friends + food = always fun

crepes are good.

of course, this is nothing i didn't already know. but i can probably count on one hand the number of times i've had them, aside from the ones my mom made for various family gatherings. funny - it seems like all of my crepe outings have been in the last several months! heh.

anyway, as i mentioned yesterday, i met up with the monkey and lilcee at crepe vine in pasadena. i kept stealing glances around to see if anyone else in the restaurant looked familiar - the paranoid monkey rubbed off on me a little, i guess. heh. anyway, aside from a few startled glances our way when we would burst out into raucous laughter, i didn't notice anyone who really gave a shit that we were there.

the monkey had to go out the door and around the corner to potty, armed with a restroom token that she didn't end up having to use. as the last person left, she slid right in. sneaky monkey!
we started out with a cheese plate, served with a sliced baguette. there was bleu cheese, a goat/sheep cheese combo, something called "triple cream" cheese, and one other type that escapes me at the moment. it was all presented on a plate that was garnished with drizzles of a honey-balsamic reduction (yum), some sliced grapes (not so yum), and some candied walnuts (back to yum). we devoured it all, of course, although we agreed that the bleu cheese was a bit on the strong side, and that the triple cream was the most scrumptious. mmm, cheese.

we decided to order 3 different kinds of savory crepes and split them all. i chose a smoked salmon crepe that had a cream cheese sauce, capers, and dill, lilcee went with the duck confit crepe, and the monkey ordered the club - turkey, ham, bacon, cheese, and tomato. it came with avocado, too, but we got it on the side for lilcee to enjoy. turns out the monkey shares my dislike for this california staple.

and they were dee-licious! mine was a little on the salty side, but i chalk that up to the capers. i don't normally eat them, and found myself picking them out as i went.

"did you leave room for dessert?" our server asked. and boy, did we! well, come on - when do i not?

apple pie a la mode.

crepes suzette.

strawberry-banana-nutella, with a vanilla brandy flambe.


even being a fruitophobe, i enjoyed them all. it ain't hard to pluck fruit out of a crepe. and those sauces! i wanted to roll myself in them and give myself a bath, like a cat.

lilcee whipped out her oh-so-cute credit card and scooped up our cash. instant atm!

afterwards, we strolled through a few shops - j. crew, steve madden, banana republic. i told them about finding a banana republic outlet during my trip to ontario mills, and so now we may have to take a road trip for some outlet shopping - although we'll probably head to a different, more fabulous location.