Taste testing @tedosborne’s 2007 and 2010 Olabisi Chardonnays. Which one will go better with our turkey? #lafoodie #winesnob #olabisi (at TN)
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Cadet
Cadet is the new Santa Monica locale that is about to be your new home for food and drink. I sat at the bar last night with the amazing Nyugen Tran of Starry Kitchen and we ate until we couldn’t eat anymore. I ordered the Classic Effervescent that included a sugar cube - it was bitter at the front and sweet in the end. Delicious. I could have had those all night but I had to mix it up. Next was the French Negroni - completely solid. I loved the huge ice cubes and the bartenders were incredibly lovely.
Can you tell I loved the place? The food was mesmerizing. Kris Tominaga’s food kept the evening going. From Rabbit Meatballs to Oxtail & Onion Soup…..amazing. Every entree comes with these crepe-like pancakes with about 10 different flavors to put inside including one of my faves - creme fraiche. Heaven! Ember roasted black bass along with bone marrow was our main and then we topped it off with an Apple Crumble. There is so much more I want to try on that menu.
Oh and I forgot to mention - there’s a glass enclosed fire where you can watch Kris and his staff cook away. It’s beautiful and you will go home feeling incredibly warm and cozy inside.
Frank Bruni is sooo good and soooo right! There is nothing better than being welcomed at your favorite “spot”. And nothing better than bringing the people you love there too. This is Eat+Drink’s entire goal - to show you the places we love.
Frank Bruni, Former Restaurant Critic, on the Joys of Repeat Visits
What a cad I used to be, constantly ditching the bistro that had opened only four months ago for the week-old trattoria with an even dewier complexion, callously trading in the yellowtail sashimi that had been so good to me for a hot tamale of unproven charms.
Then, a few years back, the restaurant Barbuto and I settled down.
It’s bliss. She knows my heart, knows my drill: a gin martini to begin, a seasonal salad for my appetizer, the roasted chicken after.
And I know her. If the weather’s nice, a breeze will blow in from the West Village streets that her retractable walls open onto. The kale that she serves me will be sparingly dressed. And the breast meat? As plump and tender as it was the last time around and the dozen times before that.
We don’t have fireworks, not this late in the game. But we have a rhythm. Sometimes that’s better.
What I’m saying is that I’m a regular there, as I am at the Breslin, whose lamb burger is as true to me as I am to it; at Empellón Taqueria, where I never stray from the fish tempura tacos, which never let me down; at Szechuan Gourmet, where I don’t glance at a menu. I don’t have to.
I’m no monogamist, that’s clear. More of a polygamist, but I dote on my sister wives. I’ve come to see that the broccolini isn’t always greener on the other side of Houston Street, and I’m here to sing what’s too seldom sung: the joys of familiarity. The pleasures of intimacy. The virtues of staying put.
What you have with a restaurant that you visit once or twice is a transaction. What you have with a restaurant that you visit over and over is a relationship.
The fashionable script for today’s food maven doesn’t encourage that sort of bonding, especially not in a city with New York’s ambition and inexhaustible variety. Here you’re supposed to dash to the new Andrew Carmellini brasserie before anybody else gets there; be the first to taste ABC Cocina’s guacamole; advertise an opinion about the Massaman curry at Uncle Boons while others are still puzzling over the fugitive apostrophe. Snap a photo. Tweet it. Then move on. There’s always something else. Always virgin ground.
For years, I was dedicated to exploring it, by dint of my duty as The Times’s restaurant critic. I was a paid philanderer. It was exhilarating. It was exhausting.
I’m sure every pizza joint on this list is amazing but I do think it’s a little lame that the only good pizza in LA is supposedly Mozza. It’s good pizza but we all know the attitude isn’t worth going back after attempt 3 or 4. I’ve even learned how to MAKE pizza there but don’t need to go back. Although I will say that I was incredibly impressed with CHI SPACCA last week (review coming soon). Stella Barra is amazing and so are a number of other joints around town!
The 38 Essential Pizzas Across the Country
The appeal of the pizza seems to know no bounds. While New York, Chicago, and San Francisco are all packing a number of absurdly great pizzerias, an excellent pie can be had just about anywhere in the country. And in just about any style: thin-crust, New York, deep dish, Detroit, bar, New Haven, Chicago, grilled, California, tomato pies, and Neapolitan among them. This last style seems to have taken particular root over the last decade with pizza-makers across the country importing ovens from Naples and churning out margherita pies topped with San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella di bufala.
The question, of course, is which of these restaurants qualify as absolute must-stop pizzerias for the novice as well as the pizza snob. Earlier this year, Eater unveiled the Eater National Burger 38 in the grand tradition of the lists local sites have been putting out for years. And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to present the Eater National Pizza 38, the 38 essential pizzerias (and restaurant pizzas) across the country.
Fascinating….
Georgia Olive Farms Oil, A Must-Have in Sean Brock’s Pantry
This Georgia state olive oil is distinctly Southern
Sean Brock takes the idea of local very seriously. He gets his truffles from Tennessee and sources his cured country hams from Kentucky. Now, for his Husk restaurants in Charleston and Nashville, the chef doesn’t have to look very far for olive oil, either.
