"What is the best thing on the menu?"

What is the best thing on your menu? This is a Donism.

Since, I met Don eleven years ago, every time we go to a restaurant he always asks this question to our waiter/waitress:"What is the best thing on the menu?" or "What is your signature dish?" or "What is your favorite thing on the menu?"

This inquiry works magic as I have seen that 9 times out of 10, he gets a really tasty meal. I found that this strategy is really useful. Also, you connect with your waiter/ress and you usually get the best food in the house! Try it, next time you sit down in a restaurant. Instead of hemming and hawing about what to choose, ask some good advice from the wait staff who are "in the know."

Speaking of "What is the best thing on the menu?", a couple of weeks ago when I arrived back in LA from my SF intense Take5:ARTbreak Day marketing meetings, we stopped at the Wilshire Restaurant in Santa Monica for some nosh.The restaurant was booked, so we ate in the lounge area. I, with my paint splotched,brown hoody on, clicked my Keen's and said I am not in San Francisco anymore. The scene was so stereotypically LA. Girls in really, really short skirts with stilettos and boys talking about how many flat screens they had. It really was good people watching though and kind of a culture shock. But we asked our waitress, "what was the best thing on the menu?" and she suggested the sweet English pea soup.

It was the best pea soup I have ever tasted!!!

We will go back to the Wilshire Restaurant; the food is really good and the ambiance is awesome. And we did spot a cool fireplace in the dinning area, amongst all the bling.

The Big Boy image is from our weekend journey camping to Joshua Tree (that is another post). On our way we had to stop for some food and Big Boy brought back nostalgia from my days of growing up in Wisconsin. Don, as always, asked our waitress "what is the best thing on the menu?" and par for the course, he happily devoured the "Big Boy" hamburger.

Lunch in Santa Monica on Montana Avenue

Today we took a walk to Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. To get to Montana it is lovely to take the Pacific Palisades Park walkway. It has a beautiful vista, which overlooks the ocean. The park has a good vibe and has some amazing coastal foliage and is a sweet spot for loungers, dog walkers, personal trainers, joggers, and fitness groups.

The walk crosses Montana Avenue. As you walk up the avenue you there are lots of small, high end boutiques, cafes, and restaurants. Honestly, Montana Avenue aesthetically is just an OK street. Personally I feel it lacks in character, in comparison to other shopping districts around the world. The beauty is its location, as it is a stones throw away from the Ocean. It also has a reputation, as well known entertainers are often spotted on this street.

Our first stop was at the yogurt shop Menchies. I always loved the concept of eating dessert first. Why not? The place is totally self serve. You pick your yogurt flavor or flavors and then doctor it up with decadent candies and fruits. My inner child was activated and I had to restrain myself from going nuts with all the abundance of treats. It was delicious.

We decided to eat on the go. As we were strolling, we had a random interaction with a lady who was carrying two coffee cups across Montana Avenue. Now that is a challenge! She looked very frazzled as she was trying to cross street and when she got to our side, she said to us, "Thank God you all are walking. You are my witnesses (if she got hit, she had implied), folks just do not stop around here." I have to say, she is totally right, folks driving in LA and Santa Monica rarely stop for anything. One has to always be on the uber defense, while walking, biking, and driving in So Cal. Interesting coincidence, today in the Huffington Post there was an entertaining and helpful article called How To Bike From Echo Park To Venice Beach Without Dying. The stereotype is very true; the car culture has turned folks into supremely crazy and self-serving drivers.

We continued to meander our way up the street and then decided to eat lunch at Cafe Montana. The ambiance is very nice. It has an open feel with floor to ceiling windows, great for people watching and great for feeling like one is in a fish bowl. The service was good. I ordered the eggs Benedict and Don had a chicken sandwich with buffalo mozzarella. The food was decent, but not amazing, and it was over-priced.

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But this experience did spark a philosophical discussion about napkins. What does the way a person handles a napkin tell about that person? I am so curious, I feel it could this be another form of self-analysis. Check out our napkins. Which is the lawyer's and which it the artist's? Ha! I would say mine is a sculpture.

Overall, our afternoon walk on Montana Avenue was a pleasant adventure.