop on the corner of york and ave. 50. In the summer, they serve iced horchata with espresso! mmm......
Window view.


Oasis Sandwiches - we both got natural juice drinks. Mine was red (because of the beets?) and called El Vampiro. It wasn't exactly a thirst quencher. It tasted really healthy and earthy. It also had celery. I drank half and put the other half in the fridge when we got back home. I got to enjoy it later and it's nicer colder.



El Chapin
It a tiny restaurant/taco stand on one side and market on the other. There is seating in the market too along with a selection of fresh pan dulce. They have the best breakfast buritos!