Moving back to LA turned me into a giddy child. We previously lived in a small town in NorCal for three years, so I felt that we covered a good chunk of their restaurants. Now, there’s new territory for us to explore since LA is endless!

A couple of weekends ago, my DF and I were invited to Saturday brunch at Bagatelle LA. We’re huge brunch lovers, but I feel like brunch is a bigger thing up north than it is down here. Maybe people just don’t want to get up early on weekends because they were out partying too hard the night before? Who knows. When we went to Bagatelle, it was empty and we were the only ones there at 11AM. That’s okay with me… that just means extra service for us (not that we needed it, the staff was on point).

video taken with a Nokia Lumia Icon

The restaurant was a little hard to find. It was a door on the side of the building that could easily be looked over. When you walk in, however, you’ll wonder how you ever missed it in the first place. It’s trendy, inviting, and upscale.. So LA!

Looking over their menu, I couldn’t decide on what to get because everything looked so appetizing. So, I let them choose for me. After all, who knows the menu best than the people that work there?

We started off with mimosas, which they made sure were constantly filled to the top. I’m not much of an alcohol drinker, but these mimosas were delicious! They were light, perfectly mixed, and didn’t have an overpowering taste of orange juice or champagne.

After that comes the bread and butter. A restaurant isn’t a restaurant without it. My DF even has to Yelp the restaurants that we go to in order to make sure bread and butter is served because that’s how important it is to me. I can eat this and only this for dinner and I’d be happy. The bread was warm and toasty on the outside with a soft inside. The butter was room temperature and spreadable. That’s all I ask for, folks.

Next, we got beef tartare (hand cut filet mignon, quail egg, capers, crispy shallots, petite herbs salad)…

AND tuna tartare (yellow-fin tuna, avocado, soy-citrus vinaigrette, taro chips). If I had to choose between the two, I would choose the beef tartare because you don’t find that on the menu very often. It’s a rare find and they nailed it. The taro chips with the tuna were devoured by my DF, though.

This was the smoked salmon crostini (dill, meyer lemon cream cheese, smoked salmon, cucumber). At this point, I was so full from the tartare that I couldn’t barely finish one of these.

But then they brought truffle scrambled eggs (soft-scrambled hen’s eggs with black truffle trimmings, mixed green salad, croissant) out and my stomach suddenly had room to finish the entire dish. Truffle oil is hit or miss with me. It’s usually too strong to the point where I can’t eat the dish because I can’t get past the smell. This was not the case at all. The truffle oil was light and the eggs were fluffy. Have it served alongside a buttery croissant? Consider me sold.

If you come here to only get one dish, get this one. You won’t regret it!

We finished our meal with Bagatelle waffles (caramelized bananas, whipped cream fraiche, cognac maple glaze).  They lined up our dishes perfectly to have waffles for dessert, which I definitely appreciated. You know I’ll always have room for dessert!

If you ever find yourself in LA looking for a good meal with an artsy and rich environment, give Bagatelle LA a try! Executive Chef Robert Liberato will whip up brunch for you, whether you’re looking for something sweet or savory.

Bagatelle LA
755 North La Cienega Blvd,
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310.659.3900
Saturday brunch from 11AM-4PM

I’ve had fun playing with my new Nokia Lumia Icon these past couple of weeks. I’ve been using it for inspiration from newly discovered restaurants by our new home in Los Angeles. The video taken above was from lunch with my little sister and DF at an Argentine restaurant, El Morfi Grill.

I’ve never had an empanada until I met my DF.  There are two kinds– ones that are baked and ones that are fried. My DF’s grandma makes the best empanadas. Hers, however, require a lot of love and time. They’re also smaller and crispier than those pictured above. Empanadas that you usually find are larger and softer than Grandma’s. To save on time, I attempted to make the larger, puffier empanadas. Here’s how it went down:

Please forgive my lack of video taking capabilities. I’m such a newbie. In the future, I’ll know to always take videos horizontally, not vertically. It’s also really hard to take videos with one hand and work with the other.

Pre-baking:

And all baked!

Hate to be such a tease, but the recipe will be up on the next post! I promise! Meanwhile, you can check out all that the Lumia Icon has to offer here. You can even get a special offer on it through that link! The camera has 20 MP and the video has 1080p HD, perfect for all those food pictures. All of the photos and videos above were taken on the Lumia Icon.

I’m actually loving the phone the most as a navigation tool. The wide, clear screen trumps my GPS by far. I don’t even use mine anymore. It’s also great for listening to Pandora while baking and cooking. Let’s just say it’s become a valued tool in my house already.

This is a sponsored post, but the opinions expressed are my own.