rjwong

Here's a link to the LA Times article, The past, deliciously present by Linda Burum Chef Kaz Akutsu of Yuzu brings the spirit of washoku, a revival of pure Japanese flavors and traditional cooking methods, to downtown Torrance. thedeliciouslife, welcome to the eGullet California forum!! Apparently, someone knows you.

M&M, if you check the LA Times Food Section Digest, I remember reading some articles and places about Japanese cuisine. Are you talking more about various traditional Japanese cuisine? Or more into the Japanese fusion (Japanese-French, Japanese-Peruvian, etc.)? Personally, I've been to a tempura bar (not sushi, tempura) and to a place that serves Japanese curry & Japanese spaghetti (you read correctly). If I find out more, I'll let you know.

FYI Here's a link to an LA Times article (22 Feb. 2006), Soapstone: : Cookware that Rocks In the article is a list of soapstone distributors: Wildwood Ovens Fante's Greenfeet Brazil on My Mind Medagliani l'Alberghiera, Milan (Soapstone ware is on Page 7) I hope this helps.

As a native Californian now living in LA, I'm willing to give NYNY chance. Mind you, do you know how much food you can buy for a one-night's stay in a decent NY hotel? I just might have to visit New York vicariously through your blog! So, keep blogging ... Do get better from your cold, Megan. It's not fun being sick on your vacation ...

