Sunday, November 26, 2006

frittelli's

frittelli's cake doughnuts

fancy doughnuts in beverly hills. nice enough space, nice enough people, parking in the back. virbila recommended. raised, cake, specials. although the standard combos are special enough: apple cider, lemon poppy, cranberry orange, vanilla cake with espresso glaze, blackberry jelly-filled, bittersweet chocolate raised. coffee drinks available, chocolate and teas. did i mention nice enough space and people? hm. well.

doughnuts in general do not excite me. on my 0-10 scale of doughnuts, krispy kreme falls somewhere at 5 (hot raised glazed: 5, 7 without glaze, the rest: 3), bob's at 8 (nostalgia: 10, doughnuts: 6, kitty doughnuts: 10), hong kong mandarin oriental bakery a solid 10 (the apricot-filled doughnuts? seriously, the best). frittelli's would be a 7. these have very interesting flavour combinations as far as doughnuts go, and are executed well, but don't change my opinion that raised are better than cake (these are mostly cake), and that simpler is better. their raised doughnuts are large and have a lovely, silky texture, but not much of a taste without the glaze. cake are fine crumbed, not greasy, and not as stodgy as the ones in your local donut hut. the flavoured coffees aren't made with commercial syrups, and are competently brewed, and they seem to be awash with mariebelle chocolate products for sale--maybe they use said product for their house hot chocolate? they are definitely raising the (buttermilk) bar, so i can't dismiss them. maybe with a name like frittelli's, i was expecting something a little more old world, a little more old-fashioned, more wood and brass and old italian men and proper football on the telly (as in soccer not nfl). maybe i'm asking too much from a small shop in beverly hills. but maybe, i am really asking too much of doughnuts, to be better than they really able to be.

frittelli's pbj doughnut

frittelli's doughnuts and coffee
350 n. caƱon drive
beverly hills 90210.
310.276.1408/1414

Friday, November 24, 2006

peregrine on pico?

bird help please

sorry for the bad photo, but i saw this bird flying high above pico blvd, near fairfax the other day. i've seen it a few times since then, but always high above. does anyone know what kind of bird it is? i'm just a little curious. it has a small head, a short, sharp turned beak, medium brown feathers on top, and white on the bottom, which some dark/black markings throughout. i think it might be a peregrine falcon, but i've never actually seen one in los angeles.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

give thanks

be thankful you were on frank sinatra's good side.

that you weren't on frankie's shit list.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

back in pv.

conchas chinas

back to puerto vallarta, for yet another wedding. eh. could be worse.