Eating IN at L’Patron

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Dallas and I have been to L’Patron a bunch of times over the past few years. We went a lot after Makai was born because we were constantly running to the Walgreens on California and Diversey. The other day I picked up Makai from school in the car and then drove up to Diversey. Someone had a Toy Story chair that they were selling for dirt cheap, so I got that for him. L’Patron was right there so I planned to stop in and get some food to go. We ended up staying and eating there, for the first time. Everyone, employees and patrons, were so nice! One lady was ripping out pages of animal photography from her magazine to give to Makai and another guy kept waving to him. I got tacos and Makai got quesadilla and then we split rice and beans and elote corn. He loved everything and asked for more!

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Hawaii Day 10: Visiting Kamehameha Friends

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I can’t remember why I went back to Shima’s market again, but I did, and that is where I bought some apple bananas. They were grown locally in Waimanalo and when I brought them home, Makai scarfed one down, then asked for another, and then the other kids attacked the rest. They were gone in minutes!

img_4146.jpgimg_4144.jpgFullSizeRender-6 FullSizeRender-5 img_4126.jpgimg_4108.jpgimg_4142.jpgI decided to stop in to this spot that I kept on passing by. I didn’t even know what it was before I decided to check it out. The Waimanalo Market Co-Op. This place was filled with local produce, food, arts, jewelry and clothing. Everything in the store is locally grown or made, and 80% of the farmers from the Waimanalo community. I bought a jar of Macadamia Nut Honey Coconut Peanut Butter, made by North Shore Goodies, and some earrings made of puka shell and pearl, made by Waimanalo Wahine Sea Jewels. The peanut butter is A-MAZE-ING and I love the earrings. I’ve worn them a ton of times already. I also really liked some jewelry made by Maile Girl Designs, but didn’t buy any. In the back of the co-op they had an area where they were making fresh poke and other local food.

img_4122.jpg img_4118.jpg img_4124.jpgimg_4136.jpgAcross the parking lot, I stopped in at ‘Ai Love Nalo, a vegan restaurant. Ging had told me about this place and their amazing food. She especially likes the veggie laulau. I didn’t have the time to get food, but I did get some iced Kona coffee with coconut milk and some iced tea.

cropped-img_4154.jpgWhen I got back, Dallas, Makai and I went up to the Punalu’u to see our friend, Hoku, Dallas’s classmate from Kamehameha Schools. Hoku lives in a guest house outside a beach house that has been in his family for generations. He’s so close to the water that when the waves get rough they splash onto his patio doors! I’d love to go to bed listening to the waves every night.

FullSizeRender-7FullSizeRender-4FullSizeRender-1 img_4164.jpgWhen we arrived we were all pretty hungry, so the first thing we did was go get lunch. I had garlic shrimp and it was SO GOOD. A week later on the trip I was still thinking about it! And wouldn’t you know… we got it at a tiny kitchen with a window in the back of a convenience store! The store is Kaya’s and the tiny window restaurant is 2 Bald Guys. SOOOO good.

img_4173.jpgimg_4169.jpgimg_4167.jpgBack at the house, Makai had so much fun playing with Hoku’s ukulele! Everywhere we went on this vacation, he pointed out ukulele’s, so we, of course, had to get him one!

img_4180.jpg Hoku has a big dog named Zen Boy and Makai got to meet one of his baby relatives!

img_4183.jpgimg_4181.jpgimg_4200.jpgimg_4195.jpgDallas, Hoku and Makai (and Zen Boy) went swimming right outside Hoku’s house.

img_4202.jpg FullSizeRender-3 FullSizeRender-2Though we were having fun chilling out at Hoku’s house, we had another party to get to, so we ran to Whole Foods in Kailua and then to Billy and Ging’s to shower and then to Red Hill at BJ and Nalani’s house. We brought a gorgeous chocolate and raspberry torte, poke, purple sweet potatoes, Mehana Brewing’s Volcano Red Ale, and Cabo Chip’s elote flavored tortilla chips (they were SO delicious!).

cropped-img_4212.jpgimg_4214.jpgAt the party there was soooooo much food! Standouts: Racie brought saimin, kalbi and katsu from somewhere in Kaneohe, where she lives, and Nalani got poi malasadas from Kamehameha Bakery! Oh, and Ku’ulei brought homemade brownies that were hot out of the oven!

img_4247.jpgimg_4255.jpgimg_4257.jpgMakai had so much fun playing with all the kids, both big kids and little kids! This party sure was different than our parties a few years ago!

