Food: June 2009 Archives

              

Los Angeles' only working winery, with its mediterranean/mission architecture was the perfect setting for a tasting of Super Premium Tequilas matched with 6 courses de Nueva Cucina on June 19. San Antonio Winery was founded in 1917 by Santo Cambianica. It is still owned and run by his nephew Stephano Riboli, wife Maddalena and children Santo, Cathy and Steve as well as Santo's son, Anthony.

Post by Greg Thompson/Special to LAist (Photo by Greg Thompson)

       

I am the first to jokingly admit that my personal knowledge of wine more often than not limits me to two single tasting notes: "I like it" or "I don't like it." This handicap is perhaps what compels me to accept invitations to wine tasting events, so that I can not only enjoy carefully selected wines with thoughtful food pairings, but that I can also (hopefully) soak up a little bit more savvy from industry professionals.

Four Los Angeles eateries received awards tonight at Dwell on Design honoring excellence in their design. The 4th annual 2009 Restaurant Design Awards presented by American Institute of Architects Los Angeles (AIA/LA) presented Bottega Louie and Chaya Downtown with top category jury prizes and The Conga Room with the lounge/nightclub award. The Lab Gastropub on USC's campus garnered the People's Choice award in the cafe/bar category.

Thai Town is priced perfectly for our sorry pocketbooks. We know this. One such standout is Ruen Pair, a restaurant LAist visited for our "Thai One On" series. It was both inexpensive and fantastic in '07, and that hasn't changed for '09. The only difference is a sharp coat of paint. Of course it's LAist's latest Recession Obsession.

                     

It's not easy for many of us to get across the pond to enjoy a full-service British-style afternoon tea with all the trimmings, but we don't have to leave Los Angeles County to indulge our inner Londoner, thanks to the Langham Pasadena's elegant high tea. The stately and delightful ritual takes places Thursday through Sunday in the hotel's welcoming and window-side Lobby Lounge, allowing guests and visitors to the hotel the chance to indulge in a spot of tea and the elegant accoutrements of the meal.

The Mercado La Paloma (the Dove Marketplace) is a former sweatshop on South Grand Avenue, and is now serving as a community project aimed at supporting area small businesses, and providing the community with access to health, education, social, and arts resources.

The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) this month released its health advisory and safe eating guidelines for fish caught from coastal areas from Ventura Harbor south to the Dana Point area. "The results do not bode well for those that regularly eat locally caught coastal fish," wrote Mark Gold, President of Heal the Bay.

When the new Whole Foods that opened in Venice, I figured it would be like the other Whole Foods. Cramped. Packed. Expensive. Sometimes worth going to but an endurance. This Whole Foods is different in that it is gigantic (see the photo below) and even has clothing. That is all fine and good, but you can buy food and clothes many places.

Meet Freya Estreller and Natasha Case, the twentysomething women behind the Coolhaus ice cream sandwich brand. You may have already caught them proffering their wares at various events around town -- Barnsdall Park, Venice First Fridays, Stories Books -- in their pink, chrome-rimmed converted postal jeep. But for those who haven't had the Coolhaus experience, we'll break it down for you.

In spite of being well off the beaten path, the San Antonio Winery has long been a destination for locals and tourists alike. Now in addition to their famous tour, popular restaurant, banquet facilities and wine shop, the winery is offering special events.

      

Think a churro is just something you buy off a cart at a festival or theme park? The folks at Xooro invite you to think again. With one store open in Santa Monica, and a second area location poised to open in Hollywood next week, Xooro offers an impressive selection of "Spanish Fritters" in cylindrical form in many enticing flavor combinations.

         

Santa Monican's don't have to drive to Culver City anymore to experience enomatic wine machines pouring fresh, unique wines. Say hello to - Pourtal.

                                   

It was the best of fests; it was the worst of fests. Last weekend Mountain View was home to the Great American Music Fest. It was a grand idea - combining music and food, much in the way that blues and barbecue have successfully married, bringing in the best of local cuisine from all over the country.

Some know my friend Jimmy as Jimmy The Greek. He’s a spanakopita snob, knows the name of that building on Yanni’s album cover, and could write a guidebook on the nightclubs of Mykonos. He’s pretty damn Greek. This, Brooklyn-bred, first-generation said that the best Greek food in Los Angeles can be found at Papa Cristo’s.

