When Amy found out that I was going to California, she excitedly quipped, “Mmmm, I can already smell that Animal Style burger.” When I first walked into Barnes and Nobles at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, I saw a stack of gleaming blue covers that bore the name, “In and Out.” And as I was preparing for my arrival back to the East coast, Clare asked, “Jessie, can you pleaseee bring us back some In and Out? I don’t care if it’s smushed or defaced, heck I’ll eat an In and Out burger however it looks.”
So what exactly is this phenomenon that seems to spark long awaited lines and traffic jams whenever a new location opens up? It’s hard for us non-West coasters to imagine what In and Out can be. Afterall, we have plenty of McDonalds, Wendys, and so forth. But In and Out has consistently been rated as a top fast food restaurant although I wouldn’t even categorize it as that because if you read Stacy Perman’s In and Out: Behind the Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain that Breaks All the Rules you’ll find that the quality of meat that they use is superior to that of any other fast food restaurants.

So there wasn’t an In and Out in Santa Monica and that meant that I had to take a bus to get to one. I figured that the closest one to me was in Westwood, and I finally had the chance to go there one afternoon. By the time I got there (I got miserably lost…), I was so disappointed to find that they only had three burgers on the menu. YES, only THREE!! What happened to “Animal style” or “Protein style” that I kept on hearing about? Supposedly, there’s a secret menu…
Thanks to Scott Birch, I found out the secret menu, that is, after I arrived back to Jersey. But for my future reference and possibly for your benefit:

• 2 by 4: 2 meat patties with 4 slices of cheese (OMG, I don’t even know what to say to that…)
• 4 by 4: 4 meat patties with 4 slices of cheese (in even more shock…)
• Veggie Burger: normal hamburger setup without the meat/cheese
• Animal Style: hamburger meat cooked with mustard. Add pickles, more thousand island spread, and grilled onions
• Double Meat: double meat patties without cheese
• Flying Dutchman: imagine a 2 by 2
• Fries well done: extra crispy
• Fries Light: barely cooked
• Extra Toast: bun is toasted a bit more so that it’s crispy
• Protein Style: Bun is replaced with lettuce cups
• Neopolitan Shake: Whole milk + vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream swirled together

Of course, I managed to shame my one and only shot (for now) by ordering a cheeseburger. Sigh, what was I thinking?? I should have done my usual research, but the one time that I neglect to do so… Anyway, the cheeseburger was delicious, but I didn’t think that it was so spectacular that it beat out every other burger I’ve had (which is still Shake Shack). I blame my experience on the secret menu that should be made unsecret. But like Slo says, a good burger is a good burger, even if I didn’t order off the secret menu. I do admit that In and Out is like a franchised version of Shake Shack.

I mentioned in my Fatburger post that I thought Fatburger was superior to In and Out. But, really, I’m comparing two different breeds here.

1. Fatburger gives you a choice as to whether you want your meat fried or grilled.
2. Everything is made to order so you wait around 10 minutes. I went to In and Out when it was slow, and it took approximately 3 minutes to get my order. Now, that’s how long it takes to assemble a burger, not cook it!
3. Fatburger gives you the choice of toppings, and if you add bacon (like I did), how could the burger not taste better? Isn’t there some saying that goes, “Bacon makes everything more delicious?”
4. Fatburger is greasy. In and Out is not. Enough said. (Slo scoffed when I defended with, “But Fatburger says it’s 100% lean meat!!)

But, I will admit that In and Out’s sauce is way better than Fatburger. But maybe not compared to Shake Shack’s…

But man, I would love for another go and order an Animal Style. The fries were good, though they were a bit too crispy. I guess next time I should ask for Fries Light. And I guess next time, I’d order a Neopolitan shake, rather than a vanilla.

(Supposedly, their cups have Biblical verses on the bottom. Guess I missed that too!)

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Official “Secret MENU”

What if I told you that you could have two cookies (ten varieties to choose from)  that are slightly soft and chewy? What if I told you that wedged in between those two cookies, you could have a generous scoop of ice cream (twelve flavors to choose from)? Wait, I’m not done yet- what if I told you that it’d only cost you a measly $1.50?!

To mark my leave from Santa Monica, Slo took me out to Westwood (home to the beautiful UCLA) where we waited in what seemed like an epically long line for our ice cream cookie sandwiches. It was probably around 10:45pm, but the place looked like Sprinkles or Magnolia on a Saturday afternoon. And whilst I was in line, I couldn’t decide- Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream with White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies? Could my two favorite flavors in the ice cream and cookie category mesh well together? I think so!

I’ll admit, it’s nothing spectacular. After awhile, the ice cream hardens the cookies so I found myself tearing apart the ice cream, leaving myself with cookie remnants. But unless you can tell me where I can get an ice cream cookie sandwich for $1.50, I’m going to join the Diddy Riese band wagon.

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There are few things that New York City lacks, but one of them is a comprehensive Farmer’s Market. Don’t get me wrong- the market in Union Square is awesome. It’s just that there are so many varieties of vegetables and even fruits that you never see there. I guess that’s why the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market seemed so much more exciting. Vibrant hues of orange, red, and a spectrum of green made it irresistible not to purchase anything.

