James Beard

Jacques Pépin Gives a Cooking Demo: A Comedy Routine, With Knives

Recently Jacques Pépin, the acclaimed French chef, veteran of PBS cooking shows, friend of Julia, author of many brilliant cookbooks, Dean of of Special Programs at the French Culinary Institute in New York City and general culinary living legend, took the stage at Cal State Northridge's Valley Per ... More >>

Q & A With Micah Wexler: Dead Chefs, a New Residency at Umamicatessen Plans for a New Restaurant

Hot off his 10-week, sold-out residency at Umamicatessen, chef Micah Wexler is already planning a new series of dinners. The dinners consist of a weekly, themed meal at a central kiosk at Umamicatessen that's been transformed into a chef's table for up to 12 guests. The residency that just ended was ... More >>

Hurrah for the James Beard Book, Broadcast and Journalism Awards Winners!

The James Beard Book Broadcast and Journalism awards were held this past Saturday night, and a whole new crop of book authors, TV and radio folks and food journalists were honored with what is still considered the food world's greatest honor -- a James Beard medal. You can see the full list of win ... More >>

The 2013 James Beard Chef Awards: Los Angeles Gets The Shaft

The James Beard Chef Awards have just wrapped up in New York City, and Los Angeles took home zero awards. It's hard to resist feeling kinda whiny when looking at the list of winners and considering that New York City got 7 awards and accounted for 50% of all the non-region-specific awards (as well ... More >>

Checking In: Dinner at Cliff's Edge in Silver Lake

Patio season is upon us, and one of L.A.'s most beloved and loveliest patios is the one belonging to Cliff's Edge, a space that's more like a magical tree house hideaway than a traditional restaurant patio. A lot has been going on at Cliff's Edge in the last six months or so, so I decided to swing b ... More >>

5 Food Trends We're Thankful For: An Antidote To Whiny Food Writer Syndrome

We food writers are a cranky bunch. Given today's blog cycle and demand for daily conversation, any small nuance of the dining world is fodder for essay-length dissection, usually of the negative variety. We don't like small plates. We don't like communal dining. We think wine prices are rising. We' ... More >>

Jeremy Fox's Old Soul Debuts Tomorrow Night A Sneak Peek at the Menu

Jeremy Fox's newest project, an unexpected but welcomed pop-up at Square One Dining entitled Old Soul, kicks off its four-day-a-week run tomorrow night. Helena Brown and Helen Springut, who facilitated Old Soul as part of their "culinary incubator" program this is not a pop-up, hope to run the dinne ... More >>

Ruth Bourdain's Comfort Me With Offal: From Twitter to Your Local Bookstore

If you've spent the last two years laughing over the comic genius of Ruth Bourdain, you'll need no reminder that her eagerly (to some) awaited book has just come out from Andrews McMeel Publishing. If you are not among the initiated, here's a thumbnail sketch: In March of 2010, a hilarious Twitter f ... More >>

R.I.P. Marion Cunningham

California cooking icon Marion Cunningham died yesterday at the age of 90 from complications due to Alzheimer's. Famed updater of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, celebrated author, cooking teacher, and television host, Cunningham profoundly influenced the cooking habits of Americans. That is to say, ... More >>

LudoBites, The Cookbook: Pre-Order Now A Recipe For Ludo's Foie Gras Miso Soup

For all of you who constantly check Los Angeles chef Ludo Lefebvre's Twitter feed and LudoBites website for updates on his latest pop-up, who surf the Sundance Channel and drive by Gram & Papa's to check for rooster paraphernalia, who DM the chef and his wife offers of babysitting, soon you can thum ... More >>

Food News Roundup: Food Stamps at Farmers Markets, Disneyland's Club 33 Eater L.A.'s Pizza Week

The Philadelphia Inquirer: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that a $4 million grant will help supply the technology for farmers markets to accept food stamps. (The Electronic Benefit Transfer card has largely replaced paper coupons.) Eater L.A.: Chinese pizzas, most expensive pizzas ... More >>

James Beard 2012 Award Winners

The James Beard awards are the food equivalent of the Oscars: prestigious golden whatsits, fancy dress event, silly acceptance speeches, requisite grouching about the whole thing being rigged. Oh, yes, and lots of highly talented people getting much-deserved recognition. This year's awards ceremony ... More >>