LA Times Food Section -- February 22, 2006 Viewing the LA Times website, www.latimes.com, requires registration. If that is unacceptable, try clicking this link here, enter the URL address of the LA Times and proceed accordingly. Some content is in the premium section called www.calendarlive.com, which requires an additional fee. Gumbo's Big Day / by Corie Brown It's messy, it's fabulous. And it's the Creole dish that's keeping the Louisiana connection alive in L. A. Gumbo is more than just a blend of seafood, meats and vegetables that makes use of French techniques and ingredients originally from Africa, ... [it] is Louisiana's signature stew ... it is also a tie to centuries of personal history in Louisiana. Includes two side articles: ”Late but great: It's crawfish time” & “Where to go for Creole cooking” and a recipe for: Duck and okra gumbo. There are several discussion threads about gumbo: Gumbo GUMBO Gumbo (Ya-Ya)--Cook-Off III Gumbo, Jambalaya, Etouffee, Creole... Heaven From Earth / by S. Irene Virbila With black truffles from a great source, more is more. Shower them on the simplest dishes for the richest effect. At restaurants, Virbila usually notices truffles as specks buried in sauces, or as slices with hardly any flavor. She took it by faith that it is the fabled Tuber melanosporum. ... so when I heard that the same supplier who provides truffles to Spago in Beverly Hills and other top restaurants in this country would also sell to the public, I got together some friends and ordered some from Plantin America Inc. Includes four recipes: Scrambled eggs Panisse; Guy Savoy's lentil ragout with black truffles; Truffle butter; Roast chicken with truffles and truffle butter; & the side article, ”A great source for fresh black truffles” Soapstone: Cookware that Rocks / by Charles Perry First we started buying pizza stones, massive pottery slabs that bake more evenly than flimsy metal sheets ever can. Some people have gone back to more slow, traditional cooking. As a result, stone pots are making a comeback. That's stone, not stoneware ... We're talking about pots actually carved out of stone. Out of blocks of soapstone dug from the earth. Includes the side article, ”An uncommon cookware” and a recipe for: Costine di maiale (pork ribs) Swirl, sniff, sip, search and blog / by Patrick Comiskey In the glut of wine websites, there's the snooty, serious and silly. Here's a guide to the best of them. You want to find out some more information about that wine you drank at that restaurant the other night. You search on the Internet and you come up with millions of hits, most of it unrelated to what you want. But good content does exist. Indeed, if you know where to look, the Web does offer indispensable resources, fascinating opinions, provocative if occasionally annoying discussions, and not least, several websites that poke holes in all that wine-induced high-mindedness. Includes the side article, ”The best wine-soaked websites” There's a discussion thread about this article: LA Times List of Top Wine Sites, Swirl, sniff, sip, search and blog Ruffles and flourishes / by Regina Schrambling Delicate and refined, savoy is gorgeous to look at and subtle in flavor. Though aristocratic, it's cabbage to the core. Savoy cabbage is delicate, refine and mellow, while its cousin, the cauliflower, is tough, rough and aromatic. And savoy is easy to cut up, easy to cook, and fast. Best of all, it doesn't smell pungent when cooking. Includes three recipes: Braised savoy cabbage with anchovies; Pizzocheri; Sausage-stuffed savoy cabbage A meat pie, a trailhead and thou / by Susan LaTempa The Trails is a Griffith Park concession stand with original snacks and lots of spirit. Co-owners Frank Lentz and Mickey Petralia try their hands for the first time in the food business, with the help of their cook and baker, drummer Aaron Sperske. The Trails is unabashedly about fast food — microwave, plastic baskets and all — but its menu, still a work in progress, is refreshingly original. A bittersweet, but happy, ending / by Barbara Hansen Dear SOS: Please can you get me the recipe for the brownies from Le Pain Quotidien? It's almost like a flourless chocolate cake. I've been trying for ages and I can't duplicate it. Bring on the butter / by S. Irene Virbila Dairy from England is something to dream on. Remember your first taste of double cream and the clotted stuff served with scones at high tea? WINE OF THE WEEK / by S. Irene Virbila 2004 Domaine Bruno Clair Marsannay Rosé: Burgundy; about $17; dry and silky; goes with omelets, salade Niçoise, grilled tuna, etc. The surprise is that it comes not from Provence or the south of France, ... but from Marsannay in Burgundy. Letters Temperature as important as time As someone who attended restaurant school, Regina Schrambling ["Ding! It's All in the Timing," Feb 15] ought to know that temperature, not cooking time, determines the doneness of food. So when she advises to boil an egg for 11 minutes or to poach fish for no longer than 10 minutes, she ignores the variables of surface area and cooking temperature. A nod to Persian cuisine Thank you for finally having a decent article about the wonderful foods Persian cuisine has to offer ["The Saffron Coast," Feb. 15]. With the large population of Persians here in L.A., I wondered why this had never happened. Every year at Persian New Year, which is a huge holiday, there really isn't any mention of it. Yet, every time there is a holiday from any other culture, there seems to be a wonderful article about it. So, thanks again. *********************************************************** *********************************************************** Calendarlive Stories A touch of elegance / by S. Irene Virbila S Vietnamese Fine Dining in Westminster is given a 2* rating. Chef-owner Stephanie Dinh offers a traditional Vietnamese menu with some French or pan-Asian influenced dishes. And this is a real restaurant with a bar, a grand piano and two handsome dining rooms with floor to ceiling windows, unlike the small family-run Vietnamese places that are quite typical in Southern California. Brentwood's new sweet spot / by S. Irene Virbila Critic's notebook on City Bakery in Brentwood. This long-awaited New York institution has just moved into a space vast enough to house a small supermarket and is busy offering Westsiders the same baked goods and lavish salad bar as the original bakery off Union Square in Manhattan's Flatiron District. Salad scenes / by Leslee Komaiko You're hungry. You don't have much time. But you're just not in a burger mood. Grab a salad at one of these spots and, what the heck, dessert too. Includes five restaurants: Cuvée on S. Robertson Blvd., L.A.; Zinc Cafe & Market on Ocean Ave., Laguna Beach; Clementine on Ensley Ave., Century City; Nicole's Gourmet Foods on Meridian Ave., South Pasadena; Lemon Moon on W. Olympic Blvd., West L.A.

