How To LA: Reinventing The Caesar Salad (And Other Headlines)

It’s Food Friday! And today, we’re talking about salads, but not just any salad, it’s about the reinvention of the Caesar salad.

Wait, what is Food Friday? Every Friday, we'll give you ideas on what to eat, where to go and what to cook — plus the people and stories behind the dishes.

Thai, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese versions of the venerable salad are popping up in LA

The Caesar salad is one of the most popular salads in the United States with its core ingredients a tried and true romaine lettuce, luscious dressing, crunchy croutons and sprinkled parmesan.

But it’s getting a bit of a makeover here in L.A. with a taste of umami. Chefs have reinvented the salad, often using Asian ingredients, while keeping the essence of what makes this salad so good. Here are some of the restaurants in L.A. breathing new life into the Caesar salad.

From the food archives: 

If you have plans on traveling to downtown L.A.’s Little Tokyo, here’s a guide on where you can buy some delicious snacks. Or, if you’re looking for dinner plans, we put together a list of Thai restaurants around L.A. that offers endless possibilities beyond pad thai. And last, but not least, Felix Agyei and his wife Hazel Rojas, who started a pop-up called Masarap Cafe, is introducing the flavors of West African and Filipino cooking in Redondo Beach. Fun fact: The word masarap means delicious in the Filipino language, Tagalog.

Stay safe and cool, L.A. There’s more news below — just keep reading.

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Up Close And Personal With The Hollywood Sign

Neighborhoods near the Hollywood sign has curved narrow roads.

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One of the cool things I did for physical education in high school was hike to the Hollywood Sign. I wish I can say I have the ability to do it now, but listening to a recent episode of How To LA gave me a little bit of motivation to try it again this weekend.

The How To LA team recently traveled up to the famous sign to talk about its 100-year-old history with Jeff Zarrinnam of The Hollywood Sign Trust. Listen to the episode here.

Pssst, if hiking isn’t your thing, we have a list of weekend events happening in L.A. and SoCal — check it out here.