Happy as a Clam in Marina del Rey

Back in June, I spent a week in Marina del Rey for work. While the work was rewarding, the hours were long and draining. However, coming back at night to sleep at the Ritz-Carlton wasn't too shabby.

On a rare early night off, Lambert's Army & I decided to take the advice of the concierge and head down the road to Cafe del Rey where we enjoyed a fabulous civilized dinner versus a week of craft service on the Sony backlot and take out from various restaurants in Santa Monica that were eaten in the edit room. The fish was fresh and impeccably prepared with an equally impressive wine list - oh yeah and the company wasn't too bad either!

So for my last night in LA, I decided to go back to Cafe' del Rey and have a light dinner at the bar. On this particular night, while I was chasing down their truffle coated popcorn with an earthy glass of pinot noir, I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting next to me. Somewhere between my spinach salad with a zinfandel poached pear, blue cheese and candied walnuts (for the second time that week!), & my Dungeness crab cake, talk got seriously culinary. Asbury Park & I started comparing notes about restaurants in LA and NY, including his statement that Cafe del Rey is the best restaurant in Marina del Rey (can't say I disagree).

We've exchanged email addresses and while I promised to inform him when my blog was 'live', something I still haven't done yet, he did pose an interesting question via email which I will answer in my next entry....

Can you stand the suspense?