32. California

 A quick, early morning flight took us from Vegas to Los Angeles. We first made a stop at Venice Beach to check out the surfers. The waves were few and far between but some managed to catch a wave or two. We still had a few hours before our Spago reservation so we decided to have dessert first. We drove from the beach, through Beverly Hills, to a neighborhood area just east of Hollywood to House of Pies, located at the corner of Franklin and Vermont.  It did take longer then expected to finally reach our destination but we did it. This is not a place you would just happen upon and if you passed it looking for a place to stop you might not. A perfect example of “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”  It was hard to decide because everything looked so good. I opted for coconut cream pie and Dennis chose the key lime pie. While waiting for our slices of pie we noticed the breakfasts that were being served. If we had not had lunch reservations in an hour we would have ordered breakfast. The examples we saw looked delicious and the portions were large. The pies were a little “slice of heaven”.  The key lime had just the right amount of tartness and the coconut cream had a very light, flaky crust and was topped with a whipped cream topping as opposed to a meringue topping. I didn’t think the service was that great but the pies made up for it. Both were scrumptious, well worth the time and trouble to find it. It was time for us to be on our way but we of course made sure to stop and take a picture of the Hollywood sign on our way back to Beverly Hills.

Spago

     Spago’s was everything I had expected and imagined. I know there are other locations but ever since it opened I have always wanted to go to the one in Beverly Hills.  We had a wonderful view of the patio. We began our expedition into one of the most delectable meals I’ve encountered with the Handmade Sweet Corn Agnolotti.  Agnolotti are stuffed 

half-mooned shaped pasta, similar to ravioli, but this is no ravioli that you’re used to. Each bite was just as good as the first and we savored each and every one of them.      For our main course, Dennis ordered the Grilled Lobster Club sandwich and I ordered the Grilled Prime Ribeye. The lobster club was so thick that Dennis had to remove the center piece of bread in order to eat it. While the lobster had a different flavor than what we had in Rhode Island it was still delicious and who can go wrong with anything that has smoked bacon on it. My dish was to die for. The steak was grilled a perfect medium rare

and the flavor of the seasoning was delightful. The dish was served with chard and mashed potatoes blended with melted cheese, I don’t tend to eat soft, cooked, green foods so I passed on the chard but the mashed potatoes were another story.  The potatoes were blended with cheese and even the way the server dished mine onto my plate was a presentation in and of itself. I tried but couldn’t duplicate it. Each and every bite was delicious. We’ll have to try it at another location sometime to see if it’s consistent. If you remember we had dessert earlier but who could resist sampling one of the wonderful options Spago had to offer.  We decided on the Torte which was a

 flourless 12 layer cake with a chocolate mousse and chocolate sorbet. A chocolate lover’s dream dessert.      
      After a few pictures in Beverly Hills we were on our way back to Vegas.

http://www.house-of-pies.net/

www.wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants/fine-dining/3635