WHERE: Los Angeles (DTLA) / What happened to NoHo??

THE MENU: (2/20 - 2/24)

HOW+WHY: Our Story / LQ@SK

LQ @ SK / PARKING / CATERING / ARCHIVES

Contact us (anytime!): info@starrykitchen.com

Oh BA LE, the oldest and the original (aka OG) Banh Mi sandwich shop chain in ALL US Vietnamese-American history. Before there was Lee’s, it was them… And THEY might be the solution to our banh mi bread dilemma (its not really a dilemma, but it sounds more dramatic right?)

And if you need a recap: its now come down to Porto’s, Homeboy and Ba Le. Who will we choose? Who will be the victor? And why am I spending so much time on this? Because I think for a lunch time crowd, sandwiches might kinda popular (plus when its good… Its GOOD!)

TEAM SK

Oh man… OH MAN!  Ramping up to launch Starry Kitchen DownTown: “A Lunch Spot… for the Community” (FYI, that’s NOT the tagline just in case you were REALLY wondering) is EFFIN… C-RAAAAAAAZY!  So sorry we haven’t updated the blog (but we’ve been updating.. FACEBOOK ya’ll).  It’s just been a madhouse.

While I’m coming up for air to type this post, I thought I would share with you a thoughtful gift that our friend and one of our MOST loyal fans, Justin Sevakis (@worldofcrap), got the KITCHEN NINJA as a belated birthday gift… yup, this CRAPPY ass dummies book that he prolly bought at a yard sale for like $.50 and upon opening this book I…

…

wait a MINUTE?  This book is… ummm… HELPFUL?!  Hmmm… WELL Justin, I stand corrected.  You ARE a good friend after all.  Don’t mind all that jibba-jabba before.  So we coo’ now?

Alrighty, gotta get back to work.  I still have a TON of posts of places we’ve been eating at… but we’ve been spending more time eating, sampling and analyzing than… well posting!

There you go chockos… the post of the week (no really, it’s the ONLY post of the week)

Xoxo,

TEAM SK

While we’re actually doing a lot of background work… here’s a picture of us NOT cooking.  (KITCHEN NINJA on the left, me = the Asian Pose GOOFBALL on the right :p)

If you wouldn’t believe it, I (Nguyen Tran) am on the Board of Directors for a non-profit called CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) helping out people from all facets of “the biz” to get a leg up.  This pic above (and below “acting” like I’m working) is from our annual Soiree (held last week), and yes I do like to do Asian Poses as much as possible.  Coincidentally, I’m “Asian!”

So do you read the blog, lurk and STILL haven’t come to STARRY KITCHEN yet?  Well look no further than this post.  ’Cuz here we are Cletus!

So if you see us on the street, feel free to say “Hi” or run in the opposite direction.  Either way, we’ll know this post did it’s job informing people of who the personalities are (or lack of) behind the food, blog, Facebook updates and twitter tweets.

We’re still very behind on a ton o’ posts (including one on these really cool FRESH NOODLE instant ramen pack we got the other day -> pic below if you want some… they kinda expensive though @ $2/pack!) because we gots to get this sh-t goin’ DownTown.  No time for monkey business (aka “blogging”)  ^_^

On a quick note, I was following this exchange on twitter (because I have SO MUCH time on my hands to read these tweets ^_^), and I think I might be a “Blasian!”  This tweeter is a Japanese + Scottish (aka hapa-lluja!) foodie blogger I follow (and she MUTUALLY follows us… that’s the important fact to know here my friends :D) by the name of @mylastbite (http://www.mylastbite.com/)

@ChefAustinSzu I don’t know if I said it first, but I am proud to be a Blogger+Asian=Blasian (plus a hapa at that!) : )

So there you have it.  I was never sure about my title in life, but now I know (or think) that I am a “Blasian!”  Take that CHUCK NORRIS.  You can take your Soloflex and sell those wares elsewhere to someone that needs ‘em because I don’t need it… ANYMOOOO’!

(pssst - just because I have a blog and I update it slightly regularly… I’m a blogger, right?  I’m pretty sure I have the Asian category down… I’m “PRETTY” sure at least ^_^ LOL)

Toodles,

TEAM “BLASIAN” (aka SK)

Plates, trays and packaging!  Those are some of the decisions we have to make while moving towards a “legit” location!  We’ll admit, it’s pretty exciting, and a whole lotta fun.  Not necessarily in the scope of what we thought this would become when we were just worrying about: ingredients, recipes and preparation 8 months ago in our apartment. :)

So here we present to you a small taste of what we’re thinking about that can look good and work within the budget we’re supposed to stay within as well.  We wanted it to be cute, colorful and kind of creative.  It’s not super upscale, but we don’t want to be boring and staid either.  This may not mean much to the general consumer walking it, but the entire package/environment means something walking out (at least I think so).  We’re already talking about painting some of the walls orange, random pipes orange and getting some cool Giant Robot art inside to “hip” it up a couple of notches.

