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LA Times Food Section -- July 28, 2004 To view the articles below, register a username with www.latimes.com. Registration is free. There is a separate Calendar section with more food articles, but you have to pay a fee for those. Season of smoke -- Regina Schrambling She says you can smoke nearly anything and have it taste better. Beguiled, dish by dish -- S. Irene Virbila She apparently went on a trip to SF, and discovered Quince, Eccolo (Berkeley), A 16, Cortez, Lüx. New heart of 'The City' -- S. Irene Virbila Virbila discovers the wonders of the Ferry Building Marketplace in SF. Plein-air pleasures -- S. Irene Virbila She gives 1.5* to Mix, best dishes are " Risotto with oyster mushrooms and favas, baby beets with sherry vinaigrette, chicories and Bosc pear, seafood cataplana, crispy duck confit, grilled fresh wild boar tenderloin, fresh berry pain perdu ", waiters go into detail about every little detail, nice ambiance A private chef for Mr. Mogul -- Valli Herman Neil Zevnik, on his life as a private chef for Hollywood celebrities. A revival in the Rheingau -- David Shaw Schloss Vollrads winery: "New owners and a string of great vintages return a Riesling house to its glory days." Wine of the Week -- S. Irene Virbila 2003 O'Reilly's Pinot Noir: This is the perfect summer-weight red. In warm weather, serve it ever so slightly chilled. And a word of caution: One bottle is not going to be nearly enough. It drinks well with anything from the grill or barbecue, plays up to the ever-reliable roast chicken or duck, and simply loves beef and lamb. In short, a lovely and versatile Pinot Noir at a price that doesn't require a special occasion." Cookstuff -- Charles Perry Zeke's BBQ Sauces, $3.95, available at Zeke's Smokehouse Correction "The sodium content for many of the recipes in last week's Food section was incorrectly stated in grams, not milligrams. " Correction Last week's review of Windows should have had the restaurant in the Transamerica building, not Transamerica pyramid.

Just went to Hwang Hae Do Korean BBQ in Garden Grove, and they have a $2.99 mool naengmyun special from 11am-3pm. They only do 150 bowls and that's it. Went there for lunch today and it was okay, sort of stripped down, but what do you expect for $2.99? --hmm, it sounds as though I didn't like the place. the naengmyun i had today had good noodles and okay soup. All in all, it was definitely worth $3.23 including tax.

So how did your experiment go, substituting your perilla leaves for the sesame leaves in the recipe(s?)?

Thanks for the recs! You guys have given me a nice list of places to try. For some reason, I thought La Note was just a little French restaurant. I'll have to try that one first.

ahahahah! Honestly, I'm so behind the times, esp with barbecue places that it's laughable. In fact, mongo_jones' family-in-law is taking him to all the best places! Lucky bastard. SF Bay area doesn't really have much Korean actually, and they seem to be mostly on Geary or thereabouts. Oakland has a little more, mostly on Telegraph, and even some nightlife. But nothing on the order of L.A. or even Orange County. It hasn't really grown all that much in the 10 (or so, yikes) years since i first was there. mongo_jones mentioned Chosun Galbee, mainly because it's a very nice setting. Definitely bossman material. The food is more to American tastes than Korean, i.e. a little sweeter and lighter. The Korean people I know are divided on that place ranging from "food is too sweet" to "I'm glad it's not in that POS hole in the wall anymore". Also Tahoe Galbi might be a contender, as tissue mentioned in another thread. Oh wait, Chosun Galbee was in the NY Times, yeah take him there. Koreans have been in NY for a long time, okay maybe not quite as many people as in L.A., and not as concentrated in one massive area. However, I would not be surprised if there was some shining star in NY or NJ that are as good or even better than places in L.A. Oh and if he goes to Sea Harbour (that dim sum place), tell him to go REALLY EARLY!!! You don't want to piss him off with a long wait. Just tell him to starve the night before or something. I forget when they open (10? 10:30am?) 11 am is way too late.

Sounds like you are looking at high end places. since that is the case, I think for dim sum, Sea Harbour, is the best. tissue and her friend Rupert took a bunch of us egulleteers there last year and it was awesome. Make him get the foie gras (duck liver) wontons and then immediately report back here what he thought of them. I still cannot seem to get myself to pay $16 for a couple of wontons. I know, I know. Also, I like the sharks fin seafood dumplings there. Oh and that one bitter melon sticky rice ball with ground black sesame filling in it.

