Watch here as a representative of Peppadew.com gives us a little overview of Peppadew 101. Like the fruit, she too is from South Africa - the exclusive birthplace of one of the most delectable things on the planet.

So what do we plan on doing with the Peppadew? Good question my friend. Firstly, just last week - we put an order in for 2 cases of the classic red, and 1 case of the new orange variatal. While the plan is to experiment with them for a bit in our test kitchen. Truth be told, we already know what we’re going to do with them. Eat them. And if you happen to see them on a platter at one of our upcoming events, you should too.

Passion spewed off Mr. Hammad who kindly took the time to explain to us of the various humanitarian efforts made by the founders of Numi Organic Teas since their inception over 10 years ago. Hear it yourself, in this short video put together by our very own Michael Kay, during the NRA Show in Chicago.

Mr. Hammad was also generous enough to hand us a few boxes of assorted Numi Organic Teas before we left. So far, the Jasmine Green Morocan Mint have been our favorites - but still got about 12 more to try, so the title is still up for grabs.

For more information on this ultra conscious company, visit http://numitea.com and show them your support. The human race is in need of more good people. Let these folks know you appreciate their humanitarian efforts by soothing your soul with a few of their tea-bags each day. We sure will.

Chef Paul Prudehomme is the face and masterful genius behind the most famous super market spice medley brand of all time - Magic Seasoning, and we got to meet the legend just this last week at the NRA Food Show in Chicago. Now in case you live in a dark, gloomy and somewhat humid cave near the South of Santiago Chile, below find a photo of Chef P’s spice collection for reference.

Take note, the young man has shed a few pounds since his charicture was drawn in the late 80’s - so kudos to him for that valiant effort as well.

Oh, and as if this guy wasn’t adorable enough, he was also taking photos with fans and serving up samples of a yummy (according to my eyes and nostrils) pasta dish made with an Italian Herb Seasoning mix he just recently added to the arsenal.

I had to wait about 10 minutes before the crowd begun to die down and all of the Santa Clause at the Mall style photos were done being taken so I could grab this short video spotlight of the big guy. “So what advice do you give the young generation about making a career out of food…”

His answer was one of the most genuine and down to earth bits of commentary I received all weekend. Much respect for the super market spice legend, not only for rescuing house-wives and stoner college kids (by turning bland food into “magically” edible lunches & dinners); but more importantly, for being an awesome human being. We got nothing but love for you Chef P.

Michael Kay will be meeting with various industry leaders to get the low-down on all things awesome in the food world. As long as he doesn’t get kicked out the show for cartwheeling from one booth to the other, of course. We’ve got our fingers crossed for him to get home in one piece.

To get up-to-the-minute news on what we’re doing out in Chicago, follow @MichaelKayinLA on twitter or friend him on Facebook at http://facebook.com/MichaelKayinLA

So here’s the entrance to the main hall. I know, there really is nothing else to say…

And this is the monster. A 4 story, 5 zone, party paradise. Keep your eyes posted for information on our first XLA party. We’re toying with the thought of putting together a throwback Batman style (Dracula hybrid) mask party here in the summer. Bruce Wayne, welcome home.

For more information, link with Black Garlic on Facebook. Or join the mailing list at ExchangeLA.com

We had DJ Killer Queen sporting our very own recreation of the Lady Gaga bubble outfit as she spun behind an ivory white grand piano on top of the dance-floor’s secondary DJ platform. By the end of the night, half the party had spent some time or another on top of the piano dancing as if it were 1969.

What was approached as a simple house party for guests to “mix and mingle” turned into an all female rave environment, leaving our buffet stations (almost) untouched while Dermalistas crowded the dance floor throughout the night. Shit was off the hook - honestly.

Starting with a little passed appetizers and dessert session at 6 PM, the ladies came dressed to impress, rocking endless variations of the Lady Gaga brand.

We had our brand new plexi-lit dessert stations rocking white/black/blue/red sweetness from our friends over at Essential Chocolate Desserts in Culver City. “I wan’t 4 colors, and 4 colors only Melissa. Keep it all Gaga.”

Floral arrangements designed by Gardenia Flower Art in Glendale, CA compliments the overall design aesthetic of the party. We’re talking white/red/blue/black on glass, mirrors & ceramics. The fellows at GFA straight killed it as usual.

Highback lounge environments spread through the over 5,000 square foot backyard made for great rest and relaxtion zones during the almost 12 full seconds that the entire party was not on the dance floor. I’m serious folks, these ladies did not stop dancing. It was f**king AWESOME!

Our Lady Gaga back-up dancer look-alike waiters made sure the ladies had all they wanted. Drinks, food, erotic dancing sessions…

Big ups to our main man Steve Scherer for keeping everybody fed. This guy had to nourish these ladies for 5 days straight. Which meant he had to wrap up his work at the party, and head home to catch like 1 hour of sleep before he got back on the grind the next morning. Mad props to our big guy.

