Food: August 2009 Archives

       

Last week the beautifully restyled pool area of Westwood's sleek W hotel was the backdrop for two nights of tequila tasting and cocktails. The event was part of Sauza's campaign to introduce three newly designed bottles for the expanded line of three Tres Generaciones triple distilled 100% blue agave Tequilas.

       

Yes, I said fruit. Let's get that out of the way immediately, shall we? The tomato--versatile, plentiful, flavorful, and local--is a fruit. It's also something that is in season right now (although you can conceivably make a go of growing your own right now and celebrating a little later on). The Patina Group of restaurants is celebrating this stellar ingredient with Tomato Festival menus at nine of their eateries, and to show off the spoils of the season they brought together a crew of food bloggers and Paul and Maryann Carpenter (the couple who operate Coastal Organics, the 17-acre Santa Paula farm from which the Patina Group sources produce) for a caravan tour of three Downtown eateries, with one course per stop, each showing off the tasty tomato.

A Recession Obsession is, 1) a meal so great that it stays 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 so happens to be inexpensive? Probably not. We're as lucky as we are well fed. Today, we obsess over this nine month-old column's locations. Just in case you missed something. What's your favorite Recession Obsession? Comment Below!

       

After 16 years as a raw and vegan chef, producing meals in containers found in places like Whole Foods, catering and traveling, Chef Rawsheed launched his very own storefront last May. Ultra vegan bloggers tried it out early and gave their thumbs up. It left Quarrygirl dying to go back and Foodeater is glad the Valley is "no longer the dreaded no-mans land that it used to be" because SunPower does raw food the way it's supposed to be done.

Talk about a great lunch. A few recent trips to il Tramezzino in Studio City proved this place to one of the city's king of sandwiches. A favorite so far is the Brie Cheese with sun dried tomato, grilled eggplant and basil garlic sauce ($10.95). Keeping to a vegetarian theme, Veg. Special #1 has goat cheese, arugula, grilled eggplant, roasted peppers, marinated eggplant and roma tomato ($10.95) and is equally as tasty.

If you are a tequila enthusiast, there is only one place to find the smoothest, most exquisite tequila in Los Angeles. Rivera, Chef John Rivera Sedlar's pan Latin restaurant in downtown Los Angeles offers Seasonal Tequilas on Tap™.

All good things must come to an end, oui? First of all, don't even think about trying to get into LudoBites tonight at Breadbar--it's not going to happen. With extra chairs being put in the tiny space, and the threat of rain dampening (pun intended) the semi-jokingly proposed idea of serving guests using the newspaper boxes outside on the sidewalk of 3rd Street as tables, unless you're in the reservation book LudoBites will have its last supper without you.

The event is all-inclusive, offering delicacies from local restaurants, premium wines, SKYY vodka, entertainment and a silent auction. Some of the exciting items up for bidding are a weekend at the Palms in Vegas, Britney Spears concert tickets and a tour of the Playboy Mansion.

       

The word Recess brings back memories of freedom and play. Chef Sevan Azarian, private chef to the stars, late of Fury Rok & Rol Sushi Lounge, had exactly that vibe in mind when he opened up this little coffee house/cafe/charcuterie in Glendale last weekend. The atmosphere is relaxed and easy and the menu is dotted with playful touches - plus there are giant cookies!

I hail from a land where the Breakfast Sandwich is King (and not the one that comes from the Burger's King.) In the Northeast there's a serious Breakfast Sandwich culture and its hub is a chain for which LA's East Coast transplants bemoan longing: Dunkin Donuts. Their morning formula is simple. Egg, cheese, and breakfast meat gets wedged in a croissant, bagel or an English muffin. It's a great way to start your day.

LAist recently met Freya Estreller and Natasha Case, the matriarchs of the ice cream sandwich truck, Coolhaus -- The Kogi of Ice Cream Sandwiches (LAist's term, not their own.) Tasty web show VendrTV, hosted by Daniel Delaney, recently sought the skinny on their mobile, architecture-inspired deserts.

