Drago Centro Los Angeles

Yours Truly at Drago's

I don't get to downtown Los Angeles very often, especially in the middle of a week day, despite it being about 10 minutes from where I work in Monterey Park.

You know how it is... I usually have my nose to the grindstone during the work week.  And I usually brown bag it.  But I recently got to visit one of the premiere downtown L.A. restaurants: Drago Centro, a luxury dining Italian restaurant.

Yes.  A Luxury Restaurant.  Be very impressed!

Chef Celestino Drago has created a modern dining space in a highrise tower over on Flower Street.  It is light and inviting.  The food, though, is the star, and it is really yummy.

That's one of those $20 famous restaurant critic words:  yummy. 

Just thought I'd let you know that.

Just to clarify why I was out and about downtown Los Angeles on a week day - my very kind boss took me, and our receptionist, Carmen, and our office manager, Barbara, to lunch.

I told him, for a skinny guy, he sure knows how to pick good places to eat.

Drago's features an unusual vertical column of glass  - a wine cooler that dominates the space.

We ladies all ordered the lasagna.  It came in individual rectangular iron dishes.  I don't think they are quite ramekins, but you can see them in the picture. They kept the pasta very hot.  The cheese on the top of the lasagna was browned to a crisp.  It was delicious.

Carmen and Barbara enjoying the lasagna

Crispy cheesy deliciousness

Lunch was nice, but the dessert was Ooooooh!  Wonderful!

Our Boss Eugene

I think my boss is a great guy to work for.  He is kind and fair, and often brings in lunch and does other nice things for his employees.

But, I digress... back to dessert.  Eugene ordered donuts and gelato.  It looked really tasty! That would have been my second choice. Carmen ordered a chocolate cake that looked really great.

Barbara and I ordered a dish that was like a deconstructed Napoleon.  Not an American Napoleon, but those wonderful flaky pastry Napoleons with real egg cream you seem to only be able to get in a European bakery.  Like, in Europe.

It came as three small portions of pudding, each topped with a different citrus wedge, a meringue kiss and bits of flaky pastry.  Simple, but delightful.

So, how do you begin eating a dish like this?  Left to right, or right to left?
I started in the middle, went right and ended up with the left.
I'm a rebel that way.

More, sir.  I want more of that.

That made my mouth smile.

Okay, to be honest, I found Drago Centro rather pretentious (with prices to match), but it was a fun experience, and the service was superb.  

Next time I'm going to Drago's strictly for the desserts!

Leaving downtown, we were happy and very full!

DOTS

I'm always up for dessert.  And I've never met a cupcake I didn't like.

So when my friend David said, let's go have some dessert, I said, "sure!", not realizing it meant a drive up to Pasadena, or a visit to Dot's.  It was a real surprise to end up there.

I like nice surprises.  This was a fun evening.

Dots Cupcakes is right in downtown Old Pasadena.  On a very warm Saturday night it was packed with pedestrians and just bustling with life.  It was a lot of fun!

Munching cupcakes!

The staff at Dots were very nice to us.  One took our picture (above) and the other kindly let me take her picture:

Let's face it, cupcakes are just cute.  Dots cupcakes were moist and delicious, and beautifully decorated, as a good cupcake should be.

There is something inherently friendly about a cupcake, don't you think?

Celebrity Sighting

Marie Osmond

A familiar face was spotted at a book signing at a Deseret Book store in downtown Salt Lake City recently.

Yes, it's really Marie Osmond (above) signing her latest book (see cover photo below).  Some of my friends came upon her by accident one day.

There are so many folks from all over the world who visit Salt Lake City at General Conference time.  The crowds can be horrendous.  My friends said there was a huge line for these autographed books.

I see the sharpies lying on the table next to her, and I think... oh my....ouch...  carpal tunnel syndrome!

Would you want to be a celebrity these days?

Okay, I'll be honest - no.  Well, maybe.

It's always fun to see somebody famous in person, though, isn't it?  I had a Marie Osmond sighting myself once here on an LA freeway.  Around here, you never know who you might see around a corner, in a restaurant, or on the freeway.

Apparently the same goes for Salt Lake City!

California Kids At Carnegie Hall

Rehearsing for the big day

Have you ever dreamed of playing Carnegie Hall?

Well, how about playing Carnegie Hall at 8 years old? Or 11?  Or 12?

My co-workers, Walter and Jonathan, have children that recently did just that.  

I KNOW!  Isn't that cool?

The Los Angeles Children's Orchestra and the Los Angeles Children's Chamber Orchestra had an exciting trip back East at the beginning of April.  The two orchestras participated in the New York International Music Festival which was held at Carnegie Hall on April 9th and 10th.

Walter's son Timothy (age 12) is a cello player and his daughter Tabitha (age 11) is a violin player.  They are in both orchestras which performed.  Jonathan's 8 year-old son Kenneth is a cello player with the Children's Orchestra.

They are all accomplished musicians, and real stars in my book!

