Danyelle Freeman gets labeled a lot. Harvard grad, food blogger, ex-food critic for the NY Daily News, Top Chef Masters judge, but most people know her as Restaurant Girl. Her new book, Try This: Traveling the Globe Without Leaving the Table, is a handy companion for any diners looking to step out of their comfort zone and try some new dishes or cuisines. more ›

Chef Mary Sue Milliken is an institution in the Los Angeles culinary world. As a partner with Chef Susan Feniger for over 25 years, she has opened two Border Grill restaurants in LA (and one in Las Vegas) in addition to owning the wildly successful Border Grill food truck. As a chef, cookbook author and TV personality on “Too Hot Tamales”, she has introduced thousands of people to high-end modern Mexican and Latin American food. more ›

The knives are coming out for a third installment of the all-pro TV cooking competition show Top Chef Masters on Bravo, and today the network has revealed the list of 12 "cheftestants" and solidified who will be doing the adjudicating. Representing Los Angeles are two beloved and well-known local culinary stars, Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill, and John Rivera Sedlar of Rivera and the just-opened Playa. more ›

Upscale Mexican food in Los Angeles could potentially be a hard sell, considering the ease with which excellent, authentic, and affordable can be accessed in the area. For Rick Bayless, however, the Chicago-based master chef, his arrival in Los Angeles as a consultant for Red O was more like a long-awaited response to fanatics' clamor. With a hype poised to usurp the buzz of the town's last big out-of-town chef partnership restaurant (that would be Batali and Silverton's Mozza, 2006) Red O opened late last month, and as they've been dishing out the first few weeks of elegantly affordable Mexican dishes, there is already talk of a second location. more ›

To be technical, Chef Rick Moonen would be coming to L.A. then back to Vegas then back to L.A. then back to...you get the point...as the man in charge of a rail venture between the two cities. Despite objections from Union Pacific that they won't share their tracks with any gaming-themed train between Los Angeles and Sin City (and a battle with rival Z-Train) the X-Train has announced "Mr. Rick Moonen's management company, Rick Moonen, Inc. [will] develop The 'X' Train's Food and Beverage operation." more ›

Eddie Lin is best known as being the local blogger for Deep End Dining. But tomorrow night Eddie and Bill Esparza of Street Gourmet LA will be guest judging Top Chef Masters. Throw in Andrew Zimmern and yeah, things are probably going to get creepy-crawly. There will be a viewing party at The Edison with Eddie and Bill from 9pm till 11:30pm in the Tesla Lounge and Generator Lounge. Top Chef Masters starts at 10pm. LAist had a little talk with Eddie, inventor of the peanut-butter and jellyfish sandwich. more ›

We are fortunate in California to be the home of the avocado, and the velvety, creamy and good-for-you fruit happens to be really versatile. Although sometimes there's nothing quite like cutting a ripe avocado in half, dusting it with salt and pepper, and digging in with a spoon, there are plenty of ways to get cooking with avocados. more ›

A few hours before I headed downtown to dinner at LudoBites 4.0, I shot a link to the menu over to a friend via instant message. "This is where I'm eating tonight," I explained, probably inserting one of those cornball smiley emoticons. I swear I heard her gasp over the interwebs, then the fury of her fingers as she typed me a strict order from a couple thousand miles away: "Promise me you will get the seared foie gras pina colada." I assured her I would. In fact, I had a sense that this mealtime mission would be all about the menu, as in the entire thing. more ›

He's baaaaa-aaack! Itinerant Chef Ludovic Lefebvre will be popping up with LudoBites once again, but this time in Downtown Los Angeles for a nearly 2-month gig at Gram & Papa's. Word got out late last night as the reservation website was launched, and the Twitterverse went, well, a-Twitter about the news. more ›

Susan Feniger of Susan Feniger's Street will be competing for title of Top Chef Master during season two. We took this opportunity to check in with LA's most cheerful chef (and to try to finagle some Kaya Toast). Who did you have the most fun working with? Honestly, all the people I had the chance to work with were down to earth, open and great to hang with…getting to know new people and see old friends…that was a great part of this experience. more ›

Bravo's "Top Chef Masters" has scored some serious talent this season with more representation from Los Angeles. 22 world-renowned chefs, six of whom are returning from last season, are set to compete to benefit their favorite charities. The lineup includes hometown heroes Susan Feniger of Street, Govind Armstrong of 8 oz Burger Bar, Ludo Lefebvre of LudoBites and Mark Peel of Campanile. more ›

In spite of the occasionally cringe-worthy dishes on Top Chef and the bumbling and blubbering of Hell's Kitchen, you know you're insanely jealous of those judges. Well, now you have the opportunity to eat like the judges--yes, even the actual recipes they picked apart like bits of carrion on the small screen. more ›

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. more ›

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? more ›

Forget the whole food truck trend, and consider for a moment the idea of roving chefs and semi-rogue restaurants appearing within another food-space. Like a sort of culinary hobo with a spot on the guest list, Chef Ludovic Lefebvre works out of the tiny kitchen at Breadbar on 3rd Street, an invited squatter of sorts with a short tenure as the night-shift guy. Only it's his name that emblazons the temporary signage and the daily menu. It is LudoBites, the pop-up restaurant phenom that has tongues wagging, with a looming end-date on the horizon for their current residency. more ›