Next up on my world tour is the beautiful city of lights. This wasn’t my first time to Paris, but since I only had a few days there on business, I wanted to make the most out of my trip. When you’re inundated with so many hotel options in Paris, it’s so hard to choose the right one. I wanted somewhere with a great location, a great view of course, and not too expensive.Read More

Living in LA has many privileges, especially when it comes to food. We are surrounded by restaurants serving amazing dishes from all over the world. In the next few weeks, I’ll be focusing the food portion of my blog on Middle Eastern cuisine. Today I share with you one of my favorite Israeli restaurants, Ta-eem Grill. Ta-eem Grill is located on famous Melrose Avenue, right in the middle of bustling shops, bars and restaurants. Specializing in Mediterranean and Kosher food, Ta-eem serves a variety of food to fancy your taste buds.Read More

For those of you who aren’t familiar with me, I work in the television industry here in LA. I have the opportunity to work on different TV shows throughout the year and while it’s super fun, when we are filming I work very long hours and have little time to do anything else, much less go to new restaurants. The show that I was recently working on has finally wrapped, and I am on a break for the next few months! While my husband and I have several trips coming up this Fall and Winter, I made a vow to explore more of my hometown of LA during this downtime. There are so many restaurants that I had been dying to try – first up, Salazar.

Salazar is a modern Mexican food restaurant located in Elysian Valley (also dubbed ‘Frogtown’), and operates out of what used to be a car repair lot. It’s cool, quirky, and feels so much like you’re actually in Mexico. Most of the seating is in the open outdoor area, which has mix-matched furniture that definitely gives you Mexico vibes. It would be a great place for large parties or birthdays. The bar area is so cool, and they whip up a number of fun specialty cocktails and agua frescas. We were there to catch their brunch menu, which had a great selection of Mexican classics like huevos rancheros, breakfast burritos, tacos and more.

For food, we had to start with their freshly made tortilla chips and guacamole with cotija cheese. It was addicting, creamy goodness that we had to order seconds of. Since I never met a chilaquiles I didn’t like, we ordered that along with the vegetarian tacos for something different. Both were delish with their homemade hot sauce (and extra dollops of their guacamole, of course). It was so peaceful out on the patio that we stayed a while after finishing our food and drinks.

I’ll definitely be coming back for more fun drinks and to try out their dinner menu. What a cool, hidden gem in LA! It’s a must-try spot if you’re ever on the east side. Salud!

-Naz