John Sedlar

Top Chef Masters: How Did Local Favorites John Sedlar and Mary Sue Milliken Do?

bravotv.comChefs John Sedlar and Mary Sue Milliken pulling some culinary nunchuck-ery in the Quickfire challenge.​We forced ourselves to stay awake for the Top Chef Masters 11 p.m. premiere last night (thankfully, it will air at 10 p.m. going forward). Still, we couldn't wait to see how L.A. c ... More >>

James Beard 2011 Semifinalists Announced: The L.A. Edition

​Award season is approaching again, and we don't just mean the Oscars. The nominations for Food & Wine's best new chef award opened yesterday, and now the James Beard Foundation has announced the semifinalists for their restaurant and chef awards. Here's the complete (very long) list. The Be ... More >>

First Look Inside Playa: John Sedlar's New Restaurant Opening This Friday

Nick ArnoffPlaya's Strawberry Dessert​ Playa, the second Latin restaurant from Rivera chef John Sedlar, opens this Friday, February 11 in the Beverly Boulevard space formerly home to Neal Fraser's Grace. Turn the page for details, including Sedlar's new menu items, Julian Cox's inspiration be ... More >>

The 10 Best Dishes of 2010

From entree to cappuccino, short ribs to bacon-wrapped bacon

First Bite: Gastropub Sans the Pub, or Xiomara Reconsidered

Jonagold apple, portions missing​Before it became a reconstructionist Cuban restaurant, before it moved to Melrose from Pasadena, Xiomara began as a sleekly modern California bistro, firmly grounded in modern French cooking. Now that Nuevo Latino cuisine has transformed into whatever John Sedl ... More >>

Michel Blanchet Smoked Fish: Why Joel Robuchon Digs It A Lunchtime Factory Tour

J. GarbeeMichel Blanchet In The Midst Of His Favorite Work Diversion: Making Lunch​When Joël Robuchon decides not to make something from scratch in his multi-million dollar Las Vegas kitchen, there must be a very compelling reason. Were Robuchon to discover, for instance, a former French chef ... More >>

First Bite: Javier Plascencia, Our Man in Tijuana

C. BishopJonagold apple​The ceilings are low, the expectations are high, and the Slayer-loud salsa grooves are making the mezcal tremble in its glass. The wines on the blackboard are all from Baja, mostly from the Guadalupe Valley area, which may be the great wine area closest to Los Angeles; ... More >>

Q & A With Mary Sue Milliken, Part 2: The Transformation of Ciudad, Lifting the Tablecloths Some Thoughts on Food Trucks

Border GrillMary Sue Milliken ​In the first part of our interview with Mary Sue Milliken, the chef talked about her travels abroad (fish tacos in the surfing capital of Alaska, chasing dinner in Mongolia), which she somehow has had time to do while, with Susan Feniger, running not one but now ... More >>

A Round-Up of L.A.'s Pumpkin Dishes, Drinks & Desserts John Sedlar's Recipe for Pumpkin Mezcal

Christie BishopKay 'N Dave's Pumpkin Margarita​ When it comes to L.A. produce, the beginning of fall brings us a seemingly endless supply of heirloom tomatoes, peppers, pears and perhaps the most seasonal produce of all: the pumpkin. Considering Southern California's climate isn't conducive t ... More >>

Q & A With John Sedlar, Part 2: Binge Eating in Tijuana, Horse Latitudes The New Restaurant

In the first part of our interview with John Sedlar, the chef considered the relative absence of Latino chefs in this town, as well as the nature of his new menu (well, menus; there are three) at Rivera. In part two, Sedlar -- who is from Santa Fe, New Mexico; Rivera is both a family name and the ch ... More >>

A Recipe From the Chef: John Sedlar's Scallops Arabesque

A. ScattergoodJohn Sedlar's scallops Arabasque​ John Sedlar, chef-owner of Rivera and the subject of our most recent interview, is cooking some ambitious food at his downtown restaurant these days. Three menus, three rooms, three continents, and a lot more than three dishes. And while we coul ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 9/7-9/10

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Did we agree to stop calling them gastropubs? Very well, they're no longer gastropubs." First Bite: Half a Dozen of Each, or Mix & Match at The Six. "Some people think that food started when goat cheese was introduced on ... More >>

Q & A With John Sedlar: Retirement, The Food Network Where Are Our Latino Chefs

A. ScattergoodJohn Sedlar of Rivera, with lamp​ John Rivera Sedlar, who opened his downtown restaurant Rivera a year and a half ago, has been one of Los Angeles' best chefs for decades: before Rivera, before the chef "retired" for 15 years, before the Museum Tamal, back to when he ran St. Est ... More >>

Will Work For Food: Your Labor Day Food Festival Weekend

Good thing that Labor Day weekend traditionally marks the end of wearing white -- although here in Los Angeles, many restaurants are lucky if diners wear pants, white or otherwise -- as this holiday weekend has turned into one giant food festival. Between all the food trucks, food demos, cooking com ... More >>

Your Walter Manzke Update: 4 Days at Test Kitchen, El Bulli, Chicago, Etc.