More pictures are on our Facebook Fan Page (http://facebook.com/starrykitchen), and there are already some comments on them too.  We’d love to know what your thoughts are, and any suggestions you might have too.

We’re already getting comments!  Some for the bright colors, some not so much… even if we’re already set, we’d love to hear ‘em all! ^_^

STARRY KITCHEN is ultimately a concept that was started by us, but built by you so we’d love to get your input.  And as sarcastic as I usually am, I promise you that is as genuine of a request as they come.  I SWEAR!!!

SUPPER CLUB!!!

And you guys know I’m all about shameless plugging, so don’t forget we’re doing this on Friday.  Whether its 4 people or 20, this is going to be a lot of fun.  Plus I got a singer… a SINGER!  His name is Big Phony (http://bigphonymusic.com/), he’s a friend and he likes our food too.  His music’s really mellow and will be a really nice compliment for the evening too.  (psst, he might even write a commercial jingle for us too… no JOKE!)

Alrighty, I might be all alone and have a whole hotpot, Wagyu beef and dungeoness crab to myself… but doggone-it, I’m gonna like it! ^_^  More info on the Supper Club here: http://bit.ly/6oSSYN

BIG PHONY

And since I mentioned he’ll be singing at our “intimate” Supper Club, I might as well provide some videos/music for ya, right?  Oh yeah, we here at SK aim to please and we’re gonna do it like BURGER KING, and “have it your way!” ^_^

Here’s a little song about Zooey Deschanel… no, really it is! (but I don’t think he doesn’t know her):

And here’s the first song I actually saw/heard before I met him.  He’ll be joining us for dinner too.  He’s a super duper nice guy.  You’ll love him:

Toodles,

TEAM SK

I’m kind of crazy doing posts right before service, but I am anyway (hence my post below).  Read below on what else is going on today in LA.  Hopefully you’ll be able to squeeze us in while trying some of this other stuff too.  It’s a pretty crazy day full of events, but that’s just another day in LA, right? ^_^

TEAM SK

tumblangeles:

WOW, today is a BUSY day in the city of Los Angeles.

If you’re on the West Side or near WeHo, you should check out this huge gathering of food bloggers for a very good cause. It’s going on RIGHT NOW, but here’s a link if you want more info: http://gastronomyblog.com/index/eat-my-blog/

Seriously, as I’m jumping from simple foodie to the internet foodie/food serving world, I am AMAZED by the sheer numbers AND the community of the food bloggers. WOW. Just click the link above to get the list of all the food bloggers that are participating. Hope I don’t piss them off and they like our food one day. LOL ^_^

And if you’re STILL on the West Side and near Sawtelle tonight, check out this AWESOME “Post-It” art exhibit at Giant Robot 2 (GR2). This looks purdy SWEET! Wish I could make it. Starts at 6.30p tonight with more info here: http://bit.ly/6cgxwO

And last… but certainly not least we (Starry Kitchen) are servin’ it up again today (12-3p). For more info, click this link: http://bit.ly/8fNjD3

(pardon the menu above, my handwriting is the worst… but that’s the food!)

And PLEASE park in our garage (but only in 350 S. Grand garage today). I IMPLORE you to. It’s only $3 for 2 hours. Don’t waste your time with the expensive street parking or another lot. OUR garage is connected to our building. That way when you come, you won’t be pissed at us already and not like our food (because that really hurts… on the inside ^_^).

Btw, we met a couple of people from tumlbAngeles at our Thursday test-run too… which is AWESOME!!! ^_^

Alrighty, gotta jump back in the kitchen and finish prep (yes, I’m literally typing this up in-between making Crispy Kimchi Rice Cakes and Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken for today).

Toodles,

TEAM SK

Welcome to SK “Food Porn” Photograhy Day! :D Brought to you by our friend, artist, Dreamworks Animation Animator and part-time photographer, John Truong. We’re gonna post pics in the windows @ SKDT to hopefully induce one reaction… *DROOL*

UPDATE: man this blog post looks bland. I’m adding some more pics.  HOORAY!

For all 5 (okay, I’m sure MAYBE 6) of you new followers that JUST found us because you read that nice lil article in the LA Weekly (http://bit.ly/7HSJ3o) written by Katherine Spiers (http://katherinespiers.tumblr.com/), I gotta burst your bubble if you haven’t done enough research about us:

NoHo is NoMO(re)

Don’t worry, we too were saddened, but sometimes you just gotta move on in life. (or not, but it’s the truth ya’ll!)

Buttery Kimchi Fried Rice

WAY Above I linked to our “Goodbye” dinner party we had a couple of weeks ago if you want to check out more info, and see how many people we can fit in our apartment! haha

In short, if you read the article, you’ll find out others are not as amused by our experiment than we or some of you are.  But NO WORRIES Los Angeles…

If you’re just joining us for this chapter in our story ,”The TWILIGHT Kitchen Saga” (I know… LAME but I couldn’t help it… and maybe we’ll get some of that Twihard contingent to camp out for our DT opening ^_^), we’re taking over a location (as a matter of fact I’m blogging FROM this very location… OOooOOooOOHHHhhh) in the California Plaza downtown.  You can see pics of the location and some test-runs we’ve already done here: http://bit.ly/7HoORo

SK R&D: Curry Crab

If you want more info, feel free to email us anytime at the address to the left.  Otherwise follow us on Twitter (@starrykitchen) or our Facebook Page (http://facebook.com/starrykitchen) for the latest and greatest updates and incomprehensible psychobabble that I love to dish out from time to time.

