Things I Love About California: Mendocino Farms

You know when you go to a restaurant three times in eight days, it has to be pretty damn good.

I recently discovered a great local chain in LA called Mendocino Farms.  I had driven past one of the stores and as cheesy at it sounds, just the design and visual appeal of the restaurant made me want to go.  Then I read the reviews on Yelp.  997 reviews with a 4.5 star average?  For a sandwich shop?  It's hard to get that much better on Yelp.  That was it.  I had to try it.

My first visit was to the store on 3rd and Fairfax, right near the Grove.  There was a quite a line (another good sign in LA), but we were greeted by a very friendly and knowledgeable young man who was more than prepared to guide us through our first ever trip to the establishment.  He explained that the schtick about "Mendo" is that everything is locally grown and gathered from the area.  In fact, as you looked around, the place had advertisements for the days and times of the local farmer's markets.  This place is all about supporting the local economy.  In fact, the name comes from a county in NorCal that is known for spearheading farm-to-table eating and sustainable dining.

After talking us through the options (some of them being safer while others are more unique and risky), I went with the Korobuta Pork Belly Bahn Mi.  Basically, pork belly with carrots, daikon, cilantro, cucumbers, jalapenos and chili aioli on grilled ciabatta bread.  Not something I would normally order, but it was recommended as one of the most popular selections.  And the employee told me that if I didn't like he, he would make sure to order me a different sandwich on the house.  A deal with a guarantee like that can't be passed up!

Next we were instructed to try some of the salads and sides in the deli counter.  You could sample anything that you wanted before buying (which I think is a fantastic selling point).  I tried two side dishes... the basil pesto pasta salad an the sirachia smashed potatoes.  From the first taste, they were both so good, I had to order a side of each!  I was very impressed.  I could have tried others, but I was so impressed at that point I decided to stop.

After paying, I went to get a drink of the soda machine to discover that Mendo has Boylan handcrafted sodas on tap.  I hadn't heard of the brand (and was initially disapointed there was no Diet Coke... hahaha), but then I saw a diet black cherry soda option and got excited.  It, too, was super delicious!  And its made with natural flavors and cane sugar!  Score!

The sandwich arrived and I was blown away with the flavor!  I've recently been foraying a bit more into spicier foods, and this sandwich has the perfect level of heat.  Enough to add a punch of flavor without burning you from the inside out.  I did take off about half of the jalapenos that came on it, but it was pretty freakin' fantastic.

Fast forward 6 days later and my friend Shanyn is in town visiting.  I was so excited to take her to Mendo!  We found one in Marina Del Ray and decided to head there.  I tried a different sandwich this time (the new seasonal Spicy Steak on Pretzel Bread) and it was just as good as my first trip!

The next day, I find myself in West Hollywood around lunch time, and decided to head to the Mendo on Santa Monica.  It isn't possible that I could try a different sandwich at yet another different location and still be successful, could I?  I COULD!  I got "A Sandwich Study of Heat" which was a hand-carved turkey sandwich with spicy smashed avocado sauce, gouda cheese and jalapeno relish on rustic white bread.  It was INNNNNNCREDIBLE.

So... with three separate trips to three different locations, I came up successful every single time.  I think I have found a new favorite place in LA.  And... I haven't even been to the location closest to where I live!  I can't wait to try that one.  Fourth time is a charm.

Red Carpet Premiere: "I Am Number FOUR"

I love L.A.

Have I told you that lately?

Oh... and I love Shanyn Day for tipping me off to a tweet she saw about tickets to the premiere of "I Am Number Four".  Thanks to her, Rich and I got tickets to see the red carpet premiere in Westwood.  I mean... if there was ever a movie for Rich and I to see at a premiere, its this one.  With my love of the number four, and Rich's love for sci-fi action movies it was a perfect match. 

