eating my way around los angeles

fellow foodie travelers can understand my usual predicament with vacations- too much good food and too little stomach space. since i was traveling with the boy- who is resistant to the charms of the west coast, i was especially eager to have a proper sampling of the amazing food los angeles has to offer.

thursday was a long day of travel with a layover in denver where we stopped at mesa restaurant so the boy could have a smoke before the next leg. we had surpringly good queso fundido and i had an unsurprisingly regular bloody mary. we arrived in los angeles around 2pm , picked up the rental car, and after sorting out the majorly outdated GPS made our way to west LA for lunch at poquito mas. fish tacos for me and steak tacos for the boy and tostada carnitas to share. bellies full we decided to head back to keting2's apartment and rest. i worked on my maid-of-honor speech while the boy caught up on sleep.

for dinner, we met up with eulalie and keting2 at mr park's bbq which turned out to be just as good as keting2 promised- the kobe beef was tender and just slightly marbled, the pork belly dressed in an exquisite marinade, was flavorful and succulent. the seafood pajun was solid and the well seasoned side dishes perfectly complemented the meal. LA definately does korean food better than NY.

the next day we slept in and decided to hit up griddle in hollywood per my brother's recommendation. definately the heartiest breakfast i've ever seen. we shared an omelette, generous side of bacon, wheat pancakes, and french pressed coffee. ginormous. i don't know what else to say.

partially because i forgot just how bad LA traffic can be and because the cleaners almost lost the boy's shirt and pants, we were almost late to the wedding rehearsal. apparently, we weren't the only ones to get tied up in traffic as we managed to be the first to arrive at the grapevine arbor. we sorted through the logistics and set up with the staff and once the majority of the bridal party arrived, we walked through the ceremony. after two rounds, we wrapped up and headed over to mission 261 for the rehearsal dinner.

the next day was a flurry of activity and complete blur during which i managed to take the boy to in-n-out in pasadena, served as the wedding coordinator, and see one of my best friends get married. while the trip was a bit stressful at times, i wouldn't have wished to be anywhere else for i have never seen VK look so beautiful or her groom so happy.