La Pastaia Knows Italian Food

On Saturday, Shrek's parents treated us to an incredible lunch at Hotel de Anza's La Pastaia in downtown San Jose. At 1:30 in the afternoon we had the entire place to ourselves, but our server assured us that they were doing more than fine patron-wise. (Delivered in a friendly non-patronizing way.) Weekday evenings draw a full house, especially with Sharks fans packing their tables for their pre-game meals as La Pastaia is within walking distance of HP Pavilion. As we looked over the menu, Mama Shrek entertained us with tales of lunching at this very restaurant in the mid-eighties when the corporation for which she worked regularly treated all of their employees to five-course lunches and happy hour drinks. Sigh, what a lovely thing! Now, it's tuna salad sandwich sack lunches or Subway for this girl, so La Pastaia was an especially welcome mid-afternoon treat.

Our meal began with wine, bread served with olive oil and balsamic, rings of lightly battered calamari, tender lamb chops, and butternut squash ravioli. I will let the following photos of our entrees and desserts speak for themselves. Meaning, that, yes, they absolutely tasted as delicious as they look! (Even when taken with a crummy iPhone camera.)

Rigatoni with Lamb

Insalata di Caesar con Salmone

Veal Risotto 

Spaghetti Vongole 

Creme Brulee

First time having chocolate creme brulee... it was very reminiscent of pudding but quite tasty!

Apple-Rosemary Crisp

Tiramisu

Visit La Pastaia's website for hours, location, and menus.

Back to Launderland

Dryer's out again, but it's okay. I just completed 4 loads of laundry (wash and dry) in under an hour and for the same price I would've paid to do it here but in 5+ hours. Shrek and I were even able to sneak away and grab a bagel breakfast sandwich while our laundry was in the wash.

#2 Egg with Bacon Breakfast Sandwich on a Gourmet Jalepeno Bagel 

by Cramer's Bagels

#4 Egg with Canadian Ham Breakfast Sandwich on an Everything Bagel 

by Cramer's Bagels

Then I wiped Shrek at 4 hands of Uno while waiting for our clothes/sheets/towels/carpets to dry. (Take note: when your opponent dons sunglasses while playing, their cards are reflected in their lenses giving away their entire hand - color, too!)

With all this extra time I can go get my haircut and get a little shopping in!

Found!

Remember that jacket on my girl crush, Alexa Chung, with which I am absolutely infatuated? I found it! Well, I guess it's more like I came across it; Marie Claire Magazine featured it TWICE in their December issue. It's by Barbour and retails for about $450.

Decisions, Decisions

I'm still on the hunt for a pair of black riding boots and the situation is turning dire. Rain's in the forecast and I returned the pair I liked aesthetically but were so not comfortable and consigned the pair that were functional but so not fashionable. After multiple trips to Nordstrom, DSW, Macys, and Bloomingdales I've narrowed it down to the following but can't bring myself to pull the trigger... as in hand over the cash. 


I'm having difficulty justifying the purchase when I've got a $330 cash payment to make to the DMV and my contacts need replenishing at $300 a pop. (Contacts as in the ones I pop in my eyes in order to see.) Plus, my wallet is still smarting from my root canal. Sigh, the money I would save if I only had good eyes and teeth! Okay, let's be honest; I'd probably just buy the boots if I didn't have to buy contacts. But I do so I'm not... yet. 


In the meantime, they're still pretty to look at whilst I hem and haw this over. 

Melissa Riding Boot by Frye. $348

15L Heath Outside Zip by Frye. $328

Kensington by Ugg. $199

Dorado Short by Frye. $378.

PS Why is the smallest pair the most expensive?? 

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Balancing Act

I just realized that this entire landing page is all about food. Even in the Launderland post, I mention food. My mom asked me the other day how I'm not 300 lbs, cuz I'm not:

Me this summer at Oakland's Eat Real Food Fest,

doing one of the things I enjoy most: eating! 

(Photo by Maykazine.)

It's probably in most part because I work out like a little fiend. But also, eating a lot keeps my metabolism up! 

PS. Got my running up to a 6.5 incline and 9.5 - 10.0 speed; incline at a 14% resistance, and bike at level 7!

Kiss the Cook

I distinctly remember the very first time Shrek came over. We were sitting on my couch drinking some wine and at the point we decided it was time to think about dinner, he strode into my little kitchen, took quick stock of my fridge's and pantry's contents, and then proceeded to create a wonderful meal out of seemingly nothing! Last night he did the same. (Thank you, Mama Shrek. You taught him well!) 

After a few glasses of wine, we decided to forgo the sushi date we'd planned on to, instead, light some candles and stay in. Shrek surveyed what is now our fridge and our pantry and quickly assembled a chunk of leftover meatloaf, garlic, red onion, black olives, chili flakes, a bottle of pasta sauce, a couple of tomatoes, and a box of linguine. "How do you feel about Bolognese?" Uh, YU-UMM!!! 

And my job? Shrek instructed me to snip a handful of basil from our balcony's make-shift garden and keep the wine flowing. 

Enjoying the wine I picked up on my recent Sonoma visit

Last night's Bolognese a la Shrek. It was molto delicioso! 

A few other homemade dishes a la Shrek...

Homemade ravioli:

Manicotti:

Enchiladas:

Filet Mignon with corn and asparagus:

I guess you could say that the way to my heart is through my stomach.

CPK Knows Customer Service

On a whim, Shrek and I decided to eat out last night which is something we've been cutting back on with Christmas right around the corner. (And that nasty car service payment.) We happened to be at the mall doing a little scouting out of the presents we are considering for our families and friends (and maybe each other ;) ) and ended up at California Pizza Kitchen (CPK). Not one of my top choices, but one of the top choices if I'm ravenous and at the mall. I'd also been hankering for their Apple Crisp a la mode (pictured below) which I had every intention of devouring that evening.

Shrek ordered a cup of soup ($4) for himself along with a Garlic Chicken Pizza ($14) and Waldorf Chicken Salad ($13) to share with me. We also decided to splurge on a bottle of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio ($30) after they served us a free tasting. With the aforementioned Apple Crisp ($7), we were looking at a $68 tab before taxes and tip. As it turned out, however, the restaurant had no chilled bottles available when we put our order in. This was slightly annoying since they'd offered every table a free sample to, I'm assuming, push sales of that particular wine, but whatever. Saved us $30! Only, later the Manager appeared with our Garlic Chicken Pizza in hand...slightly burnt.

The Manager began by apologizing (again) for not having the chilled bottle of wine available and then for burning our pizza. He ended by explaining that although they were busy making another pizza for us, we could also have the burned one (maybe one slice wasn't salvageable out of 8) and that he'd be removing it from our tab. Additionally, he wanted to offer us dessert on the house. After all that, our tab ended up being $25 for a cup of soup, large salad, two pizzas, and 2 desserts. Sweet! 

CPK's Apple Crisp and Chocolate Souffle, both served "a la Haagen Daz"

After being so well taken care of, we decided to tip as if we'd received and been billed everything we originally ordered. After all (or as far we know), it wasn't our server's fault that the wine wasn't chilled and our pizza got burnt. With such tip-top service, we are more likely to go back sooner, though not too soon... I've got more than an entire leftover pizza in my fridge!