FullSizeRender Trying to take a photo of the kids was nearly impossible! Especially with the youngest – Kaneoa, Ka’io and Makai – at the end! Big kids did good – Raycen, Rustyn, Pakamia, and Li’ua.

img_4245.jpgThe kids did a little better when their parents joined! Racie with Raycen and Rustyn, BJ and Nalani with Kanehoa, Ku’ulei (Ty not pictured) with Pakamia, Donovan (Healoha not pictured) with Ka’io, and Dallas (me not pictured) with Makai.

My $80 Trip to NYC

I didn’t think that I would make it to New York this year, but then I caught wind of an $80 airfare and booked it!

IMG_8581.JPG IMG_8587.JPGIMG_8589.JPGIMG_8593.JPGI visited New York this exact same weekend last year for Jessica and Ted’s wedding. Since they were celebrating their first anniversary, I stayed in Long Island City with Jeannette, Yvan and Juliette. When I arrived, they were all finishing their vacation in Mexico (arriving later that day), so the doorman gave me the keys and I dropped my stuff off. The day was sunny and not too cold, so I took a walk by the beautiful waterfront in Long Island City, with a great view of Manhattan. Here’s some history on the cool Pepsi-Cola sign.IMG_8779.JPGI also passed by the Queens Library bus and then a few feet later saw that they’re building a public library right on the waterfront too. Juliette loves books, so I’m sure she will love walking to the library as much as Makai does!IMG_8600.JPGFor lunch I went to Blend on the Water, a Latin fusion restaurant with a fantastic view of the East River and Manhattan. I had a latte and a bellini (not a great combo) and sampled butternut squash soup, mazorca (kind of like elotes), and maduros (sweet plantains).

IMG_8615.JPGThe next morning I had plans to see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular (featuring the Rockettes). Long Island City is directly across from Midtown Manhattan and is only one stop on the 7 train, so it’s really easy to get back and forth. Problem is that the train was not running on the weekend because of construction! So, I had to take a bus farther out into Queens (Court Square) and then take a different train into the city. It sounds harder than it actually was. It was pretty easy and went pretty quickly. While waiting for the train I spotted this guy with a half of a clown costume on. So many questions!IMG_8778.JPGI really enjoyed the Rockettes show. It was late morning, so there were a ton of kids, a lot of movement and talking, but it was still very enjoyable. I need to bring Makai to the show some day! I was impressed with the high production value. Lots of video, lights, lots of actors on the sides of the auditorium and on the floor, at times, kept the audience really involved. IMG_8687.JPGAfter the show I wandered around Midtown, mostly on 5th Avenue and mostly around St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller Center. It was nostalgic for me because I used to live not far away on 49th and 9th and used to often walk over to this area to browse around or do some shopping. I bought Makai an I HEART NY shirt from a street vendor, as one should. And then I visited the mind-blowing, three-story Uniqlo store. I hadn’t been to Uniqlo since we visited Japan and was happy to be back. I bought things for me and Dallas and Makai!IMG_8703.JPGFor dinner we went to Jackson Heights for Indian food at Samudra, a vegetarian Indian restaurant. We had samosa, masala dosa, malai kofta, gobi manchurian, gulab jamun, and kheer. I wasn’t sure about going to a vegetarian Indian spot, but the food was sooo good!IMG_8724.JPGJuliette tried a bunch of our food and was very good at dinner. So sweet.IMG_8722.JPGAfter dinner, we made a quick trip to the local Indian market and then we headed to Jeannette and Yvan’s favorite Bengali dessert shop, Rajbhog. The dessert in the middle is jalebi. The cashier gave me one for free and then tried unsuccessfully to sell me an entire box of them! They were good but SUPER sweet. The four of us split just one and the photo is only a quarter of a piece. 

IMG_8726.JPGNext morning: NYC bagel at Bricktown Bagel and Cafe in Long Island City. Delicious!IMG_8727.JPGI took the train (7 running again) into the city and got off at 34th Street / Hudson Yards, which had the steepest escalator ever. I tried not to look up because I was I was getting dizzy! At 34th I saw the movie Burnt with Bradley Cooper. It was just OK.IMG_8733.JPGAfter the movie I went down to my old neighborhood, the West Village. I used to go to Joe’s Pizza. Plain slice. When I was a 20-something broke New Yorker who lived around the corner, this was my main source of sustenance. Only $2.25. I haven’t had a plain slice for years. It was so good that I ordered a second! (For $2.75).IMG_8739.JPGCan’t go to New York and not see street writing. I was shopping on Broadway and saw a ton of promotion for Justin Bieber’s new album.IMG_8742.JPGI had plans to meet up with friends for dinner at Socarrat in Chelsea. I was getting tired from walking around, so I went about an hour early and just sat and enjoyed some sangria at the bar. IMG_8741.JPGSoon I Jeannette, Jessica, Tien and Shannan met up and we enjoyed tons of tapas, paella, pitchers of sangria and many belly laughs. Miss all of these guys so much!IMG_8746.JPGOn my last day in the city I had planned to meet with Jess and Shannan for lunch near South Street Seaport. I’d only been to this area a time or two, so it was interesting to walk around. There was a lot of construction going on. Shannan ended up not being able to make it and Jess and I ended up walking to Harry’s for lunch instead. After lunch, I hit one store and then it was off to the airport. Great trip to New York and great to see everyone!

