{ jou eats } the honor bar

Three dishes that will win you over: Ding’s Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Honor Burger, side of Hand-Cut French Fries.

The Honor Bar is the epitome of upscale casual dining. The environment is warm & inviting, drinks are old-fashioned & classy, service is sweet & friendly and the food is delicious & ohhhh-so-comforting. The menu is a modern take on classic American cuisine.

Their Hand-Cut French Fries ($3) are a must order. Some have a control item that is ordered to compare businesses. Mine is fries for classic American restaurants and this is a winner. Delivered fresh, warm and crispy, these hand-cut Kennebec potatoes are beautifully wrapped in paper and served with ketchup and aioli. Once you start, you can’t stop. Keep these to yourself or be generous and share with others. Heck, just order two for the table.

I’m always torn between ordering the Ding’s Crispy Chicken Sandwich ($12) and the Honor Burger ($12). It’s one of those things when you think you know which one you want, but you quickly change it to the other once it’s your turn to order. I, on the other hand quickly draft a pro & con list of each (in my head) and decide. Solution: come with a good friend, order both and SHARE. The chicken sandwich is truly a crispy chicken sandwich fully decked with premium ingredients–sliced tomato, swiss cheese and dressed kale. It’s certainly a beauty. The Honor Burger is equally delicious and packed thick–ground chuck, cheddar & tomato, topped with coleslaw. I had to unhinge my jaw to eat this tall guy. Always satisfied.

The Honor Bar is a top choice for a catch-up with old friends, a casual (but certainly to impress) date or grabbing drinks with coworkers. However, it’s not for large groups or birthday parties. There’s just no room for that. No reservations. No dessert menu. Come early and leave happy.

The Honor Bar // 122 S Beverly Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212 // (310) 550-0292

{ recipe } zucchini, bacon, and goat cheese quiche

With summer here, our garden is flourishing with seasonal fruits and vegetables. We have a fridge drawer full of zucchini and cucumbers and an abundance of various tomato varieties. So this past weekend the Jou Test Kitchen opened up again and sampled various recipes to incorporate our organic produce. We brought our dishes (Zucchini, Bacon and Goat Cheese Quiche; Taiwanese Sesame Cucumbers; Heirloom and Burrata Salad; Heirloom Tomatoes on Grilled Rustic Bread) to a friend’s place for dinner.

We followed an Epicurious quiche recipe and loved it so much, we made another one the following day.

Photos, L-R: Romulo Yanes via epicurious.com, Jennifer’s iPhone

Zucchini, Bacon and Goat Cheese Quiche

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 main-course servings

Active Time: 20 min

Total Time: 50 min (not including cooling)

Ingredients

1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie dough round (from a 15-oz package)

1/4 lb sliced bacon, coarsely chopped

2 medium zucchini (3/4 lb total), halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup whole milk

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 large eggs

2 oz Gruyère, coarsely grated (1 cup) – We used goat cheese instead

Special equipment: a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie plate

Preparation

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.

Fit pie dough into pie plate and lightly prick all over. Bake according to package instructions, then transfer crust in pie plate to a rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

While crust bakes, cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until just crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate, reserving fat in skillet.

Add zucchini and 1/4 teaspoon salt to fat in skillet and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring frequently, until zucchini is tender and starting to brown, about 5 minutes, then transfer with slotted spoon to a plate.

Heat cream, milk, pepper, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 1- to 2-quart saucepan until mixture reaches a bare simmer, then remove from heat.

Whisk together eggs in a large heatproof bowl, then gradually whisk in hot cream mixture until combined. Stir in bacon, zucchini, and cheese and pour into piecrust. Bake until filling is just set, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer quiche in pan to rack to cool slightly, about 20 minutes.

Epicurious.com © Condé Nast Digital, Inc. All rights reserved.

{ friday favorites } wongfu productions’ somewhere like this // coachella // chuao chocolatier

{ favorite video } Wong Fu Productions’ Somewhere Like This. “Across clear skies. Among glowing stars. That’s where I’ll find us.”

{ favorite event } An annual pilgrimage of indie music enthusiasts, Coachella was the place to be in April. Wayne and I joined friends for weekend 1 and it was a blast of everything amazing–old band favorites and new tune discoveries, salivating-worthy food trucks, illuminating art installations and the fashion fusion of hippies & hipsters. Photos by Jennifer’s iPhone.

{ favorite snack } I love chocolate. I may even love it more than sleep. My recent discovery are Chuao Chocolatier, gourmet handcrafted chocolates that come in amazing bars like Potato Chip, Maple Bacon, Honeycomb and my ultimate favorite, Firecracker. Firecracker is packed with sultry sea salt, smoky chipotle, and popping candy exploding in dark chocolate. They are free of hydrogenated fats, artificial preservatives, colors, sweeteners. Gotta have my mini-stash of secret chocolate…

A Happy Hippo Tuesday

Happy happy Hippo

I’m not sure which came first, the Kinder Egg or Kinder Happy Hippo. Either way, I’m a super fan.

Kinder Happy Hippo is life changing to those who covet crispy wafers and hazelnut. The hippopotamus outer shell (isn’t it cute!?) is a wafer biscuit filled with two types of icing: milk-flavored & hazelnut creme. Think Ferror Rocher dipped in creme. The frosting/meringue-dipped bottom is crunchy and makes it look like its foaming at the mouth.

I first was introduced to Happy Hippos by my coworker. We get our daily/weekly fix from the gourmet gas station that carries these delights, among other Kinder goods.