Foods

Hot Commodities: 6 Dried Chiles to Try at the Spice Station

Perhaps you aren't familiar with urfa biber, a Turkish chili redolent of chocolate and raisins that works spicy wonders in a homemade batch of brownies or the morning's coffee brew. Or maybe you didn't know that it's possible to buy dried and ground jalapeño that isn't smoked (unlike the ubiquitou ... More >>

WSJ Reports Anti-Quinoa Backlash Border Grill Recipe for Quinoa Fritters

There are a lot of quinoa haters out there. At least that's what The Wall Street Journal would have us believe. The front page of the Sept. 14-15 weekend print edition carried the headline: "Foodies' Ingrained Loyalty to Quinoa Sprouts a Backlash." While we liked the headline writer's clever play o ... More >>

A Fantastic Cuban Sandwich at Moore's Delicatessen in Burbank

Hidden in Plain Sight is a new series in which we take a new look at an established restaurant. In our lust for newness and our obsession with "bests," the fantastic unsung places that make up the bulk of our city's dining sometimes get overlooked. Here we aim to acknowledge, examine and (often) cel ... More >>

Water Grill Review: New Santa Monica Outpost of the DTLA Classic Does Many Things Well

5 Great Cheese Shops That Go Above And Beyond The Call of Dairy

According to the USDA, the average American eats about 30 pounds of cheese a year. The French have us beat -- closer to 45 pounds per person, per year -- but then again, they've got fromageries on every corner and will often eat cheese after the meal, when Americans are grabbing an ice cream cone. ... More >>

Diddy Riese Cookies: Cheap L.A. Treats for 30 Years

Let's play a game. What can you buy for 35 cents in Los Angeles? Not the L.A. Times, not a first-class stamp -- maybe a gumball in one of those machines outside of Ralphs? Your options are pretty limited on this piddly budget, unless you head over to Diddy Riese, a hot cookie spot in Westwood tha ... More >>

Ice Cream Social Nights at Bittersweet Treats in Pasadena

Danielle Keene has always had a fondness for retro. Back when she ran the dessert kitchen at Wilshire, she instituted Ice Cream Shoppe night. She often favors a '50s-era aesthetic at her Pasadena bakery and ice cream shop Bittersweet Treats, putting bundt pans on the walls and Whoopie pies in the ca ... More >>

10 Best Take-Out Restaurants in Los Angeles

For as great as this city's restaurant scene is, sometimes all you want to do is lay around at home and shovel food into your mouth from a styrofoam container. Forget the industrial lighting, and to hell with communal seating. Give us a threadbare sofa, a box of fried chicken and something good to ... More >>

Now Open: Fat Sal's Deli in Hollywood

Only at a place called Fat Sal's, which has been open in Hollywood for about a month, would it be a reasonable expectation to order a sandwich that has an entire other meal stuffed inside it. That sandwich, known as the Fat Jerry, offers a full plate of bacon and eggs inside a whole cheesesteak hoag ... More >>

Cronuts (Croughnuts, Actually) at Kettle Glazed Doughuts in Hollywood

It's been about three months since the cronut entered our culinary lexicon, introduced by Dominique Ansel at his bakery in Manhattan, and the fervor hasn't seemed to dampen. In Los Angeles, there are sightings from DK's Donuts in Santa Monica to Frances Bakery in Little Tokyo, coming in various name ... More >>

Are Pastry Chefs an Endangered Species?

10 Legendary Los Angeles Desserts, Then and Now

Check out our annual restaurant issue, which this year celebrates desserts, out this Thursday, August 8. A great dish can define a chef or a restaurant, can install itself in the collective consciousness or trigger happy memories (see: Proust, madeleines) in a way that transcends the meal itself. C ... More >>

August is National Sandwich Month! 31 Sandwiches in Los Angeles To Celebrate

The sandwich: named for John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, because he liked to eat his meat between bread so he could continue playing cribbage. But the sandwich actually dates back much further, to 110 BCE or so, when Jewish sage Hillel the Elder wrapped lamb and herbs in soft matzah. Today in Ame ... More >>

