Elites Gathering at Aveo Table + Bar

I used to be very active on Yelp. I think majority of people understood about what that website was about. With plenty of people venting or raving about the businesses or places they have visited, this was bound to have plenty of users. Recently, I have more ample time and decided to be jump back into actively "contribute" to the site.

Most of the time I think people use Yelp for photos of the establishments to get an idea what the place of business is offering (especially for me on how the place looks in laying out the tables and what the outside of the place looked like).

In a weird sense, I think the website is more informative on hours of operations, address, phone numbers, and maps... than Goggle itself! Which coincidentally Goggle incorporate most of the info from Yelp anyways, but still rely on users of Yelp to update for their Google search for each business.

Besides the innate info about various forms of establishments (mainly restaurants) are the perks of going to an exclusive event. In many cases, they are like preview or showcasing what the places serves or how business operate. It's like putting on a show for selected members of VIP for using the website. You usually need to be an "elite" .. aka active users.. to be invited to this preview.

Which in this case, yours truly here got the invite.

Margherita Flatbread Pizza

An interesting invite caught my eye was to this restaurant, Aveo Table + Bar that is located on the property of this luxury resort hotel at Dana Point. For the uninitiated, this is going off 30 minutes away from most major metropolitan area of either Orange County or San Diego burbs. Beautiful beaches with excellent nature environment makes this place perfect for a nice weekend getaway.

Snapper Ceviche

This place was one of the more fascinating place on my list to visit. Situated as an elegant posh restaurant that serves Mediterranean fare with a bit of New American cuisine. I remembered the restaurant had a different take a year back and transitioned to the current situation when a new head chef was on board. When I saw this Yelp event, I immediately jump at it.

To be quite honest, the restaurant did well to impress the dining group that was invited by Yelp. Some of the impressions we got was that obvious it was catered to be high class, but at the same time fun, relaxing and chic atmosphere. Majority of the menu we sample as you seen above was more towards the sea catch affair of local source. With a dash of Mediterranean cooking and a bit of creativity, the dishes came out on gorgeous display.

The atmosphere of the resort hotel helps quite a bit, beautiful views, elegant settings, and a first class vibe gave anyone a chills of wanting to come back and visit for other dishes. I highly recommend their happy hour menu with the snapper ceviche. The cocktail menu serves delightful drinks as well.

As I said, gorgeous all around.

Now as in for the Yelp event, am I going to get invited all the time to this type of restaurant or dining? Probably not to be honest. The next even I got invited to was a lunch at a hoagie place. Yeah, quite a difference from an elegant restaurant in a five diamond hotel to quick bite at a strip mall.

No complaints, but that was the peak right there.

Aveo Table + Bar
1 Monarch Beach Resort N
Dana Point, CA 92629

Reflection of Something New in Cafe Birdie

Here's another neighborhood that has gone over a major face lift in the past few years... Highland Park!

How do I even come up with that notion? Apparently now the neighborhood's real estate asking price just sky rocketed to an unbelievable 4 folds where it's better to sell and take advantage of the enormous profit you can pocket just by flipping or fixer upper. HP as we called it and the neighboring Echo Park, Los Feliz, Atwater Village, and Silverlake are prime for that. 

It's all big thanks to Chip and Joanna in Waco as it's not possible without those two on TV.

One beneficial about the uptick on bringing younger, more energetic, and more hippish to this part of the town are that stores and eateries needed to match the residents as well. One example that reflect this trend is this popular bistro that had opened not too long ago to cater this diverse, but emerging young hip crowd.

Cafe Birdie was a mixture of Mediterranean cuisine that mesh with local ingredients of California fare. It stands in the part of the exciting Figueroa Blvd that also features popular destination hot spots such as Highland Park Bowl, ETA, and Good Girl Dinette. There are also other popular eateries, boutique shops, and entertainment options that would make this part of the street a colossal meet up for all ages. To say that it would be traffic jam on Friday or Saturday night would be a gross understatement.

When you entered upon this beautiful establishment, you will encountered an elegant dining opened dining room with high ceiling and beautiful lighting fixtures on top. What impressed me was the marbled bar counter top on the side of the room. Heard there was a speakeasy opened up on the side (which I did not entered as of this writing).

Moroccan Spiced Fried Chicken

Probably the most fascinating assessment of the menu was the variety of Mediterranean inspired dishes that was offered. The theme of the choice was the Moroccan Spiced Fried Chicken. A boneless chicken tender sized that was served with an indelible harissa aioli was a probably end all to be all fried chicken you'll ever had. This chicken was probably more addicting here than the recent place I have visited called crack shack.

Pork Cheek Ragu - Pappardelle, Stewed Tomatoes, Pecorino

I also get to experience another popular item on their menu that was highly recommended, Pork Cheek Ragu. Without a hesitation, I can honestly say this was as satisfying as any ragu dishes that I have recently encountered. Trust me, you can see the parade of ragu dishes I have recently posted in the past few months.

The one big mention I have to do is for their ever evolving bar menu this place expertly served. I cannot get enough of the drinks they have. Luckily for me, it changes often enough so that I can revisit this location for libations I plan to do.

Do you agreed with the caption on the photo?

This place is part of the newer generation of eateries that are looking to reflect the new crowds that are moving in. Sleek, elegant, but yet casual. Upscale dining is no longer just about the stuffy fine dining. Slowly changed into something of an intimate environment as I have taken noticed. When you entered this fine bistro, you will be greeted warmly by the staff as though everyone here is local, but make no mistake, the food is here is something of a top notch fine dining setting.

This is exactly an option for the dining needs of this new neighborhood change. It will continue to change in Highland Park.... all thanks to the fixer upper crowds.

Cafe Birdie
5631 N. Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90042