Category Archive: minty life

Santa Ana: Aquavit from Blinking Owl Distillery

  Orange County’s first distillery after Prohibition is the Blinking Owl Distillery in Santa Ana. I visited when the distillery first opened with the initial three offerings; vodka, orange vodka and aquavit. They… Continue reading

Costa Mesa: Craving Those Mussels at Mesa

  After a show one night in Orange County, my friend and I headed over to Mesa for mussels. He was craving them and knew Mesa had them. It was on the later… Continue reading

DTLA: The Kindness of Little Damage

  Oh my goodness, I fell down the Instagram food hole again and ended up at Little Damage. I’ve seen this VERY INSTAGRAM FRIENDLY shop all over my feed during the summer when… Continue reading

Chicago: Dinner at Avec

  My favorite meal in Chicago this year was at Avec. We had one more night to really go all out and a Chicago bartender friend said Avec was his fave spot. I’ve… Continue reading

SGV: Lunch at Sichuan Kungfu Fish

    I believe in attainable goals. One of my current goals is to try all the restaurants at the Westfield Santa Anita mall. A couple of weekends ago, we tried Sichuan Kungfu… Continue reading

Glendale: Slurpin’ it Up at Kopan Ramen

  Recently I checked out Kopan Ramen, a local chain with locations all over Los Angeles County including Encino, Alhambra, Rowland Heights and more. I went to the Glendale location one Sunday afternoon.… Continue reading

DTLA: Pizza at The Urban Oven

  Urban Oven, the food truck, has gone brick and mortar. The new restaurant is open at the newly renovated Bloc (yep, Bloc, no K) in Downtown Los Angeles. We ordered a large… Continue reading

Chicago: Drinks at Billy Sunday Bar

  After drinks at Longman and Eagle, one of my favorite bars in Chicago, we hopped over to nearby Billy Sunday. I had heard about this bar for years and made a mental… Continue reading

Chicago: Late Night Chinese Food at Three Happiness

  The late night munchies hit us and in all the years I’ve been going to Chicago, I had never explored their Chinatown. So we headed over to Three Happiness for one of… Continue reading

Chicago: Dinner at Parachute

I visited Chicago in August and was meeting up with a friend from Kansas City. She picked out Parachute for dinner. I trust her taste so I didn’t read the menu before heading… Continue reading