Jenn Garbee

A Cookbook Gift Pairing: The 2012 Fermented Holiday Edition

Remember the pre-Amazon years, when sitting cross-legged in a bookstore and sifting through cookbooks for hours was one of the most thoughtful gestures of friendship? Now that it's always Black Friday at Amazon, everyone presumes you bought that cookbook for 40% off with a single click. In an era w ... More >>

Santa Barbara Pistachio Co.: Pistachio Flour Fire Sale A New Nut Butter

Yet another buy local bonus: bumper crop discounts occasionally extend to secondary products like Santa Barbara Pistachio Company's pistachio flour. "It's crazy price!" says David Bomer, the company's enthusiastic Ojai sales manager, handing over a bright green $6 bag of cold-pressed pistachio meal. ... More >>

Centri Coffee: A New Roast-To-Order Coffee Purveyor

Even with a dizzying number of farmers markets on our home turf, Dillon Miskiewicz epitomizes why produce and pantry road trips are so gratifying. His Centri Coffee stand is tucked near the end of a winding maze of produce and sundries at the Sunday Ojai Farmers Market. There, you will find bags of ... More >>

Governor Brown Signs California Homemade Food Act Into Effect

Breaking homemade brownie news: Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Homemade Food Act (AB 1616) into effect today. If you've been following the bill, backed by local Assemblyman Mike Gatto, it allows the "limited" sale of "non-potentially hazardous foods." According to a statement from the ... More >>

Cookbooks Panel at LitFest Pasadena

Cookbooks have long faced competition from magazines and newspapers. But now, it's the Internet Age. Print publications are putting their recipes online, and websites such as Epicurious and Food help you find instructions for virtually any dish with just a few clicks. Meanwhile, blogs are offering t ... More >>

Top 4 Weekend Food Events: Chile Dinner, Beer Tasting, Beer Festival Taste of the Eastside

Spicy Chile Dinner A chile-infused five course menu prepared by Monique King, winner of Food Network's Chef Hunter, includes caramelized Brussels sprouts, arctic char, pork tenderloin, lamb pibil, and tamales, plus three tequilas. WHAT: Spicy Chile Dinner WHEN: 7 p.m., May 4 WHERE: Border Grill dow ... More >>

Fun Food Things You Can Make On MakerBot's New 3-D Printer (Sporks! 8-Handled Cups!)

If you own a 3-D printer (lucky you), you are probably already halfway to a drawer full of printable forks and spoons. If like us, you had no idea you could buy a 3-D printer for less than the price of dinner for four at The French Laundry, well, let the hamburger patty press printing fun begin. M ... More >>

Trees Of Antiquity: Where To Buy Your Heirloom Apple, Apricot, Peach Sure, "Flavor Grenade" Seedlings

flickr user thomitheosAn Apple-Filled Backyard​Most farmers market discoveries tend to involve a new way cook those black trumpet mushrooms or choose a Crenshaw melon. But some days, you just get lucky. Or perhaps it was our discussion with a few farmers about spaders (a device that tills the ... More >>

Best Wine Book Of The Year: The Food Lover's Guide To Wine

Not because Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg co-authored it, though that would be reason enough. But because their latest book is good. Very good. And it's organized like their books Culinary Artistry and What to Drink with What You Eat -- classics for every thoughtful cookbook shelf. Like those ... More >>

Summer Kegs: A Tap Line Straight To Your Fridge

Jenn GarbeeEggs, Milk, Keg​Much of the year, the word keg almost smells like light beer-soaked frat house furniture. Yet during the summer, a keg is all sun, sand and beach volleyball. Neat trick. But unless you happen to own a private beach, it's best to leave that keg at home, as it's illega ... More >>

Blenheim Apricots And Jam: You Can Have It All -- Legally

Jenn GarbeeImperfect Exterior, Divine Taste​There are apricots and then there are Blenheim apricots. They have a royal pedigree (or at least a palace). They inspire local businesses. They hobnob among the likes of Michael Pollan, Christopher Kimball, and yes, The Weekly's own Jonathan Gold. Th ... More >>