Our homegirl thoroughly killed it. From the look, to the grove and the non-stop banging beats - our Killer Queen put it down in the city.

Make-up? More like 4 artists painting 15 K12ers in 6 hours before they themselves got into character to bust-a-move during the party too. Lead artist Nate preps fellow comrade here before show time.

Usually working security, our very own Edgar Abramyan took the stage per request, shirtless and on a prowl. His late night strip show in the charter bus had the ladies going crazy in the middle of classy/quiet Brentwood California. Good work my man.

Costume design by Nonee Alex Kay had each person in character within seconds. This young man played the “I’m so hot, I can’t even smile” persona. Really well too…

Did I mention we had over 1,000 pieces of bite sized desserts? Okay, just making sure.

Oh, and while the edible stations become secondary behind all of the dancing and entertainment, drunken munching definitely took place throughout the end of the night. Don’t worry, none of this stuff went to waste.

While these photos are great, you really had to be there. Well, maybe next year. Cuz from the sounds of it, it looks like Dermalogica isn’t going to be looking for another catering crew for a long time.

“In 17 years of putting this series of events together, we have never had anyone even come close to what you folks did for us this week. Kitchen12000 is amazing.” -Pretty Much Everyone at Dermalogica

Many thanks to the Dermalogica’s executives for allowing us to spotlight our arsenal of awesomeness.

Their original suggestions were for us to serve cotton candy, whipped cream and other “airy” foods, along with putting up some balloons and stuff. We instead, came up with the AIR12000 campaign, and airport inspired party environment designed, catered and executed by Kitchen12000. Check it out…

So we had our cocktail waitresses dressed in custom A12K flight attendant gear as DJ Armen Abajian was decked in a full A12K captain outfit. Armen spun the hottest in electro house & progressive music from his cockpit style stage setup in front of 144″ projection screen. The video featured the prospective of a flight captain flying through blue skies and clouds. It was f**king rad. He straight killed it on the 1s and 2s as expected from the Minister of Sound.

Our AIR12000 Fly High campaign was conjured by parent company Black Garlic Creative. The graphic design execution was through Torino, featuring a complete family of unique Airport Brands, ranging from a Package Claim Station, “Sue Vaneer” booth, Coffee Clinic, I <3 Pho King bar, and Killer Kabob Express setup. Think of an Airport whose purpose it is to get you ready to fly high into party land. No seat-belts required here…

Make-up and hair for all the boys and girls came compliments of Katy Sah and Ms. Teal. Trust that everyone looked quite hot…

The plexi-glass runway streaked through the patio, between chairs (setup as they would be in first class of any charter airplane). Ladies pushed Air12000 food/drink carts up and down the runway, serving guests packaged A12K “airplane” food (Braised Short Ribs, Blue Cheese Bacon Smashed Potatoes & Steamed Green Beans with Champagne Butter Sauce). It made for quite a show. Straight up…

So instead of having the classic coffee and cookie airport booth, we went with a “Coffee Clinic” concept. Assuming coffee was an illegal drug (versus a legal one as it is now) we served coffee as would a coffee healing center. Filtered coffee, un-filtered coffee, coffee brownies + crisps & even 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz prescription bottles of coffee (as seen above). The “legalize it” campaign subliminally hinted the theme throughout all articles at the station.

The unfiltered coffee (whose potency was the highest) was an absolute hit. It played the role of master kush for the night.

Rastaman Nick Joseph educated guests on how and when to use the various coffee products. Fly high, that’s the motto.

Over 1,500 guests came through the spot, rounded the stations, and sampled all that Air12000 had to offer. People we’re tripping, asking “what is this? I don’t get it.” A good sign, as we see it.

Lady Meline performed endless life vest safety performances in a G-Rated Stripper/Gogo Dancer fashion - all while shining the brightest in brite-whites.

I mean s**t, we had our flight attendants putting on a show all night.

Catwalk style…over and over. Sometimes with food, other times with drinks, and most of the time - just strutting their stuff.

And of course, showing the highest level of respect to our captain at the DJ Booth, whose noble efforts took our guests from walking into our spot in shock, to staying way past their bed-time. “We don’t want to leave,” was our top compliment. But thanks to our friends at JLounge (who had trouble swallowing the fact that we stole the show) our outdoor area got closed down early, so that guests could actually go inside the venue - which was ghost town for most the night. Two thumbs (and big-toes) down to JLounge for being wack like that. Anyway, we took it in stride. On to the next one…

A kiss goodbye. Air12000 was a one time effort specifically designed for our friends at Yelp. K12 = Never duplicate, sometimes re-create, always innovate.

