chuckyoufarley

@nappleman @PaulKahan @cheftramonto @ruhlman If these have not been noted previously

So here's who I think may be worth a follow foodie wise... @bittman @carolBlymire @chefjohnny @gachatz @foodporn @ruthreichl @tylerflorence @jamieoliver @ruhlman (Get Bourdain going dude!) @offalchris @dcpatterson @anthonybourdain (might not be real) @paula_deen @catcora @gdelauraentiis

I wanted to create a topic to as a potential list of professional chefs with Twitter accounts. I follow Tyler Florence, Jamie Oliver, Daniel Patterson, Chris Cosentino. Two other twitter accounts of note are Foodporn, and Ruth Reichl . Its pretty fun getting updates on whats happening in the food world. Anyone know of other food tweeters? Shaun @shaunbaxter

My wife and I had a near perfect 7 course tasting menu at Hatfield's restaurant last Saturday. The food was perfect the service was spot on with the wait staff extremely knowledgeable about the food and wine. It was refreshing to eat in a place where I did not feel the wait staff was navigating my inquiries clumsily in an effort to hide the fact they did not know what was in the dishes or wine pairings. The restaurant is shoe box small but I didn't get the sense of being crowded in. I would say that the food is on par with the very best L.A. has to offer. Completely unpretentious. I highly recommend eating there. Frankly am a bit curious as to why Hatfield's hasn't received more chatter. Shaun

We are staying in the very north of Napa south of Yountville.

And thank you for allowing me to plagiarize your old post for my new gain.

My wife, I and 8 other friends are headed to Napa for an extended weekend at the end of this month. While we're there we're hoping to discover some smaller wineries, or hot spots that are gaining buzz. All the folks we are with are hoping to find a few smaller under the radar wineries and avoid the larger wineries (insert the word gouging here). Anyone know of any smaller wineries that are producing great wines that would have a real good ratio of value to quality? What's happening up there right now? It's been nearly four years since our last trip and I feel a little out of it. Is there anybody we should know about to call for an appointment while we're there? Shaun

I saw that advertised last week during Bourdian's Malaysia episode. Funny thing is, when I try set it up a taping on my Tivo the show comes up as the Florida episode of No Reservations. Monday July 3rd at 10pm right? When you go to the travel channel website it states that the Florida episode will be aired in that slot. I am going to tape the episode regardless. Does anyone know what is going on with this? Shaun

Dunno. Not a deal breaker when your are chowing down on tacos made with Head and Tounge. Seriously though the Pastor tacos are really great. They have this Gyro meat contraption that roasts the pork vertically. They put a massive slab of Pineapple on top of the spit to baste the pork as it cooks. Then they chop up the pork and the pineapple together. Sweet porky goodness. Wash that down with a few glasses of Horchata and you are in heaven. The Chile Verde is great too. Im salivating right now.

Las Brisas by the way is a very nice place to have a drink and a meal. Its about as Mexican as The Outback steakhouse is Australian. Pretty place though.

Also, About Gallo Giro... Its sometimes takes a few minutes to get a seat and the seating is al fresco, which amounts to school style cafeteria benches or the always fun old home depot white plastic chairs inside. However, if you are like meand have a sense of humor and want to dive into some really great authentic mexican food, while rubbing shoulders with the abuelas picking up their masa and watch the with a tortilla factory in the back crank out tortillas? Its worth the trip.

If you are adventerous and looking for an authentic "divey" Mexican meal I would recommend El Gallo Giro in Santa Ana. Its across from Mater Dei high school. Its on Bristol. Get on the 405 north exit at Bristol. Make a right and drive Bristol from the 405 to the place. I have no problem eating there but it might be a bit to "authentic" for someone else. Its rare to see any gringos in there. You enter in a kind of strip mall type establishment. There is a steam table counter where you order burritos or tacos and all the meats are displayed before you in spanish with little english subtitles. Lengua, Sesos, Birria, Carnitas, Asada, and Pator with chunks of the piapple it was marinated in. They have an Agua Fresca and Horchata bar to the left. Its rare to see any gringos in there. Another less "authrentic" but divey and popular place I would go is in Costa Mesa. Its called El Matador. Its on Newport Blvd. So basically from the airport you take the 55 to Newport and when you hit triangle Square with the big Nike Town its about a 1/4 mile on your left. Its divey tasty and safe. The carnitas are really good. They crisp up the top of the carnitas to something akin to bacon. If you want the real deal, go to Gallo Giro. http://cityguide.aol.com/orangecounty/dini...adp?sbid=138423 Good Luck. Shaun

I am curious who has eaten at Guy Savoy in Caesar's palace. I would love to get a few reviews on how it was. Shaun

Oh, and please nerd out and take some photos of the food at Providence for us here please.

