Coni'Seafood: Inglewood's Mexican Seafood Gem (Los Angeles, CA)

This post may be a bit late, but for those of you who still don't know ... some may remember Mariscos Chente and their awesome pescado zarandeado and other Sinaloan seafood dishes, and the chef from Chente and his family has now opened Coni'Seafood in Inglewood, serving the same great items.

The thing to absolutely get is of course, the pescado zarandeado. This whole grilled snook is the state dish of Nayarit and Sinaloa, and here is served with caramelized onions and tortillas. Make yourself a great taco with this great fish meat and the onions.

It's quite big so bring a few friends so you can try the other dishes, as well.

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Brunch at Avec (Chicago, IL)

Chicago has many great restaurants worth revisiting, and since I'm heading back to the Windy City soon, I'm looking back at the meals I had last year. I've been to Avec for a solo dinner before, but since I couldn't try much, I returned for brunch.

Of course, we had to get one of Avec's most famous items, the Chorizo-stuffed medjool dates, bacon, piquillo pepper-tomato sauce ($12)

There are bacon-wrapped dates and there are Avec's bacon wrapped dates that are on another level. Don't those plump dates, stuffed to the brim with chorizo, look so delicious? The tomato sauce has a nice kick to it also.

Moroccan "berghir" pancake with fried chicken wings, honey butter, red harissa ($12)

Really crispy chicken wings, this dish was another hit for me.

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Fiorella's (Newton, MA)

Fiorella's in Newton has been around for 15 years; the owner was only 23 when they opened. The restaurant used to be half the size and had since expanded to include the bar area. This restaurant has a lot of local following - it's off the beaten path and can be a little hard to find at first, but people keep returning and I went to find out why along with a group of other Boston bloggers.

Before sitting down for dinner, we mingled over a glass of Blueberry Smash, made with bourbon and blueberry simple syrup.

The new bar area

We shared some appetizers to start: Arancini (large crisp risotto ball stuffed with mozzarella cheese, served with their signature marinara sauce, $7)

A nice dish that also showcases their marinara sauce. It's quite a comforting dish with the melted cheese and the hearty sauce.

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