Nothing Compares to Pizza & Cocktails at Sotto Restaurant in Los Angeles

Starting in July, Sotto launches happy hour specials throughout the summer with exclusive pizza-and-cocktail pairings for $19. Tuesdays through Fridays, from 5:30-7:30, those in need of after-work refreshments may now pair any of the signature Neapolitan pizzas by chefs Steve Samson and Zach Pollack with select libations crafted by Beverage Director Julian Cox. 

Pizza selections include customer favorites Guanciale (house-cured pork cheek, ricotta, scallions, and fennel pollen); Salsiccia e friarielli (sausage, rapini, mozzarella, and chilies); and Margherita (tomato, mozzarella, basil, extra virgin olive oil)—all made in-house and cooked in a handbuilt Neapolitan pizza oven.

Cocktails include amaro-based drinks such as the Amaro Daquiri and Use Your Illusion, along with other signature drinks produced by Julian and the Sotto bar team. And lets all be honest, how can anyone fight having a classic Libation, over some incredibly rustic, fresh made pizza in a spot that oozes Old World class & charm? Mix that with the beautiful weather Southern California offers on the regular and you have the perfect place to set off your evening, just about every day.

The specials are available throughout the months of July and August, from Tuesday-Friday, 5:30-7:30pm, exclusively at the bar.

For more information Check Out: www.SottoRestaurant.com

9575 W. Pico Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90035

(Closed Mondays)

ROTD: Catfish Tacos & Adobo Coleslaw

June is almost over and with that comes along the great Food Holiday known as National Catfish Day.

I myself am a firm believer that almost anything fried tastes good and Catfish is by far no exception to that rule. One of the greatest things about Summertime growing up was the smell of Catfish being fried by one of my friends parents every single weekend. This recipe also brings a little heat to the table with the Chipotle Cabbage Slaw. Im not a big lover of coleslaw to be honest, but this version doesn’t have such an overpowering Mayo taste and with the chipotle /adobo combo it really plays well alongside the Catfish Tacos. Well enough that I down quite a few helpings before I let anyone else get a chance to have some.

Enjoy this with a cold beer or a huge Hurricane loaded with 151, for its National Catfish Day.

(click Read More for the entire recipe)

Drunken Peaches & Cream

You know Peaches & Cream get play in every state. We already told you talk mess about them in Georgia and watch happens to you quick. Well today just happens to be National Peaches & Cream Day and we wanted to make things a little festive with our Recipe of The Day. With a little help from our good old friend Remy Martin, we made ourselves a delightful treat that can be eaten right after dinner and enjoyed with nice strong libation alongside it. Perfect for sitting outside and enjoying a sunset and moment with your friends and family.

Ingredients:

3 Peaches – (Washed & Sliced)

5 TBS Light Brown Sugar

½ tsp Vanilla Extract

1 cup Heavy Cream

4 TBS Remy Martin VSOP

Directions:

Toss 3 sliced Peaches with 1 TBS Brown Sugar and ½ tsp Vanilla Extract; set aside until juicy, about 30 minutes.

Whip 1cup Heavy Cream until it thickens, then beat in the remaining 4 tsp Brown Sugar.

Add 4 tsp bourbon and beat until soft peaks form.

Layer the peaches and cream in dessert glasses; top with toasted pecans.

Act like it took you hours to make and enjoy all the accolades.

The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach, Designed for Foodies, Beauties & Beach Lovers

For the indulgent traveler in search of a dream summer vacation in a tropical paradise, with beautiful beaches, shopping and extraordinary nightlife, The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach presents the ultimate escape with specially-priced packages and exclusive activities for families, romantics and more. The sizzling summer lineup includes a Spanish-inspired three course dinner event, an oceanfront grill event, a Southern style Crab boil Sunday afternoons, a day package for beach and beauty lovers, a specially-priced Spa menu and an overnight package with a $50 daily resort credit to enjoy the hotel’s unique amenities.

Escape to España

Enjoy a taste of Spain in South Beach by savoring a special three-course menu by chef Felipe Arango-Salazar featuring a selection of dishes inspired by the Spanish Coast for $39 per person. Pair with a glass of blanco y tinto at Miami’s famed Bistro One LR, a contemporary bistro infused with Latin flavors.

Available from 5-10 pm, 7 nights a week. It’s the perfect gastronomic getaway.

