Brunch at Bankers Hill Bar and Restaurant

My friend and I had tickets for the Sunday matinee showing of Annie presented by Broadway San Diego, along with her daughter.  We love brunch and a girls day out!  Bankers Hill Bar and Restaurant had been on my must-try list and since it was close to the Civic theatre, it seemed like the perfect spot to stop in for brunch.

I made a reservation in advance through Yelp, which was helpful since we had an engagement after brunch.  I was smitten as soon as I walked up to the big rustic doors. Above the hostess station is a chandelier made out of wine glasses in all shapes and sizes.  Inside there are a lot of wood details, windows and marquee signs.  We opted to sit outside in the enclosed patio.  It sold me with the dark tiles, glass sliding doors, rustic wood tables and chairs, and succulent wall.

Our server was really nice and helpful.  He suggested we start with a house made cinnamon roll (which I had planned on doing because dessert first) and listed all of the fresh juice they have to offer.  In addition to the cinnamon roll, we began our brunch with grapefruit mimosas while we looked over the menu.

Grapefruit Mimosa, brunch from Bankers Hill

Grapefruit Mimosa, brunch at Bankers Hill

A warm house made cinnamon roll arrived after our mimosas, it had cream cheese frosting and a blackberry compote.  I would definitely order again as a starter or as dessert after our entrees.  I’ve never had a fruit compote on a cinnamon roll, but wow did it work. Continue reading

Weekend in LA – Part 3

On the second day of our weekend in LA we woke up bright and early to head for Grand Central Market in downtown LA, a downtown landmark since 1917.  There were quite a few spots I was very interested in stopping at and thankfully Grand Central Market definitely has a wide range of cuisines and cultures, which excited me.  First on my stops was G&B Coffee, since it was close to triple digits that weekend, the only thing on my mind was a cold brew coffee.  The people serving up the coffee were not pretentious at all, which I always appreciate from a coffee shop.  They had a steady flow of regulars, another good sign.  My cold brew was really rich and bold and was perfection with a splash of half & half as well as their big block ice cubes.

But first, coffee!

But first, coffee!

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Weekend in LA – Part 1

Recently my husband and I were down one kid for the weekend and decided to take a road trip to Los Angeles for the weekend.  Living in San Diego, LA is only a two hour drive away, yet we don’t head that way too often.  Considering how many times we drive to Disneyland, an extra 30 minutes is nothing.  We figured let’s do it!  I hit up one of my favorite Instagram friends Nastassia of Let Me Eat Cake.  I love her Insta!  If you aren’t already following @letmeeatcake on Instagram, you should.  She was so sweet to give me a long list of her recommendations around LA.  Needless to say, in two short days we hit up so many places, but still have some spots we weren’t able to get to yet or are eager to go back again too, that we will for sure have another weekend in LA again soon.

My husband, youngest son and I took off for LA on Saturday and arrived in town at around 11 am.  Our first stop was ICDC on Beverly Blvd in Los Angeles, where they have ice cream, doughnuts and coffee.  I had one thing on my mind, cinnamon-sugar doughnut holes.  But as soon as we stepped inside the shop, we realized we were not going to be able to limit ourselves to donuts.

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ICDC put me into pastel heaven, I loved the colors right from the get go!

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Nomad Donuts

Vanilla Bean Glazed

A few months ago these donuts started popping up on my Instagram feed from a new gourmet donut shop called, Nomad Donuts located in North Park, San Diego.  I needed to learn more about the source so I started following @nomaddonuts myself on Instagram, which was dangerous but very helpful because they post each day’s donut menu the night before.  That leaves me to often dream about their unique flavors, like Blood Orange Meringue, Ube Taro Coconut, Thai Tea donut holes, and “Good ‘ol Donuts” like Vanilla Bean glazed donuts.  Each day they also offer a few different flavors of Vegan donuts, which I have ordered and really enjoyed.  In addition to donuts, Nomad also offers espresso and coffee from Zumbar Coffee, plus teas and lemonade. Continue reading