Visit Air12000.com for more photos and a step by step creative timeline for the party’s inception.

To see what they think about us on Yelp, checkout our profile - http://www.yelp.com/biz/kitchen12000-glendale

Totally forgot to take a photo of the inside of the restaurant, so I took this one off of their website. The interior isn’t anything crazy, but it’s lit well and tastefully decorated - so as far as ambience goes, that’s really all that matters when we’re hitting up a fine dining spot.

Off the bat, our server (a young man that was trying a little too hard to be nice) disclosed that they were out of escargot. Apparently, their distributor forgot to make the delivery. Whether that was true or not, didn’t matter because we were set on the short ribs. Served with creamy spinach & roasted portobello mushrooms this dish was honestly perfect. It highlighted the natural flavors of all of its components with “melt in your mouth” type succulence.

For our second appetizer we chose the Ahi Tartare. It was served with a toasted crostini, avocados, shallots, cilantro & chili oil. It served as a great palette cleanser after the rich and heavy short rib starter, and was quite honestly the best damn Tartare I’ve ever had. Something about the fresh, smooth, chewy, crunchy, creamy & spicy  combination of this dish just hit the spot. Totally dead on.

I pretty much order Duck each time it ever appears on a menu (unless I’m on Clement in SF), so this really was a no brainer. Served with roasted butternut squash, baby carrots and port reduction - this one was a little bit of a let down. It was good, but not $30 a plate good. And what’s the deal with the Emeril Lagasse style garnish? Not digging it.

I like to order the chicken dish at any fine dining restaurant, because if you can make chicken taste good, you can make anything taste good. Served with country roasted potatoes and green peppercorn sauce this dish was really sub-par. Notice the skin was burned, sauce was broken & plating/presentation just amateur. Not impressed. Not happy.

This Barramundi dish was their daily special. Served over a ratatouille swimming in a tomato sauce & topped by fried taro root & daikon sprouts - this special really wasn’t too special. The fish was cooked well & the product was quite fresh - but the sloppy plating and bland flavor just didn’t cut it. Sorry Bistro 45, but you could do better than this.

Okay, now these were the most giant chops I’ve ever seen. Titled “Pan Roasted Opal Valley Lamb” and served with steamed asparagus, goat cheese beignet, sauteed cherry tomatoes & garlic aioli - this really was something. The meat was cooked medium-rare & perfect, sauce combinations were rocking in flavor, texture and clarity. Most of all, the goat cheese beignet was probably the yummiest entree accompaniment I’ve ever tasted. Seriously. I’d be down to have an entire bowl of these during an Entourage re-run washed down with a diet coke in crushed ice - goodnight.

Now finally, after that array of dishes, we ordered the Apricot Bread Pudding (kind of like a Tartare, I’ll never pass on a bread pudding when available). It was my mom’s birthday, so they went ahead and decorated the plate and threw a candle on there. But of course, no Happy Birthday song, (because it’s fine dining right?) don’t want to bother any of the important people in here. Worst part about it, is that they still charged us for the dessert. I’d rather have had the dish as is, no need for the sloppy scribble.

Anyway, it was a fun night, Dr. Drew from Love-line was sitting at the table next to us, we laughed a ton and enjoyed the food thoroughly. But all in all, I was not impressed enough to pay it a second visit. If you like semi-formal fine dining & want to stay in Pasadena, this really is your place. Worst part about it though, was that they were playing the Gypsy Kings when we came in, and when I mentioned it to the hostess, she said “who?” Chic doesn’t know who the Gypsy Kings are? Not cool. Zagat’s got it twisted, they’ve given this place way too much love. Don’t mess with my Gypsy Kings.

Alright, so these guys are a hit at any catered cocktail party. And if you go to a local Middle Eastern style deli, you could get some decent quality prosciutto for just around $10/lb. Believe it or not. So I’ll keep it short and sweet.

First, blanch the asparagus by doing the basics (from boiling water straight into ice water). Line the prosciutto with lebne or kefir cheese (available at any middle eastern market). Season with cracked pepper and wrap around the asparagus - if the asparagus are thin, go ahead and use two pieces per wrap. Garnish that with anything pretty, here in this photo we used edible orchids and some other flowers. Garnish with a maple vinergrette - made by combining maple syrub, rice vinegar and orange juice.

Find the prettiest ladies on the block, and ask them to pass these around on treys to all of your guests. Hey, it always works for us.

Photo and recipe provided by Michael Kay of Kitchen12000.

Once again I forgot to catch a photo of the inside of the spot, but this one I took off their website is pretty much dead on. It looks like they used a wide-angle lens for the shot, because in reality, the location is REALLY tight. Not bad tight though, just tight. This photos also shows the venue during the day, we went for dinner, and it was dark, quiet and very “day spa” feeling.

