Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Restaurant Review

02 Jun 2009

Dots Cupcakes – Pasadena

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Even though Dots Cupcakes is the closest cupcakery to my home, I’ve avoided trying it for months due to the prevailing negative sentiment on Yelp. In all my years of using the site, I have rarely encountered an establishment that was so overwhelmingly jeered. Everything from Dots service to the taste of their wares was ripped apart by user after user. Yelpers are a fickle bunch, so I usually take what they write with a heap of salt. However, when the consensus was clearly negative, I figured it was best to steer clear.

If it wasn’t for the sage advice of fellow cupcake-goers Sharon of Weezer Monkey and Pam of Rants and Craves, I probably would have never walked through Dots doors, and missed out on one of L.A.’s best cupcakes as a result.

Dots has two equally adorable locations in Pasadena—one in Old Pasadena and another on the Arroyo Parkway. The Astronomer and I visited Dots in Old Pas on a Saturday afternoon.

Cupcakeries are known for their sleek design and cutesy decor, and Dots is no exception. The small shop was so saccharinely decked-out that The Astronomer commented that he’d feel extremely self-conscious, bordering on embarrassed, visiting Dots without a girly companion.

Dots offers regular-sized cupcakes for $2.75 and minis for $1.50. The Astronomer chose a regular-sized Raspberry Cheesecake cupcake, while I went with a regular-sized Vanilla Chocolate cupcake. Both cupcakes were packaged inside a charming box even though they were going to be consumed on the premise.

After walking some ten-feet from the front counter to the window seating area, The Astronomer and I opened up the box and dug into our sweets. Dots cupcakes are ridiculously precious, with their creamy frosting swirls and sugary decal adornments.

My Vanilla Chocolate cupcake tasted as good as it looked. The cake had a firm but delicate crumb, while the frosting was just sweet and chocolaty enough. The ratio of frosting to cake was sensible and satisfying. Sprinkles Cupcakes still tops Dots by a hair because French chocolate sprinkles are infinitely superior to fondant flowers.

The Astronomer really liked his Raspberry Cheesecake cupcake. The texture of the vanilla raspberry cake was similar to my cupcake, while the cream cheese frosting was second to none. The Astronomer’s only complaint was the cupcake’s lack of distinct raspberry flavor. Additional fresh fruit atop the cupcake and in the batter would have easily solved this problem.

I was so stoked about the deliciousness of Dots cupcakes that I revived my idle Yelp account as soon as I got home; the gibberish reviews needed to be countered immediately.

POWER RANKINGS

Sprinkles Cupcakes > Dots Cupcakes > Vanilla Bake Shop > Crumbs Bake Shop > Auntie Em’s Kitchen > Yummy Cupcakes > Violet’s Cakes.

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Dots Cupcakes
21 North Fair Oaks Avenue
Pasadena, CA
Phone: 626-744-7719

Now Closed

01 Jun 2009

Bollini’s Pizzeria Napolitana – Monterey Park

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Bollini’s Pizzeria Napolitana wins the award for being the biggest dining letdown in recent memory. After reading lots of good press from very trusty sources, The Astronomer, my mom, and I headed here for a weeknight dinner. The restaurant was impressively crowded for a Monday night, but we managed to snag a table for four in the main dining area. Things started going downhill rapidly from there.

Dinner started off with complimentary scraps of old pizza dough painted with pesto and sprinkled with prefabbed shredded Parmesan cheese. The cheese was tasteless, while the pesto was crusty. Sad and stale nibbles are a horrible way to greet hungry customers.

For our appetizer, we were hoping to dig into a fresh green bean salad with cherry tomatoes, maichẽ, crispy bacon, orange segments, and whole grain mustard vinaigrette, but our waiter informed us that the salad was not available this evening. Down, but not out, we placed a different order for fire-roasted stuffed mushrooms. Once again, we were apologetically told that the item was not on offer. On our third try, we finally managed to choose an appetizer that was actually in stock. Imagine that!

The arugula salad ($8) that arrived at our table was a shadow of the menu’s description. Instead of receiving “arugula greens with fresh corn, smoked bacon, sautéed mushrooms, teardrop tomatoes, goat cheese, and red wine vinaigrette,” we were served a pile of baby spinach topped with sliced button mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, a smattering of goat cheese crumbles, sliced red onions, and a balsamic vinaigrette. I kind of felt like Angelina Jolie’s frustrated-to-the-max character in The Changeling. “That is not my salad!”

Things got a little better once the entrees arrived. My mom was happy with her penne with sausage and peppers ($12). The portion of sweet fennel sausage and fresh herbs was on the skimpy side, but after the appetizer debacle, I was pleased enough that the pasta was available and resembled its menu description.

The Astronomer and I split a large order of the The Sardinia pizza ($15), which came topped with tomato sauce, olive oil, anchovy, capers, onions, olives, tomatoes, mozzarella, and black pepper. The menu’s description also noted calamari, but none were to be found on our pie. Sigh. The pizza tasted better the next morning once the bitter taste of the Bollini’s restaurant experience had faded.

The problem with Bollini’s isn’t the food, it’s the lack of food. Dining out is dramatically less enjoyable when nearly half the dishes on the menu are MIA, and the items that are available are missing key ingredients. We should’ve just gone for some sushi at Taihei.

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Bollini’s Pizzeria Napolitana
2315 South Garfield Avenue
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Phone: 323-722-7600

Recipe

31 May 2009

Banana Bread with Chocolate and Candied Ginger

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Molly Wizenberg, creator of the blog Orangette and author of the book A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes From My Kitchen Table, has a way of elevating ordinary foods into must-make, extraordinary foods. I’ve baked lots of banana breads in my day, so it must have been the power of Molly’s poetic prose and genuine enthusiasm that got me so stoked about preparing this one. Dotted with bits of crystallized ginger and shards of bittersweet chocolate, this banana bread makes for a decadent breakfast or an effective afternoon pick-me-up. [I also highly recommend Molly’s Bouchons au Thon.]

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed banana (from about 3 large ripe bananas)
1/4 cup well-stirred whole-milk plain yogurt (not low fat or nonfat)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Set a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a standard-sized loaf pan with cooking spray or butter.

In a small bowl, microwave butter until just melted. (Take care to do this on medium power and in short bursts; if the heat is too high, butter will sometimes splatter or explode. Or, alternately, put the butter in a heatproof bowl and melt in the preheated oven.) Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips and crystallized ginger and whisk well to combine. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork. Add the mashed banana, yogurt, melted butter, and vanilla and stir to mix well.

Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir gently with a rubber spatula, scraping down the sides as needed, until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be thick and somewhat lumpy, but there should be no unincorporated flour. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top.

Bake until the loaf is a deep shade of golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour. If the loaf seems to be browning too quickly, tent with aluminum foil.

Cool the loaf in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Then tip it out onto the rack, and let it cool completely before slicing.

Yields about 8 servings. [For Printable Recipe Click Here]