Macaron Taste Off: Bottega Louie vs. Towne

UPDATE: I went back and tired the lychee, per suggestion of the commenter below, and can attest that it is fantastic! I also got the pistachio and strawberry. The pistachio was mild but nice. The strawberry was the opposite, intense. Maybe a little too intense but still good. And I got the PB&J again. It is still amaaaaaazing.

Before I went to Towne on Wednesday ("went to Towne" ha! it's a pun!), my friend Katie and I picked up some macarons at Bottega Louie so we could compare them to the ones at Towne. First, Towne's shells were perfection! So light and airy! And creating a macaron that was at least 50% larger. I didn't even realize how dense the BL macarons were until I tried Towne's. So they win on the cookie shell aspect. However, Towne lost points for having a low filling-shell ratio. BL macarons are half filing, half shell in every bite. I would estimate Towne is more 30-70. But the filing-shell ratio didn't bother me as much as the inconsistent flavors. I think every flavor BL produces is fantastic (with the exception of matcha, but I'm not going to quibble over one bad flavor out of the 20 I've tried over the years). Of the 3 Towne macarons I tried, though, only one was a stand out. (PB&J. It was exceptional!) The other 2 (key lime and salted chocolate) were too sweet, almost cloying. Katie and I didn't even finish them.

So the defending champ edged out the promising new comer, but as Towne fine tunes their recipes, I think it has a good chance of over taking the original. The shell, the hardest part to make, is wonderful, and I'm sure the flavors will come. Plus, being 10 cents cheaper, 50% bigger, and 3 blocks closer to my apartment than the BL macarons makes me willing to try more until the filing recipe is perfected!

PS: A review of my whole dinner at Towne is coming up later today!

Excuse the Construction . . .

Lunch atop a Skyscaper by Charles Ebbets. Image source.

I guess as I get ready to move from one stage of life (grad school in LA) to another (working girl in NY) I should have expected that change would permeate more than just my location and occupation. You may have noticed that J Street has not escaped my current mood for trying new things. Bear with me as I figure out in which direction I want my little blog to go! Be sure to let me know if you love or hate any of the changes too!

Neutrals & Neons or Just Neutrals?

Image sources: belt, shoes, shirt, pants, skirt.

Neutrals and neons? (Click to expand.)

 

Image sources: black 1, light grey, tan, dark grey, black 2.

Or just neutrals? (Click to expand.)

As I grow up and try to prune my wardrobe down to pieces I would wear all the time, I struggle with the age old dilemma of wanting to invest in classics but also wanting to look on trend. Sometimes the trends are classic, like stripes and slim cut cropped pants. But sometimes you know trends are going to look dated, like floral pants and logo bags. I'm not sure which category neons fall into, although if I had to guess (based on the 80s) it would be the soon-to-be-dated category. But still I love the fun kick they add to outfits and have invested in some. (These in festival green and these in citron yellow. Both on sale right now!) I am hoping I can get more than one season of wear out of my neon pieces by pairing them with neutrals like the first group of ladies (rather than going the oh-so-popular color blocking route). But then I see how incredibly chic and timeless the neutral pieces without the neon look on the second group of ladies, and I wonder if I am going to kick myself in 12 months for buying green jeans instead of a little black dress. What do you think?

PS: Whenever I need a reminder to refrain from buying something at F21, H&M, etc., I watch Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Thomas Crown Affair (the new one). Chicest movies ever!

Bottega Louie Features Summer Strawberry

Bottega Louie is heavily highlighting on of my favorite things about summer: strawberries. Not only do they have a strawberry macaron flavor, but they have a ton of special strawberry tarts which will only be around for a short time. On my way home from the farmer's market I picked up the Harry's berries tart. It was so light and full of berries that it almost felt healthy. Almost. I think I'm going to stop back this tonight to try another option before strawberry season is over!

PS: I've got at friend visiting my tonight, so I am so so so excited Towne just opened yesterday! We're going to go, and I'll be sure to post a review.

Weekend Farmer's Market

Downtown LA has a farmer's market almost every single day of the week, but it wasn't until this past Sunday that one opened up on the weekends. It just goes to show how downtown is transitioning from a place where people only hang out from 9-5 on weekdays to a place where people live and hangout on the weekends. The farmer's market was small with most of the same vendors at the weekday markets, but it's a start. It's good to see organic produce taking over an otherwise unsavory corner even if it is only for a few hours on a Sunday. I took home some greens I'd never heard (to be used in stir fries), I got a great deal on some sunflowers, and I got a habanero dip for my boyfriend. All in all, a fruitful and delicious excursion.

Happy Hour at Corkbar

It took a recommendation from my parents to finally get me to try Corkbar. I had been avoiding it because their online wine list was quite pricey. But on a recent visit, my parents wandered in for happy hour and discovered $8 glasses of wine! It's not cheap, but $8 is within the range I can justify spending on a glass of wine. And it helps that their food (oddly enough considering their wine prices) is quite reasonably priced. So my boyfriend and I tried it out on a Friday, and it was lovely.

Corkbar is on the very very edge of the South Park neighborhood in downtown, which works to its advantage. The people who make the effort to come out there are serious about relaxing over some nice wine. So the atmosphere is calm and slightly sophisticated. It reminds me a lot of my favorite Philly wine spot, Tria. And the wine, oh the wine! Ok, to be honest we only tried one wine, the happy hour pinot noir. But it was the most delicious wine I can remember drinking in a long time. It was so fantastic that my boyfriend switched from beer to the pinot. It was so fantastic that we hunted down this wine at Bevmo this weekend. If you have $20 burning a hole in your pocket, order a bottle of 2010 Talbott Kali Heart pinot noir. It will be money very well spent. This seems kind of like an afterthought once I have waxed on about the wine, but the food is delicious too. The cheddar gourgeres are an absolute must. They melt in your mouth, and at happy hour, they're only $3 or $4!

I really wish I had been going to Corkbar for years now, but I hope to get the chance to go back before my impending move. I'd love to try it on a "Test Kitchen" Tuesday night. They make a new dish every week, and you get a mini portion of it for $2. Such a fun idea!

Happy Friday

Short weeks are nice. I was already able to clean the sheets and do some laundry over the holiday, so less cleaning to do this weekend! All I've got planned is some studying, some floor mopping, and maybe some time by the pool. What about you? If you don't have any plans, there are loads of a good movies out now, which is kind of surprisingly considering how blah past summers' fare has been. Ted and Brave are high on my list of movies to see. And I'm pretty intrigued by Magic Mike. (What heterosexual female wouldn't be?!) I also saw Moonrise Kingdom last weekend, which I highly recommend. It's adorable and fun. And if you are more in the mood for action movies, Savages, Prometheus, and the new Spiderman have actually gotten great reviews. So there's no excuse not to treat yourself to a movie and some popcorn this weekend!