Georgia Olive Farms released their incredibly smooth, clean-tasting oil ($32 for 500 ml) in 2011.
Brock likes what’s being pressed from Peach State olives.
“We treat it like gold,” the chef says. “The flavor of this oil is very fruity and has little to no spice, which makes it much more versatile.”
Georgia’s actually no newcomer to homegrown oil.
“Spanish settlers were growing olives on the coast as late as the 1860s,” says Georgia Olive Farms owner Jason Shaw. “We don’t know why it stopped.”
Apparently everyone starts a restaurant in September because this is the third LA spot to through an anniversary dinner/party this week. If you haven’t made it to Lucques yet, go. You must. I beg you.
This is their Sunday Supper this week:
sunday supper
september 15, 2013
cherry tomatoes, olives and burrata
***
pan-roasted market fish with rösti potato pancake,
green onion, romesco and fried egg
or
braised beef cheeks with cornbread pudding,
mustard greens and marinated piquillo peppers
***
crème fraîche cake with figs,
pine nuts and fig ice cream
45 dollars per person
call 323.655.6277 or reserve online now
A few seats just opened up and it’s only a week away…just sayin’.
Don’t miss another Eat+Drink Supper Club event!
Only 4 seats available for September 21st with
Chef Josef Morphis from Mastro’s!
Only 4 seats available for September 21st with
Chef Josef Morphis from Mastro’s!
The Eat+Drink Supper Club
A Curated Dining Experience with Chef Josef Morphis
Chef Josef Morphis is the Executive Sous Chef at Mastro’s and his menu is not for the faint of heart. Josef’s career started at Le Bistro at the Sonoma Hotel and from there to John Ash and Co., The Culinary Institute of America, Travina and Napa Valley Grille with the last two years at Mastro’s Steakhouse in Beverly Hills. Josef grew up in Sonoma County and has always had a strong passion for great food. Living and working in the heart of the wine country really focused his expertise in “Wine Country Cuisine”. Josef feels there’s nothing better than creating a well-balanced meal using the finest local ingredients. His focus on balance is key to planning his menus.
Saturday, September 21st
7:00p Cocktails & 8:00p Dinner: $100
I’m realizing that 28 is just not the number of people you want at these events so I have 40 seats available for this September 21st dinner. (Am I officially giving in to this group?) $100 per person includes EVERYTHING (all beverages are complimentary), all you have to do is bring your hungry, thirsty self. 
Saturday, October 5th
Chef Judy Adler’s Spanish Dinner
7:00p Cocktails & 8:00p Dinner: $100
Chef Judy Adler’s Spanish Dinner
7:00p Cocktails & 8:00p Dinner: $100
Chef Judy Adler has been a personal chef for over a decade, working in some of the finest homes in the country. Her Spanish infused menu is to die for. Do not miss this event!
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Oh you missed a NIGHT on August 10th with Chef David Feau’s amazing French dinner. Everyone looked delish in all white!
If you haven’t yet been to Blackberry Farm in Tennessee, you must find a reason to go soon. And here’s that reason. Run, don’t walk.
Mark your calendar to join us for our 10th annual Taste of the South event on January 9-12, 2014, benefiting the Fellowship of Southern Farmers, Artisans and Chefs and the Southern Foodways Alliance!
Get ready to make your reservation for Taste of the South on September 17, as we open up the phone lines for the first time for this exclusive, sellout event!
Don’t miss this weekend as we celebrate the Southern table with dinners, cooking demonstrations, tastings and teachings from the likes of Chefs Michelle Bernstein, Rodney Scott, Rob Newtown and featuring Vintner Andy Peay, mixologist Alba Huerta and special guest speaker Francis Lam!
Reservations open on September 17th at 9am. Call 800-557-8864 to book your stay before the event sells out!
This is a smidge old but oh-so-cool!
Mystery Tipper Gives Servers Enormous Tips in Utah
Although big tips pop up from time to time, it is very rare to find a serial big tipper. But that’s exactly what the town of Ogden, Utah has on its hands: someone is going around town, racking up bar tabs, and tipping thousands on them. First, the mysterious tipper left a $5,000 tip on a $214.75 bar tab at Brewski’s. Notes the Standard-Examiner, “Proprietors of Brewski’s have declined comment on the tipping incident there; word on the street is that the windfall may have caused hard feelings among some members of the bar’s staff.”
[hulu id=07vztwb6nkztxnt3si8kza width=500]
Watch Yelp’s CEO Defend Yelpers on Charlie Rose
Here’s a video of Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman’s interview on Charlie Roselast week. Stoppelman and Rose discuss the origins of Yelp, the importance of adapting to mobile technology, and Stoppelman’s decision not to sell to Google. Stoppelman also defends the reliability of the reviews and reviewers on Yelp, gives his thoughts on whats wrong with Google and Groupon, and much more:
· On the acccuracy and fairness of Yelp reviews: “I find it accurate. If you go and you find a 4.5 star business in New York that has 70+ reviews, you’re pretty much guaranteed to have a good experience … Having quantity of reviews is part of it. Having quality of reviews is part of it, a rating attached to an in depth review. Knowing about the reviewer themselves, their identity is part of it.”
