Jason and I decided to eat somewhere very local tonight. We went to The Park (1400 Sunset Blvd., Echo Park) for a casual dinner.

This was my second time to come here. Just like the last time, the place was packed with locals. They serve smart American dishes for very reasonable prices. All the entrees are under $20.

Another great thing about The Park is that they welcome BYOB and there is no corkage fee! We brought a bottle of 2005 Chateau Guibot, La Fourvieille, Puisseguin Saint-Emilion. The wine was still very young and relatively tight, but it turned rounder after about 30 minutes.

Mini Cornmeal Pancakes with Fresh Corn, Seared Shrimp, Chipotle Butter, Roasted Tomato Salsa, and Mexican Crema. I liked the subtle heat in the dish.

Wild Arugula Salad with Heirloom Tomato, Fresh Corn and Sherry-Shallot Vinaigrette. Delicious seasonal treat.

My main course was Pulled Chipotle Kurobuta Pork with Sweet Corn Pudding, Red Cabbage Slaw and Peach Chutney. I loved the dish so much. Each different flavor worked so well together. Pork was so juicy. This dish was ONLY $16!

Jason had Hanger Steak with Tangy Chimichurri Sauce, Layered Potato, Fried Onion, and Arugula Salad. He loved it so much, too!

The Park really shows how a local casual restaurant should be. We had a nice relaxing time there tonight.

Today’s lunch was at AKASHA (9543 Culver Blvd., Culver City).

They make really good Onion Rings. They were very crispy outside and sweet inside.

I had Red Quinoa with Lemongrass Rocky Chicken. It was light and clean.

One of the people I was with today used to be Michael Jackson’s personal assistant for 18 years(!) He’s a very good friend with Akasha (the owner chef), because she also worked for Michael Jackson as a personal chef during the same time. I heard Michael really loved Ms. Akasha’s cooking!

Tonight's main dish was one of my favorite combinations...Eggplant and Pork. I stir-fried the ground pork with fermented black beans, soy sauce, sake, etc. mixture and poured over grilled (and peeled) Japanese eggplants.

Eggplant & Pork, Donabe Rice with Natto, and Daikon Miso Soup. Simple yet wonderful home meal.

Today’s lunch was at Factor’s Famous Deli (9420 West Pico Blvd.), which is one of the oldest delis of LA. We sat at the table in the outdoor patio.

I had Chicken Pita with Steak Fries. These were so huge! There were chicken breast filet, grilled vegetables, tomato, feta, and mixed baby greens in the pita, with balsamic vinaigrette and ranch dressing.

What…?! Who took all the pickles pictures??

Our friend hosted a BBQ gathering at his apartment in Silver Lake today.

He doesn’t live there but he uses the space as his work space (he’s a sculptor).

This weekend was Sunset Junction Street Festival (http://www.sunsetjunction.org/streetfair.html). His apartment is located right on Sunset Street and everything was happening, literally, right in front of his room!

Here’s the view from his room. It was quite fun and crazy especially with the band’s playing on stage all the time. When we got to his place, I thought there was a rave party going on in his room, but the loud music was actually coming from the stage outside.

I made Unagi Chirashi Sushi (Eel Scattered Sushi). The sushi rice made in Donabe (clay pot) had the great texture and flavor. I was glad everybody loved the dish.

Burger time!

It was such a fun casual get together with cool friends!

I can't let the summer go without savoring Hiyashi Chuka (Chinese-style cold noodle). I made it for brunch today and enjoyed with boiled edamame.

Tonight’s concert was Donna Summer! And, it was our last Hollywood Bowl show of the season. Now, our summer is over.

Since I had a lot of Lebanese yogurt, I made the curry-yogurt mixture and marinated the chicken breast for a few hours. Japanese eggplant was quickly marinated in garlic-oregano-olive oil mixture. They were grilled over mesquite charcoal on our Santa Maria BBQ Grill.

The chicken was served with herb-yogurt sauce. I also made Creamy Corn side dish.

Tonight’s onigiri (rice ball) was shiitake and carrot.

Chardonnay by Alois Lageder (Alto Adige) had the nice tropical fruit character. Frederic Mabileau’s St-Nicolas de Bourgoueil had the typical Loire’s Cab Franc character. It tasted perfect when slightly chilled.

Donna Summer was the real DIVA! The concert was so exciting.

Another busy Saturday. I didn’t have time to make the broth in advance and chill. So, I just poured the freshly made hot broth over udon. Today’s toppings are daikon oroshi (grated daikon), natto kombu, egg, and kizami nori (shredded nori seaweed).

I had a big chirashi sushi lunch, but I was already hungry for more sushi tonight. So as Jason. In fact, he said he was extremely busy at work today and he only ate one tofu hot dog during his 7-minute lunch break. Poor guy.

We went back to Sushi Nishi-Ya (1712 Victory Blvd.) in Glendale for dinner. We nicknamed it “Mc Lovin Sushi”, because the restaurant is located in the same mini-mall as the liquor store where the funny Mc Lovin scene of Superbad was shot!

My Sancerre was unfortunately corked. So we opened a back-up wine, which was 2006 Piero Mancini, Vermentino di Gallura (DOCG) from Sardegna. The wine was bright, fresh, and had the slight sprits.

We had so much sushi again. Here’s the list of what we had.

Maguro from Boston (sashimi)

Hamachi from Hyogo

Smoked Salmon and Fresh Salmon

Hotate from Hokkaido

Aji from Japan

Blue Crab Roll

Toro (fatty tuna) from Spain

Hirame Engawa (halibut’s fin)

Ikura

Fresh and Steamed Awabi (abalone)

Uni

Chu-toro Tataki (medium fatty tuna, seared outside), and Tai

Some of the food photos from tonight.

Everything was so amazing. We love Kenji-san’s sushi!!

It feels like I’ve been eating sushi a lot lately. I had Chirashi again, but it was at Katsu Sushi (260 N. Beverly Dr.) in Beverly Hills today.

What a pretty presentation! One container had sashimi and the other had rice and egg. There were thick slices of tuna, salmon, albacore, halibut, shrimp, etc. For such a generous portion, I thought $20 was a very good price. It was delicious!