Best Beer Tasting Room: Eagle Rock Brewery

Sure, those San Diego beer tasting trips are fun, and you have the pick of more than two dozen brewery tasting haunts, many of which these days have abandoned their more humble basement homebrew roots for swanky wine-like tasting rooms. At the 6-month-old Eagle Rock Brewery, the experience is, to pu ... More >>

Mutt Mingle: It's All Going to the Dogs, Even Dining Out

Jenn GarbeeCanine Cocktail Hour​You get to go out on Friday night, why not your dog? We don't mean for another walk around the block -- that is so 2009 -- but a Mutt Mingle. This Friday night at Pussy & Pooch, you can take your dog to a 3-hour social gathering to sample the free treats, or pon ... More >>

Playboy Jazz Festival: Jazz Jello Shots

Jenn GarbeeRed Igloos Are So Last Year​ Jazz and jello shots. Where exactly does that leave you? At the Playboy Jazz Festival, trying to figure out how to assemble that tuna salad sandwich, bread or fish first. Good thing it's tasty both ways. If you've never been to the annual Hollywood B ... More >>

Sweet Rose Creamery Opening Preview: What You Get From That $65K Ice Cream Maker

Jenn GarbeeSweet Rose's Chocolate Ice Cream Pie ​ It's almost summer. Pinkberry stores are closing at an alarming rate. We need ice cream reinforcements. Now. (Wednesday would work fine, too). Enter Sweet Rose Creamery. On Friday, Squid Ink swiped a few sneak preview tastes from the much-an ... More >>

The Joy of Spring Almonds An Easy Green Almond Recipe

You'll occasionally score green almonds, those spring almonds that look like fuzzy uncured olives with a soft nut that you pop out to snack on, at the farmer's market this time of year. But rarely do farmers appear with the even younger version, those with merely a jelly-like idea of an almond so yo ... More >>

An Easter Beer Hunt: Get Your Redemption, Supplication and Judgement Day

Suggesting wines to pair with that ham we know you are brining right this minute for Easter brunch can be a real bear pig, in part because there are so many varieties -- sugar glazed or savory, dry or wet cured, and prepared in a seemingly infinite variety of ways. Fortunately, fat salt = the ... More >>

Chef Family Recipes: Make Your Own Easter Ham! The La Cachette Recipe

As Easter is less than a week away, Squid Ink feels compelled to forewarn you: Embark on ham-speak with Jean Francois Meteigner, executive chef-owner of La Cachette Bistro in Santa Monica, with caution. The French chef will tell you what a good ham is, and what it is not. And don't even think about ... More >>

Don't Look, Just Eat: The Grocery Store Edition

Tuesday seems like a fine day to release a new miniseries, so Squid Ink is offering up the first in its limited run "Don't Look, Just Eat (or Drink)" series. This dramedy's main characters are those edibles that taste so much better than they look (yes, heaping bowl of stewed tripe, we're talking ab ... More >>

Get The Chef A Drink: What 10 LA Chefs Pour When They Need a Stiff One

Two waiters didn't show up for their shift, the rookie line cook spilled vinegar on the $500 truffle, and Kogi just had to park a few feet from the valet stand. How do chefs cope when Saturday night's dinner service turns into a Kitchen Nightmares episode? Sometimes they pour themselves a stiff drin ... More >>

Chef Family Recipes: What Josiah Citrin Does On His Night Off Diane Citrin's Posole Recipe

We may try and try again to make nut brittle on a humid day, but we avid home cooks take for granted what professional chefs can cherish only one night a week, at best: sharing those less-than-perfect dinner experiments with family and friends. But chef Josiah Citrin and his wife Diane, owners of ... More >>

Pinot Days: Wine And Cheese, Of Course, But Irish Butter?

Jenn GarbeeNew Cheese Recruit: High School Senior Ben Moore​Sunday's Pinot Days festival in the Santa Monica Airport Hanger was teeming with local sommeliers comparing their sniff-and-swirl technique while Sideways fans crowded the Hitching Post table. That left plenty of room for the rest of ... More >>

Dinner at the Best Chef's Table In Town: What Would 20 of L.A.'s Top Chefs Dream Up?

