Category Archives: Ladyface Alehouse and Brasserie

by | March 19, 2011 · 1:29 pm

Bernard’s Wine Gallery

My friend and cousin Allie came over for a day of wine tasting and food eating yesterday. I had a Groupon for wine tasting that I bought way back in December, and it was expiring in three days. We jumped in the car and headed over to Calabasas to Bernard’s Wine Gallery. Tip: Pull into the free parking lot to the left of the store and try to get parking there if you can. When we got there, no spots were left. We ended up driving down the street and valeting with some snobby, uppity guys who scoffed at us and begrudgingly agreed to valet after hearing where we were going.
As you can tell, I got really dressed up for the occasion…
We “splurged” and got the Petit Sirah tasting. The Groupon got us a wine tasting for two people for only $15, but the Sirah tasting was $3 extra per person. We figured we could spare the extra cash, even though we’d gone all fancy with valet.
Our favorite was the third one – Hunt Cellars Irresistable Paso Robles Petite Sirah from 2002. We jokingly asked for a refill and the wonderful gentleman who was serving us generously poured us another taste!
Allie is well-versed when it comes to wine. Seeing that this was my first wine tasting, I did a lot of nodding and agreeing with whatever she said. It all tasted good to me!

After our four tastings, we roamed the adorable little shop for a bit, talked with some of the staff and finally went to retrieve my car from the snobby valets, who we tipped because I’m so very, very nice. It was around dinnertime, so we headed over to… LADYFACE!!!
Ahhh, this is MY kind of place!
I tried their oaked blueberry Trois Filles Tripel that had real wild blueberries in the glass. This beer was very mild, slightly sweet and very tasty, however I just cannot get used to drinking room temperature beer. I went with my current Ladyface favorite – Chesebro IPA.
We split the sweet potato fries with red ale ketchup – another one of my “regular” orders, along with the sausage plate.
BREAD PUDDING!!! We specifically requested a center piece of the bread pudding (I’ve found the corner pieces are dry and hard) and it was AMAZING! Notes of sweet cinnamon, rich caramel and nutmeg made for the best bread pudding I’ve ever tasted in my entire life – including mine! Okay, maybe not QUITE better than mine, but pretty close!

Ladyface Fridays.
It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

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Filed under beer tasting, Bread pudding, bread pudding makes me happy, Ladyface, Ladyface Ale Companie, Ladyface Alehouse and Brasserie, sweet potato fries, wine

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by | March 13, 2011 · 3:39 am

Ladyface with Bloggers!

Last night I met up with eleven other bloggers and one of my very favorite places in the world: Ladyface.
We got seated inside at one of the long tables, but after a few minutes of screaming at each other trying to be heard, we requested a swap for a table on the patio.
I ordered my favorite: Chesebro IPA. 9.8%ABV and soopah hoppy!
It made me soopah happy.
Kaitlin being a super-creeper and getting WAY better, clearer pictures than I got. I’m not jealous of her camera or skills at all…
From left to right: Dan, Monica, Katherine and Amanda.
Left to right: Danielle and Kelley.
Jessie!
Andy!
We spent the entire night drinking delicious beer, consuming wonderful food, but most importantly, talking incessantly about beer, blogging, food, life in general, and having the most amazing, fun Friday night with new friends. I never would have thought that I would be spending a Friday night with some people that I met on the internet, and ENJOYING myself at that, but I’m hooked!
And then Amanda did the downward dog.
And our night was complete.

We’re all waiting for the group pictures to show up – I think Jessie and Kaitlin have those in their possession. I can’t think of a better way to spend my Friday than at Ladyface with good beer, good bloggers and great friends.


WHEN IS THE NEXT MEETUP??

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Filed under Becki Kregoski, beer, blogger meet-up, brewery, Chesebro IPA, IPA, Ladyface, Ladyface Ale Companie, Ladyface Alehouse and Brasserie, NEW WEBSITE, sweet potato fries, Uncategorized

by | January 5, 2011 · 10:38 am

Ladyface Tuesdays!