5 Great L.A. Restaurants for House-Made Charcuterie

Leading up to this year's Best of L.A. issue (due out Oct. 3), we'll be bringing you periodic lists of some of the best things we've found to eat and drink around town. Ice cream sandwiches and bowls of tsukemen, fish tacos and dan dan mian, cups of boba and glasses of booze. Read on. The charcuter ... More >>

Horse Thief BBQ in Grand Central Market Now Open: 15-Hour Brisket New Mac And Cheese

Slow-cooked beef brisket is king at Horse Thief BBQ, which officially opened to the Downtown crowd at Grand Central Market last Tuesday, July 9. It's been the biggest seller, says co-owner Russell Malixi -- so much so that they've already had to adjust how much they prepare in advance to meet demand ... More >>

Pork Belly's Sandwich Shop in Venice Now Open

Pork Belly's Sandwich Shop soft-opened just before lunch yesterday, July 15, on Abbot Kinney, less than a half-dozen steps away from Kreation Kreation Kafe & Juicery. The shop is more of a stop with a long counter and no seating, although there's a tall wooden table placed outside near the curb as a ... More >>

Meatless Mondays: Josiah Citrin's Recipe for Tomato Soup with Braised Cannellini Beans and a Poached Egg

Chef Josiah Citrin may be best known for his two Michelin-starred French restaurant Melisse in Santa Monica. At home, his two teenage kids are more familiar with his Monday dinners, which for about eight months was meatless every week from last October until about June. It started as a way for son A ... More >>

True Burger Opens in Old Umami Space, Bringing Similar But Different Vibe

If you've been driving around the intersection of La Brea and Wilshire, squinting to find the original 985-square foot home of Umami Burger, you can rest your eyes: It's gone. In its place is True Burger, which took over the space earlier this year and quietly began grilling burgers a little over a ... More >>

Fishing With Dynamite Review: New Manhattan Beach Hotspot's Food Is Hit or Miss

4 Great Ceviche Dishes Happy National Ceviche Day!

We couldn't have planned National Ceviche Day, or Día Nacional del Cebiche in Peru, to fall on a better day this year. A dish cool in varying degrees, ceviche is best enjoyed when it's uncomfortably hot outside -- which it is now, if you haven't noticed yet. Found throughout Central and South Ameri ... More >>

Opening This Summer: Umami Burger in the Arts District

The neighborhood where Traction meets Third will become even more of a foodist attraction come this summer when Umami Burger opens just steps away from Wurstkuche, the Pie Hole and Angel City Brewery. The new Arts District spot marks the 15th Southern California post in Adam Fleischman's ever-growin ... More >>

Opening Soon: Top Round Roast Beef in Mid-Wilshire

We're well-served by tacos, burgers, and ramen in L.A. But when it comes to a classic roast beef sandwich, our main source is probably Arby's. Which says a lot. This could all change come Monday, June 17, when Top Round Roast Beef opens at the corner of La Brea and Olympic. The roast beef featured ... More >>

What's in Season at the Farmers Market: GMO Blues First Summer Corn

When you Google Monsanto, the website link has both the company's name and its slogan -- A Sustainable Agriculture Company. It's a website that works very hard from the first click to reframe the conversation around the most controversial issue in worldwide agriculture. Perhaps with good reason. ... More >>

What's In Season at the Farmers Market: Morels, Kind Of

Acclaimed American poet William Jay Smith has so far painted the most accurate picture of the morel mushroom, in a short excerpt from his 1969 nature poems series. "Not ringed but rare, not gilled but polyp-like, having sprung up overnight -- these mushrooms of the gods, resembling human organs upro ... More >>

5 Great Old School Burger Stands in Los Angeles

There's something special about the walk-up burger stand, that post-WWII staple of American eating that has slowly started to fade from view. There are still zillions of madre-and-padre burger operations around Los Angeles, pressing beef into ageless cast iron griddles, but many of them have opted f ... More >>

