Los Angeles Day 3

Day three of course involved more food. There was early morning coffee followed by a trip to Fatburger once our hunger kicked in. I debated about taking on their XXXL burger challenge, but I had plans in the evening and I wasn't looking to induce cardiac arrest just yet. I went with a medium sized burger  (lettuce, tomato, onions, cheese & a fried egg) and a side a fries. In my opinion their burger beats the infamous In & Out. It was raining outside so I spent most of the daylight hours indoors catching up on emails, and working on a few other things I needed to finish for work. Then later on that evening it was off for some Korean BBQ with my homie Grace! She does great illustration and design work. Click here to check out some of her stuff!

I met up with Grace for a good old catch up session. We hit this all you can eat Korean BBQ spot in Downtown LA / Little Tokyo called Manna BBQ. I hadn't been to Korean BBQ in a long time so I let Grace take the lead on what to order (she's also Korean American and seemed very familiar with everything so therefore when in Rome...). She was no stranger and got to working the propane powered grill at our table like a pro! Before doing anything she began greasing the grill with a cube of fat (you can see it in the pic above), and the next thing I knew she was slicing & dicing everything up! Once we were finished and I thought I couldn't eat another thing she decides to take me to this pastry puff spot called Beard Papa. I some how made room to take down one of those cream puffs. I ordered a vanilla cream puff, which was filled on order. Wow! This was serious! The cream wasn't heavy like a boston creme pie custard, it was just right. I even picked up a few to bring back to the house.

It should be no surprise at how much I love food; whether its an old fashioned American classic like a cheese burger, or trying something new like chicken feet. As I reflected back on my experience that night not only did I really enjoy catching up with Grace, but something else really stood out at me. That I really appreciate how food brings people together. How it acts as a centerpiece and starting point for conversation. Through my own personal history food has played such an important role to me for as long as I can remember.