The "supersized" sixth season premiere of Top Chef airs tonight at 9 on Bravo. 17 new contestants will be battling it out at The M Resort Spa & Casino in Vegas this season, including local culinary rising star Michael Voltaggio. Padma Lakshmi returns to preside over the judges' table alongside head judge Tom Colicchio, and judges Gail Simmons and Toby Young. Guests this season will include Wolfgang Puck, Todd English, Natalie Portman, Penn & Teller, Hubert Keller and Nigella Lawson.

            

There might be models of ships ensconced in the walls of the Langham's Dining Room restaurant that reflect a bygone era, but there's a young tattooed man on the cutting edge of cuisine in the kitchen. His name is Michael Voltaggio, and he arrived at the beautiful historic hotel in Pasadena just this July, following a year working as Executive Chef of The Bazaar by Jose Andres in Beverly Hills. Tonight, he'll be in your living room (or bedroom, perhaps)--no, he's not making house calls, he happens to be (along with his older brother, Bryan) a contestant on Bravo's 6th season of Top Chef.

Utensils down, chefs! Do you know where that cheese was made? If you don't, you could be cooking with what the Los Angeles County Health Officer calls "a recipe for disaster," and that has zero to do with your culinary prowess. A press release issued by the county's Department of Public Health is warning consumers about dairy products, particularly "Latin American-style soft cheese and sour cream, purchased from unlicensed manufacturers or vendors," because they may be full of contaminants.

Screw KFC and El Pollo Loco. Dinah's makes the real stuff. Through the end of the month, Dinah's in Glendale is offering a free chicken lunch to "new customers". That means anyone over 18 with a picture ID. If you try to go back twice, your name will be on a list (and you will have really bad karma). Customers have their choice of a leg and thigh or breast and wing plus one side dish absolutely free. From opening to closing.

              

For those who are handier with a Wiimote than a spatula, the Food Network and Namco Bandai have an upcoming release for the Wii that might be of interest. "Cook or Be Cooked!" is a game designed to closely mimic real-life cooking actions (minus the tasty results...we're not that Jetsons yet!) using Food Network-approved recipes you can duplicate in your kitchen once you've mastered the game.

Getting a taco from a truck isn't new by a longshot--it's been a way of life here in Los Angeles for hundreds of thousands of people for years and years. Lunch trucks, push carts, and street vendors are old hat for many residents and longstanding threads in many neighborhoods' fabrics. And yet "food trucks" are a buzzword--a trendy buzzword at that--and the people behind the buzz are often thought to be, well, a little "bougie."

Lemonade will open its storefront on Abbot Kinney in Venice today, according to YoVenice. The self-described "part lemonade stand, part grade-school cafeteria" eatery already has locations set up in downtown and West Hollywood. YoVenice says "the menu will change constantly, often a few times a week, based on seasonal ingredients." They will also offer to-go options with picnic boxes.

The taco is as friendly a Recession Obsession dish as can be consumed. At best they're warm, flavor-dense, transcendent, and $0.50 to $3 each. At worst -- I don't need to tell you. We've all been sold a few ghastly tacos. FYI, you can throw them out before they taint your lips.

It breaks our hearts that the Top Chef Master can't be hometown heroes Suzanne Tracht, Ludovic Lefebvre, Michael Cimarusti or Mark Peel. The show made us fall even more in love with Mark Peel, if that is even possible. Among the final four, Rick Bayless is definitely a fan favorite. Not to burn Anita Lo, Michael Chiarello or Hubert Keller, who we kind of want to sleep with even though we know he'd probably be a cad afterwards. Wait, did I just say that out loud?

Okay, everyone. An apology in advance, but seriously, it's time for a Martha Stewart moment. Thanks to a reader comment on our urban farming-pinkberry connection post, we learn a little trick that will be exciting to try out. LAist commenter LadyAMC points out an article on Cookthink about re-growing green onions on your window sill. Basically, keep about an inch of the bulb-end, place it in a cup of water on a sunny windowsill, let them grow and clip bits off as you need. "It works, I've got 6 of'em growing right now," she exclaimed.

