Porto's Bakery (Downey) 9.5.14

This is actually a chain post from the previous post about Burger City Grill in Downey because this is the view from outside of BCG:

Porto's with its beautiful, beckoning glow

I first was introduced to Porto's Bakery by a friend of ours who lives near the location in Glendale and brought an assortment of Porto's goods to our housewarming.  A few months later, a co-worker celebrated her birthday with a Porto's cake (the Parisian--I only remember because this began my absolute obsession with this cake) and a couple of months ago, just prior to beginning this food blog (wait, there was eating before this food blog?!), I went to the Downey location with a friend of mine for lunch.  Here's what I had then: 

Pan Con Bistec w/ Plaintain Chips & Passionfruit Iced Tea

For savory foods, they have a variety of panini sandwiches like the Pan Con Bistec (Marinated Steak, Potato Sticks (like Pik-Nik potato sticks), Grilled Onions, Tomatoes and Mojo i.e. Cuban Garlic Sauce Pressed on Cuban Bread) that I had and the Ropa Vieja.  They also do dinner plates (which have rice, beans and fried plantains alongside chicken, steak, rope vieja (shredded beef) or lechon (shredded pork).  Those are available after 11am. They also serve breakfast and a variety of savory pastries included stuffed croissants and empanadas.  I liked my Pan Con Bistec, but honestly, I wouldn't come just for the savory food.  I'd probably grab a burger across the street unless I really felt like a sandwich. 

Porto's, for me, is all about the dessert.  So, when I found myself across the street on Friday night, just before closing time (8:30 pm on Friday), I had to drag my brother to pick up some dessert to go (there was no room for dessert after BCG).  After texting back and forth with my husband to get my very picky 8-year old's request, here's what we ended up with: 

Carrot Cake & White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
 

These were for the boys and they enjoyed them.  Contrary to what this post shows, Porto's doesn't just do cakes. It's a full-service bakery with breads (baguettes, cuban bread), cookies, pastries, tarts and mousses (and savory pastries as mentioned above).  Aside from what's shown, I'm also a fan of their triple chocolate mousse and creme brulée tart.  I've had the fruit tart as well which is okay, but I've had better elsewhere, which is something that I really can't say about the pièce de résistance, The Parisian:

  

The best cake I've ever had: The Parisian

The Parisian is my favorite cake in the whole wide world.  In fact, for my birthday at the end of the month, I've actually told my husband that he needs to drive to Downey to get me this cake.  It is a Devil's Food chocolate cake layered and decorated with chocolate whipped cream then finished with chocolate shavings.  The cake is super moist and I love it because the chocolate whipped cream is lighter and less sugary than butter cream with a rich chocolate flavor.  And, I'm a sucker for chocolate shavings. If you love chocolate, you have to try it (and the triple chocolate mousse)--if you're like me and you like chocolate okay, but you're not a total chocoholic, you still have to try it.  It's so delicious. 

A few side notes: 1) Porto's serves excellent coffee and tea (by Art of Tea, one my favorite local tea producers) to go alongside their pastries and apparently really good fresh squeezed OJ. 2)  Be prepared for a long line.  The line moves really quickly so don't be discouraged, but there's seriously always a line.  

May you have your (Porto's) cake and eat it too!

Black Sheep Grilled Cheese Bar & Hans' Homemade Ice Cream (Anaheim) 7.17.14

My friend, Hong, came down to visit from the Bay Area so we decided to grab a bite at the Packing House.  It had been a couple weeks since I had been and last time, my friends had gotten delicious looking grilled cheese sandwiches from the Black Sheep Grilled Cheese Bar so we decided to check it out this time.

Yes, there's an actual black sheep on the counter. 

Black Sheep is "a division of the Cellar" which is a local cheese focused collective.  If you want just a regular grilled cheese, you can check out the "Classic," but their simple menu allows for some branching out from the traditional cheddar & swiss as well: 

Menu of Gluten-Dairy goodness

Oh yeah, I suppose I should mention that generally I'm not a big gluten-dairy indulger, but well, go big or go home in this case.  Let's get to the food. 

"The Man" Salami (lots of it) & Cheese on Sourdough

I tried a bite of "The Man" and it was salty goodness, especially if you like a lot of salami to your cheese.  My friend, who likes things on the spicy side, said she could have used some jalapeño to give it some kick, but if simple, meaty sandwiches are your thing, it's a good choice.  Our server at the counter recommended pairing with Coke (in a glass bottle because it's fancy), an indication that this was the traditional side of the menu. 

#1: Cypress Grove fromage blanc, caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, arugula pesto

This was my sandwich and it was AMAZING! It was honestly the best grilled cheese I've probably ever had AND I'm not even a fan of goat cheese.  (When I looked at the menu, I hadn't realized that Cypress Grove specialized in chèvre so I wasn't expecting a goat milk cheese, but that's what I got so I decided to go with it)  The fromage blanc is mild and flavors blend together well on the marble bread.  Seriously, as soon as I got home and despite my fullness, I wanted to run down the street and get another one.  It's that good. 

Since I had decided it was gluten and dairy night, it was time to head over to Hans' Homemade Ice Cream where I sampled several flavors: Cookies & Cream, Mocha Almond Fudge, Honey Vanilla and Wild Mountain Blackberry: 

I settled on a waffle cone single scoop split between the Honey Vanilla and the Wild Mountain Blackberry: 

Pro-tip: At Hans' you can split a single scoop between two flavors (the honey vanilla's at the bottom of this cone--and yes, that's the size of a single scoop! They're really generous with the scoops)

Definitely an indulgent Americana night with a hipster twist!  I'm sure I'll be back at both of these places again soon.  Maybe I will see you there! (Hint, hint, friends--come visit me!)