by Franklin on March 22, 2015
The roads are clear, and the roads up Angeles Forest are asking for some action. One morning, some buddies and I decided to take our cars up the mountain caravan style. With some spirited driving, we made it to Newcomb’s Ranch, a biker and car enthusiasts stop up the mountain. Most stop by to have breakfast, chit chat about their bikes and go along their way. It was great to see this community and enjoy breakfast while at it. The food wasn’t really great, but the pancake was memorable.
The sloppy mess was just that, a sloppy mess. The chili and beans on top of the eggs was a mess, and some rice would have been perfect. The hash browns were not something I enjoyed. It was basically just cooked shaved potatoes.
My eggs were cooked nicely, and the bacon was a good match. Bacon and eggs is always a sure thing — only of the hash browns were good. No crisp, no buttered bits of goodness — they were just kind of there on the plate. Masked in ketchup and hot sauce, I made the most of it.
The pancakes really saved this breakfast. After enjoying my eggs and bacon, I always like to treat myself to pancakes. Theirs was surprisingly fluffy and had the perfect attributes of a good pancake. It was light, tasty, and absorbed the syrup just right. It was great with their coffee.
I know the breakfast was a bit boring, but the pancakes were quite memorable. We really don’t drive up the mountain for some of the best breakfast around, but the experience was great. Getting away from the city and enjoying the drive up the beautiful mountain was a treat in it of itself.
by Franklin on August 7, 2012
On Sunday, August 5th, the 2nd Annual LA Weekly Pancake Breakfast was held at the Vibiana. The venue was perfect. The historical building of 130 years was gorgeous and the event was spectacular. Curated by Fred Eric of Fred 62 and Tiara Cafe, the event was filled with many of my favorite restaurants — Auntie Em’s Kitchen, Meals by Genet, BLD, Canele, Hungry Cat, and LAMILL Coffee just to name a few.
As we were waiting to get into the venue, we were all excited to enter. We were handed a nice coffee mug and given BirchWare forks. This would soon be my tool for eating for the next 2 hours. Upon entering the main venue, the architecture of the interior was amazing. Attending this former Cathedral church building after church on that Sunday morning was kind of a double take for me. In awe of it all, I was just ready to eat. Some of my favorites were the pork belly and pancake from Tiara Cafe. The bread with hangar steak and egg on top from Good Girl Dinette was awesome too. I was begining to find myself liking the food only with meat on top as it didn’t stop there. The salmon topped pancake with dressing from The Hungry Cat was possibly my favorite. The freshly cooked salmon and the cool dill dressing on top was a nice mix. Korean food was even represented by Kobawoo — they had some awesome kimchi and seafood “jun”, Korean bean curd pancakes.
It was cool to see Chef Diana from BLD come out to the event. We last met at my winning from the tweet-a-dish a few months back. Her classic blueberry pancakes were refreshing — it was a pancake breakfast after all. The pancakes as well as the sweet creations from Nickel Diner, The Village Bakery, and Euro Pane were awesome with coffee. Hearing lots of buzz about LAMILL Coffee, I was excited to try a cup. It was hot so I tried some of their iced coffee and it was so delicious — my Mc Donald’s iced coffee seemed pretty lame at this point. Handsome Coffee Roasters even made me a cup of some fine espresso with a latte heart on top. All this good coffee and pastries were making me full.
The event was fun. I even got to get a nice goody back from Tokidoki. Inside had some random toys, books, music and a shirt. I was able to grab one of the last ones! Everything culminated into a perfect morning and afternoon of great food and drinks. I went home stuffed and happy with a nice goody bag. I immediatey went home to work on the pictures. Rarely do I ever do post-production on my food pictures, but this was a special occasion (I accidentally shot in RAW mode). I hope you enjoyed the overexposed pictures.
Special thanks goes out to Urbanspoon for hooking up the tickets! I am glad I checked my email.
Cheers!
by Franklin on March 1, 2011
Get free pancakes! 7AM – 10PM at any participating IHOP restaurant. They just ask for a small donation for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Hey, it’s for a good cause and it’s free pancakes — you can’t lose.
Click here for the website for more details.