Before I get to the actual movie, I will share two important lessons I learned Wednesday:

1.  Movie premiere tickets are not quite like TV taping tickets. Since moving to L.A. I've had the opportunity to go to several TV show tapings, and they always overbook them... so you need to show up hours in advance to ensure that you are going to get in.  When we got the tickets for this premiere and it had a lot of the same verbiage ("arrive early," "first come first serve," "purposely overbooked"... etc.) I thought we were going to have to show up several hours in advance of the 4:30 call time in order to get in.  Not true.  Rich and I arranged to leave work early and got there at 2pm to stand in line.  There as no need.  We could have shown up at 4:00pm or even probably 6:00pm and still gotten in.  The movie didn't start until 7:30, so we basically did a LOT of standing.  Which leads me to lesson number two:

2. Having a partner that you truly love is such a blessing.  With all the frustrations that could have possible turned into negativity in this situation, Rich and I stayed in good spirits and had a great time together.  There are so many other details I could go into regarding the odd way DreamWorks handled this premiere (example:  the first people in line who showed up earliest ended up with the worst seats in a completely separate theatre than the stars of the movie...).  But no matter what the frustration was, Rich and I took it with a "what happens, happens" attitude and took it for what it was worth.  After all, we are lucky enough to see a FREE, advance screening of a movie we were both excited about... and in the meantime we got to see some of the stars of the movie on the red carpet.  Pretty cool!  And... can I just say that if you have someone in your life that you can stand in line with for 5.5 hours and you are still smiling afterwards, you've got a pretty good thing going.  This experience solidified that for me.


OK... so enough lovey-dovey schmooshy stuff... lets get on to the movie:

If I had to wrap it up in a quick sentence or two, I would say this:  If you have any doubts or questions in the first half of the movie... just wait it out because the last 20-30 minutes are pretty awesome. 

More extensively, I'd say this:  This movie really has a little bit of everything.  It's got some love story... some action.... some sci-fi.... and honestly I jumped at this movie more than I jump at most horror/thriller films, so it even had that.  I think most people would watch the movie and walk away enjoying it.

Basically its about this teenage guy who is actually an alien.  He's from another planet, but when he was a kid he was sent to Earth with a "protector" along with eight other children who are believed to have special powers and will be able to come back to thier home planet and save it later on from mass destruction of these other aliens from an opposing planet (the Mogs).   Ok... ok.... so after that first long sentence, you are probably thinking "Matt Eickhoff actually watched this movie??!?".  Yes.  I did.  Sci-Fi usually isn't my thing, but the story is intriguing so I really liked it.  Long story short, the Mogs are attempting to kill each of the 9 kids before they grow old enough to mature thier powers and come back to thier home planet (Lorien) and defend it.  The catch is that the kids all have a symbol and an order to them... and they can only be killed in that order.  John, the main character, is number FOUR, and at the beginning of the movie, number three is killed.  So now he's next on the list.  The movie is basically his attempt to avoid being killed by the Mogs in hopes to stay alive and still defend Lorien.

BUT.... of course.... what would a movie be without a little love story to mess things up.  :-)  Sarah, played by Glee's Dianna Agron, plays this ex-popular girl who now is kinda the loner-artsy type.  John falls for Sarah and it makes things very complicated.  I was actually really excited to see Dianna in this movie because I really do love her on Glee.  She was OK in the movie... but I actually don't know if the casting was quite right for the character.  She's almost too pretty... and fits the popular girl role too well to be believed as the "now-loner" of the school.  But still, it was enjoyable to watch her on screen (and see her in real life as she walked down the red carpet).

So.... I do have to admit, the movie did have a tad bit of a Twilight-ish feel to it... simply in the way that there is a human girl who loves a non-human and the non-humans struggle to over choosing love or life.  The dialog is pretty simple, and the story is straightforward... also in the way Twilight is.  But!  There are two things that take this movie way beyond Twilight in my opinion:  First... the action.  Again, not much of an action movie kinda guy... but the way they pulled together the effects of the characters special powers, along with the battles with the Mogs, I actually thought the action and effects were quite well done and pretty believeable for an "alien-battle-on-Earth" scenario.  The second reason I think its better than Twilight is two words: Alex Pettyfer.  Whoo!  This guy is smokin'!  I mean... he's way better eye candy than Jacob and Edward combined!  That was enough to keep me awake through the whole thing (which of those of you who have seen movies with me, you know that is sometimes a struggle). 

To wrap up, I would say definitely go see I Am Number Four.  Is it going to win Oscars?  No.  But its a fun, action packed movie that is definitely worth the admission price. 