The ladies here are really nice and welcoming, but it took our waitress about 20 minutes to take our order. I’ve got a feeling there was a mix-up amongst staff. No worries though, we weren’t in a hurry - moving on.

Look I’ve never been one to get in line for free food at a corporate engagement, I actually feel kind of akward doing so. But something about getting a little amuse (gift from chef) at a fine dining establishment that just makes me happy. It’s the chef’s way of saying “check it out, we appreciate you coming to our spot.” It also gives you an idea of what to expect from the kitchen. This was a butternut squash soup shot & a red onion compote. It was awesome. Simple, silky smooth and completely balanced. Thanks Chef B., you are appreciated.

We ourselves have gained tons of praise from our Pork Belly dishes, so I tend to order it anytime I see it on a menu. Honestly, these guys slapped our version around like an angry Russian women would her undisciplined younger son. Served with Daikon 2x, Pickled Ginger and Garlic Puree plus Charred Shishito Pepper this semi-sloppy plated appetizer was OFF THE HOOK. Period.

Now I hate to be all cliche, but Fois Gras really is something I order anytime I have the opportunity. It’s my favorite edible compound on the entire planet, and it’s really hard to mess up (if you ask me). With that said, these folks really know how to cook this butter like fragile protein. Crispy and caramelized on the outside and marshmallow mushy on the inside. Accompanied by Cherry Puree, Brioche Crouton, Baby Tatsoi & Pickled Cherries - this was worth all $19.

Classic Oysters on a half shell served with Apple Mignonette & Cocktail Consommé. I must say, like Fois Gras, I almost always enjoy oysters. In this case (maybe because I was still basquing in the glory of that fattened duck liver) I wasn’t really too happy after consumption. I really liked the presentation with the dropper sauces, but overall it wasn’t something special. Moving on…

Here we go, a duck dish on the menu, means a duck dish on my table. Typically, duck breasts are served sliced paper thin and on a bias - in this case, not so much. These duck strips were more Jack in the Box “chicken tender” sized. Served over Baby Korean Radish, Shitake, Japanese Chives, Mizuna, Satsuma, Walnuts & a Sweet Miso Gochujang Vinaigrette - I can’t say I was really impressed. The duck was chewy, radishes bitter & sauce unhealthy in portion. If I had to rate it, I’d say 4 out of 10. Sorry, B.

So this one was the Niman Ranch Pork Chop with Apple Puree, Crispy Pig Ear Salad, Crépinette with Wholegrain Mustard Sauce. The plating was much nicer than what shows in this “flash” fizzled photo. Chops cooked at medium (thank god) and accompaniments one better than the next. Very well done for a lean pork-meat dish, which really should never be good. Pork is good because of its fat; way to pull this one off Chef B. - the apple puree saved the day.

Okay, I have a confession, I’m not a big Cod fan, but I love Black Cod soup at Sushi Bars; a must order if you plan on bombing. In this case however, these folks roasted it and paired it with Peppadew Peppers, Pearl Onion, Artichoke, Baby Octopus & a Fennel Broth. Subtle in flavor, but a great combination of textures and amazing in taste. Surprisingly, most of the flavor in this dish came from the peppers, with everything else serving as texture. Truth be told, those Pickled Peppadews were so damn good, that everything else just followed in stride. Light, healthy, simple - well done.

At $31 this was the most pricey plate on the menu, which to me means, “order me.” A 21 Day Dry Aged New York Steak, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Asparagus, Crispy Bone Marrow, Onion Ring & Veal Jous this plate of goodness was simply awesome. The onion rings were very much classic diner style, which was kind of a trip - but hey I’m down. The sauce (again) could have been a little heavier in volume. The crispy bone marrow however, dwarfed everything else and announced “hello, I’m about to change your life.” And it did. Start a FB page for it, cuz I’m ready to be a fan.

How can you possibly say no to a peanut butter banana toffee cake with caramel ice cream? You can’t right? Good, glad to hear I’m not alone on that stance. It was bomb, what else could I say. Next?

Italian Panna Cotta served chocolate mouse style in a martini glass. Smooth, cool, creamy and fresh. This one was quite good too. Not the best I’ve had, but hey “we don’t have our own pastry chef.” Whatever, I didn’t come here for dessert. Well done fellows.

So we were planning on heading to the Bazaar at the SLS by Jose Andreas, but they were totally booked. So instead of heading to the West Side and dealing with all of the wanna-be super stars, we decided to stay close to home and try something new. Thanks to Yelp.com we found this wonderful little gem. Who says Glendale doesn’t have decent cuisine? Bashan is way past decent - and totally chill. Will go back FOR SURE!