LA has a diverse cast of characters. Whether it's the characters with stirring stories or interesting occupations or the people who are just simply characters, this town has them all. In an effort to get to know some of those characters a little better, we've created "Seven Questions with..." If you have a suggestion for a future Seven Questions subject send us an email.

So it's time to pick a present for dad. If joke banks that fart when you deposit a coin aren't dad's thing, a classy present like some special single malt scotch might just do the trick. Dad will enjoy your present for months or at least weeks. You can pour a glass together and toast the summer night. If you were a challenge to raise, a nice bottle of scotch can pay dad back for his hard work and patience.

              

Before there was Kogi BBQ, there was Twitter. After there was Kogi BBQ, there were a good number of new food trucks and other mobile eats with Twitter in the business plan. A street food revolution? Something like that. Earlier this week, LAist Twitter followers helped us compile this list. So here it is, in all its yummy glory! If we missed anything, let us know in the comments.

If "Smokey and The Bandit" featured Colonel Sanders .... He seems to call The Chicken Shack home. We hear their Peruvian chicken is pretty tasty too. FYI: LAist loves Peruvian chicken.

KCRW today officially launched three iPhone apps connecting listeners with live streams, calendars, videos and archived shows. Each cost 99-cents, which "will help offset costs for future iterations of this app and future apps," says a station spokesperson.

"Just look at that picture. Look at how that cheese is melting, you know it belongs in your fucking face." That's vegan blogger Quarrygirl for you on her above photo from Chango in Echo Park. The coffeeshop is now offering grilled cheeses with that new vegan cheese that some pizzerias have started to use. Is this a trend that we'll see continue across the city? Is this Daiya vegan cheese so good that chefs are actually willing to put it on their menus? We'll see...

In a rapidly growing trend that blends all the best parts about real California fast food, three UCLA grads have announced plans for a Vietnamese food truck that will serve favorites like banh mi and twists like lemongrass chicken tacos. Just like its Twittering predecessors Kogi BBQ and Don Chow Tacos (Chinese-Mexican fusion), the Nom Nom Truck (as it's christened) already has a sparkling website with highly integrated social media links: Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook.

              

I grew up in Toronto, so while I'm used to the concept of seemingly endless networks of retail shops and restaurants hiding beneath the downtown skyscrapers, I'm not attuned to that way of life here in Los Angeles, where even the word "basement" is cause for a quizzical eyebrow raise. But underground is where you'll find Rowdy Red, a wine and burger bar beneath the high rises of the City National Plaza at the corner of 5th and Flower.

       

A Los Angeles landmark is finally ready to expand to a second location...after 70 years in the business, but forget about the line...first you've got to get yourself to Las Vegas.

              

Driving around Anaheim after an Angels game or a concert at The Grove of Anaheim can feel like you are driving around a ghost town -- wide, empty streets with nothing but Taco Bell signs as evidence of life. But there is a haven for your beer-soaked belly. Cruise on down Katella to the strip mall lights of Taqueria Mexico. They are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In fact, one patron says that during a six month period during the 80s they didn't even have a front door.

Growing up on the East Coast I recognized early in life that doughnut culture orbited around the sugary planet called “Dunkin Donuts.” Some of my earliest memories were commercials featuring a gentlemen (who resembled both Super Mario and Hitler) who would exclaim softly through a grin, “it’s time to make the donuts.” Los Angeles didn't seem to have an equivalent character, nor a universally agreed upon doughnut hub. I observed the undiscerning masses finding satisfaction in the city's numerous, tiny independent doughnut shops (whose wares looked to all have rolled off the same assembly line in Palmdale.) But it didn’t take long to figure out that the most prominent doughnut in LA was three stories tall and stale as hell (see picture above.)

The County tried to regulate the time a taco trucks could operate in one place and lost. On Friday, a similar, but lesser known Los Angeles city ordinance from 2006 was struck down by a judge. Last December, a taco truck owner received a $150 parking ticket from the city's Department of Transportation for violating the law. He and a group of attorneys and students from UCLA Law School's clinical program challenged the ticket in an administrative hearing, but lost. They appealed to LA County Superior Court and won with no city attorneys present at the hearing.

The thought of an 8 oz burger sounds off-putting for some reason. Why advertise the size of the meat? Like they say, it’s what is in it that matters. Well, 8 oz Burger Bar has hit it spot on and at reasonable prices. In a homey bar-like atmosphere worlds away from the Melrose that intersects Robertson, the burgers here deserve a pilgrimage. The patty consists of a blend of four different cuts of meat that have been dry-aged in the restaurant's Himalayan salt-tiled cellar.