22 Mother's Day Food Drink Specials (Bottomless Mimosas! Cupcakes! Tiaras!!)

Mother's Day is this coming Sunday, and if you haven't gotten that one figured out yet, maybe it's time to start planning. Depending on your age and demographic, a crayoned card could work, or maybe your kid's card and a stiff drink. If you want something a bit more professional, turn the page for a ... More >>

Now Open: David LeFebvre's Fishing With Dynamite in Manhattan Beach

Seafood has been a large part of David LeFevre's life, beginning with childhood summers in Virginia to his repertoire as a chef at Charlie Trotter's in Chicago and Water Grill in downtown L.A. It was such that when he opened Manhattan Beach Post he noticed there was a very definite expectation for i ... More >>

6 Favorite Italian American Delis for Cold Cut Sandwiches

On May 28, the FDA will lift the USDA ban on imported Italian cured pork products. This means we'll finally get to enjoy artisanal salami from parts of Italy like Emilia-Romagna and Piedmonte. Although according to The New York Times, it remains to be seen how much will be made available to us, give ... More >>

Q & A With David Miscimarra: The Hollywood Pies Owner Talks Deep Pizza What to Expect at Their New Dine-in Location, Now Open

If you drive by the new Hollywood Pies dine-in location, which officially soft opened this past weekend in West Los Angeles, you just might miss it. Taking up a humble 26-seat residence that fittingly used to house former pizza dive Pizza Mania, the location now sports a modest square sign of their ... More >>

littlefork Review: If You're Craving New England in Los Angeles, Jason Travi's Restaurant Is the Place To Be

It's also a great place to get a drink in Hollywood

Banadir Somali Restaurant: More Fun With Goat in Inglewood

At first glance, Banadir Somali Restaurant looks more like Somalian community center than a restaurant. White bars cover the shaded and tinted windows. The main entrance leads to a long hallway with a kitchen off to the left. You have to look around a bit before noticing a door that leads to the din ... More >>

Happy National Pi Day: Talent Show, Pie-Eating Contest A Recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Still dreaming of those idyllic high school days of talent shows, math problems and after-school slices of pie? Yeah, we're not either, but this Thursday night at Machine Project, you can have your strawberry rhubarb pie and eat it too -- at the first-ever American Pi-dol talent show and pie-eating ... More >>

10 Best Crab Cakes in Los Angeles

Recipes for delicate cakes of minced and bound seafood are as old as, well, maritime cooking. The crab version we mostly eat today -- crab, mayonnaise, breadcrumbs, eggs, seasoning and some onion, gathered up and pan-fried or broiled -- is a colonial American recipe that hasn't changed much since it ... More >>

Elemental Superfood Seedbars: Gluten-free and Still Delicious

Three years ago, Nicole Anderson started making Elemental Superfood Seedbars out of necessity. The mother of a child with autism, Anderson noticed dramatic shifts in her daughter's behavior when she ate wheat, dairy and sugar, the cornerstone ingredients for almost all conventional snack foods. So A ... More >>

800 Degrees Opening in Santa Monica this Fall

A new 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria will set up its wood-burning oven in Santa Monica this fall, just a little over a year after the first one opened its doors in Westwood Village. Slated for a 5,000-square-feet space at 120 Wilshire Boulevard, the latest outpost will feature a take-out area and a ... More >>

10 Best Dishes in L.A. for Homesick New Yorkers

It's easy to start nodding off when people drag out the old "New York vs. Los Angeles" debate; it's a tired one, and largely a comparison of Big Apples to orange groves, anyway. But after Bon Appetit listed its 20 most important restaurants in America and New York outshone L.A. by a factor of six, i ... More >>

Horse Meat Found in IKEA Swedish Meatballs

Across the Atlantic, the horse meat scandal continues to rock Europe -- and now it appears that IKEA's Swedish Köttbullar meatballs are the latest ready-made product found to contain horse meat. The Czech State Veterinary Administration alerted the public to traces of horse DNA found in meatballs p ... More >>

Now Open: Big Al's Halal Pizzeria in Maywood

Some say that L.A. is having it's pizza moment. Big Al's Halal Pizzeria entered the pizza fray on Saturday, Feb. 2 with a grand opening block party. Although, you might ask,"What exactly is halal pizza?" The second question you may ask is "Why halal pizza and in Maywood of all places?"