Well then, sound like you have it wired. Vincenzo at Providence should provide some well deserved and most likely needed libations to downshift a bit. Have fun guys. S.

I have a reservation on Saturday the 3rd. I am hoping with the blessing of my wife , to be snapping a few pics of the food for this thread. I have checked our the yelp reviews and they have been very glowing. http://www.yelp.com/biz/HG5cvtfUcpMojb2RyB2ZJQ Shaun

MOCA actually opens at 11am. You might be better off getting to the getty right when they open then getting back to downtown. Forget I said anything I guess. Shaun

Man I am exhausted just reading this. LA is pretty spread out and traffic in LA on Friday after 3pm can be a bit of a bear. If memory serves the Getty opens at 10am and it takes a good chunk of time to get parked and shuttled up the hill to the museum. Its worth the effort for tour of the building alone. In an effort to lump your agenda into geographic regions you might hit all the downtown stuff early then hit the Getty after lunch before you drive to Hollywood/Beverly hills. If you had asked me 10 years ago where to get drinks i would have had 10 places. probably the best place to get ideas other than word of mouth is www.la.com I suspect after browsing the site it is a bit more current than say cityscape. Good luck on your journey though. Shaun

All good restaurants. If you want a truly great experience go to Providence. For my money the best restaurant in LA at this moment. The bartender Vincenzo is also not of this world. If you go and have a cocktail before dinner just ask him to make you something special. The guy truly loves his craft. www.providencela.com heres the egullet thread. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...9&hl=providence Also, Rjwong is pretty much the go to guy for LA foodom. I have snooped on most of his posts here and he is pretty much dead on. Go to Providence, Shaun

Thanks for the advice. At this point its kind of a toss up between CAnteen and a-16 for lunch Friday. I am going to skip Canteen Saturday for lunch and just stroll and binge at the Ferry Building. I have a really good friend who just ate there and he said it was just okay. I wish A-16 had a more extensive menu for lunch though. Looks like they have a really stripped down menu for the mid day service. I guess I will just load up on Burata. Of all the places I am eating on my trip I am really geeked about eating at Quince and even more so Coi.

I say congrats to all 6. Its all so subjective and the absent judging so invalid that all 6 should be considered as good as the other.

I would say that it might give "The Modern" website something to add to the frontpage. Its also is going to create a strong sense of curiosity amoung us who have not eaten there. I am curious what "stuff" it has that would make it superior to its 5 other peers in the voting. But in truth, its really just little more than a nice accolade rather than a true benchmark.

No way a Beard award equates to recieving a Michelin star. Frankly, outside the small world of us food nerds, most folks dont have any idea who James Beard was let alone that the Beard awards even exist. I think at this point the biggest thing to goose business to your place would be positive reviews and personal word of mouth. The Zagat thing also works okay for me. Ideally, I would like to see a nationwide Michelin standard over here as well. Shaun

I have never eaten at The Modern. My rant above was not meant to suggest that The Modern was not worthy of getting the BNR nod. How do you choose a greneral "best" choice in a group of resaturants comprising of a seafood restaurant, a restaurant helmed by a culinary legend, a new school cutting edge joint, 2 Italian restaurants and "the Modern"? I am going to assume that Achatz, Bartolotta, Batali, Robuchon, Cimarusti could care less. All are famously gifted chefs who need no validation from the the JBF judges who may or may have not eaten in their establishments.

I have been reading some threads about the requirements for voting on the JBF awards and I have to say I am a little disappointed in the voting requirements. It appears that you dont even have to eat at the restaurants you are voting on. Another crime and the most rancid of all. I dont care if the restaurant is on the east coast or west coast just do it in a manner that has some merit. The validity of the whole JBF awards thing is dead to me at this point. The JBF BS awards really need to do something to make this right. But really, I guess I should not care. Again, I think the point here is that all awards given to the arts are totally subjective.