A. ScattergoodSanta Barbara prawn with brown butter, lemon and capers​ As you will know if you read Jonathan Gold's most recent review, the Test Kitchen has been up and running for a few weeks now, featuring a rotating group of chefs like guest performers in a how-do-you-get-reservations-for- ... More >>

Test Kitchen Update: Brian Saltsburg Talks Manzke, Voltaggio, Tapas, and More

Test Kitchen​The recently opened Test Kitchen, from Bill Chait and Brian Saltsburg, continues to be in the news -- though that will happen when your restaurant features a constantly developing lineup of big name chefs. In fact, several local television stations are already in the process of se ... More >>

Web Surfing: A Roundup of News from L.A. Food Blogs & Beyond

-- A recipe for salted butter chocolate chip cookies. [David Lebovitz] -- Live lobster, crab, giant shrimp, geoduck, fish, and more at Sea Harbour in San Gabriel Valley. [Exile Kiss] -- Dose of Vitamin P: Bludso's Pork Ribs. [Food GPS] -- John Sedlar's new menu(s) at Rivera. [Gourmet Pigs] -- R ... More >>

LA Weekly Flickr Pool Reader Photo of the Day: Rivera's Cocktail Lab

This LA Weekly Flickr pool photo comes to you courtesy of photographer djjewelz, who took the beautiful shot, of Julian Cox's cocktail laboratory at Rivera, on August 6th using a Canon PowerShot S90. Djjewelz is not the only one who has been frequenting John Sedlar's downtown restaurant, which was t ... More >>

Ask Mr. Gold: Burrito On the Rocks, Salt

Anne FishbeinMr. Gold, with dim sum menu​Dear Mr. Gold: Great Mexican food and yummy, salty margaritas: I find, in L.A., it is very hard to reconcile these two seemingly well-matched priorities. Either the food stinks and the drinks rock, or vice versa. Tons of great Mexican restaurants conten ... More >>

John Sedlar to Open R26 in October

Anne Fishbeinart as food at Rivera​ When John Sedlar opened his highly anticipated restaurant Rivera last January, little did we know that he'd just gotten started. Sedlar will be opening a second restaurant in the former Grace space on Beverly Boulevard in the fall. (Grace is relocating to ne ... More >>

99 Things to Eat in L.A. Before You Die

Fugu to foie gras, pizza to panuchos

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 >>

Q & A With Remi Lauvand: Berkshire Pigs, Michel Richard with a Cigar & the Santa Barbara Food World

Fran CollinChef Remi Lauvand​Chef Rémi Lauvand does not have a pop up restaurant, but he's been popping up a lot in the last few years. Before he came to rest at his current home, Café Pierre in Manhattan Beach, Lauvand popped up in BreadBar last fall as part of the Hatchi series. Before tha ... More >>

Canstruction LA: A Food Donation Program Andy Warhol Would Have Loved

Here's a food show that would have made Andy Warhol happy. Instead of just donating your cans of soup to the foodbank, let local architects and engineers create art from them, THEN donate them. For the fourth annual Canstruction LA, a design/build competion, teams of local architects create structur ... More >>

Rivera Sponsors Downtown Film Festival New Late Night Menu

The Downtown Film Festival starts today, with John Sedlar's restaurant Rivera (also downtown) as the festival's restaurant sponsor. To mark the event, Rivera has a special 3 course prix fixe menu (for $40) available starting tonight. You can watch trailers for the Festival's movies on the restaurant ... More >>

Rivera's Olive Oil Cake & Caramel Sauce: If You Haven't Tried It Yet, Make It At Home

John Sedlar, whose downtown restaurant Rivera opened in January, is known more for his flower-embedded nixtamal tortillas, his mole-sauced kurobuta pork chops, his buratta-stuffed chile relleno, his duck enfrijoladas, his chile-powder-as-art plate stencils, and his curating of Latin food history (th ... More >>

The Raw, the Cooked and Everything in Between: Taste of the Nation

The raw and the cooked--and everything in between--were showcased at Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation fundraiser event in Culver City on Sunday. Many of the participating local chefs were big on crudo, while others preferred carbonizing their protein. The sheer number of chefs and food busin ... More >>

End of Week Agenda: A Brimming, Ripe, Juicy Calendar

Mid-May is a busy time for food events around the L.A. area, y'all. To wit: California Strawberry FestivalBerrylicious funOnly about an hour drive north gets you to the California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard. The big, juicy, seasonal fun goes from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; general ... More >>

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