Email Author Elina Shatkin

2010 Stories by Elina Shatkin

• Top 10 Food Trends for 2011

  published Dec 30, 2010

  Now that we've examined the Top 10 Bad Food Trends of 2010, we're looking to the year ahead. As expected...bacon in everything. DIY molecular gastronomy. Gentrified hot dogs. The growing popularity o... More >>

• Events: Bock Fest Coming to LA on Jan. 15

  published Dec 30, 2010

  To the delight of local hop heads, Los Angeles is finally becoming a beer town. Maybe it always has been, but in typical Angeleno style: springing up haphazardly, secreted in obscure niches, resista... More >>

• Couple with a Sweet Tooth Marries Inside Dunkin' Donuts (Where Elser New Jersey)

  published Dec 30, 2010

  After 650-pound New Jersey resident Donna Simpson proudly ate a 30,000-calorie Christmas meal, we didn't think the Garden State could get any classier. We were wrong. Williamstown couple Cliff Ranson... More >>

• Country Ham vs. City Ham

  published Dec 30, 2010

  That the visionaries at Found Footage Festival discovered this "Mastering the Art of Carving" video in a Detroit thrift store isn't so strange. Scavenging and repurposing campy video treasures is the... More >>

• Pork Belly Futures to Go Belly Upr

  published Dec 29, 2010

  Could it be the end of bacon as we know itr Pork bellies, once the iconic commodity of the futures market, are now barely a blip on the trading radar. According to Consumer Affairs: In the 1950s, 60s... More >>

• Scientists Crack Genetic Code for World's Best Cacao

  published Dec 29, 2010

  An international team of scientists has sequenced the genome for criollo, a cacao variety that reportedly produces some of the best chocolate in the world. The results, published in the latest issue o... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Meat Nativity Scene: Celebrate Jesus with Sausage

  published Dec 28, 2010

  It took two 25-lb. turkeys, two maple-glazed hams, 15 lbs. of potatoes, 6 pints of gravy and plenty more food for Donna Simpson to consume a 30,000 calorie Christmas meal, but the New Jersey mom shoul... More >>

• Chef Alain Giraud at First & Hope on New Year's Eve

  published Dec 28, 2010

  Aside from an impressive two-night stint at Test Kitchen, chef Alain Giraud has kept a relatively low profile since shuttering Anisette in September. This week, Giraud will step behind the stoves fo... More >>

• JANM Rings In 2011 with Oshogatsu Festival

  published Dec 28, 2010

  Break out the mochi. JANM rings in 2011 in Japanese style with an Oshogatsu Family Festival on January 2nd from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Activities include origami-making, bunny-petting, a mochi-pounding de... More >>

• Bottega Louie Building on the Auction Block

  published Dec 28, 2010

  If you've got several million dollars to spare, you could be Bottega Louie's next landlord. Located at the corner of 7th St. and Grand Ave., the 80-unit Brockman Building houses the loudest restauran... More >>

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  New Jersey Woman Eats 30,000-Calorie Christmas Meal

  published Dec 28, 2010

  When Donna Simpson dreams, she dreams big. The 650-pound New Jersey mom aims to be the fattest woman in the world. And to be the best, you have to make sacrifices. After gaining more than 50 pounds th... More >>

• Thursday Edition: A Roundup of Newspaper Food Stories

  published Dec 23, 2010

  --Portland, OR: Restaurateur discovers 1809 Italian cookbook. --Anchorage: Local pigs' popularity leads to pork drought. --Duluth: Chocolate-covered sausage. --Las Vegas: Chefs offer suggestions on t... More >>

• Eat This Now: Chili Cheese Fries at District

  published Dec 22, 2010

  After long ago upgrading from fast food spuds that were defrosted and deep-fried to pre-soaked, twice-fried shoestring fries, it seemed French fry technology could advance no further. Or so we thought... More >>

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  Restaurant Recognizes & Outs LA Times Reviewer: Red Medicine Hates Virbila

  published Dec 22, 2010

  Restaurant reviewers like to believe they operate incognito. That's no easy task in the internet age, and it just got much more difficult for Los Angeles Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila (@sir... More >>

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  Food Safety Bill Passes in House; Heads to Obama for Signature

  published Dec 21, 2010

  After a year in legal limbo and what looked like certain defeat only weeks ago, the House this afternoon passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (a.k.a. S. 510), paving the way for the first overhaul... More >>

• National Food News Roundup: Kwanzaa Cake Creator Speaks Out, 20 Worst Foods In America

  published Dec 21, 2010

  --House expected to approve food safety bill today. FSN --Seventh-grader dies of food allergy at Chicago school. ChiTrib --The terrorists not only hate our freedom, they hate our salad bars. NTI --Inf... More >>

• Food Trucks Find a Home for First Fridays on Abbot Kinney

  published Dec 21, 2010

  The battle for the streets of Venice has moved -- to a parking lot. And as of today, it looks like an accord may have been reached. A few of the food trucks that had been banned from parking on Abbot ... More >>

• Jose Andres, Ferran Adria & Juan Mari Arzak Coming to LA

  published Dec 21, 2010

  [Update: We're told that the event is (unsurprisingly) full, but those who RSVP will be added to the waiting list.] Spanish chefs Jose Andres, Ferran Adria and Juan Mari Arzak will pop up in Los Ange... More >>

• Bite Bar Closes in Santa Monica

  published Dec 21, 2010

  Bite Bar in Santa Monica has closed, as of yesterday -- though chef Elizabeth Goel plans to revamp the concept and introduce "a new format" i.e. catering and special events. The small restaurant and... More >>

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  Eat This Now: Tacos de Guisado at Tacos Carmelita

  published Dec 20, 2010

  From humble taco tables to neighborhood trucks to brick-and-mortar joints, Los Angeles has no shortage of taquerias. Yes, that might be the understatement of the century. The rub is that while we're a... More >>

• Around the Blogs: Shu Feng Garden Closes, Daily Dose to Open, Best Burrito in Echo Park

  published Dec 20, 2010

  --Sinosoul tweets that the San Gabriel outpost of Sichuan restaurant Shu Feng Garden, a Jonathan Gold favorite, has closed. (Rowland Heights location still open.) --Yesterday was officially Burrito Da... More >>

• Chef Doubts Veracity of "Hell's Kitchen"

  published Dec 20, 2010

  Like chef Craig Thornton of Wolvesmouth fame, we often find ourselves gawping at the humiliation "Hell's Kitchen" contenders must endure. Unlike Thornton, we can tolerate it in more than 20-minute dos... More >>

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  The Best Part of Waking Up is Rob Zombie in Your Coffee Cup

  published Dec 20, 2010

  Darth Vader's branded coffee may not be organic and fair trade, but Rob Zombie's is. While the Sith Lord shills an African and Indonesian blend "hand roasted by Stormtroopers," the dark lord of metal ... More >>

• Megalobster & The Angry French Canadian: Food News from Around the Nation

  published Dec 20, 2010

  --Your official Christmas miracle: Senate passes food safety bill. Slate --Lada Gaga's meat dress, anti-energy drinks, dousing yourself in ginger ale, megalobster and human milk make NY Times' annua... More >>

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  Would You Pay $4 Million for the World's Most Expensive Stover

  published Dec 20, 2010

  Bloated with absurdly extravagant baubles, even the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog pales in comparison to the Iron Dog 05 Huraxdax. At $4 million, this gold-plated, wood-fired range is the world's ... More >>