Baking for millennials: White Claw cake edition

Share: Forget about making sourdough or banana bread this quarantine season, make something that any millennial is gonna love. Think of a regular pound cake, but pour a White Claw into the batter and now you have the perfect dessert for any college student in 2020. Taken from the cookbook “Dirtbag Cuisine,” culinary artist Bethy Squires shows readers how to make a 7Up cake by substituting the soda for a White Claw hard seltzer. The recipe calls for: 3 cups flour 3 cups sugar 3 …

Salted duck egg chips disappoint at a great boba cafe

Share: At Bopomofo cafe in San Gabriel, Irvins salted duck egg chips made its American debut at this boba shop owned by Philip and Eric Wang of YouTube and Wong Fu Productions fame.  The Singaporean snack has been notoriously hard to bring into the US beforehand, with the best option involving smuggling them through customs in the past (not recommended). Those trying to purchase them often have to wait in long lines or go home empty-handed after they’re gone at whatever local pop-ups they’re at, …

Wanderlust satisfies your lust for exotic ice cream

Share: The line steadily grew as the sun set over Old Town Pasadena. Due to the growing sidewalk traffic, the ushers decided it would be wise to coax the crowd to the opposite side of the building. Indignant horns began to blare when an influx of young people suddenly began to crowd the already cramped alleyway. The ruckus inevitably drew the attention of people on the prowl for dinner—many stopping to ask the reason why there was such a line. The Wanderlust Creamery had arrived …

Take two: Foothill Restaurant offers amazing food and even better drinks

Share: Foothill in Pasadena is a new age restaurant that serves up a bold menu full of great tastes and libations for everyone to enjoy. Stepping into Foothill, you immediately notice the upscale atmosphere and are greeted by a friendly staff. Once seated at a beautiful large copper topped table with a nice carafe of water in the center, the happy hour menu and regular menu are placed in front of you. It then becomes a delightful game of deciding what to order first. The …

Take one: Foothill Restaurant offers awful food and dreadful drinks

Share: Foothill Restaurant lies off the beaten path near the PCC Rosemead campus. And even that may be too nice of a location for it. With absurd prices yielding a terrible experience, Foothill Restaurant did not deserve the $46 I paid them. While the eclectic style of restaurant design is fairly popular, Foothill completely missed the mark. From the moment you walk in the door, it looks almost like they purchased whatever was left at a discount furniture after a sale. Several high tables line …

Sidewalk Cafe: Espresso with a touch of kitsch

Share: The local coffee shop is a place many hold near and dear to their hearts. If one looks past the local Starbucks, local cafes give us that warm, fuzzy feeling. Nestled in a walking district, or on the corner next to a college campus; over-plush lounge chairs, soft lighting and friendly acquaintances beckon us to sit and relax. The coffee shop gives us two things: caffeine and hygge. Simply put, they are irresistible. Brief aside: hygge is a Danish concept that is a quality …

Delicious ‘Asian Fusion’ chicken…by a white girl

Share: Certain foods, when done right, can facilitate religious experiences. Fried chicken is one of those foods. So I jumped at the chance to review one of Old Pasadena’s most recent additions, Daddy’s Chicken Shack. A Houston native, co-owner and co-founder Pace Webb first made a splash in the Los Angeles culinary business with her fine-dining catering company, Taste of Pace. What began as a one-time request for sliders by a client, turned into a joke with her father: to set him up for retirement …

Dan Modern Chinese: Basic but lively

Share: Hidden within the downtown atmosphere of Lake St. in Pasadena, just a 15-minute walk from campus, lies the upscale, vine-covered, British-themed atmosphere of the Commons Courtyard. Amidst the Philz Coffee and Williams Sonoma, facing the classic red English telephone booth, sits the simple, home-cooked Chinese fare of Dan Modern Chinese. The latest restaurant from local restaurateur James Kim, which opened in November of last year, delivered in aesthetic modernity. The décor is, well, barely there. The ambience is a sterile scene of white walls, …