Imagine gathering twenty of LA's top chefs -- in one cramped restaurant kitchen -- to cook up a 50-person thank you dinner for a beloved longtime customer. No egos allowed. On the chefs' night off. Free of charge. Oh, and each chef must agree on the menu. Not going to happen? It did. The secret, ... More >>

Utopias: Is This $150 Beer Worth the Cash? LA Beer Gurus Taste And Tell A Westy 12 In The House!

If you sprang for a bottle of Utopias, the coveted 27% alcohol Sam Adams cognac-like, non-carbonated beer, when it was released in November, count yourself lucky. The 2009 release is already going for nearly twice that amount on EBay. Still wondering whether a $150 $300 bottle of beer is really wort ... More >>

Restaurant Depot: Where Professional Bakers Score 50-Pound Sacks of Flour Jumbo Cheez-Its

Should your New Year's resolutions include finally opening up the tiny French pastry shop of your dreams (yes please), we wanted to give you a sneak peak of what your daily life will likely entail. Yes, you'll be crawling out of bed at ungodly hours, paying way too much in city and state licensing f ... More >>

Soft Pretzels From The Amish Cook's Baking Book: A Recipe

In yesterday's post, The Best Baking and Pastry Books of 2009, we promised the recipe for soft pretzels from Lovina Eicher's terrific baking book, The Amish Cook's Baking Book, which we named Best of 2009 for All-Purpose Bakers. As we noted in the roundup, the pretzels are easier than most, taking 3 ... More >>

Name That Pastry Chef: The Thanksgiving Edition

In honor of next week's pie, tart and butterhorn roll binge, this week's Name That Pastry Chef is a stellar baker. She's the kind of person whose eyes light up at the sheer mention of King Arthur (the flour company, not the Medieval knight) and actually looks forward to rolling out of bed at 4 a.m. ... More >>

Chef Family Recipes: Warren Schwartz's Mom On The Westside Tavern Chef Her Coconut Cake Recipe

Your mom's spaghetti recipe is the best, right? Well, maybe second to your own pasta alla bolognese. But what about chefs? Do they really dig their mom's meatloaf and apple pie? We thought we would ask around to find out. Enter a new series, Chef Family Recipes. Honest answers required. Up first, W ... More >>

Party Tricks From Pastry Chef Jen Shen of Wilshire Her Sweet Potato Donut Recipe

Apparently, donuts really are seasonal. At least at Wilshire restaurant, where pastry chef Jen Shen fries up several variations throughout the year. "I'm definitely more fruit-driven," she says, prying a rather ornery lemon-mascarpone cream tart from its ring mold (an impressive feat involving a bl ... More >>

Name That Pastry Chef: Name This Lemon Tart

This week's Name That Pastry Chef went to pastry school at the CIA Greystone in Napa Valley and earned her chops (or custard?) at Redd before returning home to Los Angeles to work for Spago pastry chef Sherry Yard. She's been making deconstructed apple galettes and frying up seasonal donuts -- if t ... More >>

Tavern Pastry Chef Breanne Varela Her Chocolate Ghost Cupcake Recipe

Tavern pastry chef Breanne Varela spent four years at Lucques and AOC -- three of them as the head pastry chef -- with only a deck oven and stove top within reach of her small corner workstation. Now, a deck oven is perfect for making those glorious rustic fruit tarts she's known for, not so great f ... More >>

Name That Pastry Chef: The Halloween Edition

In honor of taffy pullers and cotton candy twirlers everywhere, we're posting a special Halloween edition of Name That Pastry Chef. Guess promptly -- only six more days until these confections disappear. We'll start with the necessary edible costume supplies, followed by more clues after the jump. ... More >>

Name That Pastry Chef: Jashmine Corpuz of Drago Centro Her Amaretti Cookie Recipe

Folks, we have a resident cyber pastry-guru in our midst. H.C. guessed correctly again. This week's Name That Pastry Chef is Jashmine Corpuz of Drago Centro. Not to worry, you all get the grand prize - Corpuz's amaretti cookie recipe. "I've always been passionate about pastry... when I was a kid I ... More >>

Name that Pastry Chef 4: Whose Marsala Sauce is This?

