SHORT ORDER

I ate a lot of really good food over the past couple days. Three super great new restaurants opened up in Los Angeles this past weekend and I actually made it out to all three of them!

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Milo & Olive, from the team that brought Rustic Canyon, Huckleberry, and Sweet Rose Creamery, is a small neighborhood bakery and pizzeria at 26th and Wilshire in Santa Monica. I went for breakfast on Saturday morning and I was not at all disappointed. We shared a delightful cheesy rye biscuit, an incredibly moist and flavorful frittata, and a bagel topped with dill creme fraiche, cucumber, and red onion. And guess what? They sent us home with a brownie on the house. Love it!

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Sunny Spot, from Roy Choi (the guy behind the Kogi Trucks, A-Frame & Chego), opened in the old Beechwood location in Venice. We went for dinner on Saturday night and I absolutely adored everything about it. I seriously felt like I went on vacation for a night.  The feel is very tropical/caribbean/beachy…the hostesses were all donned in sexy matching 70′s-esque green one piece pant suits…there are neon arrows on the outside of the building pointing at the entrance…the music is was some fantastic mish mash of cuban/hip hop/samba…and the food, well the food was just ridiculous. All of the dishes are the kind you want to share. I totally lost count of all that we ordered, because once we started, we couldn’t stop. Everything was amazing, but the knock-your-socks-off standouts were: hamachi collar, jerk chicken wings, short ribs, cole slaw, cuban heater (a pork terrine sandwich), house made caramels, and coconut ginger sorbet.

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And my last stop of the weekend, Short Order, an old-timey/upscale burger joint from Nancy Silverton (La Brea Bakery, Pizzeria Mozza) & Amy Pressman (Old Town Bakery) opened this weekend in the Farmers Market in The Grove. I braved the Los Angeles rain and went for dinner last night. Oh my goodness was it good! Here are some pictures I snapped while stuffing my face…

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The restaurant has two stories and two indoor eating areas. The majority of seats are outdoors on their two patios. Since it was raining yesterday, I ate upstairs in their larger dining room. (if you eat downstairs, only a portion of the menu is available).

The upstairs dining room & bar is a pretty small space, but it’s perfectly cozy and provides for a really great atmosphere.

happy me about to eat some cheeseburgers!

Ward 8 cocktail.

my favorite cocktail of the night, The Blue Collar.

Ida's Old School Burger, Grass-fed beef, cheddar, pickles, tomato, griddled onion, iceberg, secret sauce

Nancy's Backyard Burger, Nancy Silverton’s beef blend, artisan bacon, comté, avocado, tomato, onion, iceberg, spicy mayo

Pretzel Pups, two short dogs, kraut, mustard, La Brea pretzel bun

We also enjoyed the Short Order Spuds which came with a baked potato dipping sauce (sour cream, chives, bacon) and quite possibly the best milkshake I have ever had. It was their Milkshake Special of the night…vanilla milkshake with chunks of chocolate chip cookies mixed in. YUM.

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I feel like I have done an excellent job of stretching my stomach out in preparation for Thanksgiving this Thursday.

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R