    

Hawaiian Shaved Ice tends to be something you seek out at the street or county fair, used to soothe your mouth after a helping of that ubiquitous jerked chicken, or to cool down on a hot day. However, there's a bandwagon rolling through Los Angeles, and many US cities, these days, and it happens to be one on four wheels with a Twitter account. Now roaming the streets of L.A.: The Get Shaved Hawaiian ice truck, with their expansive list of tasty flavors, and their fingers flying on the keyboard to Tweet their next stops.

Plant F-ing is a new Ask LAist series about growing food and flora at home--especially for those renters who do not have access to the luxuries of a yard and only have windows and patios to work with. If you've got a question, please send it to editor[@]laist.com and our in-house garden guru, aka Hand of Gardener, will answer.

No, urban farming is not the name of some cool sounding store that will become the next fad like froyo and cupcakes. It's just what it is--farming and gardening for yourself at home at in local gardens for the community. Up in San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom wants community gardens on vacant and underutilized city-owned lots. At the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama has planted a garden on the south lawn. Although the garden on White House Place in Los Angeles is threatened and the South Central farm is now over a hundred miles away in the Central Valley, the urban farming efforts found in Silver Lake, South Pasadena, Altadena and elsewhere seem to be growing in popularity.

This is the kimchee fried rice at Shin BBQ in Hollywood (corner of Wilcox and Selma) The food at Shin is great. This time I tried the special house dish Kimchee Fried Rice. It arrived with this gorgeous fried egg on it. Then we mixed in the egg. There is some cooked beef mixed through also. And best of all it's $5!!

Coffee connoisseurs love searching for the most delicious way to get their caffeine fix. The Nespresso company has been known to make even the snootiest coffee snob happy with their high end espresso blends and machines. Nespresso's new CitiZ espresso machine debuted at Sur La Table this week. Adding to their existing line of products, this new smaller espresso machine features a sleek, architectural design that fits well on small countertops. To celebrate they are offering demos and free samples at a special pop-up tent cafe by the Santa Monica Sur La Table store.

              

LAist was invited for a day of fishing off the coast of Dana Point to catch fish to help feed the hungry and homeless in Orange County.

       

In Recession Obsession -- a weekly guide on how one can inexpensively achieve a beer gut during The Recession without beer -- we’ve obsessed over Guatemalan, and we’ve obsessed over chicken. But not yet Guatemalan chicken. (No, not GFC.)

Plant F-ing is a new Ask LAist series about growing your food at home with an emphasis on renters who do not have access to the luxuries of a yard and only have windows and patios to work with. If you've got a question, please ask and send it to editor[@]laist.com and our in-house garden guru, aka Hand of Gardener, will answer. Today we'll kick it off with a basic question from LAist Editor Zach Behrens.

It's been hot lately. Okay, really hot (at least in inland and in the Valley). But the weather should not stop us from enjoying the guilty pleasures of a simple grilled cheese and the usually-paired tomato soup. Problem is, 90-degree temperatures and soups are just not that fun. Thankfully local YouTube chef Aarti Paarti has a solution.

                            

Last Sunday the mild weather of Santa Monica made for a pleasant evening in the courtyard of The Fairmont Hotel where Angeleno Magazine celebrated their annual restaurant issue. Many of L.A.’s top chefs were on hand to serve up delicious bites to Benefit Children’s Institute. Double gold award-winning wines and spirits from the San Francisco International Wine and World Spirits Competitions were also served.

The US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has declared that in light of the fact that "farmers markets are important nationwide outlets for agricultural producers," and that thousands of markets "across the country offer consumers affordable, convenient, and healthful products sold directly from the farm in their freshest possible state," and beacusw of the numerous economic and health-related benefits of getting food from them, that August 2-8 is National Farmers Market Week. Huzzah!