(There’s always a guy handing out samples of Lemon Pistachios, which are quite interesting.)

The market starts at 8:30am every Wednesday and Saturday and ends around 1:30pm. It extends several streets, from 1st to around 4th St. on Arizona Avenue. Most of the produce is organic certified, but those that aren’t generally aren’t sprayed with pesticides anyway.

Don’t let the prices get to you. You have to walk through the whole market before you start buying anything. Here are some general tips for the frugal:

• Apples- You can get organic apples for $1/lb if you’re willing to eat them ugly. Walk around and find the box that says “Defaced apples.”
• Peaches: The organic peaches are usually around $3. If you’re wiling to go non-organic certified and trust your local trusty farmer’s word that his peached are not sprayed with pesticides, you can get them for $2. Go to the Mayfair Farms stand where everything- from nectarines to peaches, are only $2/lb.
• Oranges: Many are sold by the bag and most of these are not organic. You can get organic ones, but they’re generally sold single. A 3lb bag of blood oranges (non-organic) runs for $3 at most stands! That’s definitely one thing I’m going to miss when I go back to Union Square
• Strawberries: I found that on Wednesday, strawberries tend to be cheaper. That’s another thing- on Wednesday, the market has more stands and if berry lovers definitely benefit on Wednesday. You can get a decent sized punt for $5 if you dig around

(The bread/pastry stand on Saturday’s)

• Pastries, bread, muffins, etc…: On Saturday, the stand is by 4th St. Get there early and grab yourself a Pecan Alligator. I’ve been there at 9:30am and they’ve run out… If you don’t have that much of a sweet tooth, the Sesame Alligator is good too. Best of all, it’s only $2.50!
• On Wednesday, the stand by 4th St. does sell strudels, turnovers, and such, but I’d recommend going to 2nd St, in the direction of Santa Monica where there is a stand at the end. They sell a sick lemon pound cake. Everything is $3+

Oh forgive me Lovie Yancey, founder of Fatburger, for thinking that Fatburger had not yet extended its godly presence beyond the sunny West Coast. In retribution:

• I blog about you (I rarely blog about well known national chains)
• I thought your burger was better than In-and-Out (I do expect some hate-mail from this)

(That sign is so true…)

On my last full day in Santa Monica, I just couldn’t resist that $2.99 sign. Top that off with add-on’s and a side of fries and you’ve got heavenly bliss, all for around $6. And with burgers cooked to order- piled with bacon, relish, onions, mayo, and whatever your else heart desires, how could it not be satisfyingly delicious?

The $2.99 is priced for a small burger. For each size you upgrade, they add a dollar as well as for the add on’s. In my attempt to maximize taste for health, I limited myself to one add on- bacon. Maybe bacon’s the reason why I thought Fatburger was actually better than In and Out. Then again, I didn’t order from the secret menu at In and Out (and to their benefit, there was no option for bacon).

But the burger was shockingly juicy and just so satisfying in a non greasy fast food sort of sense (it did say 100% lean meat). Like there’s Shake Shack sort of good and by that I mean a sloppy-ly put togeter casual burger. The one where the evidence of imperfection shows that the bun is baked by someone toiling in the back (probably totally untrue, but it’s all about perception, isn’t it?) and there’s something to the sauce that makes you think, “ah, that’s Shake Shack.” But then there’s also Fatburger good. A sort of creme-de-la-creme of fast food greasy burgers.

I loved how you could actually choose the size of the burger! I mean, this is a true place where I could take Suki. The small is the perfect size even with a ravished stomach especially if you get a side of fries, which come either thin or thickly cut. I recommend the thick cut because think about it: how many burger joints do you know that offer thick cut fries?

(And of course, if you can handle all that meat, you might as well try to make it onto the wall of fame.)

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family styled, the way dinner should always be

I used to wonder whether it was embarrassing to be the kid of parents who own a really Chinese restaurant- you know, one that has a FOBish sort of name. “So what do your parents do?” “Oh, well, they own a restaurant [hesitates...] Nice Time Deli.” But now that I’m older and wiser, who cares about the name? All that matters is that you can boast it has great food. Of course, if I ever owned a restaurant, I’d put a bit more thought into its name.

The night after we ate at Crocodile Cafe and 21 Choices, Slo brought us to one of the best Taiwanese restaurants near her house. Anyone who eats out with me knows that I try to avoid Chinese restaurants, but do distinguish. In reality, there is no such thing as “Chinese” food. If you go to China, you’ll find hundreds of different cuisines depending on where you are. Taiwanese food is one of them (I know it’s politically incorrect) but definitely much better than Americanized Chinese food. Good ol’ Taiwanese food really hits the spot.

And so Slo ordered a good five dishes, picking out the ones we “definitely” needed to eat. “You done good,” I complimented, as I was stuffing my mouth with rice because I ate myself silly by the time we walked out. I can’t even translate these dishes, so I guess the rest of this post will be more or less eye candy.

But what I can translate is Stinky Tofu! Surprisingly not stinky and very delicious. It’s like biting into a pillow. A crisp encasing on the outside, but airy and light on the inside. Kudos to you Nice Time Deli.