Foodie Friday: Doomie's Home Cookin'

Finding vegetarian soul food is hard to come by and for years now I've been wanting to try Doomie's. Another prime example of "What the hell were you thinking waiting this long to try this place Ainsley?!". Their entire menu is vegan and chock-full of deliciousness (seriously, I don't think I can die happy until I've tried one of everything)! The Southern Fried Chicken comes highly recommended, so I gave it a whirl. Okay guys, there is an actual fake layer of "skin" under the breaded deep fried goodness; something I have never seen! It's funny how vegetarians get when fake meat starts to truly resemble that of the real thing... this was just as mind blowing as it sounds.






[southern fried chicken and mashed potatoes, added a little bacon to make it my own personalized cowboy griller]



I hear there are always new creations and experiments happening and an entire secret menu is available, some things stay and some don't, this I have to ask about next time.

Our waitress was something else... bright blue hair, eccentric, helpful and totally willing to share her secrets of the Duran Duran Pandora station of choice when I was singing to every. single. song. while I ate.

For dessert there was absolutely no question about getting the vegan crème brûlée. We also had to get a slice of the red velvet cake, why not? The crème brûlée resembled more of a pudding than a custard, but was just as rich as the real thing.





Location: 1253 N Vine Street Hollywood, California 90038
Neighborhood: Hollywood

5 restaurants, 3 museums, 2 days, 1 city

This weekend I drove up to Los Angeles for a short stay full of many adventures with an old friend. Since I've always wanted to visit The Getty, LACMA and Griffith Observatory, I figured why not cram everything into 24 hours, right? Wrong. It was a lot fun, but I was a bit overwhelmed and tuckered out by the end of it. Word to the wise, give yourself time, like an entire day for each museum.

Friday: Upon my arrival we grabbed some dinner at Fred 62 and a Dole Whip before heading to The Griffith Observatory. The lookout was incredible and the city was at its most beautiful. We saw the "Centered in the Universe" star show in the dome, which was a lot of fun (although nothing tops the old Hansen Planetarium in Salt Lake City) and this crazy guy sitting next to us was a hater of noise and movement because every time we ever so slightly budged, he would snap his fingers! It was incredibly annoying and I almost lost my shit, but the museum was a hit nonetheless. Pizza was on the agenda immediately after, Garage Pizza you're not so bad.


fred 62 : hippie sandwich, cutest ever


dole whip : vanilla with cookie dough







Saturday: We woke bright and early and headed out to breakfast at Millie's Cafe then two quick trips to The Getty and LACMA. The Getty is huge guys, like I'm not sure you could even do the entirety of this place in just one day. The lookout here was also pretty breathtaking, loved that you could see the valley, the Hollywood sign and the ocean. I admired all the photography exhibitions, especially Carrie Mae Weems series From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried. After we headed straight to LACMA, this was probably my favorite part of the trip. All of the contemporary and modern art was my favorite.

There was no question that dinner would be at Doomie's, a vegetarian/vegan establishment I've wanted to try for a couple of years and it was nothing short of amazing (food posts coming soon, I swear!). By this time it was getting dark and my hopes of finding Judge Judy's star on the Hollywood walk of fame was looking grim, so we drove up to the Hollywood sign. It was kind of surreal to see it THAT up close as you always see it in movies or even driving around the valley. The houses up that way are amazing, I could drive around looking at houses all day.




veggie benedict with vegan sausage, grilled tomato and the best shredded hash browns


the getty gardens




black ladybug!








LACMA




zodiac heads







Overall the trip was exactly what I needed, a little break from life and a solid 24 hours filled with adventure.

Jon's 28th Birthday Festivities

Friday was Jon's birthday and although the day was filled with old man jokes (he's only 28), we had a lovely day celebrating his existence in Long Beach, LA and stuck in traffic, ha!

First we started the day off with coffee and cherries for the drive up to Long Beach.



Birthday cut for the birthday boy.



We picked up his friend + girlfriend and headed to Holé Molé for lunch.





From there we shoved off to Los Angeles for two art shows and a bit of window shopping.



If you're in LA during the remainder of July, be sure to check out Gallery 1988 to see Crazy 4 Cult 5, where 100 artists aim their art at classic cult films.







Oh, and ice cream! ...which was a bad idea in this heat.



Poor Jon dropped his phone and this subsequently happened.



Jon chose Veggie Grill for dinner, which was no surprise.



Yesterday Jon continued his birthday weekend at Comic-Con!



We also visited The Flaming C fan-art gallery. Congrats to the ever-amazing Rachele who had her print up at the gallery. If you live in San Diego and want to check it out, the gallery is still open until 5 o'clock tonight.

Short trip to Solvang

My mom flew into Long Beach last week, so I picked her up and we drove to Solvang, a little danish community about 40 miles north of Santa Barbara.



First, I took her to Melrose Ave in LA. We stopped at my favorite store, Necromance and got some ice cream from Scoops.




sadly, no salty chocolate this time...

Then we dealt with LA traffic for 2 hours. Seriously guys, I loathe LA. I can count on one hand the amount of good things to come out of LA.

ANYWAY.

Our condo was bigger than my apartment! Since there was no wi-fi and zero cell service, it felt like I was 14 and camping with my mom all over again, ha! After dinner (stay tuned for the best stuffed artichokes this Foodie Friday) I noticed there was a secluded hot tub next to our room so I took advantage of having it all to myself, very relaxing.





Thursday we grabbed breakfast from The Belgian Cafe. Granola on waffles was news to me, but let me tell you that was the start of a new obsession. If you haven't had it yourself, try it!











We walked the small town and peeked around all the quaint shops.










So many bakeries!


I was in matryoshka doll and spoon rest heaven, they were everywhere!





Since my mom had never been to Santa Barbara, we drove down for some shopping and Thai food. Unfortunately it drizzled all day, but a good time nonetheless. Properly introduced her to Lush and finally got a strawberry milkshake bath bomb for myself... can't wait to use it!




mmm spicy noodle basil for lunch


Church of Skatan...skate shop inside of a church...AWESOME

Friday morning was all about Danish Pancakes (somewhere between a crepe and a pancake), with warm apples and powdered sugar on top!





And what's a trip up north without stopping at Cafe Rio? So on the drive back I had to stop and bring home surprise burritos for Jon and I.