Osteria La Buca goes pink and green!

In case you didn't know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer awareness is almost synonymous with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, who has teamed up with a hard-to-miss restaurant located at 5210 Melrose Avenue in the Hollywood area. Why is it hard to miss? Because it's BRIGHT PINK. According to Dan Cox for Public Relations, the owner of Osteria La Buca, Graham Snyder, is so devoted to the cause that he has painted the restaurant's exterior pink for month of October, on top of donating 100% of the proceeds of this entire month to Komen! Whaaaat? For more info on the amazing generosity of Mr. Snyder, please check out Dan's blog because if you just read what's written on the Osteria La Buca website is way too modest.

Thanks to Dan and H.C., I was fortunate enough to go to a preview dinner and got some of the behind-the-scenes scoop about what the restaurant is up to. They were actually in the process of renovating the restaurant but decided to halt the project to devote the month of October to breast cancer awareness. Some of the items we tasted were "pink" items off their special weekly rotating menu, so you won't find them on the menu on the website.


We started out with an Italian Rose Sangria...or pink sangria! It was yum but I couldn't taste a lot besides grapefruit, which I loved because I love grapefruit.

The first dish out was a garlic roasted kale, mushroom, tomato and fig flatbread pizza. I was not a huge huge fan of the figs on there, maybe if they weren't such thick slices, but it was overall delish and I really liked the kale on there. Unfortunately, my pictures of that came out gross so I didn't post. Instead, above on the right is the Burrata (Bur­rata di Ste­fano, Pro­sciutto di San Daniele, heir­loom toma­toes, basil, olive oil). I've never had bad prosciutto and still haven't. Italians know prosciutto. And apparently so does the South according to Dan, sort of, but that's going to come at a later date.



(clockwise from top left: Asparagus with Duck Egg sprinkled with Parm, Osso Buco Risotto, Tiramisu, Fusilli e Lenticchie [dupuis lentils, ovendried and cherry tomatoes, argula, dry ricotta, truffle oil]. Not pictured due to crummy photog skills, Butternut Squash Risotto)

All the food was super tasty, but I think everyone agreed that the Osso Buco Risotto was the winner that night. It had a little spice at the end, which you don't normally find in a risotto, and the veal was so tender. Drool.

The tiramisu was super light and not soggy like ones I've had before. I also didn't walk away with gross coffee breath so I was pleased. And I really liked the fork shape on top.

I love food but I'm not really a picky eater. For example, despite my sister's disgust, I have no problem eating Costco sushi. Even though this was sort of a foodie event, what I found most interesting (besides the fact that 100% of the proceeds are going to Komen. Again, whaaaattt?) was the eco side of this restaurant.

They normally make deliveries within a 1.5-mile radius on an all-electric motorcycle (as seen below). In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, they are also delivering for free, on said motorcycle, food to patients undergoing breast cancer treatment and their families at Cedars-Sinai. Where does the generosity end??

You wouldn't be able to tell right away, but if you take a closer look at some of the decor, you'll find hints of upcycling. Below to the left is a chandelier made of old wine bottles. Want.


For their renovation/expansion, they have hired a local artist who works for a non-profit teaching at-risk youths how to build ships? Sort of random. I'm just going off memory here so correct me if I'm wrong. I couldn't find more info on him, but I'm sure he'll do great things with the space. He's going to be using repurposed wood from old barns for the walls and for all the handmade furniture. Handmade. All of it. I can't wait to see it after the renovations!

There isn't much time left in October to get to Osteria La Buca so you better hurry! The prices are pretty reasonable, the food is great and it's for a great cause! GO NOW.

For more info (and better descriptions/more pics of food), check out posts from some other bloggers who went to the tasting: Dishing Up Delights, e*star LA, inomthings, Hungry Hungry Hanh, green LA girl, ShopEatSleep.

Bloggers Party Hardy

Moving seems to be an ongoing process and with my further commute and internet woes (I DID NOT HAVE INTERNET FOR OVER A MONTH. THANKS AT&T.), I seem to have little time to do anything let alone blog. Cry. I may be a little late on this Blogger Prom blog post train, but better late than never!

SO, the setting for Blogger Prom this time around was Yamashiro, the swankiest of swankin' restaurants. I had never heard of it prior to the announcement of the venue by the Blogger Prom committee (sorry, I don't get out much), but it's this amazing location hidden in the hills that was perfect for the occasion as it was one of Hollywood's first exclusive celeb hangouts, having served as headquarters to the 400 Club in the '20s. Read more about the history of Yamashiro on their website! It's amazing. I'd love to see it in the daytime so I can actually look at all the crazy details of the place. But look at the insane view. Wa wa wee wa.


Side note: We had a terrible dry cleaning fiasco that caused our entire party car to be a tad late thanks to DryClean Express on Westwood Boulevard. My advice would be to never, ever go there. The name is quite misleading, as are all the signs all over the front windows that say things like "Same Day Service!" Apparently same day doesn't mean within a 24-hour time frame, nor does it mean the time that the hairy man who runs the show gives you.. "3 or 3:30, something like that." It means, Hm, if you don't need it tonight even though you specifically asked several times if it would be done by this time you can come by Friday to get it. I was about to sign up for Yelp so I could leave horrendous feedback but I looked at their Yelp and it seems my help is not needed.