The Chamber Group
(Timothy is on the right holding his cello)

Walter tells me that to get the kids psyched for their performance, the director Susan Pascale, had the children performing on their string instruments while walking on the streets of New York!

I once played the bass violin in a school orchestra.  I can not imagine playing cello or bass while marching down 6th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan!  (In fact, doesn't Woody Allen make a joke in one of his movies about playing cello in a marching band?)

But, DANG.  They did it!

The kids from Los Angeles forming a flashmob down 6th Avenue

 Here is their crazy director, Susan Pascale.

Susan Pascale

I mean 'crazy' in the nicest possible way.  Who would have thought small children capable of accomplishing all that they have accomplished?  

The Los Angeles Children's Orchestra is considered one of the finest children's orchestras in the world.  Children throughout Southern California come to participate in this orchestra.  This group has been featured on local and national television and has appeared in numerous publications.  In 2009 the orchestra won the World Record for the youngest orchestra ever to perform at Carnegie Hall.  

Their 2013 return to Carnegie was a tremendous success.  That's a high level of musicianship for such a young group of performers.

The Orchestra

The Director, when interviewed by a news publication, said she felt the success of the orchestra can be attributed to the program's motivating teaching style, as well as emphasis on good form and quality instruction from an early age.  (Many of the orchestra members started with the Strings Program, in the KinderPiano® and KinderViolin® programs using the Pascale Method®.)

Orchestra participants go up to 12 years of age, or 6th grade.  They graduate from the program to go on to win the best seats in the most prestigious youth orchestras and music programs.

This is sure a group of talented, hard-working midget musicians!

Do you feel like an underachiever yet?

The Chamber Orchestra plays Carnegie

Hear the Chamber Orchestra play here:

A Tiny Boy Named Taco

Taco was very happy to get his name tag
- even if it's almost bigger than he is

One day, not so very long ago, my friends Veronica and Evan found a little tiny dog wandering through their neighborhood.  He is a Toy Chihuahua and Veronica was very worried that the little guy was going to come to harm wandering about loose.

So, she took him in.  Just until they found his owners, of course...

Of course!

When no one came forward claiming the tiny fellow, they were determined to take him to a shelter and give him up for adoption.

That went well.

Veronica suddenly found she couldn't bear to leave him with strangers.

Evan taking Taco for a walk
It takes a big man to... well, you know

Taco got his name rather accidentally, but it stuck.  Little Taco is about as big as a Taco Bell macho taco, and mucho cuter.

Let's face it.  You know you are in trouble when you give an animal a name... and a comfy bed... and a collar...  and... yeah, you catch my drift!

I love the above photo of Evan taking Taco for a walk.  It takes a very secure man to walk such a teeny little dog!  Taco is about the size of Evan's shoes and could easily fit into a ladies' purse.

Looks like one little teeny tiny Taco has found himself a good home.

Good doggy!

I am now the King of all I survey!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

Administrative Assistant's Day

I love getting presents.  I love getting flowers.  But I especially love edible bouquets!  They are, like, the best of both worlds.

For Administrative Assistant's Day this year, all the office admin and marketing people received these bouquets of chocolate-dipped strawberries set in a lovely ceramic coffee mug. 

I love that they do this, by the way.  And, as I'm the Marketing Coordinator for the Los Angeles office, I got one too! A week ago Wednesday, right before lunch, one of my managers popped into my office with this edible bouquet (above).  My heart immediately leaped up and got all shiny and everything at the sight.

What a pleasant surprise.

There's nothing that says, "we appreciate you" more than fruit dipped in chocolate. 

Just sayin'.

I will not humiliate myself by sharing how quickly this whole thing was devoured...

Okay, it took until about 7 p.m. that night.

Mostly healthy, right?  Because it was fruit, and as you know, chocolate is a vegetable.

Happy Birthday, Sahrina!

Sahrina is 4 years old today

May first is a special day for a little girl I know.

This is my friend Sahrina.  She is the daughter of one of my co-workers.  Today she is 4 years old.

These photos were taken of my little friend at Easter.  I love her little white dress with the pink shrug and sash.  She looks adorable, and very grown up.

She's been coming to the office for visits since she was a tiny baby, so I know what I'm talking about.

Sahrina got to have an Easter egg hunt around her home this year.  Looks like she had lots of beautifully colored eggs to find all over the house.

Yes, they were real hard-boiled eggs, her Daddy says.  When I told him of the unfortunate Easter Egg incident of 1993 at my brother's house, where one hard-boiled Easter egg was lost under the sofa for weeks and began to emit a rather funky smell, her dad added, "Yes, we made sure we counted them first before we hid them!"

Mom complained that Sahrina was looking too serious in all these pictures.

 "Smile, Sahrina!"

This is what she did when she was asked to smile.  Pretty funny, don't you think?  What a great smile, Sahrina!

I love little girls and the color pink.  Aren't kids great?

Happy Birthday, Sahrina!