Since it took you all of two minutes to guess last week's edition of Name That Pastry Chef (that shot of the bar behind Amy Brown's work station was a little too obvious, huh?), you're only getting a few prepped ingredients this week. Plus a few of the best bar snacks in town. But don't fret -- it s ... More >>

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Having Tomato Issues? Anne Willan Has a Soup Recipe To Perk Them Right Up

Jenn GarbeeTo Sauce or Soup?​Until last week, you could have gotten away with blaming the cool weather, rather than your potager skills, for your lifeless Beefsteaks and Green Zebras. This week, there's the heat wave to hold accountable for par-baking whatever produce manages to make it to the ... More >>

Even The Son of Juipter Gets Hungry: Bacchus Wine Shop's Chef

Drop into Bacchus Wine in Manhattan Beach on a Friday afternoon and you might find Sarah Tilton behind the front counter answering the phone, helping a customer find a prime rib-worthy cabernet, or setting out glasses for the daily flight tastings. She's also the tiny Manhattan Beach wine shop's exe ... More >>

Long Before Taco Truck Hipsters, there was Martin Angino at Ercolé's

Jenn GarbeeMartin Angino​Whenever Martin Angino spies a regular customer across the street, he slides back the mesh screen beside his grill and shoves his body halfway through the window, arms flailing as he fires off an enthusiastic hello. Angino is a fixture on Manhattan Beach Boulevard. H ... More >>

Wazuzu Chef Jet Tila Craves a Vegas Version of Thai Town

Jenn GarbeePlenty of Donuts in Vegas for Tila​The sprawling 27-foot-long Swarovski crystal dragon writhing across the dining room wall at Wazuzu, the pan-Asian restaurant in Steve Wynn's recently opened Encore Las Vegas hotel, appears rather famished. Jet Tila, the restaurant's 33-year-old exe ... More >>

Oysters in Your Stout? You Can Toss Back a Few at the Tasting Kitchen

What excites beer geeks is somewhat different from the typical sommelier obsession. Take Christina Perozzi, the consultant to fancy-pants beer joints such as Laurel Tavern and Essex Hollywood. Oysters - the clam shell variety, not the Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Grigios that typically go with them - ... More >>

Take a Tip from Simmzy's: Fill Those Brewery Tour Glasses with Chocolate Pudding

Part of the charm of Simmzy's, the latest addition to the gastropub genre, is the number of tap beers the new Manhattan Beach pub squeezes into such a tiny space. Including the 50% share allotted to the kitchen, the entire place is less than 1,200 square feet. Try inviting four dozen friends over to ... More >>

The Key to Perfect Sauerkraut: Gigantic Cabbage

Jenn GarbeeNBA regulation cabbage If you're on a summer produce pickling binge, listen up. When you sort through the cabbage bin, steer clear of the lightweights - unless you're into kraut that is a bit on the scrawny side. A tightly wound, linebacker-size dicotyledon is what you want, says Gre ... More >>

Rest Stop Monster Truck Jam: Taco Trucks vs. Brat Big Rigs

Long before art nouveau taco trucks hit the 405, 18-wheelers have been lugging 65-foot, sausage-slicked gas grills across the country. Since 1995, Johnsonville Sausage Company has sent their nearly 27-ton Big Taste Grill trucks to food festivals, sporting events and fundraisers nationwide (one truck ... More >>

Brooke Shields digs Polyethylene: All Tupperware Parties are not Created Equal

Judging by the soiree Brooke Shields hosted at her friend's Malibu home Wednesday evening, celebrities have a slightly different vision of Tupperware parties than most of us. Jenn GarbeeOceanside Tupperware Party The last Tupperware party I attended was hosted by my German neighbor (her balcony is ... More >>

Pizza 2 Go, Literally: Riva to Ditch Pizza for Small Plates Menu

The line at Mozza is about to get longer. On July 22, the wood-burning pizza oven at 8-month-old More >>