I agree with these. I like Chris Kimball and do not find him smarmy at all, just kind of dry. The whole magazine is kind of dry, but that's sort of deliberate, I think. I remember one Martha Stewart show he did, where Martha stood by in stunned silence as he dredged his chicken in beaten egg. When she recovered, you could tell she was struggling to take the chicken away from him, but she just said she's never seen anybody do fried chicken like that. I like Cooks Illustrated because they get into the actual chemistry behind the things that happen in your dishes. I think this is actually more valuable than the recipes themselves. However, they do have some good recipes. Saveur is good food porn. Fine Cooking is kind of in the middle.

No, they are not related at all, never have been. The restaurant in SF is called Harris' and the one in Coalinga is Harris Ranch. The names are similar but probably just a coincidence?

I was just eating a slightly bland (but still pretty damn good) veggie nest at Venus in Berkeley, and I was thinking I should find out where you guys eat breakfast. I'm talking about an American style breakfast, with eggs and sausage and stuff like that, but I like croissants or pain au chocolat for breakfast, or even jook. Right now, I would say my best American breakfasts of all time have been at Ella's or at Fatapples. Won't you please help me expand my horizons?

What's strange is that I read somewhere that the space where the seed is supposed to be, is filled with sugary liquid. So a seedless watermelons should be sweeter. Here in Southern California, getting good watermelons is easy. But for excellent melons, you need to choose wisely. One time I got one that was so perfectly ripe, it lives on in my pantheon of best produce of all time. When I chose it (yellow bottom, good heft), it was practically calling to me. I remember cutting it and it practically split itself in two. Every inch of that watermelon was dark red and sweet with great watermelon flavor. I think it cost me 9 cents a pound at Albertsons. It was about 10-15 pounds I think. It was seeded.

Maison Rustique recently reminded me of a flyer we got about a new BBQ place in Irvine. If you're in Irvine, ignore my mention of naengmyun at Kaya. It's a cute hole in the wall with certain things I really like, but you might be underwhelmed. Go to the 1 month old, very plush Korea House BBQ on University Dr. I tried their naengmyun for lunch today. Their naengmyun is pretty damn good, much better than Kaya's, and at $7.99 during lunch, not too pricey. The clear, cold beef stock was slightly on the sweet side, not as beefy tasting as I would like, but still slushy and refreshing. A little rice vinegar solves the sweetness thing. I don't usually put in mustard, though. People sometimes like to put in yellow Chinese style mustard in to keep it interesting. When you get naengmyun, don't dawdle too much when you eat it. You don't want the noodles to have time to sit and get soft and flabby. A good place should have nice stretchy, uh kind of firm noodles. I don't know if I should say al dente. They are primarily a barbecue house. They grill over gas though. Oh well. Koreans are flocking to this place though. Nice environs and great service. The first time I went there, the waitress asked me "How is everything?" then "How was your meal", "Would you like anything more?" She was so cheerful and bubbly that I had to check to make sure I wasn't at TGIF. No pics today. Forgot my camera at home. Next time. Korea House BBQ 5305 University Drive Irvine, CA 92612 (949) 690-9963 Don't worry Maison Rustique, I'm still up for lunch anytime.

Yeah, it's on Amazon now. It wasn't before. I guess I was a little impatient. Thanks for the info Russ!

I know this is a stupid question, but I have been meaning to ask it for some time. How do you find these taco trucks? Do you just drive around and spot one? Granted I have trouble finding carts in general, so forgive me if this is really stupid. ExtraMSG, do the same taco truck finding techniques apply in Portland as well as in SF area? I'm going to portland soon. thx

I think you can find acacia honey at Persian markets. I see it here, but I live in the U.S.

am i crazy or does that squid luau look a lot like saag paneer?

well, i did just see this Chinese food finder for sale I don't understand why the big names don't have it.

Carl Chu just came out with "Chinese Food Finder - Los Angeles & the San Gabriel Valley: A Guide to Chinese Regional Cuisines" i'm assuming this is an update of "Finding Chinese Food in Los Angeles: A Guide to Regional Chinese Cuisines" (Mar 2003)? I don't see it on Amazon. Where do we get it? why the changed name? Sorry, this is sort of a cross post of one I just put in the China forum. I searched for that thread on google, and thought for some reason it was in California. thx

When can we get a copy of this? It says July 2004 publishing date. Or maybe I'm wrong. --never mind found it Also, if this was an update of his 2003 book, why the different name?