· On protecting against fake reviews: “We try to protect against all of the bad stuff with a review filter. What that’s doing is gathering all sorts of signals on how people are using and contributing on the site and deciding which are reviews are the ones consumers should probably rely on and which are the ones we’re not so sure about. And we set aside the ones we’re not so sure about. North of 20% of our content isn’t actually on the main business page, it’s in a separate section called ‘Filtered Reviews.’”
(Source: http://www.hulu.com/)
Some of these look like so much fun to stop and eat while shopping!!
Best In-Store Restaurants
Many of the world’s greatest shops now have the perfect accessory: a fantastic restaurant that rivals the cutting-edge fashions and terrific home design items found within.—Chadner Navarro
Oh my…these look soooo good!!!
Chocolate-Peanut Butter Moon Pies
Best Dessert: Rebekah Turshen models her moon pies on the classic Southern cookies, but also on Goo-Goo Clusters, a peanut candy. She spreads crispy sugar cookies with chocolate and peanut butter, then sandwiches them around a marshmallow filling.
I swear summer isn’t over and I’m going to keep the grilling going far into the fall!
Welcome to the Post-Marinade Era of Grilling
Forget about marinades, at least on the grill.
That may sound like backyard apostasy, since common knowledge holds that grilling and marinating go together like … well, fill in your favorite eternal twosome here. You can’t open a cookbook or look at a restaurant menu without seeing them paired.
It may be due at least partly to the fact that a “tequila marinated grilled flank steak” sounds more enticing that just a plain old steak. But there’s also a well-rehearsed rationale for the partnership.
Marinating, it’s said, not only adds flavor and moisture that will stay with the food through the rigors of the grilling process, but also tenderizes whatever you’re about to put over the coals.
OMG…completely hysterical. What in the world is going on with chefs with their hands/arms in fish?!?!?!?
Are Chefs With Dead Fish the New Chefs With Dead Pigs?
On the cover of this month’s issue of UK-based Observer Food Monthly, Brazilian chef Alex Atala (of D.O.M. in Sao Paulo, ranked #6 in the world) can be seen with his hands inside a fish. In the cover story, writer Allan Jenkins spends six days with Atala on the Amazon river, where they eat indigenous foods and discuss the state of Brazilian cuisine. The story also includes a photo of Atala with a dead fish draped over his shoulders. It seems like Atala and Observer Food Monthly aren’t the only ones who think chefs with dead fish make for strong cover art.
The cover of NYC chef Paul Liebrandt’s upcoming book To the Bone shows the chef with an arm inside a fish. Clarkson Potter editor-at-large Francis Lam notes over Twitter that arms in fish is “the look of the season.” In the grand history of chefs posing with food, this new fish pose — Eater is calling this the “Fish Glove“ — seems inspired by previous trends of chefs wearing food. Past iterations include the “I’m Wearing Food” pose and the “Hold-A-Pig” pose. Which chefs will be photographed with their hands inside fishes next? Only time will tell whether the Fish Glove is the new Hold-A-Pig.
OMG - coffee is going to kill me!!! :)
Maybe Coffee Will Kill Us After All
A new study offers further proof that coffee research is schizophrenic.
Your memory will get better. It will kill you. You won’t commit suicide. It will kill you. You might not get Alzheimer’s. It will kill you. You might not get a stroke. It will kill you.
Tracking scientific research on coffee consumption is to subject oneself to peaks and dips more dramatic than any caffeine rush and crash. Apparently, the medical profession can’t decide if coffee is going to save or ruin us all.
The latest research is decidedly in the later camp: Drinking more than four cups a day puts you at 56 percent greater risk of death “from all causes,” is how The Guardian sums up the new study published by the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Summer isn’t over yet! Check out these picnic ideas from Dean & Deluca - one of my faves!!
//videos.tastemade.com/e2/5xfyJgL8QtOSu8LNuciYGA
EatWriteLA did a little video at yesterday’s AMAZING Backyard BBQ at Freddy Smalls. If you look closely, me, Tere and our kids are in the first few shots!!
(Source: http://videos.tastemade.com/)
I think the food world is somewhat fascinated with this movie…are you?
Jon Favreau’s Chef Film Is Shooting in Miami
The Favreaumobile is on the move: Actor/director/writer Jon Favreau is in Miami along with his fictional El Jefe Cubanos food truck to shoot his upcoming Chef movie, Eater Miami reports. An Eater tipster sent in the above photo, showing the truck in town. Ever Vine-happy, Favreau posted a video revealing that he was also filming at Versailles restaurant in Miami’s Little Havana and at the Fontainbleau hotel. According to Jaie Laplante of the Miami Film Festival, the “production is also making stops in New Orleans and Austin before they wrap.” (If you spot them in town, you know what to do.) READ MORE