L.A. Weekly Food: New Hires and Big (Exciting!) Changes

Let's start by stating the obvious: There have been big changes to the L.A. Weekly's food section recently. And there are even more on the way. After our longtime critic Jonathan Gold departed for the L.A. Times, we've been nibbling on this and that: a reflection on cookbooks from Roy Choi, a piece ... More >>

2012 IACP Award Winners Announced

The IACP, which would be the International Association of Culinary Professionals and not the International Association of Chiefs of Police -- yes, that's an old joke now, but you try googling IACP and see what you get -- announced their 2012 award winners at their annual conference last night in Ne ... More >>

UMAMIcatessen: Now Open Photo Gallery

Up until Saturday, Broadway Street in downtown L.A. was a great place to be if you were in search of a bedazzled quinceañera dress, a solid gold watch, an art deco architecture tour, or a decent torta. But it terms of modern dining, Historic Broadway wasn't quite the hot bed of hipsterdom that the ... More >>

A New (Year) Of Wine Books: Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest... For Bargain Wines

Aspirin, caffeine, blowfish. What really cures a 2012 hangover (Happy, happy by the way)? We're going with cheap -- but good -- wine. Sure, 'tis this time of year for New Year's resolution cliches. But as wine journalist Natalie MacLean is well aware, the key is finding those bargain wines that ac ... More >>

Q & A with Hatfield's Peter Birmingham on Finding the Sweet in Sweet Wine

K. RobbinsPeter Birmingham with a bottle of MacVin du Jura​ Dessert wines, the awkward, misunderstood stepsister of their cooler, vastly more popular, dryer brethren, are often overlooked by restaurateurs and sommeliers, who balk at trying to push bottles that in the year 2000 made up less tha ... More >>

Indie Rock Food Blogs: The Steve Albini Interview

mariobatalivoiceSkirt Steak with Jasmine Rice and Apple-Wine Chutney, Albini-style.​ Back in March, when we wrote about the Monsters of Folk crème brûlée blog, we said that famous recording engineer, musician, wicked amateur poker player, and gourmand Steve Albini should have a food blog ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Samples New York's Best Eateries During Beard Weekend

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Goes to New York City

Anne Fishbein​ This week's Counter Intelligence goes bi-coastal, as our critic travels to New York City -- there for the James Beard awards, of which he picked up a few more to stash in his overstuffed Altadena closet -- to check out the dinner scene. Man, or some of them, cannot live in San G ... More >>

Top 10 Most Interesting Things We Learned on a Top Chef Masters Conference Call with Curtis Stone, Ruth Reichl and James Oseland

Photo courtesy of Bravo.Host Curtis Stone, and Judges Ruth Reichl and James Oseland​We spent the better part of Tuesday morning on a Top Chef Masters conference call, in which myriad media reps listened on mute while Season 3 host Curtis Stone and judges Ruth Reichl and James Oseland chatted a ... More >>

Behind The James Beard Awards: A Cookbook Judge's Journey

J. GarbeeWeighing In With Salty Opinions​The Husband: Your James Beard books arrived, several boxes. One weighed 50 pounds. James Beard Reviewer: Ha, you're funny. TH: I'm not kidding. I had to help Jerry [our UPS guy] carry them up the stairs. JBR: Seriously? Shit. Those text messages su ... More >>

Reader Comment of the Day: Awards, Meatloaf Nuclear Fusion

Instead of nodding your head in agreement, yelling obscenities -- or throwing your lunch at your computer screen, which is problematic at best -- the Reader Comment option on this and other blogs is a very useful way to weigh in on the conversation. This reader comment, from H. H. Silver, was in ans ... More >>

James Beard House Brings Its "Friends of James Beard" Benefit To SoCal

James Beard Foundation​ If you missed the James Beard Celebrity Chef Tour stop in L.A. last summer, not to worry; the culinary powerhouse is headed back to Southern California, this time bringing with it a weekend full of cooking demonstrations, extravagant meals and even a few Food Network s ... More >>

James Beard Foundation: The L.A. Celebrity Chef Tour

James Beard Foundation​ Chances are very few of us will ever get the opportunity to dine at the The James Beard House. Forget the fact that it's three thousand miles away in New York's Greenwich Village; even if it was in your backyard the fact is that James Beard events are typically reserve ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 5/3-5/7

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Romance and Mount Washington don't necessarily go together. I mean, they do, but not in restaurants, unless you want to re-enact the Lady and the Tramp spaghetti scene at Casa Bianca, which you don't."

