City Taven & Sprinkles Cupcakes in DTLA at FIGat7th! | @FIGat7th #FIGat7th

City Taven & Sprinkles Cupcakes in DTLA at FIGat7th!

By Erin

*Disclosure: I was invited out to FIGat7th to try out a couple different places for purposes of this post. All thoughts and opinions remain my own. :)*

Fall is here and the holidays are just around the corner! As Thanksgiving festivities and yuletide cocktail ideas dance in our heads as to what to serve at holiday parties, FIGat7th’s restaurants and eateries have great options for your upcoming winter and holiday food festivities, or if you just want a delicious meal out without any fuss to enjoy the holidays with.

The restaurants at FIGat7th are cooking up with the most fresh and seasonal ingredients to create up a collection of amazing signature dishes. Located in DTLA (Downtown LA) at 7th + Figueroa, it is a bit of a hidden gem in the heart of downtown, not too far from the Staples Center (but without the huge price tag for parking as you can park all day for only $5 with validation on weekends and after 4pm on week days! You really can’t beat that price in the DTLA area!)

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Our first stop was to City Tavern, which is located on the lower level of the mall. Once you enter this large space with exposed brick walls, reclaimed wood floors & walls, with wooden tables and chairs, you will forget you are in a mall. It’s like a little oasis in the big city.

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We came on a Sunday and they were serving brunch. Brunch is served until 3pm on Sundays. Obviously as you can see from above, I had to have a mimosa. What would a Sunday Funday Brunch be without some yummy mimosas? 😉 My friend and I both love cheese, so we decided to start out with the farmhouse cheese boardwhich is off of the “SHARE” part of the menu, consisted of: cheeses, crisps, and accompaniments. It was the perfect way to start out our meal.

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Another one off the “SHARE” portion of the menu that we decided to sample were the Deviled Eggs! Chopped bacon, housemade hot sauce and chives made for a unique twist on the deviled egg!

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Next, we opted for the kale and quinoa salad that is in the “GREENS” section of the menu. Besides quinoa  and kale; apples, raisins, walnuts, and apple cider vinaigrette topped this one. It made for a nice, light, and very tasty course.

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Moving onto some of the main courses during brunch, one that caught our eye was the fried chicken and biscuit from the “RISE & SHINE” part of the menu. The fried chicken was amazing, crispy on the outside while the meat inside was so tender and juicy, while the county sausage gravy and biscuit were so heavenly!

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If you’re looking for more of a burger or sandwich, then give this lovely number a shot! The pastrami swiss burger from the “HELD” part on the menu will make your taste buds happy. Smoked pastrami, swiss cheese, creamy coleslaw, on a whole grain bun with mustard aioli makes up this tasty piece.

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At this point, we were starting to get pretty full, so we decided to call it a day at City Tavern so that we would still have room for some cupcakes at the Sprinkles Cupcakes upstairs. 🙂

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With so many different fun flavors to choose from, it was so hard to pick two to try! They all look so yummy and delicious!

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I ended up going with the seasonal choice, Pumpkin Spice (on the left, which is available through November 30th) and the Cuban Coffee flavors. Oh my, there are no words to describe how utterly delicious a Sprinkles cupcake is. If you’ve had one before, then you know what I mean. They were both fantastic, I enjoyed every last moist, flavorful morsel of each one of these cupcakes. The Pumpkin cupcake is laced with fragrant ginger, clove, nutmeg and cinnamon and is topped with a sweet cinnamon cream cheese frosting. The Cuban Coffee is a Belgian light chocolate cake topped with a powerful dark roast coffee frosting and subtle notes of cinnamon and cocoa. After having these, we were stuffed and decided to a little bit of shopping before heading back home.

What would you have at City Tavern for Brunch? What flavor cupcakes would you choose at Sprinkles? FIGat7th has a flavor everyone can enjoy this holiday season! 🙂

Stacked Celebrates Summer with Basil Inspired August Signature Items

Stacked: Basil Inspired August Signature Items

By Erin

Have you been to Stacked lately? Earlier this year I introduced you to many of the delicious creations at Stacked: Food Well Built. Since then, I’ve gone back quite a few times and just had to go when they invited me to come back to check out their basil inspired signature items for August last week. You WON’T want to miss them, so be sure to check them out for yourself this week or this coming up weekend!

