AGO West Hollywood

The Magnolia crew, some of whom accompanied me to Ago



So we go to Ago, arguably the best Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. (And I can argue, trust me, I’m a proto-lawyer.) Ago is constantly in Us Weekly (last week Madonna and Guy Ritchie went there). The night we were there, only Ariana Huffington and Eric Benet showed up. But normally it's good for some celebrity spotting. Juju (a.k.a. Julie and Julia) have a Wednesday night tradition of going out to fabulous dinners. Sometimes they let Danny and Steve come along. Now I was eavesdropping on their conversation during one of our many nights at Magnolia, and they said they wanted to go to Ago. Now, I actually KNOW Agostino Sciandri (the chef/owner). I went to his daughter’s fricking wedding people! And I know all the waiters, since they are old timers who worked with my dad at Madeo, Perino’s and the Rex. So, I tell them if they go, they have to take me so we can get VIP treatment. And we did!

I arrive, and Stefano, the manager, greets me Italian style (kiss kiss!). Michele is there (who married Ago’s daughter, so I went to his wedding too I suppose). We go to our table, and who is our waiter? SAVERIO! I have known Saverio since I was a kid. In fact, he used to live at our house in Glendale. I made his bed one day, and he said in thanks he would buy me whatever I wanted. I told him I needed a two-wheel bike because I was getting too old for my tricycle. And of course he had to buy it for me. Ah, the manipulative nature of little girls. *sigh!* Frankly, it’s a wonder that anyone reproduces, SERIOUSLY. Ok, ok, now for the food!

I split the burrata appetizer with Jordan, with green beans. MMM. I love a soft gooey mozzarella, and that’s exactly what a burrata is! Steve and Julia had mozzarella caprese, which was also very high quality mozzarella (and Steve should know, he’s in “the business” of cheese). Danny had like, a green salad (lame! I mean, c’mon!). Julie and Morgan had white asparagus which they shared with the rest of us luckily. Drizzled with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and grated Grana Padana… FABULOUS! I love white asparagus when they’re done right. Unfortunately if they are done WRONG they are stringy and tough… these didn’t even need a fork. I love white asparagus especially because they are a specialty from my dad’s region in Italy. That’s why all the farmers there drive Mercedes Benzes. They have the white asparagus monopoly. Yay abolition of antitrust!

For entrees, Steve had the lamb which was THE BEST I have EVER tasted! It didn’t need a knife, it just melted, the flesh was thick and juicy. MMMM. Julie and I are carnivores, so we both got the wood burning oven seared Ribeye. It was tasty, but a little too burned on the outside (wood can be hard to control, and we ordered medium rare, I mean, it shouldn’t have been charred) and the cut was a bit fatty. Ribeye should be nicely marbled, not fully of nasty fatty chunks. Julia had the spinach agnellotti in a butter sage sauce, and we all know I BRAKE for butter sage sauce. Morgan had the grouper over artichokes with cherry tomatoes, which was flaky and delicious! The sauce was simple and flavorful and really worked with the delicate nature of the fish. The funniest part of the grouper was Saverio’s description of it as a “deep sea fish” to which he used his hand to explain DEEP in the sea. Danny had the grilled swordfish which was SO amazing. OMG. However, ever since Kitchen Confidential all I can think about swordfish is it’s teeming with worms and they die when you cook it so it’s OK, but I really don’t order it anymore (it used to be my favorite after shark… which now I can’t order because I’ll get mercury poisoning… ugh!) Jordan ordered the homemade linguine with lobster. The lobster was tasty tender and infused with flavor, but the pasta left a lot to be desired. The best Italian restaurant in LA can’t make a decent pasta? Are we serious people? GET IT TOGETHER!!!!

And dessert was a little bit of everything! They just brought over a platter, on the house! Tiramisu, banana tart, strawberry tart, walnut apple tart, ricotta cheesecake, mixed berry tart, and chocolate tart. My favorites were the tiramisu (Mario’s recipe which they still use even though they allegedly fired him) and the ricotta cheesecake. For wine we started with the Antinori Peppoli Chianti (which is great to order in a crowd since it pleases EVERY palate), and two bottles of Brancaia Il Blu. I love the Brancaia, bold, full, and great with a huge steak. And all our wine was COMPED. (I said VIP didn’t I???) AMAZING!!! Oh, I forgot to mention the homemade bread and focaccia. The focaccia had a nice flavor, but was a little dry, even with all the EVOO slathered all over it. Overall though, the meal was SOOO good, even AWESOME. The best part of course, is the company you bring with you to your meal. I love you guys!!! ;-)

Vegas, Baby!

At the Monte Carlo Cafe, where we became regulars



The day after fall semester finals, three of my friends from law school and I took off for Vegas. We show up at the Monte Carlo, put our stuff in the room, and head for the in-house brewery. Tracie has a tradition in Vegas, a shot of Patron Silver all around as you arrive. Naturally, we couldn’t break tradition. And we had a bunch of greasy food at the brewery. I got the chili con carne. We shared fried calamari. Tracie got mini burgers, Katherine got a Caesar Salad, Sapna got soup (I think it was creamy clam chowder which I avoid, something about clams and cream makes me rebel). For greasy bar food, it wasn’t that bad. Plus we were really hungry after getting off the plane.

That night, I could have gone to the steak house at the Bellagio with aunt, uncle and cousins. Apparently it was amazing and they sat next to George Clooney. But, I was in the mood to hang out with my girls. While Sapna and I were taking a nap, Tracie and Katherine snuck off and entered a poker tournament at the Paris. Tracie won 4th place! So we go over to the Paris to pick Tracie up, and it is FREEZING and we are STARVING, and since P.F. Chang’s was right there, we decide to go in. It’s packed so we decide to eat at the bar. Tracie used to work at the Chang’s in Sherman Oaks, so she’s chatting up the bartender. (Who told me his name was Superman.) We all share this AMAZING bottle of pinot noir, Estancia, and Tracie and Sapna get these weird cocktails (of which Chang’s has a lot) which were actually kinda good. We started off with the chicken lettuce wraps which are one of my favorites. They are greasy and yummy, but you can convince yourself they are healthy because of all the lettuce involved. We got the salt and pepper shrimp (I could have eaten 10 servings of this), garlic snap peas (you can never have too much garlic), brown rice, and I can’t remember what else. It was sooo yummy. Just what we needed before a night of gambling in Downtown Vegas. My cousins met up with us, and fun was had by all.

The gals at PF Chang's.








Sapna turned in early, but at about 4 a.m. I demanded that Tracie, Katherine and I get breakfast. We went to the café at the Monte Carlo and had a club sandwich and an egg/bacon/hashbrown plate. Katherine told me it was the best idea I ever had. Nothing like eggs at 4 a.m. I say!



High quality food at the Monte Carlo

So the next night, we decide we needed to actually go to a real restaurant and go dancing. We head over to the MGM, hoping to go to Studio 54. Unfortunately, it was closed for renovations for New Year’s. Boo! So we go to Centrifuge, this weird bar where the bartenders dance on the tables every 30 minutes, and we chat up our bartender asking where we can get some dancing action. Apparently the only game in town is Tao at the Venetian. We decide to get food at the MGM and head over.

What do we find at the MGM? Shibuya! We ordered this mushroom amazingness dish, it was mixed sautéed mushrooms, with I don’t know what, but it was oh-so good; the ahi tuna tartare tower, which was good, and some assorted sushi. The place is tres chic, a bit overpriced, but it was good. Then we proceeded to Tao where we jumped the line because we were so gorgeous. Then we ended up back at the café at 4 a.m.




Shibuya agreed with us. We really complemented the fabulous decor.

Now, every time I go to Vegas, I want to go to Burger Bar at the Mandalay Bay! So I convince the girls this is where we gotta go. I mean, they have burgers with truffles and fois gras! I got the Kobe beef burger with a fried egg (ever since I had this at Fatburger I’ve been addicted). Sweet potato fries. Pitcher of Newcastle. Unfortunately, none of us could afford the $60 fois gras truffle burger, but maybe next time if I have a winning streak. Ironically, this was our most expensive meal!

Mmm. YAY! Nothing like good food, good times, and good friends.




Me sleeping on the plane home. Soooo attractive. Ugh! Need to start that diet!