LA Times Food Section -- July 21, 2004 To view the articles below, register a username with www.latimes.com. Registration is free. There is a separate Calendar section with more food articles, but you have to pay a fee for those. My dinner with Andrea and the fuqi feipian gang -- David Shaw He and a bunch of other diners tag along each week with Carl Chu, author of the new "Chinese Food Finder - Los Angeles & the San Gabriel Valley: A Guide to Chinese Regional Cuisines", so that they can get the good stuff at Chinese restaurants, not the gringo pap. He gets bored of Chinese so they start going to other places as well. Heirlooms arrive -- Russ Parsons Very detailed, well researched article on heirloom tomatoes. Includes some history, descriptions and even tomato variety names. Tomato breeding legend Tom Wagner mentioned, Craig LeHoullier quoted! Recipes A who's who of heirloom tomatoes -- Russ Parsons List of heirloom tomato varieties you might find at your local gourmet markets or farmer's markets. Seeking the heights -- S. Irene Virbila She gives 1.5* to the newly done over (?) Windows (Transamerica Building), which has redone its menu to "modern steakhouse". Strip steak good, some seafood dishes good, desserts poor (done off site), service varies Summer, filled with flavor -- Regina Schrambling Learn here how to stuff all your summer produce for variety at the table. Recipes Neapolitan pizza, guaranteed -- Sarah Grausz Peppe Miele from Antica Pizzeria (Marina del Rey), is founding president of Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) in the U.S. He helps other chefs learn how to make pizza the Genuine Neapolitan Pizza way. It's the light fantastic -- Barbara Hansen She has the recipe for Lucques hazelnut cake. Blue-collar grapes in a revolution -- Jordan Mackay "In Italy's Piedmont region, a number of winemakers are elevating Barbera", a previously underappreciated grape. List of wines avail in L.A., at end of article. Wine of the Week -- S. Irene Virbila 2003 Weingut Salomon-Undhof Grüner Veltliner Hochterrassen: "perfect summer drinking. Very crisp, it carries hints of lime and citrus along with a beautiful minerality and the characteristic green apple and white pepper flavors of this indigenous grape." About $10

Was just watching Korean tv and saw this piece on how fat Korean kids are getting. It was like I was watching the Austin parts of Supersize Me except in Korean! There's so much junk food and the kids aren't exercising as much. The piece ended with the announcer saying how one should eat lots of fruits and vegetables and of course, exercise. The funny thing is, Korean stars are so skinny, just like the stars here. A starving North Korean sees fat kids for the first time

Thanks for the excellent blog. I know a friend who could use some help with his Atkins diet. Yours looks great.

An article in the Chicago Daily Herald Suburban Living section claims that the author lost weight, felt better eating McDonald's every day. Disses French cuisine. Shill or honest truth? You be the judge. Could be a shill, but then at the end of 13 days, he gets his bloodwork results back and despite having lost 3 pounds (1 lb fat) he found out that If he's a shill, he's not doing his McJob.

Oh man, do I remember Belisle's. I never did find out why they closed. Do you know? I kind of wonder if their huge portions did them in. I remember the first thing you got was that big steaming loaf of cornbread. And then you ordered! I vaguely remember getting a vat of salad once. Honestly I don't remember ever getting dessert, because I was too full from the entrees. That was a first class operation. --back on topic, what do you think of everpresent-on-food-forums places like Pie & Burger, or Apple Pan (banana cream pie with topping)? I need to go to House of Pies sometime, so I can see where all the writers hang out. I tend to make my pies, not buy them, so I only have eaten a slice of the banana cream at Apple Pan and that was a while ago. If I say so myself, I make a really good key lime tart on graham cracker crust, but I use persian limes. --spelling edits

What I like about Harbour Village is that you can get validation for 4 hours of parking on weekends. So you can hit the Ferry Market and have some dim sum all at once. It's not my favorite and on the expensive side, but hey, for 4 hours free parking on a Sat morning, I'll take it occasionally. I like Yank Sing (Rincon location) if I'm taking relatively wealthy non-Asians, because they seem to really like it. But at about $4-5 an order, it's no wonder that people spending about $50 a person, including tea, tax and tip. On Oakland: I really miss Oakland's Lantern!

Damnit, I'm getting fat because of discussions like this! Why can't we start talking about kale or broccoli? I need to eat more of that stuff. I like my homemade apple pie the best. Each pie has about 8 apples. The best blueberry pie I ever ate was at Savoury Pie Co, on Granville Market in Vancouver. Crust was as good as homemade, flaky and delicate. Blueberry filling was just a ton of blueberries, delicately spiced with i think cinnamon. Their apple pie was not as good as mine though. Not enough apples. Good crust though. When i want quick pie-like fix, I go to Chik fil-A for their lemon meringue, which is mild and easy to eat. i always see signs at The Farmer's Market that say du-par's is so great for pie, but since they're always so empty, I am kind of scared to go in. you people are dangerous.