Anywho, it was all smooth sailin' afterwards. We arrived, took a couple pics outside of the crazy view and then entered into another time period that ranged from 20s to...60s? Sometimes 70s? Everyone looked rather elegant, quite a change from the theme last year, where everyone's goal seemed to be to look as tacky as possible, Tom and I included. We still went all out, but it was a little classier this time. I've never mentioned this before but I've been on a clothing diet since November 2009. I haven't bought any new clothes (save for one Loyal Army hoodie because I'd been lusting after it for several months prior to the clothing diet) since November and wanted to stick to the diet. I searched a couple thrift stores to no avail and the weekend before Blogger Prom I decided to check out this boutique called Flea down the street from my apartment downtown. A little pricier than I would've liked but one of the first items I pulled out happened to be the dress I decided to wear. Wee! Tom's mom brought a fancy top hat when she came out to visit earlier last month and he got to use the vintage monocle I gave him last year when we went to the opera. He also donned some white gloves. A very classy gentleman.


Bottom photo courtesy of KevinEats

Everything this year from the venue to food to swag definitely trumped last year's B-Prom. I sampled all the food that came around as I had not eaten lunch or dinner. My sis was less fortunate, as she had gloves on and did not want to look like a disgusting slob like me as I enjoyed my delicious, savory Asian Baby Back Ribs. Check her blog out for more details on the food. I did find it strange that the Charred Albacore made its way towards us on several occasions. I heard a different name each time, at one point hearing "charred apple core," which made me think it was something strange and new. I would then pop it in my mouth and realize on all three or four occasions that it was the same appetizer. It ended up being my favorite of the night. Could it have been due to my constant exposure to it? Perhaps.

Also of gastronomic delight were the delicious tiny cuppy cakes from Crumbs, yummy chocolates from ChocolateBox Cafe, and COOLHAUS! Ahhh! I especially loved the chocolatier from ChocolateBox because I described to her what I was in the mood for and she had exactly what I wanted! Coolhaus was so delicious but a bit messy as the green tea ice cream in my ice cream sandwich began to melt all over the place. The company is pretty nifty because they have these wrappers for your ice cream sandwiches that are completely edible. I'm not sure I would recommend eating the wrappers but it's good to know that they are safe to accidentally bite into.

Loved the mini Hostess cupcakes on the left. Tasted just like the real thing and were super cute!

I heard the Pinky cocktail was a little hit-or-miss for others. Luckily for me it was not a miss. It was kind of like an alcoholic pink lemonade. I tried to go back for a second round but the drinks stopped right as I got to the front of the line. Sigh.

We kept wondering where the band was, as there was only DJ Steve providing the tunes, not that there was any problem with that. Turns out they went Shady McShadester and dropped out but a week before for another gig after all the awesome free press they got from the committee. There was a dance floor and everything. Very nice, Dirty Martinis. Thanks to you, only one (cutest) couple (ever) danced, and then I ruined it when I tried to take a picture of them. Luckily Heather Kincaid got one that was much better than anything I could have ever done.


It was great mingling with other bloggers but there was so much going on I didn't know where to look sometimes. And then, to my delight, another plate of charred albacore would pop up in front of me.

There may have been a minimum of three drinks this year, but I'm sure people still found ways to get plastered with the free alcohol being passed out elsewhere (or they somehow beat the lines and downed all three drinks at once). So one very cool service hanging out outside was Y Drive LA, a service for people who don't want to drink and drive or take a cab and leave their cars behind. They pack this adorable tiny scooter that folds up in your trunk and then they drive you home and the driver rides the scooter back. Amazing!

Fortunately our party car did not need this service and attended the after party at the Test Kitchen where I had the most awesomest punch ever and then we had our own after after party at Swingers. Everyone was pretty dead by this point so we had to call it quits eventually since it was still a school night, kids.

A couple more great things: 1) the fact that 100% of the ticket sales benefited Operation Frontline ($2,400!!) and 2) SWAG BAGS. Everything in my vintage Mickey Mouse tote is wunderbar! Though I am a little sad that I forgot to take my Yamashiro cookie out and it absorbed the scent of the Degree Natureffects body mist, making it taste like soap. Cry. Check out KevinEats for the entire list and sweet swag shot. I already drank my dericious O.N.E. Coconut water and redeemed my Sprinkles cuppy cake. :P


Definitely had a blasty this year. Looking forward to next!


Left to right: Me, Tom, Andy, Connie and Winn. One of us did win that night and shared the prize (drink tokens for 1933 Group!) with everyone. Guess who the *cough* Winn-er was..

Most photos courtesy of the wonderful Ms. Heather Kincaid, pretty much all the ones that look professional are not mine