Fassica

Fassica
10401 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232

Jessica was going to take me to Nyala, but thought that was cheating since we've been there before (though not for a SFR) so we ended up at this tiny Ethiopian place across from Sony instead. We had noticed it a few weeks before, and decided it was worth a shot since it was Ethiopian, close, new, and had a name that rhymed with Jessica. Very unassuming when we walked in, with a friendly staff showing off their "best cheap eats" review in a magazine while promptly attending to our every need. I sort of felt like I was in that Seinfeld episode where he goes to the new Indian place that nobody else goes to and ends up making a suggestion that puts them out of business. "You very bad man!"

That feeling was unfounded, as a few other diners entered shortly after our arrival, and the food was excellent with no need for suggestions from the likes of us. We ordered the full shared dinner platter with a little bit of everything on it. The injera was the best I've ever had, with an almost sourdough taste to it.

I can't quite remember everything on the plate, but I'll try: Spicy doro wot chicken, suprisingly good collared greens (gomen), fresh made cottage cheese (not my thing, but Jessica liked it), yellow peas (yum), lentils, lamb, and various other vegetables. We licked the platter clean, including the leftover injera that gains flavor after soaking up the juices from everything else over the course of the meal.

Only downside was at the very end, when we hoped for the fancy Ethiopian coffee but instead got regular old percalated joe. But it wasn't bad, and how much can you really complain of a place that encourages you to eat with your hands? I'm sure this will hit the weekend lunch rotation in the near future.


Dinner:
-Dinner Platter with Everything On It (the best way to have Ethiopian food)

Drinks:
-Bottle of Red Wine
-Regular Coffee


Details

Pizano's

Pizano's Pizza and Pasta
3466 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60657

First let's get this out of the way: Wrigley Field was awesome, except for the whooping the Sox got in game one. Polish style dogs from the upper deck stand behind home plate are recommended; regular dogs sold by vendors not so much. And Old Style beer is not as bad as one might think.

On to the SFR. Not really following the traditional rules. It was the day after Jessica's birthday and we took the redeye Thurs to get here, so I asked a friend in Chicago to pick a non-chain Chicago style pizza place for dinner after the game. She's lived in Chicago for about 9 months and had only been to a few, with Pizano's being her fave.

There were 6 of us; we had a deep dish and a thin crust. Lots of food, good but not great, but at least it wasn't Unos.

Appetizer:
-Cheesy Garlic Bread

Dinner:
-Thin Crust Veggie
-Deep Dish Meat

Drinks: (apologies for the lack of specificity; it was a long day)
-Water
-Beer
-Soda

EXTRA: Breaking from the "rules" of the SFR blog, here are a couple of shoutouts of other Chicago locales:

Kinzie Chophouse was amazing! On the other hand, The Artist's Cafe had horrible service (including the owner publicly barking orders and disrespecting patrons waiting to eat) to go with mediocre food.

Pizano's Details

Bombay Cafe

Bombay Cafe
12021 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064

(Warning: Restaurant Rocks, but their website sucks)

Unsuspecting little place we've probably driven by a million times. Jessica scored well on this pick. Nearby, cozy, and some great indian food. Samosas were amongst the best we've ever had. She went for the dosa after hearing great things about it on KCRW's "Good Food" and it didn't disappoint. I wavered on a few choices, and ended on a tomato stew style Tikka that was also excellent.

This review has been delayed so long due to a busy week that I can't think of much more to say here. I suppose this makes it the proper time to acknowledge that I usually fudge the timestamps on the SFR blog posts to reflect the time we were at the restaurant rather than the time we got around to writing about it.

Next weekend we're off to Chicago to take in the Red Sox/Cubs series at Wrigley; Jessica has made me promise that we won't be writing about hot dogs on SFR. (Or at least something else in addition to hot dogs...)

Appetizer:
-Samosas (The Best!)
-Garlic Naan

Dinner:
-Masala Dosa (deceivingly large, but very good)
-Makhni Tikka

Drinks:
-Glass of Cabernet
-Big Bottle of Taj Mahal Beer

Details