Far East Summer Nights

Celebrate hot summer nights in a cool, chic ambiance by heading FAR EAST to the oceanfront DiLido Beach Club, 5-8 p.m.  Monday through Saturday.  Enjoy Japanese delicacies made-to-order from the Robata Grill including skirt steak, portabello mushrooms and chicken wings starting at $6 and $12 Asian-inspired cocktails, listening to a deejay spin lounge music at this people-watching playground.

Ritz Kids
The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach is pleased to offer an oceanfront Ritz Kids program providing children, ages 5-12, with myriad outdoor activities on Miami Beach. The supervised children's program allows parents to play in South Beach while their children are in the care of counselors, trained and certified in infant, child and adult CPR, basic first aid and water safety.

The Ritz Kids program features full or half-day schedules, seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Kid’s Meal Plan
The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach offers a specially-designed program for children 12 and under that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and unlimited fountain drinks at mealtime at various hotel dining venues, including Bistro One LR, DiLido Beach Club and poolside. $35 per day, per child, plus tax and gratuity.

D.B.C (Down-home, Beachfront, Crab boil)

Gather with friends and family from 4-7 p.m. every Sunday for a relaxed afternoon at DiLido Beach Club indulging in ocean views, live music and traditional Southern food with all the fixins’. Enjoy an unlimited display of whole blue crab, succulent shrimp, red bliss potatoes and flavorful sausage for $39 with $10 Southern Comfort Tea cocktails and $5 Blue Moon Beers.

Beauty & The Beach

Make The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach your summer sanctuary of indulgence with the exclusive ‘Beauty and Beach’ package: One 50-minute Signature massage or facial and access to the hotel’s plush beach chairs or bed for 2, for $99.

Hot & Cool Summer Spa Menu

The award-winning Ritz-Carlton Spa, South Beach provides savvy spa goers with an opportunity to indulge all summer long, for a reduced price. Available through September 2012, the special menu features services to complement the warm weather, beautiful beach ambiance and sexy South Beach attire.

·      Sobe Tropical Massage (50 minutes/$119 add an Express Pedicure for $30)

Ideal for normal to dry skin types, this massage uses Swedish techniques and Apricot-scented oil to relax the body while nourishing, hydrating and healing the skin affected by prolonged exposure to the elements.

·     Firming & Cooling Legs 

(50 minutes /$119 add an Express Pedicure for $30)

This treatment was created for swollen, tired legs and the appearance of varicose veins. Guests are immersed in an ice cold bath also known as “cryotherapy” to constrict blood vessels and decrease metabolic activity, which also reduces swelling and tissue breakdown. Following the bath, a lychee & chestnut firming product is applied to regain circulation and stimulate the skin.

Divine Derriere

(50 minutes /$99 add Bikini Wax for $30)
An often-neglected delicate area is treated with an exfoliation, and mask to address specific skin needs. Tone and tighten your posterior and reduce cellulite and water retention on your hips. This service will leave your derrière to be envied by all at the pool and beach.

Comfort You!

Enjoy the comfort and chic sophistication of Miami’s leading luxury oceanfront hotel and indulge in the resort’s many unique amenities during your stay. Starting Rate: $339 USD per night.

Overnight plush accommodations

Daily buffet breakfast for two at Bistro One LR

$50 USD hotel credit per night

  

Nikki Beach Cabo presents: Gustavo Matta

enoSTEAK Debuts at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel

 enoSTEAK Debuts at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel

Under the direction of Executive Chef Andres Jimenez, enoSTEAK is the newest addition to The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel’s award-winning culinary line-up. enoSTEAK is an intimate steakhouse showcasing only the highest quality ingredients.  It features prime and grass-fed, pasture-raised beef, accompanied by organic produce that is locally grown and harvested at the peak of the season. enoSTEAK also highlights artisanal cheeses, charcuterie and a large selection of fine wines. enoSTEAK is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m.

For Those That Know, Jack Fruit.

Quick Summertime Salad ROTD: Skirt Steak & Arugula Salad.

