John Rivera Sedlar

Petty Cash Taqueria: This Week's Restaurant Review

This week, our main review considers Petty Cash Taqueria. Read the full review over in the food section, or see below for a quick rundown. Backstory: Petty Cash is in the space formerly occupied by Playa, John Sedlar's Latin restaurant which closed in March. Restaurateur Bill Chait brought in chef ... More >>

The Mysteries of Mezcal at Petty Cash Taqueria

Mezcal has long been one of the bastard children of the cocktail world. While its brother tequila is now considered a versatile cocktail companion ("Tequila! It's not just for margaritas anymore!"), mezcal has languished. Long considered a poor man's beverage, mezcal suffered because the low-grade ... More >>

Black Ant No Spanish Fly, FDA Says

We know that male, uh, issues are a tough topic. And over the centuries, men have turned to some pretty bizarre remedies. But for those of you who have resorted to pricey capsules containing black ants, well you're going to have to stop that right now, because they are being recalled. Black ant is ... More >>

John Sedlar's Critically Acclaimed Playa May Be Closed, But With Rivera and His Museum Tamal, He's Still Cooking

The Tamale Curator: John Sedlar Keeps Cooking

Since John Sedlar closed Playa early last month, he has hardly been taking time off. He's been busy running Rivera, planting Playa's rooftop garden -- which will stay as the restaurant changes names and concepts and chefs -- and planning an upcoming trip to Paris. He's also been working on his long ... More >>

5 Essential Special Occasion Restaurants in Los Angeles

Our 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants issue came out last week, and we're highlighting a few categories drawing from the list. Today, we're focusing on special occasion restaurants. If you're like us, a special occasion is just as likely to happen at one of the list's taco stands as it is at one of thes ... More >>

L.A. Weekly's 99 Essential Restaurants 2013

Rivera: 99 Essential Restaurants 2013

Playa: 99 Essential Restaurants 2013

Los Angeles Chefs Get Behind Mayoral Candidate Eric Garcetti

It's common practice for politicians to call on their powerful friends to help raise money. Hollywood has long been involved in politics, and wealthy socialites and campaign fundraiser parties need one another to thrive and survive. But it's new for us to see prominent chefs in the city get involved ... More >>

Tech for Food Nerds: Chefs Feed 2.0 Launches Today

Chefs Feed, the app that launched a little less than a year ago, released version 2.0 today with a bunch of new cities and more social media interaction capabilities. Chefs Feed aims to do much the same thing as our Where the Chefs Eat posts aspire to -- that is, let the food professionals guide y ... More >>

Where the Chefs Eat: Rivera's John Sedlar

Where the Chefs Eat is an ongoing series in which we ask a local chef to give us his or her favorite dining options. This week, John Sedlar, chef and owner of Rivera and Playa, tells us his favorite spots in L.A. A few weeks back when we spoke to John Sedlar about his favorite cookbooks, he made it ... More >>

The Chef's Library: John Sedlar Go Fish, by Laurent Tourondel

The Chef's Library is a series in which we ask chefs around town to tell us about their favorite cookbooks. Today, we talk to John Sedlar, chef and owner of Rivera and Playa. John Sedlar is plotting a sea change (pardon the pun) for Playa. "I'm in the thick of changing my current Playa menus, intro ... More >>

Baja Chefs Coming to Playa This September

Baja cuisine is habanero hot right now, with food personalities like Anthony Bourdain (who said the region "feels like Tuscany") and Andrew Zimmern elevating the area's chefs to national prominence. If you've been stuck salivating stateside, unwilling or unable to make the jaunt south of the border, ... More >>

Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival: The Wine Part of the Equation

The second annual Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival concluded Sunday, a slickly produced, three-day debauch mostly held in and around the capacious digs of L.A. Live and its Marriott property -- though neither conference room nor rooftop exhibition tent could adequately contain the assemblage of whit ... More >>