Til then, if you didn’t had the pleasure of stopping by our apartment you’re missing out not only because of our food… but because of one very special individual.  Here’s our lovable pet, mascot and confidant: GQ

(psssst - you wouldn’t believe it, but he’s 8 years old… oh yeah, and he for some reason likes cilantro ^_^)

Much love,

TEAM SK

UPDATE: Doh! This is what happens when you make a quick post during food prep, and ya don’t check your links.  Arrrrrrrrrgh!  Alrighty, here’s one that should work.  Did I mention that I fell in love with this song partially because I was stuck in New Orleans last year during hurricane Gustav and this was ALL I was hearing on the radio. (but I really do love this song, you should hear me sing it in karaoke… hey, where’s everyone going?!?!)

Ooops… no more time for monkey business.  Prepping food’s a hard business, and that’s what I gotta do w/ the Kitchen Ninja for our Supper Club and for our lunch run tomorrow.  Til then, take this video as a gift (from us of course since TI’s kind of “pre-occupied” at the moment) and message from us, but substitute “Patron” w/ “Korean Short-Ribs” and “ice” with “buttery kimchi fried rice filled burritos.”

…

Or not ‘cause re-writing that song to accomodate Starry Kitchen might actually be more work than creating the 33+ dishes we’ve played with since we started (yeah, that’s a LOT now right???).

Hopefully we’ll see you tomorrow DownTown (http://bit.ly/5mNDHo).  It may be kinda cruddy weather tomorrow… but HEY, it’s our LAST test-run of the year and we have a FULL menu of tasty treats and fantabulous flavors just waiting for you.

Btw, once you watch the video maybe we can play the spoof my wifey found last night, ‘Asian Boy Gotta Eat RICE’ or something like that.  It’s kind of funny… in a 5th grade kind of way (thankfully my sense of humor hasn’t graduated from the 4th grade yet ^_^)

Xoxo,

TEAM SK

omame:

「秋葉原　Burger Cafe Asyl（アジール）のアキバーガー」 | GO!GO!ハンバーガー

Good morning America - we *heart* you so much that we present to you your heart-attack of the day!  ”Surprisingly” the Japanese are not big readers of This is Why Your Fat: Where Dreams Become Heart Attacks (that’s at least my assumption), so I present this to you so you can go to your local burger joint and DEMAND (or maybe beg with puppy dog eyes) this be made for you pleasantly public consumption.

If you want to know what it says, here’s what my trusty friend Google Translate (translate.google.com) tells me:

“Akihabara Burger Cafe Asyl (Asyl) Akibaga the” | GO! GO! Hamburger

(whew)

Glad we have that out of the way (even though this picture is making me hungry).

LAST test-run this Sat:

Thanks everyone that came out to our SK DownTown test-runs last week.  Did we mention we got our FIRST Yelp review for our DownTown location too?  It’s 4-stars, and a GREAT way to start too!  Check it out here chockos: http://bit.ly/7Mw9IP

As I’m sure many of you guys assume, moving from an apartment kitchen to an industrial one is definitely a welcome change, and we’ve been learning a LOT from the experience and especially from you guys too.  We still have a lot more to learn, and we have ONE LAST test-run this Saturday, Dec. 12th (12-3p): http://bit.ly/5mNDHo.  We hope you can make it and tell your friends.  Here’s the menu that we’ve decided on for this Sat:

• Korean Short-Ribs
• Chinese Hamburger
• Vietnamese Braised Coconut (milk) Pork (aka thit kho)
• (Veggie/Kosher-friendly) VN Braised Coconut Jackfruit
• Honey Panko Crusted Tofu Balls (aka…and I’m not kidding about this ^_^… GAME CHANGER #2)

So there you have it… THAT is what we’re serving.  No more games, tricks or tomfoolery (maybe a little bit if we can help it ^^).

SUPPA CLUB:

We’re really excited about this, and hope to have some of you come out too.  The food we’re going to serve is going to be SOOOOO delicious (well, we at least hope you’ll agree with us ^_^), incredibly varied and looks like I might have confirmed a singer friend of ours for the evening as well!  So it should be fun.  You can sign up here: http://sksupperclub.eventbrite.com/

And that’s it for now.  We gots a lot to do, and no mo’ time to blog right now (until I get to one of the MANY posts I supa dupa backlogged on for a lotta the places including the cute lil Yellow House Cafe in K-Town).

Til then, enjoy this video of this multi-talented ummm… I’m not sure what kind of title to give him, but please enjoy HIS brand of tomfoolery.  Take it away… Mr. KEN CREATE:

TEAM SK