Abbot Kinney Food Marathon

The initial plan for Saturday was to go to Santa Anita . Then, just to get brunch with champagne on a patio. Then to spend a whole day on the west side; starting at Joe's, then up to Bay Cities Deli, then to Chaya for sushi happy hour. In the end, the impromptu food marathon included Joe's, Abbot's Pizza Company and Jin Patisserie. I didn't take a lot of pictures, because I didn't realize it was gonna be a marathon until it was almost over.
I've been to Joe's for lunch and dinner and was impressed both times with the food and prices. It's very comfortable, with a great patio and excellent menu choices. The banana bread shouldn't just be a starter, but a menu item. My only complaint is that for brunch, two of our orders were extremely rich; the medley of mushrooms in a chorizo sauce with two poached eggs and the rosti potato with scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, creme fraiche and caviar. Then on the flip side the peeky-toe crab hash with poached eggs, red and yellow peppers, onions and mustard rosemary sauce and french toast, fall dried fruit compote, maple jus cinnamon creme chantilly were bland. The cauliflower soup, however, was just right.
We walked down Abbot Kinney, and simply because I'd heard great things (besides the Zagat wall of fame) I tried Abbot's Pizza . The slice of veggie with cheese was covered in fresh broccoli, onions, mushrooms. The signature bagel crust dough was powdery and soft, and the light cheese and sauce were tasty. It tasted much healthier than Village Pizzeria (although we tend to order sausage and pepperoni-topped pizzas there). The atmosphere was fun, with loud service and joking pizza-makers behind the counter.
We finished off the trip at Jin Patisserie, a converted cottage with seating and service in the front yard. Featuring desserts very similar to Boule, this modern Patisserie sets the bar for dessert as edible art. Jin creatively names their cakes: Desire (dark chocolate mouse, vanilla creme brule), Inspiration (caramel, chocolate, sea salt and cocoa) and Splendor (white chocolate, fresh strawberries). I ordered a pistachio mousse with raspberry center, which was phenomenal.All in all it was a solid Saturday. Suffice it to say, we had Hirozen for dinner too... just to round out the day.