Post-Yoga Pub Grub

Anticlimactic eating happens. After a cleansing yoga session SM and I headed to the British pub around the corner from the yoga studio in Santa Monica. ( Or maybe it was because our stomachs grew so accustomed to the large volume of food we've been eating all week that the Whole Foods food bar wasn't going to do.) The British restaurant/pub, Ye Olde King's Head, serves all the traditional fare one could ask for like bangers and mash, shepherd's pie, black pudding and fish n' chips. They even have a proper afternoon tea. There are actually three homey inn-style dining rooms, one of which has a fireplace for those chilly (not really) SoCal days. I had the Brum fish cakes served with peas and chips (fries). Brum fish cakes are basically fish croquettes, probably cod. They were delicious! At least I did the yoga and didn't have a pint.

It appears to be a British celebrity haunt according to the framed photos filling the walls, from Peter O'Toole to Oasis.

Ye Olde King's Head
116 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 451-1402

Morning on Main Street

There's a Main Street that is smaller than one can imagine in Southern California's great expanse. Sandwiched between the bustling ports of Long Beach and the surfers of Huntington Beach is a small seaside community called Seal Beach. The short Main Street leads into a quiet Pacific Ocean pier, now bereft of seals except for the bronze sculpture town mascot, Slick the Seal, greeting pier walkers at its entrance. Daily surf and weather reports are handwritten in chalk and an old single-screen movie theatre, The Bay Theatre, on the opposite end plays classics, foreign films and indies making this beach city live up to its old town 'quaint' reputation.

In between Slick and The Bay is a great little cafe called Crema Cafe. I don't eat French toast that often, but when I do, I like it to be worth it. Crema Cafe bakes their bread in-house daily which makes their organic multi-grain thick-sliced French toast memorable: soft inside and perfectly browned on the outside and not too eggy. It is served with whipped cream, orange zest syrup and fruit. A foamy Illy cappuccino to sip in between bites makes me wish for more mornings on Main Street, when times are/were slower.

Crema Cafe
322 Main Street
Seal Beach, CA 90740
(562) 493-2501

Sunsets and Seafood in Santa Barbara

Driving fast on the 101, as the highway stretches and curves with the coastline while the sun conducts its orchestra of colors playing in the sky until it slips behind the horizon's edge- it's as if the world is expanding. Even if it's just for the day, Santa Barbara is a nice respite from LA. At the very end of Santa Barbara's pier is a spot that offers fresh, straightforward seafood in a laidback atmosphere that the East Coast just doesn't have. J and I sat at the counter next to an gray-haired surfer wearing his dinner sweatshirt, shorts and flip flops talking about the day's waves while having a bottle of Anchor Steam with his meal. No loafers or madras plaid at Santa Barbara Shellfish Company. California...

Santa Barbara Shellfish Company

Santa Barbara Shellfish Co.
230 Stearns Wharf
Santa Barbara, CA 93101-3571
(805) 966-6676