Los Angeles Chefs Discuss Downtown L.A. at ALOUD

"We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares and go downtown ... everything's waiting for you!" When Petula Clark sang this line in 1964 -- albeit about New York -- who could have known she was she forecasting the future of downtown Los Angeles as a culinary destination? Numerous chefs have ... More >>

Vendors Announced for 2012 L.A. Street Food Fest

One of the year's biggest food festival has gotten even larger this year. The L.A. Street Food Fest, which takes place on July 21 inside the Rose Bowl, just announced that it has upped its vendor counts to a staggering 100 participants, far exceeding the count from last year. The cast includes man ... More >>

5 Picks for DineLA's Summer Restaurant Week

Next week kicks off DineLA's first ever summer-session Restaurant Week, which consists of discounted prix-fixe lunches and dinners at some of the city's most popular restaurants, available from July 16 to 27. For those who've never experienced Restaurant Week, over 300 restaurants from Santa Monica ... More >>

Downtown L.A. Chefs Discuss The Future of Flavor

The Library Association of Los Angeles rounds up a panel of chefs on July 17 which includes some of L.A.'s most influential downtown restaurateurs, including Ilan Hall (The Gorbals), Judy Han (Blue Cow Kitchen), John Sedlar (Rivera), Ricardo Zarate (Mo-Chica) and Patricia Zarate (HomeGirl Café). Ho ... More >>

Playa Debuts John Sedlar's Super-Secret Rooftop Garden A Rooftop-to-Table Party

Strange things have been afoot on the rooftop at John Sedlar's Playa. For the past couple of months, the restaurant has been installing and planting a rather large rooftop garden (you may have noticed a crane doing some heavy lifting along Beverly Blvd. back in March) meant to provide Sedlar's kitch ... More >>

Food News Roundup: Sustainable Seafood, Noma Alums The World's Most Expensive Vegetable

The Salt: "Buying Sustainable Fish Is Getting Easier, But It's Still Hard" The Los Angeles Times: Jonathan Gold recalls looking for a quart of milk in his Koreatown neighborhood on May 1, 1992. He revisits the area 20 years after the riots. Grub Street: Noma alums coming to a restaurant near you.. ... More >>

James Beard Awards 2012: Semifinalists Announced

Los Angeles chefs made a strong showing among the semifinalists for the 2012 James Beard Awards, which were announced today. Local nominees for the Best Chef, Pacific award include Josef Centeno (Lazy Ox Canteen), Michael Cimarusti (Providence), David Feau (The Royce at the Langham), Matt Molina (M ... More >>

John Sedlar Creates Pacific Standard Time Menu at Playa, With Dishes Inspired by L.A. Art

"You screwed up," chef John Rivera Sedlar told Getty curator Andrew Perchuk in the months before Pacific Standard Time began. The sprawling, Getty-funded celebration of postwar SoCal art should have included food. But Perchuk, already working to facilitate exhibitions at 60-plus institutions and org ... More >>

Jonathan Gold's 10 Best Dishes of 2011

Top 5 Weekend Food Events: Thanksgiving Eve Bourbon, Wild Gourmet Food, Venison Fair, 4 Chefs in One, Holiday Beer Class

Thanksgiving Eve Bash Steady your nerves for a day of family togetherness with a pre-Thanksgiving shindig featuring a traditional Corn Hole Toss and $6 cups of a seasonal punch made with Wild Turkey. ($1 from each glass will be donated to a local shelter.) WHEN: Nov. 23 WHERE: Seven Grand COST: Free ... More >>

Playa: 99 Essential Restaurants 2011

Rivera: 99 Essential Restaurants 2011

Dia de los Muertos: 10 Ways to Eat & Drink on Day of the Dead

Flickr user: current events The first of November means a nasty Halloween hangover for some; for others, it's the beginning of All Saints' Day. Stock up bunches of golden marigolds, which we've spotted at flower shops and at farmers' markets this week. Here are 10 ways to eat and drink your way ... More >>

