It’s Walter Manzke vs. Zach Pollack & Steve Samson in the inaugural Food GPS Lamb Showdown
January 27, 2012 at 9:00 am
On Monday, February 20, Food GPS presents the inaugural Lamb Showdown. It’s Walter Manzke from upcoming République and Factory Baking Company vs. Zach Pollack & Steve Samson, the chefs and co-owners of Sotto. Guests will enjoy a six-course meal, with the talented chefs going head-to-head on four savory courses featuring American lamb, and two desserts starring sheep’s milk dairy. Every diner gets a vote on …
L.A. Beer Blast D4
Craftsman founder Mark Jilg constructed one of the sharper looking mobile bars in town.
The L.A. Beer Blast is designed to let Food GPS readers know what’s new at select L.A. bars and restaurants with great beer selections. You’ll also discover beer-related events in the area and meet industry leaders. The L.A. Beer Blast normally arrives every Thursday evening, in time for the weekend rush. Look …
The (not so) Terrible Two
Time certainly does fly. I cannot believe that we have reached the 2nd anniversary of Eagle Rock Brewery. I can remember the first time that I turned onto Roswell Street over two years ago and entered through the (then, not orange) door into the bare space that today houses the tap room and cooler.
Now they have a Great American Beer Festival …
The World’s Top Eating Destinations for Los Angeles Chefs
We asked 10 prominent L.A. chefs one question: “If you could travel to any city in the world right now, primarily to eat, what would it be and why?” The responses might surprise you.
Kris Morningstar took time to ponder global options at the dineLA Restaurant Week kickoff party.
Victor Casanova (Culina)
I have a deep admiration for anything Italian. I’d probably go to Bologna and I’d probably …
Flossie’s: Making Mississippi Soul in the South Bay
Flossie’s exterior doesn’t look like much, with a spare sign and a Yukon Square strip mall location that adjoins a liquor store and laundromat. However, Sandra Foster and late mother Flossie transformed the Torrance setting near El Camino College and Alondra Golf Course into a soul food institution, beginning by opening in 1991.
The restaurant hasn’t seen natural light in years, as a fluorescent glow bathes …
Dose of Vitamin P: Night + Market Chiengrai Stew
Technically, Restaurant Week started on January 22, but dineLA teamed with KCRW on a preview dinner, featuring the entire three-course menu and appearances from KCRW Music Director Jason Bentley and Matt Holzman of Matt’s Movies, who joined 50 adventurous people in eating Talesai scion Kris Yenbamroong’s aggressive Thai cuisine. My favorite dish of the night of course involved pork, and it paid tribute to …
The Dutch: American Comfort Arrives in Miami via NYC
Since homegrown Miami chefs seem to have trouble capturing the imagination of cosmopolitan tourists and even some locals, carpetbagging New York restaurateurs have opened South Florida outposts of restaurants like Shake Shack, Scarpetta, Mercadito, Il Mulino and more, scooping up Miami market share by the bushel. Enterprising chef Andrew Carmellini, best known for Locanda Verde and A Voce, opened the first location of The Dutch …
El Palacio de los Jugos: Building on Palatial Juice in Miami
My red-eye flight from Los Angeles landed as the sun rose over Fort Launderdale, and initial food thoughts on Thanksgiving weren’t of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. They were of roast pork, fresh juice and fried Cuban croquetas. My friend Ben knew just wear to find all three, at El Palacio de Los Jugos, which started as a juice stand more than 40 years ago …
The Mozza Cookbook: Exploring Italian Cuisine from Crust to Crostini
There might be a number of reasons why people buy cookbooks, but I’d like to simplify them to just a few. First, you might buy them to learn about the recipes, to cook through the book, to prepare dinner for the family. Second, you like the personality or the chef behind the recipes and want to know the recipes associated with the restaurant or general …
Week in Pictures (January 16-22, 2012): Dancing Shrimp, Semi Sweet Donuts, Soba + Spices
Every week involves a steady stream of food, drinks and people. Of course not every taste or conversation is post-able, but the range of experiences is usually pretty amazing. Lucky me. Here are some of the highlights from the past seven days, some of which will help to fuel full posts.
