Getting to my 300th DDD stop

After a short overnight stop at home to do the wash and other menial things I was on the road again to get to my 300th stop on my Diners, Drive-ins and Dives Adventure!  My buddy Barry flew with me out to Los Angeles, where we would nor only hit some DDD places but do other fun things in Southern California.

Our first thing was to go to see a taping of a television show.  Before going to the taping we met up with my high school friend Michele at a California Pizza Kitchen in Studio City.  I only mention this because also having lunch at the CPK was Willie Garson, who has been in alot of movies and TV shows including playing Stanford on the show "Sex in the City".  After a great lunch and catching up on old times, Barry and I headed to CBS Television City to see a taping of "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson".  It was AWESOME!  We got to see not one but two tapings as they did both the Thursday and Friday episodes and both Barry and I got on camera.  If you want to see it pull up Craig's Monologue on 12.7.12 on YouTube and you'll see us at 1.08 and 1.28 into the video (I'm in Blue and Barry is in orange).   CBS is next to an area called The Farmers Market and The Grove and it is a good place to maybe see some stars as they sometimes film shows at The Grove.

The DDD tour continued with a stop in downtown Los Angeles.  "The Nickel Diner" is a small 50's style place that is very popular.  We arrived there around 1030a and it was pretty full.  I remembered that some of the specialties at The Nickel are the sweets.  They make their own doughnuts, pastries and pop tarts and we decided to try the signature Maple Bacon doughnuts and pop tarts.  I don't think that I can ever have another pop tart, they were great, flaky crust and delicious fillings and toppings!  I tried the Peanut Butter and Jelly and Barry got the Strawberry.  The doughnuts came out warm.  We had our own sugar rush.  The owner came and chatted with us all about the place, their different sweet items and the shows filming.  She had never seen the show and knew nothing about show (she doesn't own a TV!).  She told us that with the current economy she would be out of business if not for Guy and DDD!  It was a great stop and wonderful time.

On we went to an area of LA that is very much a community of Mexican immigrants.  "Mom's Tamales" is a small eatery that serves very authentic Mexican dishes.  We sat down and were given a basket of home made tortilla chips and a red and green dipping salsas, both were very hot!  We each ordered small tacos and they were very good and reasonably priced.  I was invited into the kitchen to get the owner to sign the book.  They were very grateful for our visit.  I would go back there given the opportunity.  After that we finished the day doing the tourist thing, first we went to the book store at Pepperdine University in Malibu,  The University, and the bookstore, sit on a cliff overlooking the Pacific.  The Pepperdine bookstore has the best view of any college bookstore in the USA, bar none!  Then we met with our friend Leslie and walked all over the touristy areas of Santa Monica.

The next day we headed up north out of LA to the city of Santa Barbara.  This town is a great place to walk around and window shop.  I wanted to visit because there were three places that Guy visited that I wanted to try.  Our first stop would be my 300th DDD stop and I had chosen it because when Guy visited he really had a good time there and it looked really good and it did not disappoint.  "Norton's Pastrami" is a small deli with a huge menu.  They feature all types of sandwiches with an emphasis on the signature pastrami, but they also have all types of meats and even have salads and meals for the vegetarians that visit,  I chose the Pastrami Dog that was featured on the DDD episode, a huge Nathans hot dog smothered with pastrami, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese.  It was delicious!  Barry got the half Reuben and Leslie got the half Pastrami sandwich and both really enjoyed them.  On the table they gave us a bowl of homemade dill pickles and they were really good, too!  Th place was really busy but the owner and chef came over to sign  my book.  This is a place I really want to return to and a fitting number 300!

After walking around the town we stooped just two doors down from Norton's at a small cafe called "Savoy Cafe and Deli".  We decided to share a turkey fritter that was featured on their episode.  The fritter had chunks of turkey and was served with a dipping sauce.  The fritter was very spicy, it had a real kick to it.  The owner came out of the kitchen to sign my book.

Our dinner that night was at a really cool little on the western end of State Street in Santa Barbara.  State is the main street for shops and eateries in the city.  "Mac's Fish and Chip Shop" is an homage to British fast food.  I chose the obscure Toad in the Hole, which was a Yorkshire Pudding (Yorkshire Pudding is like a lite biscuit-roll) topped with Mashed Potatoes, Gravy and two Banger sausages.  It was very good and very very filling!  Barry and Leslie both got the Fish and Chips.  The portions were huge and I would go back there just to get the fish it looked awesome.  We headed back to LA and my DDD count is now at 302!

Although my DDD tour of LA was over. we had a few days left and they were spent doing some fun things.  One day was spent at Hollywood Park betting the ponies.  I also was able to see more family and friends that are in the LA area, all in all a very fun trip and as I just wrote my DDD count is 302!