Let them eat cake.

March 14, 2008

"Squint and you'd think you were in France. Now open a little wider, Provencal tablecloths cover the tables in the narrow little Bistro de l'Hermitage; bottles of wine line one side of the bar; specials are scawled on the chalkboard. Likely as not, the waiter will address you in French."
- LA Times.

Bistro de l'Hermitage did not disappoint us. Wine and cheese was abundant and fragrant! The cheese plate was particularly popular and included Tomme de Savoie, Epoisse, Saint Andre, Roquefort, and Brie. The big surprise was the Tomme de Savoie, which is a variety of Tomme cheese from Savoie in the French Alps. It is a mild, semi-firm cow's milk cheese that is actually low in fat... delicious!

Also among our selections were:

- Rack of Lamb
- Ravioli
- French Pork Loin Chop
- Roast Half Duck
- Shrimp Moqueca

Be sure to order the chocolate souffle if you go - pricey, but worth it!

Foodie/Anime club mashup!

http://www.royal-t.org/cafe/

Maids! No, wait. American maids! That's right, instead of reading about maids, you Americans can go visit them in America. Previously, a maid opened in Canada. Then it closed! And now, another maid cafe is giving North America a go. This month, Royal/T Cafe is having its grand opening in Culver City, Southern California. Though, here's the pickler. The website describes the cafe as a "playful collision of spaces — café/shop/art space — presented in stunning fusion. An eclectic mix of retail and contemporary art reimaged in the surrounds of LA's first Japanese-style cosplay café." That's LA-talk for "Since this café is based on places where Japanese nerds go sip milk tea and play paper-rock-scissors, we've decided to add pretentious artsy-fartsy shit to appeal to American hipsters."