An Escape to the Beach
3 Jan
As I mentioned yesterday, Los Angeles is in the midst of summer. And while the temperatures outside might only be in the upper-70′s, our condo is always at least 10 degrees hotter than that thanks to the sun hitting our windows all morning. So in order to maintain at least an illusion of happiness in the Din household, as well as to save some money on our astronomical air conditioning bill, we decided to escape to the beach.
Manhattan Beach is a small, completely underrated area full of beautiful people with beautiful homes and beautiful cars. Seriously, everyone there looks like they walked out of a J.Crew catalog. I don’t know how they do it. But every once in a while when we feel like our egos need a reality check, we drive down to Manhattan Beach and visit our favorite restaurant, Petros.
This place has not only a fabulous location just blocks from the beach, but they are also part of a complex with a fountain in the center that kids can jump and play in at their own peril.
The fountain is visible by Petros’ outdoor seating area. This means that while Maya risks a broken neck by sliding around with no shoes on, Mom and Dad get five minutes of peace and quiet.
Unless, of course, Dad decides to take work calls on a Sunday afternoon.
I decided that the new, daring 2010 me would order something different from my usual Horitaki Salad. After much debate and anxiety I went with the Swordfish Souvlaki instead:
Skewered seasoned swordfish with grilled vegetables and latholemono sauce
I have no idea what latholemono sauce is but this was absolutely phenomenal. I don’t usually care for Swordfish but I’m really glad I gave it another try.
Meanwhile, Ali went with an old favorite, Chicken Spaghetti:
Spaghetti with grilled chicken, broccolini, Epirus feta, chili, garlic, tomatoes and basil.
He is a creature of habit and apparently has no intention of changing that in 2010. His lunch looked amazing to me but Ali requested a redo because it was “either too salty or too garlicky.” I guess the flavors of salt and garlic are interchangeable.
Petros was nice enough to not only remake it with the exact amount of required salt and garlic, but they also took the spaghetti off our bill. Completely unexpected but very appreciated.
So in order to celebrate we ordered dessert, 5 Layer Chocolate Cake:
Five layers of chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing served with vanilla ice cream
I had two tiny bits of frosting and consoled myself with this excellent cup of decaf:
Afterwards we hung out around the fountain while Maya ran herself into exhaustion:
She got no arguments from us.
Somehow she scored a balloon too:
My daughter can smell a free deal a mile away. It is the Indian in her.
After lunch we hit Pottery Barn Kids from some storage solutions (much-needed) and then Old Navy for some cheap, not really needed clothing for Ali and Maya. We got home right after the sunset…perfect timing as our condo was finally cool again.
Today was a good day. And not just because we got free spaghetti.
Thank you again Petros for your amazing customer service. That is why we love coming to your restaurant!