Mr. Baltas, given your background in hotel restaurants, restaurant groups and restaurant consulting, and now your involvement with Starwich, have you encountered any negativity with your plans for expansion as being too "corporate," in the unfortunate sense of the word? Do you have fears that by the time Starwich store #100 comes along, people will start saying, "Starwich isn't as good as it used to be. It's gone corporate"? Or is that kind of thinking a bit premature for someone who's trying to open store #1 or even store #5?

Here's the link to the LA Daily News article by Natalie Naughton, Wolfgang Puck to cater to stars on Oscar night. If you click on this link, and select "Governor's Ball Food" under the Photos section, you can see the food that will be served that evening, including a photo of Wolfgang Puck with 30 pounds of black truffles from France, at the cost of $30,000. And here's the menu, prepared by Wolfgang Puck, that will be served at the 78th Academy Awards Governors Ball following the Oscar ceremonies March 5, 2006 at the Kodak Theatre: TRAY-PASSED HORS D'OEUVRES Spicy Tuna Tartare in a Sesame Miso Cone Mini Prime Burgers With Aged Cheddar and Remoulade Warm Gougeres With Potato, Cheese and Herbs Baby Potatoes With Caviar and Chives Steak Tartare in a Black Pepper Parmesan Cone Smoked Salmon Pizza With Dill Creme Fraiche and Caviar Duck Sausage Pizza With Leeks and Spinach Four Cheese Pizza With Tomato and Fresh Basil ANTIPASTO PLATTER ASSORTMENT Marinated Baby Artichokes With Lemon Aioli Tuna Tataki With Sweet Soy Smoked Salmon "Oscar" Matzo With Osetra Caviar Chopped Vegetable Salad Sweet Crab Stuffed Tiny Spanish Peppers Citrus Marinated Shrimp Green and White Asparagus With Prosciutto SOUP Celery Root Soup With Fuji Apples and 24k Gold Sprinkle ENTREE Pan-Roasted Organic Chicken with Black Truffle Risotto DESSERT Oscar's "Sweet Fantasy"

FYI Here's an entire discussion thread on joel robuchon, including links to photos and reviews, and discussion, of course ...

Here's a couple of photos of my Kirkland Signature roasting pan & rack from Costco: The boneless pork loin was rather lean, as you can see. After a couple of wet paper towels, wiping up the drippings was very easy. Afterwards, I washed & rinsed the pan & the rack by hand. It took me less than 10 minutes to wash, rinse, dry, and put away in storage. And since I paid about $30.00, it's a real bargain to me. I might do a rib roast and report back to you. I said "might."

Lreda, do you mean tonight, as in 18 Feb. 2006?? Is it too late for Lotus of Siam on Sahara Blvd., east of the strip? Great Thai place. I hope you find something. Mind you, do enjoy your breakfast at Bouchon & give us a report.

Here's what I did last Thanksgiving 2005, in preparation for roasting my first turkey: I'll be roasting a boneless pork loin tonight with some potatoes. I can post some pictures (of the roasting pan, of course) later tonight.

Those are 3 inch diameter internal ← My ramekins are precisely that size. jackal10, you're encouraging me, just a bit ...

In the 9 Nov. 2005 edition of the LA Times Food Section, LA Times critic S. Irene Virbila gave her review on Wilshire restaurant in Santa Monica: Where scene meets cuisine. In the article, it seems as though the restaurant is working on curbing the bar scene. moosnsqrl, although I've never been there, I'd say give it try, especially if curiousity gets the best of you. You may want to go on a weeknight instead of a weekend. Carolyn, I thought Santa Monica residents tend to go to the gym, while the Beverly Hills residents tend to do the "plastic" thing (Isn't that stereotypical?).

