Doah's Hungry: Intelligentsia

Last week, Intelligentsia opened its doors in Old Town Pasadena. Finally, the East Side gets some love! { daily dish }
Perhaps you're thinking, 'Another Intelligentsia? Another post where hipsters roam wild and free like gazelles in Africa? Big whoop!' Not so fast, dear eager eaters.

Top three reasons why Intelli-Pas is better than the other two locations (Silverlake and Venice):
(1) it serves food... GOOD food;
(2) you'll find ample parking without the constant paranoia of getting a ridiculously overpriced ticket;
(3) it will soon serve beer and wine too!

Let's start with the food, prepared by the sweet Matt Poley (who I was fortunate to meet today) from Heirloom LA

Bolognese w/ chilled Almond Romesco, Green Goddess dressing w/ warm potatoes - $10

Amazing Bolognese - very flavorful with just the right amount of kick. I was slightly disappointed with the potatoes, though. Not warm enough and a bit bland. Overall, still a great dish.

Heirloom cherry tomato salad w/ fava, peas, fresh feta, frisee & arugula w/ White Balsamic - $9

The freshness of all the ingredients (sweet tomatoes) and the lightness of the white balsamic compliment each other very well!

Wild mushroom salad w/ baby greens, shaved Parm, and roasted shallot vinegrette - $10

Surprisingly, the vinegrette was not overpowering and the fresh fungi was yummy!

Wild Salmon salad open-faced sandwich w/ pickled beets and lemon arugula salad - $10

Fresh, fresh, fresh!

By the way, the noshing on such delicious foods would not have been the same without the help of my newfound friend and food/wine/cigar enthusiast, Matt, aka - mattatouille. V also deserves a worthy shoutout here, simply for being awesome. :)

Cardinal rule in life: Always save room for dessert. If not, make room. Seriously.

Fresh Cheese Plank (goat cheese w/ chives, cheese topped w/ honey and almond, burrata over tomatoes) w/ toast - $7.50

Cheeses for dessert? Yes! Not only are these amazing cheeses freshly made, but the texture is so smooth, it's almost comparable to eating cream. And the burrata -- oh my, the burrata! Words cannot adequately describe...