Foods

Jonathan Gold Reviews Mozza's Whole Hog Dinners

Katherine Tidy's Very Yellow Lemon Meringue Pie: A Recipe

Toast​In our conversation with Katherine Tidy, the food stylist on BBC Film's coming-of-age food comedy Toast, we spoke of a lemon meringue pie that presented Tidy with one of her biggest challenges on the shoot. "It was pivotal," says Tidy, "so I did lots of samples of it and took pictures of ... More >>

Settebello: Neapolitan Pizza, Nutella Pizza Italian Condoms!

F. FriesemaJonagold apples​What's the Italian equivalent of barbecue? Neapolitan pizza, I'm betting. Because proper Neapolitan pizza, fashioned from Caputo tipo 00 flour imported from Naples, crushed tomatoes from San Marzano and cheese from the finest buffalos, is a man's game through and thr ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Settebello

F. FriesemaJonagold apples​What's the Italian equivalent of barbecue? Neapolitan pizza, I'm betting. Because proper Neapolitan pizza, fashioned from Caputo tipo 00 flour imported from Naples, crushed tomatoes from San Marzano and cheese from the finest buffalos, is a man's game through and thr ... More >>

MexiKosher: Can Kosher Carnitas Be Any Good?

Guzzle & NoshMexikosher: ceviche (left), beef & duck carnitas tacos (top right), chicken wings (bottom right).​ MexiKosher: The name alone inspires skepticism. Open since July along the booming Kosher Corridor, the casual Mexican eatery with the cutesy portmanteau delivers what it promises: t ... More >>

Pork Wine Pairing: Black Pig's Heritage Bacon Is Good, But Have You Tried The Pinot?

biteclubeats.comStewart and Estes After Their Big Cochon Win​Heritage bacon. Could life get better? It can, particularly if chefs John Stewart and Duskie Estes -- and a really great back story -- are involved. The couple is best known as the chef-proprietors behind Sonoma County's Zazu Restaur ... More >>

Gourmet Product Awards Winners Announced

Courtesy of Malibu Pies.​Chipotle chile peanut butter, blueberry licorice and coconut hibiscus tea were among the winners at the first Gourmet Product Awards. The competition honors the best new gourmet products in 43 finely divided categories including condiments, confections, dairy, oils, ba ... More >>

Top 5 Halloween Treats for the Kid-At-Heart

​No matter how you slice it, Halloween brings out the sweet tooth in all of us. Sure, you can raid your kid's bag for something sweet, or grab that family-size bag of Kit Kats at Target (you feel the pull, whether you're giving out candy or not), plenty of local restaurants, bakeries and confe ... More >>

Something's Fishy on Your Fish Plate

Guzzle & NoshSea bass at a fish market.​Maybe the latest crime show spinoff ought to be CSI: Seafood. More than one-fifth of the nearly 200 pieces of seafood bought at retail stores and restaurants in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut weren't what they claimed to be, according to an investi ... More >>

The Kosher Corridor

A restaurant renaissance in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood

Top 5 Places to Eat in the Kosher Corridor

Guzzle & Nosh​Pico Boulevard has its share of intriguing restaurants, and the "Kosher Corridor," from Beverly Drive on the west to La Cienega on the east, is no exception. Although this neighborhood has long been home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish populations in the city, for years, ko ... More >>

What's In Season at the Farmers Markets: Large California Chanterelles

Felicia FriesemaCantharellus californicus from Tutti Frutti Farms​Our early season rainstorms have yielded two predictable outcomes: angsty tweets from farmers market vendors trying desperately to keep self, customers and produce dry, and a splendid sprouting of mud puppies, a.k.a. California ... More >>

Godmother at Bay Cities Deli: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 4)

Guzzle & NoshThe Godmother sub at Bay Cities Deli.​Bay Cities Deli makes two dozen sandwiches -- a sub with fluffy meatballs, a chicken parm, a Poor Boy with bologna, cotto salami and Swiss cheese -- but the one for which they're most famous, and justifiably so, is The Godmother.