January 16, 2012 – Sonoko Sakai and Mutsuko Soma hosted a soba pop-up at BREADBAR …
Favorite Posts from January 16 – 22, 2012
Here are links to some of the more interesting posts written by L.A. food writers over the last week:, including Caroline on Crack, Darin Dines, Eater LA, Food is the New Rock and more.
Q&A with Sonoko Sakai (Common Grains)
Freelance food writer, filmmaker and event programmer Sonoko Sakai hails from Tokyo and recently produced Common Grains, a roster of events that spotlight Japanese culture and grain education, on behalf of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s (METI) Cool Japan program. Sakai even stepped into the kitchen for a two-week soba pop-up (ending January 22) at BREADBAR Century City, presenting buckwheat noodles alongside Seattle soba artisan Mutsuko Soma. We met at BREADBAR on January 16, prior to service, and Sakai shared culinary insights related to soba, grains, Japan and America.
Game Plan for dineLA Restaurant Week, Winter 2012
January 20, 2012 at 1:30 pm
dineLA Restaurant Week celebrates its fifth year anniversary, and LA, Inc.’s promotional, prix fixe program is back from January 22-27 and January 29-February 3, featuring approximately 300 local restaurants. Given the finite number of meals, and limited budgets, it’s necessary to pick and choose. Here are the most appealing restaurants, either for value’s sake or dish degree of difficulty.
Deluxe Dining – 3 courses cost …
L.A. Beer Blast D3
The L.A. Beer Blast is designed to let Food GPS readers know what’s new at select L.A. bars and restaurants with great beer selections. You’ll also discover beer-related events in the area and meet industry leaders. The L.A. Beer Blast normally arrives every Thursday evening, in time for the weekend rush. Look in the left sidebar, Subscribe to Food GPS and you’ll receive the L.A. Beer Blast by e-mail.
Q&A with Eagle Rock Brewery co-founder Jeremy Raub
Rochester native and longtime homebrewer Jeremy Raub worked as a music editor before teaming with father Steve and wife Ting Su on the first production brewery in the City of Los Angeles in years, opening Eagle Rock Brewery in late 2009. Since then, they’ve added a tasting room, a roster of educational events, and even earned a gold medal at the 2010 Great American Beer …
Point the Way to the Cans
It is hard not to stare at the palm trees on the label in-between sips (straight from the can like a Neanderthal, if you are like me) of the newly canned Point the Way IPA and not be amazed at the supersonic growth of Golden Road Brewery.
They have gone from the aforementioned IPA and a hefeweizen to a bevy of brews including four …
Portola Coffee Lab Gaspar & Macchio: A Tale of Two Off-Menu Espresso Drinks in Costa Mesa
Portola Coffee Lab, the cutting-edge coffeehouse that Jeff Duggan and wife Christa opened last June in The OC Mart Mix, doesn’t give everything away on their menu, and that’s nothing new at specialty coffeehouses. A number of top espresso bars offer an off-menu Gibraltar as long as customers know to ask. However, since Portola doesn’t carry that particular 4.5-ounce rocks glass from Libbey, they developed …
Pubbelly: Hyping Pork in South Beach’s Sunset Harbour
In 2008, just when it was beginning to look like Miami might not have much more to offer culinarily, city planners and entrepreneurs started debuting insta-neighborhoods like Midtown and Sunset Harbour. The latter, situated on South Beach’s west end, features condos, retail outlets, and a number of new restaurants, three from a single group or restaurateurs: Sergio Navarro, Jose Mendin and Andreas Schreiner. In November, …
Harry’s Pizzeria: Expanding Genuine Focus in Miami’s Design District
Miami experienced some growing pains during our millennium’s first decade, with very few compelling dining options beyond Latin or seafood. That changed with the advent of neighborhoods that seemed to sprout up overnight, like Midtown, plus New York restaurant carpetbaggers who opened mirror images along Miami Beach. However, there have been some independent thinkers. One of the leaders has been Michael Schwartz, who earned a …
Dose of Vitamin P: M.B. Post Eggs Benedict
Just because a Commodore and the Waldorf Hotel’s maitre d’ both preferred their eggs Benedict with an English muffin doesn’t mean that should end the famed breakfast dish’s evolution. M.B. Post chef and co-owner David LeFevre knows not to stick with convention, so for his Benedict ($13), one of the marquee dishes on his new brunch menu, he starts by cutting a buttery bacon cheddar …