Ben Hong, no problem. Mind you, it is said, "If you have to ask how much, you can't afford it." The soup was $7.50 (USD, of course). Shrimp with honey walnuts, $14.50 Vegetable deluxe, $9.00 Rock Cod fillet with vegetables, $9.50 Sizzling beef plate, $12.00 Chinese broccoli, $8.00 Braised duck with vegetables, $19.00 Whole crispy chicken, $18.00 Pork chops with special sauce, $9.25 A fish from the tank was about $22.00/lb. Sliced abalone with vegetables, $35.00 For the eight of us, we each paid $20, which covered the meal, CA state sales tax (8.25% in LA County), tip, and everything. To me, these are affordable prices. Mind you, NBC Seafood is located in Monterey Park, where there's more competition than in downtown LA's Chinatown.

LA Times Food Section -- February 15, 2006 Viewing the LA Times website, www.latimes.com, requires registration. If that is unacceptable, try clicking this link here, enter the URL address of the LA Times and proceed accordingly. Some content is in the premium section called www.calendarlive.com, which requires an additional fee. The saffron coast / by Charles Perry For lovers of Persian food, with its perfumed pilafs, succulent kebabs and rosewater-scented pastries, L.A. has become a veritable paradise. When Naser od-Din Shah ordered an Azerbajiani boy to open up a chelo kabab stand outside his palace 150 years ago, the delicious smells of the Shah's childhood homeland led to the popularity of kababs all over Tehran, then all of Iran, and generations later, to Southern California, the largest Iranian colony in the U.S. Chelo kebab ... is just the tip of the iceberg; this is a cuisine of fresh herbs and long-simmered stews, of walnuts and pomegranate juice, of rosewater and dried limes. Above all, of saffron — Iranians are the most saffron-happy cooks in the world. Includes two recipes: Zereshk polo and Torsh kebab; and two side articles, ”Reigning favorites: a distinctive top 10” and “The unique Persian menu” One terroir, many wines / by Russ Parsons Clos Pepe is perfect for Pinot. That's why so many winemakers are drawn to the vineyard. Clos Pepe Vineyards, located in the Santa Rita Hills west of Buellton, is the vineyard and winery of Wes Hagen. And on his website, ... you'll find the usual pictures of family members and pets. But you'll also find a bonus — full-color photographs of dirt. Includes the side article, ”A Clos Pepe tasting” Magically transformed / by Amy Scattergood Dried fruit is, well, dried fruit. But macerate prunes or figs in red wine or eau de vie, and they dazzle. A little maceration wouldn't hurt anything, especially dried fruits, like prunes. The flavors of the liquid meld with those of the fruit, creating an entirely new component with a different texture and entirely different flavor profile than you started with. Includes three recipes: Bread pudding with prunes and dried apricots; Prune and Armagnac ice cream; Poached pears with poached, spiced figs Ding! It's all in the timing / by Regina Schrambling One of the most indispensable tools in my kitchen is the only one I was forbidden to use in restaurant school. And no, it's not a microwave. Put a timer, a most undervalued tool, in your kitchen and you will come away ... with a new understanding of how cooking is all in the timing. Includes the recipe, ”Classic cheese soufflé”; and the side article, ”A guide to perfect timing” Now, that's a soft opening / by Amy Scattergood At a time when it seems delayed openings have become the rule rather than the exception, City Bakery has been an extreme case. And what a story it was! By the way, City Bakery in Brentwood did open on Feb. 8, 2006, at 12:30 p.m. WINE OF THE WEEK / by S. Irene Virbila 2003 Poggio Antico Rosso di Montalcino: Tuscany; about $30; ripe and round; goes with chicken liver crostini, hearty soups and pastas, grilled ribs and chops. Bright ruby, it flirts with scents of cherries, earth and a touch of vanilla. *********************************************************** *********************************************************** Calendarlive Stories With a side order of stardust / by S. Irene Virbila Mister Parker's in Palm Springs is given a 1½* rating. This fine dining hotel restaurant, part of the Le Meridien hotel group, has a rather kitschy & nostalgic decor, reflecting the wacky aesthetic of New York designer Jonathan Adler. A white baby grand piano, as the maitre d’ podium, is manned by the manager Michael Crawford. The food, however, is up to date. By and large, it's in the French comfort vein and, for the most part, quite well done, especially considering that this is Palm Springs, which until very recently, has been decades behind the rest of Southern California. City feel, but with the tastes of home / by S. Irene Virbila Critic's notebook on Citizen Smith in Hollywood. Here's another Thomas Schoos-designed Hollywood restaurant-lounge located on Cahuenga Blvd. Chef Taylor Boudreaux, formerly of Mastro's, offers a strictly urban comfort food menu: sliders, mac & cheese, salads, and burgers, with a muffaletta tucked in there. After 11, the late-night menu comes into play and goes all the way to 4 a.m., when Citizen Smith goes to bed. Kraft's no match / by Leslee Komaiko Cheesy, creamy and carbo-licious, macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. Includes five restaurants: Violet on Pico Blvd., Santa Monica; Boneyard Bistro on Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; The Belmont on N. La Cienega Blvd., L.A.; Pavilion on Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach; Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar on Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills.