John Sedlar Worries About the Future of Mexican Food

Barbara HansenChef John Sedlar (left), his corn flan with fish in curry sauce (right).​John Sedlar, chef/owner of Rivera and Playa, once thought that Mexican food would take over the world. Now, the world is taking over Mexican food, he says. And this is not a good thing. Today's hot young Me ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 10/10-10/14

Flickr/Lauren Manning​ In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Want to make a grown woman blush? Suggest that the reason she wants to go to Gjelina, the serene patio restaurant on Abbot Kinney, is because she wants to gaze deeply into a scruffy waiter's eyes." ... More >>

Esquire Names John Sedlar Chef of the Year

A. ScattergoodJohn Sedlar at Rivera​John Sedlar's been having a pretty good year. First he opened Playa, then he staged a glorious revival of his Saint Estèphe menu at Rivera, and yesterday he won Esquire's Chef of the Year title for 2011. Oh, and he took some time to hunt maguey worms in Mex ... More >>

Chefs Feed: Your Latest Food App

So many apps, so much food, so little time. The latest fun food app is called Chefs Feed, which was released yesterday by Credible, Inc., and it's sort of like an aggregate of all those Bon Appétit back pages where your favorite chef told you what they liked to eat on their own time. The Los Angele ... More >>

The Thursday Edition: A Roundup of Newspaper Food Stories

Flickr/dubh​ What's the country reading today food-wise? Here's a roundup of some of the food-related stories from other newspapers, many of which print their food sections mid-week. And remember, even if you don't actually buy papers these days (or not; this paper is free), it's where most of ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers John Sedlar's Saint Estèphe Menu at Rivera

Anne Fishbein​ It is not often that we get to repeat the past, which is probably a good thing for most of us. But in John Sedlar's case, it can be a thing of beauty. If you did not have the pleasure of eating Sedlar's food in the late 80s, now you have your chance: Jonathan Gold considers Sedl ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Saint Estephe Menu at Rivera

Jonathan Gold Reviews L.A. Weekly Pancake Breakfast

What to Read Now: Eating Bugs in The New Yorker

Anne FishbeinDonaji​If you have not yet picked up the latest issue of The New Yorker, you may want to. Turn to page 38, dear reader, and you will find a Dept. of Gastronomy piece by Dana Goodyear on bugs. You will also find happy mention of John Sedlar (Rivera, Playa), Bricia Lopez (Guelaguetz ... More >>

And Now, A Brief Message From John Sedlar Where to Wear Your Hazmat Suit

Screenshot of John Sedlar's Twitter page​

Escamoles, Maguey Worms & Ant Larvae: John Sedlar on the Joy of Eating Bugs

Barbara Hansenescamoles​One of these days, you may be eating maguey worms and ant larvae at Rivera and/or Playa. But no caterpillars. Before you gag and go for a hamburger, listen to chef John Sedlar, chef-owner of both restaurants. "Nutritionists are recommending reducing beef consumption be ... More >>

The Thursday Edition: A Roundup of Newspaper Food Stories

Flickr/dubh​ What's the country reading today food-wise? Here's a roundup of some of the food-related stories from other newspapers, many of which print their food sections mid-week. And remember, even if you don't actually buy papers these days (or not; this paper is free), it's where most of ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Playa

John Sedlar continues to reinvent the tortilla

L.A.'s Best Cocktails

Our 55 favorites and where to find them

Gastropub Sans the Pub

Xiomara Reconsidered

Tinga: New-Wave Tacos

The latest in a refreshing trend

Rivera: Burrito on the Rocks, Salt

Searching for great food and a great margarita

Rivera, John Sedlar’s return to the kitchen

Tequila sunrise

Where to Drink Now: The New Cocktailian's Guide

The New Cocktailians

The farmers market–loving, sleeve garter–wearing ladies and gentlemen of the bar taking over L.A.'s restaurants one glass at a time

L.A.'s Original Fusion Dude Opens the Mexican Rivera

New downtown spot is just a block from Staples Center and Nokia Theater

Green With Envy