Hollywood Pies's Classic Chicago Pizza

T. NguyenClassic Chicago Pizza at Hollywood PIes​Chicago-style pizzeria Hollywood Pies may be Keyser Söze's doppelganger: the greatest trick it has ever pulled, at least so far, is convincing the world that it exists. It has no physical storefront, so the only ways to get a piece of the Holl ... More >>

Kobb Salad Sandwich at Kokomo: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 7)

Guzzle & NoshThe Kobb Salad sandwich at Kokomo Cafe.​At this stage of human advancement, it seems like we should have transcended the third slice of bread, the carby interloper that gives the club sandwich its identity and its needless heft. Any element that stands between our mouth and bacon ... More >>

Raw Milk Products Recalled Recall Upheld After Children Sickened in California

Flickr/grongarOrganic Pastures raw milk has been quarantined in California.​ The California Department of Food and Agriculture has upheld its recall of raw milk products, even though the dairy demanded the quarantine be lifted, saying tests show its milk is pathogen-free, according to the Asso ... More >>

Garlic Knots Food Fight: Pizzanista! vs. Joe's Pizza

T. NguyenGarlic knots at Pizzanista!​Most fast foods have their natural sidekicks: burgers have their fries. Fried chicken has its mashed potatoes. But pizza? Pizza usually flies solo, content with committing crimes against calories all by its lonesome. Every once in a while, though, it is ... More >>

The Hat vs. Johnnie's Pastrami: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 11)

Like the burger, pastrami cuts across a number of class lines and within its genus contains a multitude of high and lowbrow options. Different kinds of pastrami for different kinds of people. Johnnie's Pastrami and The Hat are both, in their own way, Southern California fast food essentials, one ... More >>

Buche de Noël Meringue Mushroom Tips From A Master Pastry Chef A Recipe

jgarbeeThe Perfect Mushroom​As we can imagine few things more miserable than stepping foot in any retail store on the busiest shopping day of the year, we will be spending the day after Thanksgiving drafting our holiday baking plan of action. Baking Friday, if you will. Up this year: Buche de ... More >>

Ron Swanson of Parks & Rec vs. Nick Offerman: The Food Interview

The Ron Swanson food pyramid.​Like the character he plays on Parks & Recreation, Nick Offerman is a man with a magnificent mustache. Something of a libertarian, most certainly a contrarian and definitely not a vegetarian, Ron Swanson is the gruff but goofy patriarch who viewers have come to id ... More >>

Langer's vs. Oinkster: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 12)

Guzzle & NoshThe #19 pastrami sandwich at Langer's.​If yesterday's 30 Days post, pitting Johnnie's Pastrami against The Hat, was the battle of the lowbrow fast-food joints, today it's all about highbrow pastrami. Want to look like a dyed-in-the-wool Angeleno? Next time you visit Langer's, sit ... More >>

Vegan Reuben at Locali: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 13)

Guzzle & NoshThe vegan Reuben sandwich at Locali.​The stuff in the vegan Reuben at Locali is about as close to pastrami as Rick Santorum is to winning the Republican presidential nomination, but, unlike the former Pennsylvania senator, that doesn't mean it can't be a force for good. Locali b ... More >>

The Larder at Maple Drive: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 14)

Guzzle & NoshThe Larder at Maple Drive: End of Summer Sandwich​The joke about the End of Summer sandwich at The Larder at Maple Drive is that in temperate Los Angeles, this sandwich could probably be served nine months out of the year. Here, in the land where summer extends from early July to ... More >>

PB&J at Joan's on Third: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 15)

Guzzle & NoshPBJ at Joan's on Third​Just like mom used to make -- if mom were a gourmet cook who baked fresh bread every morning and made jam from wild local strawberries she had foraged herself. "Mom," in this case, is Joan's on Third, the gourmet café popular with celebrities, local novelis ... More >>

Fresh Bites: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 16)

Guzzle & NoshTuna & artichoke sandwich.​ With its menu of healthyish café fare, its pale wood tables, its mellow but earnest vibe, Fresh Bites could easily be a California cliché. Fortunately, it isn't. The sandwiches are light and crisp, but they're flavorful and boast small, original touch ... More >>

Angeli Caffe: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 18)

Guzzle & NoshPanino Rustico at Angeli Caffe​If they were sprinkled with nothing but olive oil, arugula and black pepper, the sandwiches at Angeli Caffe would still be worth devouring. The key is the bread. A Frisbee-sized discus of warm, chewy dough rife with pockets of air, it begs to be torn ... More >>