     Ladyface has a new “thing” for Tuesdays – 20% off any cellar beers (basically any of their guest beers that are bottled). I met up with the parental unit to give it a whirl.
  
     Unfortunately, “cellar beers” are a wee bit pricey, even WITH the 20% off, so we ended up sticking with the Ladyface brews.

“Jumpin’ Juniper” – Blind Ambition infused with Juniper berries. This was served at room temperature since it comes straight out of the cask. I liked it, but I think I would have preferred it chilled.
We split the roasted vegetable dish – roasted beets (which I’ve never liked until tonight), carrots and parsnips (which I’ve never tried before tonight). Tasty, but could have used less oil and a little more salt.
Charcuterie Plate – No idea what it means, but it had crostini, cheese (which I didn’t have because of the whole “no dairy” thing), dried cranberries and dates, prosciutto and sausage.
I sampled the Chesebro IPA and wanted a glass, then it hit me. This thing is STRONG!!! 9.8% ABV!!! I had this sampler and then decided to get something a little tamer for my final beer.
REGULAR Blind Ambition = happiness!
A good time was had by all 🙂
I think I’ve found a new Tuesday tradition!
If you want to come visit, I’ll be here every Tuesday that I’m in town!

P.S. Sorry Andy and Amanda, any similarities to your “Beer Monday” idea was completely unintentional!

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Filed under beer, Blind Ambition, Chesebro IPA, dairy-free, Jumpin' Juniper, Ladyface, Ladyface Ale Companie, Ladyface Alehouse and Brasserie, roasted vegetables, Two Boos Who Eat

by | December 25, 2010 · 4:12 am

Christmas Eve at Ladyface!

     Merry Christmas Eve!!! My brother and his wife (whom shall now be referred to as “the vegans“) are in town for the holidays. They’re home-brewers and total beer snobs (that’s where I learned my beer-snobbery), so we went to Ladyface for an early lunch and beer tasting.

I LOVE THIS PLACE!
Ladyface Mountain!
We all started off with different beers. Starting from the top left and going clockwise: Picture City Porter, Ladyface IPA, Blind Ambition Amber, La Blonde, and the seasonal “O Smokey Night”.
I was very happy with my Blind Ambition – I’ve always been partial to ambers.
 Blind Ambition post-swirling.
It’s always necessary to start with sweet potato fries, especially if they come with red ale ketchup! The taste of the ale was actually present in the sauce and added a malty depth to the ketchup. I could’ve sipped it straight from the cup!
Having “the vegans” in the house always makes me crave meat to compensate for the overload of tofu and legumes that they use to fill our fridge. I ordered the grass-fed, free-range burger with white cheddar on a pretzel bun. It came with sliced red onions bathed in balsamic vinegar, organic tomatoes and butter lettuce on the side.
Dessert consisted of dreamy, delicate chocolate crepes stuffed with slightly-sweet chantilly cream and drizzled with raspberry compote.
They suggested that the crepes be paired with Liefman’s slightly sour lambic brewed with cherries.
It actually had small fragments of cherries in it!
 Obviously we weren’t satisfied with the dessert, OR the beer-pairing.
We were so unimpressed that we bought another bottle to take home for post-church enjoyment.
Such suffering 🙂
After a long lunch, we ventured back to the brewery section of the alehouse and brasserie.
They were in the middle of boiling their La Blanche Witbier, and we got a chance to talk with the brewmaster, David Griffiths, as well as the owner of the restaurant, Cyrena Nouzille.
Some of their seasonals were being fermented in French oak barrels.
     It was a really tough way to spend Christmas Eve, but we felt it was our duty to help support the local business. We’re off to attend Christmas Eve service, and then we’ll be spending the evening sipping fine brews and enjoying some quality time with our little family. I’m feeling extremely blessed this season.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

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Filed under Agoura, blonde ale, brewery, burgers, IPA, Ladyface, Ladyface Alehouse and Brasserie, Liefmans, O Smokey Night, Picture City Porter, sweet potato fries, vegan