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First on the Basil Inspired August Signature list (there are five Basil inspired items) we have the Strawberry Basil Shake! A hint of fresh basil makes this Strawberry Shake even more refreshing on these very hot and HUMID days. It totally gave off a spice flavor like that of a pumpkin spice latte, but with a strawberry twist. I would love to have this shake again. Nice, light, and refreshing, it doesn’t leave you filling stuffed.

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NOT on the Basil menu, but a must have when heading to Stacked is the Candied Bacon. Thick-cut, cherrywood-smoked bacon, basted with a heavenly maple syrup and brown sugar mix that is slowly baked until carmalized to perfection. It is the ultimate combo of sweet and savory. Bacon lovers, just beware, you may have to put in two orders of this stuff as it is very addicting and hard to just have one (or two) pieces of it! 😉

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Next on the Basil Inspired menu that we ordered was the Strawberry, Basil, and Feta Salad. Perfect for those wanting a lighter and healthy choice, this fresh salad features strawberries, fresh basil, toasted almonds, and feta all on top of a Spring Lettuce mix and tossed with a Cranberry Balsamic Dressing. This is a delicious way to start your meal and perfect for sharing.

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The third item on our Basil Inspired adventure brings us to the Caprese Turkey Burger! Oh. My.Yum! I think this may just be my new favorite burger at Stacked to have! It consists of all of my favorite toppings to have on a burger. Talk about being STACKED with flavor! This baby comes complete with a freshly ground turkey patty with Parmesan Breadcrumbs, Carmalized Onions, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Roma Tomatoes, Avocado, Fresh Basil and Creamy Burrata all served on a Brioche Bun with Roasted Pepper Aioli. I will be going back for sure sometime this week for this one!

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For the Mac ‘n’ Cheese lovers out there, you will LOVE the Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Mac ‘n’ Cheese! This delightful treat combines Tomatoes and fresh Basil with Macaroni Noodles and a Three Cheese Blend topped with Mozzarella Cheese and Parmesan breadcrumbs, creating a fanciful feast for your taste buds. 🙂

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The last stop on our Basil adventure (before dessert anyways, but that does not have basil in it!) is with the Tomato, Grilled Corn and Basil Pizza with Burrata! This specialty is Stacked with fresh pizza dough, and topped with Mozzarella Cheese, Grilled Sweet Corn, Fresh Basil, Grape Tomatoes, Red Pepper Flakes and a rich creamy Burrata. I loved this. I’ve never had all of these toppings on a pizza before, and it seemed much healthier than the typical pepperoni, sausage, and bacon toppings I might otherwise usually get. I liked the change and would get this pizza again.

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That may have been the end of the Basil Inspired August Signature Items, but of course we couldn’t just end with that! We had to get a STACKED dessert to share to end things right! We went for the Peanut Butter Heaven. It was gone in a flash, it was that good.

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I LOVE Basil, so I had to try everything. I’d have to say the shake and the turkey burger were my favorites, but I really loved the Mac ‘n’ Cheese too! What Stacked Basil Inspired August Signature Item is your favorite?

Walking the Purple Carpet at the Inside Out Premiere! #InsideOutEvent @PixarInsideOut

Walking the Purple Carpet at the Inside Out Premiere!

By Erin

*I attended as a guest of Disney as a part of the Inside Out Event and I  am very grateful for the opportunity to do so.*

Last Monday marked the rainbow colored Los Angeles premiere of Inside Out. The movie’s stars, included Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black and  Mindy Kaling who all walked the vibrant purple carpet on June 8th.  The star-studded premiere also included Mario Lopez, Pink, Rob Riggle, Minnie Driver, Busy Philipps and many more. This was my 2nd time walking the red carpet at a premiere. Or rather I should say *first time* walking the purple carpet as this carpet was NOT red, but a brilliant PURPLE! My first time on a red one was last summer for Guardians of the Galaxy, which was also a very memorable experience.

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So come take a walk with me along the *Purple* carpet! 🙂

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At the premiere they had a model of what the control center looks like inside of 11-year-old Riley’s mind!

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As we continued to make our way down the carpet, we noticed that they had themed games that represented the five islands of Riley’s personality — family, goofball, friendship, hockey, and honesty.

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They even had a bounce house and a silly, but fun Honesty Island game, which of course we had to play!

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Being the total foodie that I am, I had to take some shots of all the delicious eats and movie themed food items. You might not quite get the Broccoli Pizza bit just yet… go see the movie this Friday, then you’ll be in on the joke too. 🙂

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Then these cupcakes, how adorable are they? They were quite tasty too!

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Of course what would a *purple* carpet event be without all the movie stars??? 😉

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