Cookbook Of The Week: Desserts by Michel Roux A Chocolate-Almond Rochers Recipe

amazon​Normally, baking books by top restaurant pastry chefs, at least the Michelin-star type, are big. And glossy. As with the previous cookbooks from French pastry chef and former London restaurateur Michel Roux (his son now runs La Gavroche restaurant), you needed those gorgeous super-sized ... More >>

Wako Donkasu: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 19)

Guzzle & NoshThe tonkatsu sandwich at Wako.​Like a supermodel in a burlap sack, some sandwiches, no matter how sloppily presented or haphazardly photographed, sell themselves. Others don't strut into the room. The tonkatsu sandwich at Wako Donkasu isn't ostentatious. It may even look like "the ... More >>

Banh Mi at Spice Table: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 20)

Guzzle & NoshThe classic banh mi at Spice Table​What the hell is a bánh mì these days? The sandwich, derived from the Vietnamese term for bread, was once a cheap, quick, portable fix. Now, every upscale sandwich shop worth its weight in double-smoked bacon and housemade aioli is throwing col ... More >>

Gjelina Take Away: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 21)

Guzzle & NoshThe classic banh mi at Spice Table​What the hell is a bánh mì these days? The sandwich, derived from the Vietnamese term for bread, was once a cheap, quick, portable fix. Now, every upscale sandwich shop worth its weight in double-smoked bacon and housemade aioli is throwing col ... More >>

King Torta: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 22)

Guzzle & NoshAl pastor at King Torta.​If you only eat one al pastor torta in Los Angeles, make it from King Torta. This sandwich shop on the border of Lincoln Heights and El Sereno doesn't win any points for presentation, either in their decor or their sandwich. From the outside, the beige stu ... More >>

Angel City Eats: Where Joe Friday Kim Kardashian Meet Over Donuts This Weekend

jgarbeeA Gumdrop Sculpture In Progress​Beginning this weekend at Gallery KM, Joe Friday ("Dragnet") gets to spend the next six weeks with Kim Kardashian. We're sure that Mr. Friday is thrilled. At least there will be plenty of yin-yang marshmallows and food-inspired sculptures on hand. The e ... More >>

Cook's Torta's: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 23)

Guzzle & NoshTorta Cubana at Cook's Tortas.​Monterey Park may seem an unlikely locale for a top-notch torta shop, but Cook's Tortas, with its diverse and clever roster of sandwiches, has made itself a home amid the dim sum houses and dumpling shops of the San Gabriel Valley. Located in what wa ... More >>

Brent's Deli: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 24)

Guzzle & NoshThe black pastrami reuben at Brent's Deli in Northridge.​Buried somewhere near the back of the encyclopedic menu at Brent's Deli is a page dedicated to their "Lite Menu." Good one. No one comes to Brent's for cottage cheese on iceberg lettuce. Brent's anchors a mid-size, 1970s-sty ... More >>

Eggslut Truck: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 25)

Guzzle & NoshBacon & egg sandwich from Eggslut.​Ah, the breakfast sandwich. A marriage of two disparate meals in a single dish: the sunny disposition of eggs cradled between two slices of bread. As much as it may be galling to admit, every breakfast sandwich from the hoitiest toitiest brioche ... More >>

Daily Dose: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 26)

Guzzle & NoshThe Farmer sandwich at Daily Dose.​One of the truly great pleasures of a small cafe or restaurant is being in the presence of people who love what they do. Pop into Daily Dose and you'll likely find co-owner Sarkis Vartanian working the counter. Ask him about the daily sandwich sp ... More >>

The Kettle: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 27)

Guzzle & NoshThe pot roast dip sandwich at The Kettle.​The Kettle is the sort of upscale neighborhood coffee shop where you might on a typical weekday night find a cross-section of Manhattan Beach society all under the same roof: a longtime couple on date night, a multi-generational family str ... More >>

Jacques Torres Hot Chocolate Pop-Up

Guzzle & NoshJacques Torres at The Chelsea Market in NYC.​On a recent trip to New York, we popped into the Chelsea Market where we were blown away by the hot chocolate at Jacques Torres. Superlatives like "rich" and "decadent" don't begin to do it justice. In addition to milk and the highest o ... More >>

Proof Bakery: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 28)

