Bite Me TV's New Show 'Quick Bite!' at the 2011 Tasty Awards

We have a new series!  It's called Quick Bite! and our first episode covers the 2011 Tasty Awards.

The Tasty Awards recognize the best in food, drink and fashion programming on television and the web.  Our man Druu was a judge for the awards this year, and on the night of the gala event he and Joel grabbed their cameras to record the festivities.  A number of celebs were in attendance, including Zane Lamprey, Aida Mollenkamp, Nathan Lyon, Alie and Georgia, Bobby Bognar, Leslie Sbrocco, Brian Boitano, Candice Kumai, Jeanie Mai, Darryl Robinson and Jolene Sugarbaker.  Check out the red carpet, the ceremony and the after-party, all in under 2 minutes.  Yup, that's a Quick Bite!

For the full list of nominees and winners, check out http://www.tastyawards.com/.
Enjoy!

Pig Out at the Eat My Blog Charity Bake Sale - Saturday, June 19

If you find yourself in the mood for some serious grubbing tomorrow, you might want to head over to West Hollywood where the Eat My Blog Charity Bake Sale will be going on from 10am - 4pm.  There are going to be gobs and gobs of fine baked goods and other yummies prepared by local chefs, restaurants and food bloggers, with all proceeds going to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.  Check out the menu:

Bacon chocolate chip cookies with a maple glaze?  Bolivian sweet & salty empanadas?  Chocolate Guinness cupcakes?  Yeah, this isn't gonna be your standard community bake sale.  So, you can pig out on a ton of killer treats that are priced reasonably at $1-$4 each and do your part to help a good cause.  SWEET!!!

Oh, and the brand new Manila Machine roving Filipino food truck is supposed to be camped out at the sale from 10am-1pm cooking up adobo, lumpia, pan de sal sliders and more.

The bake sale will be held at Tender Greens, 8759 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood.

Dinner with the First Lady (sort of) at Osteria Mozza

I got together with my brother Josh Landis, who hosts BITE ME! the MAN Cooking Show, for dinner last night.  He mentioned an Italian place not too far from his pad in Hollywood that looks interesting, so we decided to give it a try.  It turns out Josh has a good eye.

Osteria Mozza, and Pizzeria Mozza next door, are owned by celebrity chefs Nancy Silverton and Mario Batali and restauranteur/wine expert Joseph Bastianich.  Osteria Mozza sits at the corner of Melrose and Highland Avenues.  Reservations are HIGHLY recommended, but we lucked out and were able to simply walk in and get seated at the mozzarella bar. 

The mozzarella bar is probably my choice for the best seating, as opposed to the tables.  You sit at a wide expanse of marble that is covered with plates, little metal characters like the bunny family above, candles and foodstuffs for the cooks to use as they prepare antipasti and such.  Plus, the cooks are doing some of their work right in front of you and are very approachable.  Many thanks to Grace (that's her in the pic behind the wine and bunnies) for helping us through the menu and giving us the lowdown on the place.

The vibe is urban relaxed upscale and the food is pretty darn fabulous.  Dark wood, tall ceilings, wine bottles everywhere and an open layout that lets the crowd chatter waft through the space help lend an energy to the place.  We started with some cheese and white wine.  That's the cheese dish above, burrata with leaks vinaigrette and mustard breadcrumbs.  The presentation was awesome and the taste even better.  The mustard is prominent, but mixes well with the flavors of the cheese, vinaigrette and leek.

For pasta, Josh took a step out of the ordinary with their corzetti stampati with eggplant, olive and sheeps milk ricotta.  It was light and delicious.  I went for a classic Roman pasta dish, spaghetti carbonara, and found it too salty.  That was disappointing, however it was the only low point in an extremely enjoyable dinner.  A bit of espresso following our meal picked me right back up, plus Josh let me have a couple of bites of his corzetti stampati.

Ok, so here's the exciting end to our dinner.  As we left the restaurant, we noticed that we were suddenly surrounded by police and security guys.  There were police cars and three big black SUV's, a camera dude from TMZ watching and waiting on the sidewalk like a vulture and people milling about wondering which celebrity warranted all the security.  It turns out that while we were finishing our dinner, First Lady Michelle Obama was in a private dining room on the other side of the wall beginning her dinner.  Nice...  One interesting note is that all of the Secret Service agents looked like clean-cut Orange County country club guys.  They left their dark suits and sunglasses at home, and instead went for the  golf shirt and khaki pants vibe.

Next time, we're gonna have to give the pizza at Pizzeria Mozza a try.  For info and reservations, head to mozza-la.com.

Salute!
Druu

Ahi Burger & Strawberry Lemonade at Hollywood's Kitchen 24

Hollywood diner Kitchen 24 has a cool vibe, good food and a great location for getting some post Hollywood bar-hopping grub.  Find them at 1608 N. Cahuenga, just south of Hollywood Blvd.

Ahi tuna burger with a spiced up French potato salad. The burger's a little messy, but yummy.

The potato salad has a little kick.  $12.95

Strawberry lemonade - K24's home-made lemonade with

muddled strawberries and Absolut Citron vodka. Happy, fruity

and not too strong.  $12.00