Yoshinoya Beef Bowl: What Does It Really Taste Like?

Let me preface all of this by saying that I've never been to a Yoshinoya Beef Bowl, and I'm willing to bet that you haven't either. In fact, I don't know anyone who has dined at a Yoshinoya Beef Bowl, and my contacts folder reads like a who's-who of questionable eaters. Yet, inexplicably, those oran ... More >>

Trader Joe's Mexican Chocolate How to Make Mexican Hot Chocolate

Trader Joe's is known for traveling the globe to find a wide and ever-changing variety of foods. They recently went next door to bring back Organic Stone-Ground Mexican-Style Dark Chocolate, which has the shape, taste and paper packaging of traditional south-of-the-border chocolates. There are two ... More >>

5 California Winemakers On The Best "Ripe and Fleshy" Valentine's Chocolate Wine Pairings

Chocolate and wine. Could there be a more classic Valentine Day's pairing? There's one small problem: "The flavors of [dark] chocolate and wine aren't always that compatible," as a Food and Wine article summarized. Sure, there's that tannins on tannins thing, a double hit of bitter acidity in the c ... More >>

Where's the (Piedmontese) Beef? At Star King in Koreatown

Where would you show off an elite variety of beef? Not in some flashy high-end dining spot but in the most beef-centric part of Los Angeles -- Koreatown. There, it's hard to find a place that doesn't serve bulgogi and galbi, and the buzz words are grass-fed, Wagyu, Kobe and Black Angus. That is, un ... More >>

What's In Season at the Farmers Market: Winter Hedgehog Mushrooms

Damages from this past week's arctic push haven't been fully assessed yet, but you can be certain that tender greens like spinach and lettuces (already showing higher prices) and the ever-present artichoke harvests are first among the lost. One wild crop that does do well during the occasionally ... More >>

BierBeisl Brings Something Different to Beverly Hills

Austrian chef Bernhard Mairinger has brilliantly old-school technique

Langer's Pastrami Delivery: From L.A. to You

The pastrami sandwich at Langer's Delicatessen is legendary. So delicious that it made our "100 Favorite Dishes" list. So distinctive that Nora Ephron deemed it "the finest hot pastrami sandwich in the world." So beloved that Angelenos regularly queue up for a taste -- and out-of-towners bemoan thei ... More >>

Chefs Cook At Home, The Holiday Edition: Sotto's Zach Pollack A Recipe For Brisket

This week and next, we'll be featuring the holiday food traditions of L.A. chefs. Today, Sotto's Zach Pollack tells us about his relationship with brisket. "Growing up a reformed Jew in West Los Angeles, I developed a relationship with brisket around the same time that I developed a relationship wi ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: The Whole Menu

Over the past few months, you've watched us catalog our 100 Favorite Dishes. Catalog being a lovely term meaning eating our way across this town, well, even more than usual. And because we thought you might want a better way to access these, we've collected all one hundred into one piece, a menu if ... More >>

Storefront Brings the Old World to Los Feliz

Lately I've been thinking a lot about an online trailer for an upcoming documentary by Erik Anjou called Deli Man, which chronicles the culture of the American delicatessen through interviews with such L.A. authorities as Norm Langer, Jackie and Marc Canter and, of course, Larry King. (If you can sp ... More >>

Bake This Now: 3 Must-Have Holiday Cookie Recipes

Take a look at the calendar. It's time to do some major baking. Hanukkah beings Saturday; after next weekend, you'll be down to the Christmas shipping wire. And for those of us who simply use the season as a joyful excuse to eat more cookies, we'll be more than happy to take some of those Röckenwag ... More >>

6 Tasty Cold-Cut Subs Under $5 (Take That Subway!)

When I was growing up, there was a little mom-and-pop supermarket in my town called Rainbow Market (over Thanksgiving I learned it had been recently replaced by a Wal-Mart, so it goes). As the main grocery in a small suburban town, it was the hub of most food shopping, and before any dedicated sandw ... More >>