Its hot. Everywhere you go, you hear people either praising the fact they can shed their Winter clothes or complaining they their car doesn’t have an AC so therefore they are dying of heat stroke on the daily. With that being said, sometimes when it is hotter than one can imagine, you just cant help but not be hungry, even after working a long grueling day in the heat, but “ya still gotta eat or ya might die,” like my Mom used to say. And eating junk food just to fill the stomach is something we don’t condone in these parts. Enter today’s Recipe Of The Day: Skirt Steak & Arugula Salad, something that packs protein galore, more flavor than Flav and is healthier than just about anything you will find at the local drive-thru.

The great thing about this ROTD, is that it can be made ahead, packed up correctly and taken to work to enjoy while everyone else has to slide over to El Pollo Loco or Wendys.

Sit back relax and smile, your eating good today.

(click Read More for the entire recipe)

National Klutz in the Kitchen Day

Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk! As a kid I used to laugh at that saying like “Who would seriously do that,” but then I realized that there really are some people who just don’t need to be anywhere near a kitchen.

Today is National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day. For all of us out there who have ever walked away from the stove moments before the timer goes off only to return to a burned up mess, turned on the blender / food processor without putting a lid on it or who have burned themselves on that skillet they have been slaving over for hours, today is your day.

Don’t sweat the small stuff is all we can say at this point, cause we are sure you have already spilled some milk or poured sugar into a recipe when it called for salt (or vice versa.)

Whether you forget to add a few ingredients to your Recipe Of The Day or add way too much cause you have a heavy hand, don’t get frustrated, instead find joy in the fact that your actually trying to make something for yourself.

Celebrate Kitchen Klutzes of America Day proudly, spill some ketchup or mustard on someone and wave at them with a goofy smile and simply say “Oops, Sorry.”

Gordon Ramsay Steak at Paris Las Vegas.

Last month in May Gordon Ramsay brought his award winning flair to the current Culinary capital of the world, Las Vegas. With the opening of the brand new Gordon Ramsay Steak at Paris Las Vegas, both Chef Ramsay and David Hoenemeyer, president of Paris Las Vegas, have exceedingly high hopes for the restaurant as evidenced by the menu and methods for choosing your drink of choice for the evening. 

Ramsay’s vision for the restaurant is reflected in the dishes on the modern steakhouse menu. Gordon Ramsay Steak showcases prime beef dry-aged for a minimum of 28 days and cuts like the 32-ounce Royal Long-bone Chop for two hand-selected by Pat LaFrieda (of Meat Men fame) as well as delicious mouth watering American Kobe.

Cookie Crisp Classics

Experience Nikki Beach

NIKKI BEACH ROUTE DE L'EPI , 83350 RAMATUELLE 
Reservations +33(0)4 94 79 82 04 
reservations.sttropez@nikkibeach.com 
WWW.NIKKIBEACH.COM 
http://www.nikkibeach.com/sttropez/events.php

      

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Once You Visit Newport Beach, You May Never Want To Leave

This post brought to you by Newport Beach.  All opinions are 100% mine.

Sunny Southern California, a place people dream of visiting, starting a family and retiring too. The facts must be faced that California is without a doubt the greatest place on Earth. Ok maybe we are taking a bit far with that statement, but we can all agree more people flock to the coasts of California every year than they do most every other state in America, combined. The beaches, the weather, the food, the celebrities and of course the amount of amazing attractions all play into why you too should visit the Golden State. But where does one start off when they first venture out West? Well let us help you out, a little city smack dab in the middle of all the action called Newport Beach is a great focal point for your trip. Whether your traveling with friends, the family or taking a romantic get away, Newport Beach is the perfect place to vacation too, being that it is merely minutes or seconds away from the beach, Disneyland and so much more (depending on where your staying) is only an added bonus.

Newport Beach is the ideal kick back kind of town. Located about 45 minutes south of the madness known as Hollywood, Newport Beach is the kind of place where anyone can feel right at home. Here in Newport Beach you will find many of the local restaurants that have helped to create the menu ruling phenomenon known as “California Fusion Cuisine,” truly this city is an adventure for the Culinary Artist as well. Have no fear if your children are going to be coming with you, for the city of Newport Beach has numerous attractions for kids of all ages. From Summer Camps, which would be my first choice simply because of all the fabulous adventures they can partake in day after day. From beach camps, to camp James that offers the classic camping experience on down to the Newport Sea Base Camp which teaches kids great things like kayaking, fishing, canoeing and water safety skills, your children will have a blast. Simply check out the website for a detailed list of dates, locations and availability. Newport Beach