Your Perfect Downtown Thursday

I got my Thursdays down. If I can get out in time, that is.

Here's the not-so-secret plan: get to downtown at around 6, or earlier. First order of business: The Edison Bar for $0.35 vintage cocktail (ends at 7 PM). The cocktail changes every week, but always well done. Strong tasty drinks.

Depending on how fast you can finish your drink, you can either make it to Pitfire Pizza's happy hour right next door for 50% off food (ends at 7 PM). Or if you want to sip your cocktail slowly, you can also go to Pitfire armed with a Restaurant.com gift certificate.
$10 certificate for $3, or $25 for $10. But wait, don't buy it then! They almost always have a sale or coupon discount for 60%-80% off! That's $25 for a mere $2 or so!


From now May 31st 09 they're having a 80% off sale with code: SPECIAL.

So I came with a girlfriend armed with my $10 gift certificate and walked into Pitfire Pizza at 7:05 PM. As I handed the girl at the register the certificate she said that it's happy hour til 7 PM and so everything's half off anyway! Well it was past 7 PM I almost pointed out ... but I didn't and took her offer. Luckily the gift certificate is good for a year anyway, so i'm saving it for a later time. Double sweetness!

We each got Pitfire's individual-sized pizza and split em.

The burrata pie (burrata, tomato sauce, caramelized onions, arugula, hazelnut pesto drizzle - $9.95).
I really love the texture play that the tiny hazelnut bits added to this. I liked Pitfire's thin crust although I do wish it was crispier so I would eat the edges too ... The pizza is pretty light, as it is not overwhelmed by the cheese and tomato sauce. Overall I liked the combination of this pizza a lot. Chunks of burrata and fresh arugula, topped with crunchy hazelnuts! Plus, pesto ... I loove pesto.

Sweet Fennel Sausage (fontina, creme fraiche, crushed tomato, red onion, mozzarella - $9.95)
This was also good, although may seem a bit 'boring' compared to the burrata pizza. The sausages were good and I liked the use of crushed tomato chunks as opposed to just plain old tomato sauce. More cheesy than the first and was more familiar as a pizza. (Oh, yeah there's an iphone in the background so you can use it for a size comparison ;> )

$0.35 cocktail + $5 pizza. We made out like a couple of stuffed and buzzed bandits.

Pitfire Pizza Company
108 W 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 808-1200
http://www.pitfirepizza.com/


Read LA Pizza Man's review here and Sinosoul's review here.

FIG in Santa Monica: Quiet Spot for Meal and Drinks

FIG, a restaurant focusing in seasonal and local ingredients, has as its namesake the 100-yr old fig tree that sits in front of the Fairmont Miramar hotel (where the restaurant is located).I heard from LA&OC Foodie that FIG is on the Restaurant.com list- where you can buy a $25 gift certificates for $10 ($35 min purchase), and oftentimes they will have a 80% off sale! That's $25 for $2 people!! I bought 3 ...


Psst! Now til 6/25/09 they're having a 80% off sale! Just enter code: DISH.

We came late, past 9:00 PM. The restaurant was pretty quiet overall (except for a table of 4 drinking ladies that were quite ... lively), and I liked the decor and ambiance.
The menu is divided into Snacks, Salads, Appetizers, and Entrees. At the bottom of the menu is a nice touch - a list of currently in-season ingredients, and also what will be in season soon.

The bread at FIG is served warm, each in its own paper bag, and accompanied with arugula butter.
Never had arugula butter before, it was quite a nice touch.

Our first orders were from the Snacks section: Tarte Flambee (fromage blanc, blue cheese, lardon) - $6
This was nothing special, more like a mini, less-cheesy pizza.

Roasted Tomato Soup (mascarpone, basil) - $9
Pretty good and hearty, with a nice smokey flavor from the roasted tomatoes. Actually, this reminds me of the tomato soup at Nordstrom's cafe - when it's done right!

Young Beets with Santa Barbara Pistachios - $8
Very good and light and refreshing, but the portion is pretty small.

I thought the portions from the Snacks section were pretty small and doesn't seem to be really worth the price - especially in comparison to the other dishes I had later from the Appetizers section.

Although the next dish I had was called the Mushroom Fricassee ($12), it seems that the focus of the dish was in fact the sweetbreads.
Do share this dish with another person. The mushroom fricassee itself is a bit heavy and add on top of that the pieces of fried sweetbreads and it would make it hard for one person to finish this dish by itself. The mushroom fricassee was delish, the sweetbreads were decent but were a bit on the tough and dry side. They were not the best quality sweetbread, but then again this whole dish was only $12...

Warm Quinoa Salad (chard, butternut squash, toasted almonds) - $13
Delicious, and healthy too! It wasn't so much like a salad rather than a rice bowl - except that the quinoa instead of rice gave it that extra firm texture and a nice flavor. The toasted almonds were also a great addition.

Braised Tongue (tomatillo, breakfast radish) - $11
This was one of the rare occasions I enjoyed tongue in the US. Most tongues I've had in this country were tough, but this one was tender, just like how my family prepares it! The tomatillo sauce is a little spicy, but even I can still eat it so it's not too bad :P I really enjoyed this dish.

Both the braised tongue and quinoa salad made for a great lunch the next day too!

After all this food, and especially the spicy tongue at the end, I wanted something light for dessert, so I just ordered the sorbet. You get 3 scoops, and I just asked for 2 blood oranges and 1 pomegranate.
A bit denser and heavier than your usual "sorbet" but good nonetheless!

The bar at FIG boasts fresh seasonal ingredients and it's currently a great and quiet place to just sit, have a drink, and talk. And of course, eat. I want the restaurant to do well, but hopefully it won't get too crowded!!

Also, with the way we ordered, the $25 certificate didn't put as big a dent as I had hoped. Skip the snacks, just go with appetizers/ entrees and you'll do much better!

Read the reviews from LA&OC Foodie and Carolineoncrack!

FIG Restaurant
101 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 319-3111
www.figsm.com