10 Leg of Lamb Recipes I Briefly Considered Making Yesterday

Flickr/One from RM​ 1. Julia Child's gigot a la moutarde. Bea Arthur's favorite, sure. But powdered ginger and pounded dried rosemary? Even on Easter, this one requires a leap of faith. 2. Chorizo-stuffed leg of lamb from Suzanne Goin's Sunday Suppers at Lucques. The Mexican-Moroccan-Prove ... More >>

2010 James Beard Finalists Announed: Suzanne Goin, Matt Molina, Michael Cimarusti, Jonathan Gold, Patric Kuh Nominated

James Beard​Twitter is at it again. The 2010 James Beard Award Finalists were announced this morning via the foundation's Twitter account. L.A's Suzanne Goin, of Lucques, AOC Wine Bar, Hungry Cat and Tavern was nominated for Outstanding Chef, while Matt Molina of Mozza and Michael Cimarusti of ... More >>

James Beard Semifinalists Announced: The L.A. Edition

James Beard​This morning the James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalists for its 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards. Judges will vote to determine the final 5 nominees in each category, which will be announced on March 22nd. The winners will be announced at the Foundation's award party, ... More >>

The Best Baking and Pastry Books of 2009

This wasn't the greatest year for "keeper" cookbooks. Are you really going to whip up fussy 6-hour chicken wings on Monday game nights and weekend beef stew that takes so long to make you could drive to the French Laundry and back before it's ready? Well, maybe. It turns out 2009 was a stellar yea ... More >>

Holiday Cookie Recipes: Brown Butter Date-Walnut Rolls from Amelia Saltsman via Marion Cunningham

Random HouseMarion Cunningham ​To help you find the just the right cookie for your holiday baking spree, we're calling up chefs around town for their favorites. Over the next few weeks you'll find recipes for buttery sugar and chewy molasses cookies -- even vegan snickerdoodles, if you must (w ... More >>

The James Beard Foundation's Invitational: Food and Cocktails Duke It Out

From 6:30 p.m. until the lights rose at 2:00 a.m. this past Monday (well, Tuesday), Squid Ink put in a full work day at The James Beard Foundation's L.A. Chef Invitational at The Foundry. As enjoyable as the evening was, good food and classic cocktails are difficult to mix. Eric Greenspan noted th ... More >>

James Beard Foundation LA Chef Invitational At The Foundry: Eat, Drink, Repeat

A fairly high percentage of L.A.'s finer dining restaurants are closed on Mondays. Next Monday that's probably a good thing, as not a few of them will be at The Foundry on Melrose. Eric Greenspan, chef-owner of The Foundry, will be hosting The James Beard Foundation L.A. Chef Invitational, a 5-cours ... More >>

Sugar Shortage, Yes. Crisis? Not So Much.

On August 7th, some of the country's largest food processors, including Mars, Hershey's, General Mills and Kraft, sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stating that the country was on the verge of a massive sugar shortage and that, without raising the quotas on the amount of tariff-free ... More >>

The eGullet Society Food Site: Forums (The World's Best Cookbooks), Discussions & Cookbook Recipe Testing

eGulleteGullet Society ​If you're surfing the web in the next few days, you might want to check in with the food website eGullet, which is doing a forum on the world's best cookbooks. Why? Because lists are inherently fun reading, and also because eGullet numbers among its members many of the ... More >>

Los Angeles Public Library Cookery Ephemera Collection

Los Angeles Public LibraryWonder Sandwich Suggestions​Food is as much about history as it is about taste, and digging into that history offers often mouth-watering illumination about who we are and where we came from. Angelenos are fortunate to have a renowned culinary treasure available to th ... More >>

Ludo Lefebvre's Chocolate Cupcake Recipe: Foie Gras Chantilly Optional

"I'm thinking about creating the world's most expensive cupcake," says Ludovic Lefebvre as he drowns nuggets of fattened goose livers in heavy whipping cream for a foie gras chantilly.

Best Shrimp Louie: Grill on the Alley

Station Identification

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Letters

Letters

America Childless

Julia Child, 1912–2004

Wines on Target

Salty Prose: Judy Rodgers and the Art of the Cookbook

The Zuni Cafe Cookbook

My Favorite Things, Part 3