Kitchen for Exploring Foods

Nex time you're in Oldtown Pasadena and don't know what to eat, I suggest you drive a mile out and check out The Kitchen For Exploring Foods. Easy parking, cheaper food, and much tastier than the generic swill you find in Oldtown. I checked out a few reception locations and caterers today, and had lunch at The Kitchen. It's not fancy and there are only a few tables, but the food is delicious. This is the kind of food I'd be happy to eat all the time. A lot of buffet places can make food look this colorful, but at 90% of those places you bite in and everything tastes the same (and bad).


I had a slice of stuffed pork loin with apple stuffing. The meat was marinated all the way through and a little sweet and crispy around the edges. The stuffing was moist and infused with rosemary and onion fragrance. Salad bar offerings tend to be bland or all seasoned the same way, so I was really impressed how each salad was unique but not overpowering. The asparagus was perfectly roasted and smokey, and the slightly tangy sun-dried tomatoes and pungent cheese were just strong enough to stand up to the smoke without overpowering it; the cous cous was fluffy and moist with a hint of garlic; the white beans were cold and smooth with the fresh kick of raw onions; and the beets were wonderfully sweet and completely infused with a vinegary dressing. Each vegetable was given just enough treatment to bring out its best qualities, which is the thing I love most about California cuisine.


In a nutshell, The Kitchen is high on my list of caterers now even though their lunch offerings weren't fancy. I mean, there's a big difference between what they know they can sell at a lunch counter and what their catering department is going to plate up for a sit down dinner. More research will be done.