      

Last weekend the LA Winefest rolled into town with a carnival of vintners, liquor, and lots of bright shiny things. The popular event, held at Raleigh Studios drew a huge crowd. We often had to peek over shoulders and elbow our way up to the tables. In spite of the bacchanalian drinking, many of the things that caught our eye and our palate were low-octane drinks, nibbles and interesting contraptions.

Bowls are all the rage right now; it seems like every fast food joint has some kind of bowl. There are even weird-ass breakfast bowls. If we can't pop it, dip it or wrap it, goddammit, we're gonna put it in a bowl!

Starting next Wednesday, June 17th, 26 restaurants in Pasadena will be participating in BYOW Wednesdays, where patrons can bring their own bottle of wine to enjoy with their meal, and enjoy no corkage fee.

       

After throwing a well-attended and swingin' party a couple of weeks ago, Intelligentsia's second Los Angeles location is opening their doors to the public today. Intelligentsia--smart enough to be on Twitter--will debut their Venice Coffeebar at Noon.

Sometimes it just takes a little savvy to go from kitchen zero to hero, and if this is the summer you've pledged to get the know-how that will make your dining home nights a little more delicious, you might be interested in the upcoming classes offered as "Culinary College."

                            

I have often walked down this street before, but there was no Kaya toast or Moldavian meat before...

A Recession Obsession is, 1) a meal so great that it sticks in your mind long after digestion's end, and, 2) plays nice with your sensitive wallet. Is there a better place than Los Angeles to eat a wide variety of amazing food that happens to be inexpensive? Probably not. We're as lucky as we are well fed. We last obsessed over this series' Greatest Food Hits and Thai Town 2.0's Krua Thai. Today, we obsess...

They just won't go away. Not even eclipse-able by Frozen Yogurt, the ubiquitous cupcake has held Los Angeles in its sugary, frosted, portable grip for the past few years, and doesn't seem to be letting go. In today's LA Times, food writer Mary MacVean looks into the cupcake phenomenon and tries to unravel its sweet mystery. Why do we still adore cupcakes?

LA has a diverse cast of characters. Whether it's the characters with stirring stories or interesting occupations or the people who are just simply characters, this town has them all. In an effort to get to know some of those characters a little better, we've created "Seven Questions with..." If you have a suggestion for a future Seven Questions subject send us an email.

Mike Radke bought Maui Rose in Hermosa Beach about a little over a year ago, and serves up the finest Hawaiian fusion and Asian cuisine this side of the 405 freeway. Even though he has delicious food, a great location, and cooking skills, times are tough.

Kogi-schmogi! "One of the true great things about Los Angeles is In-N-Out Burger," endorsed Tom Hanks, when asked for tips to help the Tonight Show's Conan O'Brien acclimate to his surroundings (although this isn't O'Brien's first time as an Angeleno).

       

OK, it's not really. It's Norwegian for "apple" but that is just too obvious. Èple's fun fruit stand at The Original Farmers Market on 3rd and Fairfax is definitely not limiting itself to pedestrian fruit like apples, though. Dragonfruit, cherimoyas, and a variety of other exotic fruits are the stars of the show. And employees assure us that in spite of being owned by Pinkberry, there are no mystery ingredients -- everyday they are peeling and chopping away to use only fresh fruit in their ice-blended drinks.

              

Although her weight gain and amazing loss has been grabbing tabloid headlines as of late, the real news about Melissa Joan Hart is her new sweets shop that just celebrated its grand opening on Saturday in Sherman Oaks. Meet Sweetharts, a whimsically decorated frozen yogurt, gelato, cake, cupcake, hard and soft candy store.

Current TV's InfoMania's Ben Hoffman, the show's Tech Report guru, takes us behind the scenes at the Twittering and tastebud phenom KogiBBQ. Josh Heller, the Online Comedy Producer at Current TV, notes that Hoffman's "candor bites through the hype, and may or may not start a race war," in this segment from last week's show. Besides the high-tech hijinks of mobile food purveyance, the report delves into the tangled world of ethnic fusion foods, and the anatomical challenges of interracial dating. It's a lot to chew on, but if you don't mind laughing with your mouth full, check out this clip.