Rachael Ray Invades LA

For the past several days the Food Network's ubiquitous kitchen pixie, Rachael Ray, has been invading book and cook shops in California on a signing tour for her cookbook 365: No Repeats. Tomorrow night marks her last stop in the greater Los Angeles area, with a 7-8 PM slot at Pasadena's Sur La Table. We happened to stroll by there over the weekend and noticed that their sidewalk sandwich board urged those interested to arrive at least one hour ahead of Ms. Ray's arrival in order to line up.

Just out of idle curiosity, we tried to unearth Ray's take on food in our fair city. We found this blurb from one of her four thousand television shows:

If there were an award for being the hippest city in the country, L.A. would vie for it. Rachael goes to Sushi Katsu-ya for a taste of L.A.’s famous sushi scene. Then, she gets a taste of her hometown at Mulberry Street Pizzeria. And for some Pan-Asian cuisine, Rachael has Black Cod at Beacon.

Well, aside from Katsu-ya, which we love, we kind of think Rachael has poor judgment. LA is most assuredly not known for pizza, and Beacon is a mouthful of hype and a wallet full of woe. We'd much rather do LA like she did on a mere $40 a Day:

Host Rachael Ray is a thrifty traveler on a mission: to find the quintessential flavors of L.A.'s high-priced eateries and to do it on just $40 a day. She hits the local market, La Guelaguetza, Neptune's net, Elixir and Authentic Cafe.

LAist loves the Authentic Cafe (best Garlic Mashed Potatoes, hands down), and we were a little sad to see Elixir's Hollywood & Highland outpost close up, since their flagship location is a little farther afield from our "over the hill" home.

Now, LAist likes Rachael Ray, but we don't love her. And even though someone near and dear to us has one of her 30 Minute Meals tomes on their Christmas Wish List, there's no way in Hell's Kitchen we're going to brave that crowd just to get her signature. But if you're a fan, and you're up for some serious elbow action (and we don't mean the macaroni), more power to you.

Rachael Ray book signing
Tuesday December 6th, 7-8 PM (line up early!)
Sur La Table
161 West Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena
(626) 744-9987