Saturday in Brooklyn

On Saturday Jess and I headed to Crown Heights in Brooklyn to visit Shannan and Tien at their new(ish) house. They bought it in the fall (I think) and have been doing a lot of work, so we wanted to check it out. I had never been to Crown Heights and it was cool to check out a new neighborhood too.

Shannan and Tien’s place is on a quiet street in a long row of houses. They have 2 floors, plus a basement. When we arrived they were doing a lot of back-breaking work in the front of the house, transferring dirt and planting. We visited for a bit, then got a tour of the house, which was amazing. Shannan and Tien are doing so much work. I can’t even imagine taking on a project like this myself. It’s not really structural things or major renovations, but still, a lot can go into cosmetics. There is gorgeous wood everywhere, but through out the years people have painted 8 layers on top of it. So they are doing things like stripping down to the original wood. I can’t wait to go back for a visit next year and see all the progress they have made!

Jess and I had tickets to a festival in Prospect Park called Googamooga, so after visiting for a while, we headed over there. The park is not too far of a walk from Shannan & Tien’s, but it was quite a hike to get to the right part of the park…. there were no signs for the festival and the security staff was telling us opposite directions to get to the entrance. So frustrating. By the time we got there almost an hour of walking had past.

Then, when we finally got in? It was chaos. We bypassed the line that you had to stand in to get IDed and get a wristband to drink. The line was probably 100-200 people long. And then you had to stand in another long, long line to get your drinks. We were so hungry by then (it was about 4pm and we’d only had a bagel each early that morning) that we just picked a line we thought looked not too crazy. Wrong. We waited 40 more minutes to pay $8 for a hot dog!

When Jess first mentioned the festival it seemed like an awesome way to sample food from all different well-known restaurants in New York. I envisioned us going from stand to stand and sampling all kinds of different things. Obviously this was not happening. As for the music, the stage by us was on a break for the entire time we were in line. So, we only got a few minutes sampling of a Van Halen cover band at another stage as we were quickly exiting the fest. What a bust!

By then we were so tired from walking around and standing in lines. We were supposed to meet Tien and Shannan back in the city for dinner reservations, but the thought of going back and getting ready was exhausting us. Not to mention that we were extremely short on time, since getting to the fest and standing in lines took so much longer than we’d estimated. We ended up walking back to Tien and Shannan’s house and chilling out in the backyard while they finished up their yard work.

Later on we headed to dinner at Chavela’s. There was a bit of a wait, so we left our number and went to a nearby bar called The Crown Inn. Shannan said that this is a somewhat new place. Actually, she said that the neighborhood has changed so much since they moved in. Definitely seems like an “up and coming” place to be. We didn’t even have one drink before our table was ready, so we hustled back to Chavela’s.

I liked this Mexican restaurant a lot. It kind of had a Día de los Muertos theme going on. We started out with guacamole, some elotes (grilled corn on the cob with chipotle mayonnaise and cojita cheese) and a seafood empanada special. Shannan was raving about the tortilla soup, so we also gave that a try. It was so good. More of a green tomatillo base than any other tortilla soup I’ve ever had.

For dinner we decided to split two large platters. The plato don had chipotle chicken and grilled steak and the plato don pescado had shrimp and tilapia.. and then both plates had rice, beans, guacamole, queso fresco, pico de gallo and corn tortillas. This was all great and we were so hungry so we totally gorged.

The thing I will remember from Chavela’s, though, is the drinks. When we sat down we decided to get a pitcher of drinks and Tien asked if we wanted sangria or margaritas. We didn’t really decide and when the waitress came, he told her we’d have a half of sangria and half of margaritas. Problem solved. Well, here’s the thing: It was a pitcher of sangria and margarita mixed together! And it was SO good. It looked just like sangria with the red wine and diced fruit, but it was extra tangy from the margarita mixed in. We ended up getting a second pitcher even. That was definitely the most I have had to drink in months but it was so worth it.

Jess and I headed back for our train ride to her place in the Village. Overall a great, long day in Brooklyn. It was fun to see a neighborhood I’ve never been to and to hang out at Tien and Shannan’s awesome house.