Last Friday night, several of my Caucasian friends and I went to NBC Seafood Restaurant on Atlantic Blvd. in Monterey Park. The menu is definitely Cantonese: the dishes were not spicy at all. The items I ordered are not that exotic. Notice I didn't order anything from the fish & seafood tank (a bit cost-prohibitive on this occasion). And one of the restaurant's best features besides the food is their free parking lot (no parking garage). I would definitely go back and order something from the tank. Here are a few photos from the dinner (I forgot to take a picture of the pork chops with special sauce): Winter melon soup Shrimp with honey walnut (Yes, it's a bit Americanized) Vegetable deluxe Rock cod fillet with vegetables Sizzling beef plate (pardon the smoke) Chinese broccoli Braised duck with vegetables Whole crispy chicken (at this point, half the chicken)

And don't forget: Los Angeles is just a couple of miles away (all right, a couple thousand miles ...). Mind you, it's been working for Maggie. Thank you, Marlene, Susan, Dave, et al. for disclosing yourselves in this smoking blog. I have greatly benefited from this. Just scream (discreetly, of course) if you need some help. Again, thank you!!

Jason, that quiche looks better than the broccoli quiche you made over at the other discussion thread.

You can omit the eggs, add a little curry, and pour the tomato beef over pan-fried noodles for some Tomato Beef Chow Mein.

Guacamole was made of avocados & some chopped tomatoes. That's about it. No added salsa. No mayo. Nada. Just the plain flavor of the guacamole. Next time, some tamales!

In the 8 February 2006 edition of the LA Times Food Section Digest, there's an article, A tasting of California artisan chocolates / by Betty Hallock. Here's a list of California artisan chocolates included in the article: Woodhouse Chocolate Donnelly Chocolates Boule Michael Mischer Chocolates in Oakland Jin Patisserie Recchiuti Confections XOX Truffles La Dolce V L'Artisan du Chocolat Chuao Chocolatier Frances in Little Tokyo, downtown Los Angeles Charles Chocolates Comparte's Mind you, I've never tried any of these. Perhaps another "research" project ...

In the 8 February 2006 edition of the LA Times Food Section Digest, there's an article on California artisan chocolates by Betty Hallock. Below are the California confectioniers that were included in the taste test (all but two have known website): Woodhouse Chocolate Donnelly Chocolates Boule Michael Mischer Chocolates in Oakland Jin Patisserie Recchiuti Confections XOX Truffles La Dolce V L'Artisan du Chocolat Chuao Chocolatier Frances in Little Tokyo, downtown Los Angeles Charles Chocolates Comparte's

Don't cry over spilled milk. Sacred cows make the best hamburgers.

If Ryan wants stroganoff, have him cook it. Or do we want to go in that direction, Marlene? Susan, that's the same exact rice cooker that I have!! Marlene, Susan, Dave et al., I think all of you should come out to Los Angeles. It seems to work for maggiethecat, right Maggie?

The latest news from the 8 Feb. 2006 edition of the LA Times Food Section: