The Maine event

Living in LA means keeping abreast of the constantly evolving restaurant scene.  Locally grown ingredients, craft breweries sprouting up like California poppies in April, and freshly squeezed juices with odd, sometimes inedible sounding ingredients seem like the only offerings in this glamorous town.

But that would be an incorrect assumption.  We are also experiencing a fat trend here, which is being nurtured by our huge selection of specialized food trucks.  Which we're ok with.

One of those food trucks, while not one of the worst offenders by any means (Coolhaus, anyone?), is The Lobsta Truck.  Full disclosure: I may have a personal relationship with the owners and managers of this mobile eatery, but my review has not been slanted by this in any way.  No really.  If you don't believe me, you'll just have to try them for yourself.

The grill

If you're lucky enough to spot the big red truck, pull on over and get in line quick.  While the menu isn't huge, it doesn't need to be.  Lobsta rolls, crab rolls, two types of soups, whoopie pies, and ice cream sandwiches along with a good selection of sodas and chips are all you need.  I opted for the Lobsta Roll.  And man, did I inhale that thing.  I wanted another almost immediately after finishing my first, which is a truly rare occurrence.  Just take a look at that beautiful lobster, covered in either butter or mayo (or half and half), on buttery golden Texas toast.

A Lobsta roll

Starving yet?  Check out their website to see where they're stationed this week.  They cover a large area, so don't worry if you're in the valley or OC- you've still got a chance to try out this yummy truck.

Anyone out there want to see a particular truck reviewed?  I'll head on out and give it a try!

Step away from the PBR

If I haven't made it clear yet, let me do it now: I love beer.  A simple combination of water, yeast, hops, and grain can create such incredible, effervescent results.  At UC Davis, I was lucky enough to study, however briefly, under Charlie Bamforth's tutelage.  Haven't heard of the legend?  Watch just about any documentary about beer and his Jack-O-Lantern grin will surely make an appearance.

Charlie Bamforth- professor, scientist, heartbreaker.

I'm an IPA kind of gal, something a lot of men have a hard time believing.  The hoppier, the better (my favorites are Dogfishhead's 90 minute, El Segundo's White Dog IPA, and, not surprisingly, Russian River's Pliny the Elder).  Of course, this means I'm a fairly inexperienced taster for many other categories of the golden fizzy stuff.  So when I was asked to participate in a Belgian tasting class at King's Row Pub in Pasadena, I was really excited.

After the two hour drive through downtown Los Angeles in rush hour traffic, I really needed a beer.  I was greeted instead with a hop-infused vodka distilled by Anchor Steam (who apparently also have a distillery...who knew?).  It smelled of hops, tasted less like vodka than expected, and sat heavy on the tongue.  Perhaps not something I'd drink every day, but it was truly interesting.  Bon Appétit did a review of the stuff quite literally days before my encounter.

The tasting consisted of a set of four Belgian and four American Belgian-style beers.  We were given advice on how to taste each brew by our instructor, trained cicerone and general bad-ass James Willis.  We tasted everything from Duvel to Allagash, grading each on their unique characteristics.  I had a terrible time guessing which beer was domestic and which was a true Belgian, which may have hurt my pride just a smidge.  The free IPA battered fish and chips helped me recover.

The head on this beer was so thick it reminded the whole table of merengue

I didn't realize Belgian ales could be so red!

Overall, the event was really interesting, informative, and tasty.  James is incredibly enthusiastic and educated in all things beer, which only further convinced me that everyone who is even remotely interested in the stuff should pay him a visit.

Want to learn more?  Check out my article, then hop on over to their website.  And with that awful pun, I'm off to do more exploring around my kitchen and my town.  Visit again soon!