Guzzle & NoshAssorted sandwiches from Proof Bakery.​Some sandwiches are mighty and meaty, the jocks of the sandwich world. Others are complex, subtly layered and sloppy -- the rockers. At Proof Bakery, they are dainty and petite, like fey literature-obsessed kids. They suit the restrained but ... More >>

Pastrami at Mezze: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 29)

Guzzle & NoshThe pastrami sandwich, served only on Sundays at Mezze.​Los Angeles has a new contender in the pastrami sweepstakes. Something of a dark horse or at least an unknown, it runs a close second to Langer's, the city's undisputed pastrami king. From where does it come? From Mezze, "the ... More >>

Artisan House: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 30)

Guzzle & NoshThe spicy chicken sandwich at Artisan House.​Everything about Artisan House is beautiful. The stone columns. The arched windows. The Art Deco-inspired font on the cover of the corkboard menu. The elegant, dizzying phalanx of liquor bottles separating the showpiece bar from cases o ... More >>

Baco Mercat: 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days (Day 31) BONUS!

Guzzle & NoshBaco Mercat: The Toron.​30 Sandwiches in 30 Days is, technically, over. We, however, can't quit. Not when there are sandwiches as spectacular as the ones at Baco Mercat. Of all the new, upscale, non-deli sandwiches we've tried over the past month-and-a-half, Josef Centeno's bäcos ... More >>

10 Best Bakeries in Los Angeles

A. ScattergoodBread At Milo & Olive​San Francisco sourdough? You may have noticed beneath that smoky (wood-burning oven?) haze, L.A. has a new whole grain baguette, flaky croissant (even at LAX) and yes, crusty sourdough advantage. Here are our picks for the 10 Best Bakeries in L.A.. It's the ... More >>

A Recipe For Chocolate Bark: Quick Gifts for Chocolate Lovers

Jeanne Kelleychocolate bark​Need a gift in a hurry? Why not make bark? Chocolate bark is a wonder of a confection -- it's quick to make, it looks cool and is adaptable to every taste -- at least of course for those who's tastes include chocolate. The candy can be made in about 30 minutes flat ... More >>

30 Sandwiches in 30 Days: The Map

30 Sandwiches in 30 Days: the map​Be it burgers, ice cream or sandwiches, no 30 Days series would be complete without a map. Here's the handy Google map for 30 Sandwiches in 30 Days. A few highlights: The Farmer at Daily Dose, open-faced turkey at Pann's, pastrami at Mezze, porcetto at Sotto ... More >>

What's In Season at the Farmers Markets: Witchita Pecans Farmers Market Fairy

Felicia FriesemaWichita pecans from K&K Ranch at the Hollywood market​The Witchita pecan, developed in Texas back in the 1940s for more arid climate production, is one of a handful of pecan varieties that actually do well in California (it usually like a moister climate). K&K Ranch grows the W ... More >>

Bouillabaisse: Meant for the Poor, Now for the Rich

Anne Fishbeinthe invisible restaurant critic​Dear Mr. Gold: It's that time of year, cold and dark early, which means there is nothing more inviting than that wave of heat and spice when you enter a great Italian trattoria. I'm hunting for the best bouillabaisse in town, in a joint that is as u ... More >>

What's In Season at the Farmers Markets: California-Grown Truffles, No Violence Required

Felicia FriesemaCalifornia white truffles from Clearwater Farms​Somewhere in a back alley outside of Paris, $30,000 worth of black European truffles are exchanging hands. Asking the seller about the truffles' origins could send them packing to another less inquisitive buyer, so the buyer poni ... More >>

Golden Deli: A New Restaurant, in the Style of Chipotle

F. FriesemaJonagold apples​Golden Deli has been the default Vietnamese noodleshop in the San Gabriel Valley for a couple of generations now, a cramped, eternally crowded storefront where the pho, and especially the fried springrolls called cha gio, have always been worth the discomfort -- and ... More >>

4 Japanese Valentine's Day Chocolates for Guys

photo credit: Janne in OsakaJurassic Chocolat​Valentine's gifting is especially tricky for women. You want your gift to tell him how you feel, without telling him how you feel. (Not because you're cryptic or unsure of how you really feel, but because he's not a heart-shaped box kind of guy and ... More >>