Fine Dining | Johnny La Pasta

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Ciao my friends! Johnny here with a little restaurant review for you! On October 17^th, I headed up the freeway from Orange County to Hollywood to see Florence + the Machine at the Hollywood Bowl (it was a spectacular show – maybe the best concert I’ve been to so far). Anyway, having experienced the parking nightmare of the Hollywood Bowl before, I decided to head up to Hollywood early to ditch the car and spend a day being a native-tourist and of course, treat myself to a great meal at a new restaurant!

Earlier in the week, I had begun googling for good restaurants near the Hollywood Bowl; the one that really captured by attention was Cleo. The restaurant was described as a cool Mediterranean Tapas Restaurant, serving up small plates of Greek, Lebanese, and other Mediterranean inspired delicacies as well as great cocktails – these are things I love so naturally I landed here for my dinner before the show.

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Giada Vegas – Restaurant Review

On August 18^th, I had the immense pleasure of dining at Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis’s restaurant – Giada. Now, if you know me then you will know that I am a huge Giada fan. She is the chef I receive the most inspiration from for my cooking and it is her cookbooks that I turn to first when looking for guidance or a new recipe to try. I have even had the honor of meeting her at a book signing once – yes, she is that beautiful and yes, she is incredibly kind.

This love of Giada is shared by my amazing mother, Janet. We love to watch her shows on Food Network, make her recipes together, and most importantly – eat her recipes together! After Giada opened her Las Vegas restaurant at the Cromwell in the summer of 2014, my mom always said that if she could dine anywhere, she would love to try Giada Vegas.

August 18^th is my mother’s birthday, and this year her birthday was one of special significance for a multitude of reasons. I wanted to do something out of the ordinary to celebrate her on this important birthday, so I surprised her with a trip to Las Vegas, a stay at Caesar’s Palace, and dinner reservations at Giada. I didn’t tell her where we were dining until right before dinner, and I loved seeing her face light up when I told her that we were going to finally try her top dining destination. Her birthday dinner could not have been better as our dining experience was one of the best either of us has ever had. Giada is a true treasure of restaurant. Continue reading →