Here are some other pictures from the day:

Rich and I standing by the Red Carpet when we arrived in the afternoon

We got to see them literally "roll out the red carpet" :-)

This is what the red carpet looked like at night all lit up

We got to meet Max Adler who plays Karofsky on Glee!  YAY!

And we got to meet Ariel Winter, Alex on Modern Family! :-)

Unfortunately, this was the best picture I could get of Dianna Agron.  She practically ran past us!

And this was the closest we got to Alex Pettyfer... Still cool to see him live in person!

And finally.... this is Rich and I after the movie.  A girl at the concession stand gave us a free poster :-)

Things I Love About California: Arclight Cinemas

After my last post about Inception, I'd like to follow it up with my latest installment of: "Things I Love About California."  This week, I love Arclight Cinemas.... or put more simply: movie theatres with reservable seats!

Now... I'm pretty sure this isn't just in California anymore... but considering the movie-going experience that I had growing up in Michigan, having this option out here is pretty amazing. 

For those of you still back in the Midwest that don't understand what I'm talking about... consider this:  You know how when you buy tickets on Ticketmaster for a concert and they tell you what the best available seats are and you can see where you are sitting before you buy the tickets? ?  Imagine being able to do that for a movie!!!

You can log in to the Arclight website, check the various movie times, and then look at a layout of the theatre to see if its packed.  Then you can click on whatever available seats you like best and buy your tickets online.  So if you're one of those people who always like to sit in the back... or in the front... you've got that option.  You can buy your tickets days in advance and make plans around that movie for the night.  Just print the tickets from home, and you are good to go.  It's pretty awesome.  Best part... is if you are going to see a movie on opening night or opening weekend, before you would have to show up at least an hour ahead of time to buy your tickets and then wait in line to get a good seat.  Not anymore.  You can show up 10 minutes before the movie (or 15 in order to make sure you can get snacks!) and get right in. 

Another awesome thing about Arclight: you can't get into the movie once the movie begins... so you better be on time!  Its nice because it cuts down on people coming in late and crawling over you in the dark to find a seat.  Although this rule did bite us in the butt once when were late and had to forfeit our tickets... we learned our lesson and haven't done it since. 

OK... OK... so things aren't perfect with Arclight.  Of course the tickets are more expensive... but for the headache that it relieves, its pretty quick to get over the ticket price.  At most "regular" theatres out here in California, you are going to spend $12 to see a movie anyway... so whats the different to spend an extra $3.  For me, the convenience is worth it. 

Things I Love about California: Agua Frescas

So I had this idea for a new "column" here on my blog: Things I Love about California.  It's been almost two years since I've moved out here, and it still surprises me to this day about how different life is here compared to my first 28 years of life in Michigan (and that one year in between that I lived in Nashville, TN... shout out to my friends there!).  To chronicle these new things... I'll be talking about them periodically (or as they present themselves) right here on my blog.

For the first installment, I'd like to share my love for: Aguas Frescas

Aguas Frescas is the spanish term for "fresh waters"... and boy are they refreshing especially on a hot day here in Southern Cali.  This delicious drink is most likely found where mexican food is served... and it comes in a variety of flavors.  Many of the flavors are fruit based and include chunks of fresh fruit in them.  My personal favorite is pineapple... but they come in lots of other flavors like mango, watermelon, canteloupe, guava, lime, strawberry lemonade and more.  There are also non fruit-based flavors like horchata and hibiscus. 

Just think: cold water, fruit, ice and sugar all mixed into one!  Can it get any better?  I mean... why is this a regional thing?  I don't understand why Michigan can't get some fruity-watery love!  I'm sure its because its a traditional drink from the Mexican culture... and well... let's face it, California is a lot more diverse than Michigan.  Still.... I think if I ever moved back to Michigan, one of the things I would miss most is Aguas Frescas.

One funny story to share that will describe my love for this drink:  I was at a fair with a group of friends, and its almost guaranteed that there will be Aguas Frescas at carnivals/fairs here in the LA area.  We luckily found a tent and got the largest one I could get.  Another friend asked to try it... and the first thing he said was: "it just tastes like watered-down fruit".  To which I promptly replied, "NO!  This is fruited-up water!".  You don't want to argue with me about Aguas Frescas.  :-)