Noah Galuten

Bludso's Review: A Compton Classic Comes to Hollywood

Kevin Bludso's barbecue works even in translation, our critic finds

Bludso's BBQ on La Brea Opens Today: Brisket, Ribs Mint Juleps on Tap

For all of you who make the regular trek down to Bludso's in Compton for, perhaps, the sole purpose of eating Kevin Bludso's justly celebrated barbecue, you can cut down on your carbon footprint (although maybe not that of Bludso himself; and your BBQ carbon joke here: ____ ), as of about 5 o'clock ... More >>

15 Great Peruvian Restaurants in Los Angeles

You won't find "Perutown" or "Little Lima" in Los Angeles. The Peruvian and Peruvian-American population is spread out around greater L.A., and so are our Peruvian restaurants. So maybe you haven't noticed these eateries -- often small and unassuming spots, tucked in strip malls far from trendy rest ... More >>

Beer & BBQ: Golden State and Bludso's to Take Over Tar Pit Space

If you're a fan of beer, BBQ or just places to soak up hickory smoke with a cocktail in hand, then you've no doubt heard the news about the former Tar Pit space transforming into a joint venture between Golden State, the beer and burger hot spot on Fairfax, and Bludso's BBQ, the Compton joint renown ... More >>

Battle Pot de Crème: Mark Peel vs. Suzanne Goin a Recipe from the Winner

C. LeVasserThe duo of pots de créme.​We, and maybe you, continue to spend the majority of our time cooking at home, rather than eating out. Learning how to make things like New Orleans-style boudin blanc, and Sardinian malloreddus, seems to bring us a good bit more joy these days. So today, w ... More >>

Battle Sangria: Rick Bayless vs. Susan Feniger & Mary Sue Milliken a Recipe from the Winner

C. LeVasserJamaica sangria by Rick Bayless​Some of us have been going out a lot less these days. But rather than unnecessarily spending twenty dollars on a rare gueuze at Father's Office, we've been throwing our money at things like Scharffen Berger chocolate, or imported speck from Alto-Adige ... More >>

Squid Ink Food Writers' Most Reviled Childhood Dinners

southerbornandbredgirl/flickrFried chicken livers​ With food, one person's penance is another's pleasure. Many parents view dinner-time as an opportunity, not just to share food and company with their beloved offspring, but also to exert control. Sometimes kids are picky and sometimes parent ... More >>

Squid Ink's Most Beloved Discontinued Products: Well, A Few of Them

DSL in Jaz/flickrWe hardly knew you.​ Our favorite convenience foods are like friendly co-workers holed up in the next cubicle over. We meet them, like them, grow accustomed to their presence in our lives, and then, just as soon as we realize we can't quite imagine life without them, they di ... More >>

Salt's Cure Update: Opens Saturday in West Hollywood

N. GalutenOutside Salt's Cure​ After hitting a few delays since our last report, Salt's Cure is all set to open its doors and begin serving brunch this Saturday at 11 a.m. "We're really ready to just start cooking food," said co-owner Zak Walters. The main focus of the restaurant will be the i ... More >>

First/Last Bite: Taco Bell's New "Authentic-Style" Mexican Street Tacos

N. Galuten(Left to right) Carnitas, Carne Asada, and Flame-Grilled Chicken Cantina Tacos from Taco Bell​ Sometimes you get what you pay for, and sometimes $1.49 is a total rip-off. When we heard that Taco Bell was launching their "authentic-style" Cantina Taco, we were struck with a masochist ... More >>

Tinga Opens on La Brea

N. GalutenInside Tinga on La Brea​ This past Friday, Tinga, a new, casual Mexican restaurant, opened its doors on La Brea Avenue. It is the first sit-down endeavor for Chris and Jerry Baker, the husband-and-wife team who also run catering company The Food Matters. As the story goes, Jerry was ... More >>

Squid Ink Food Fight: The Battle For Burger Intersection Supremacy--Fat Vs. Astro

There are hamburgers, and there are hamburgers. Some are so different from each other that they're almost impossible to compare. One simple way to classify your hamburgers is this: did anybody ask you how you wanted it cooked? The majority of hamburgers served in the United States do not fall into t ... More >>

La Casita Mexicana Adding a Store: La Tiendita Set To Open In 3 Weeks

N. GalutenLa Casita Mexicana's little shop, La Tiendita​ After spending the last two years trying to get it off the ground, La Casita Mexicana will finally be opening the market add-on to their restaurant. Things took longer than expected for chef/owners Ramiro Arvizu and Jaime Martin del Cam ... More >>

Salt's Cure Update: Restaurant Butcher Shop Set To Open in 2 Weeks

N. GalutenOutside Salt's Cure​ Salt's Cure, the restaurant/butcher shop from Chris Phelps (formerly of Canelé) and Zak Walters (formerly of Cube) seems to be coming along nicely. They will begin serving food for friends and family this weekend, with all signs indicating that the restaurant wi ... More >>

Ramen Mottainai Opens in Gardena

N. GalutenInside Ramen Mottainai​ Thanks to a tip from L.A.'s resident ramen expert Rameniac, we found out that Ramen Mottaiani very quietly opened its doors on July 1st, without press, advertising or fanfare. Although many noodle shops open and close throughout the year (Ramen Jinya has just ... More >>

Squid Ink Special: Army Brand Chopped Pork Pattie Loaf

We happened into Karpaty Meat Shop, a Russian market on Santa Monica Boulevard, and found it to be a rather charming and inexpensive place to do some interesting shopping. They have organic fruits and vegetables, and as the name implies, a good selection of raw meat. On the other end of the deli are ... More >>

Roast Chicken In Brentwood: Does Reddi Chick Hold Up To Nostalgia?

N. GalutenChicken basket at Reddi Chick in the Brentwood Country Mart​ The Brentwood Country Mart is an interesting place, even if just as a destination for anthropological study. Small Santa Monica children are not allowed, from what we can gather, to go through their formative years without ... More >>

Squid Ink Food Fight: A Tofu Steak Farewell to Terried Sake House

As we reported last week, West L.A. hole-in-the-wall izakaya Terried Sake House, after 25 years of service, is closing its doors for good this Friday. Last night we decided to get in one last supper, ordering all the hits we knew we'd never get the chance to eat again. Two of their most popular dish ... More >>

White Rabbit Truck: Mobile Filipino Fusion Launches

N. GalutenThe White Rabbit Truck​ Yes, another food truck has arrived, and yes, they are serving fusion tacos. But the new White Rabbit Truck is not another Korean-Mexican Kogi impersonator. Instead they are, as far as we can tell, just the second Filipino food truck in Los Angeles, after the ... More >>

Cart For a Cause Truck at Pacific Design Center Today, with Il Grano Chef Salvatore Marino

N. GalutenCart For a Cause is at the Pacific Design Center today​ Today you get another chance to have lunch cooked by a top level L.A. chef at a very reasonable discount, with the additional bonus that all proceeds go to charity. The Cart For a Cause truck is parking outside the Pacific Desi ... More >>

Gladstone's: Revamped, Remodeled, and Better Than Before (If Only By Default)

N. GalutenGladstone's​ Gladstone's of Malibu has undergone some changes, and if you take any stock in Leslie Brenner's scathing 2008 LA Times review, that can't be anything but positive. Last year, Sam Nazarian and his company SBE, (Katsuya, Bazzar at the SLS, and XIV) partnered with Gladston ... More >>

First Look: Sprouts Market Opens In Culver City

N. GalutenInside the new Sprouts in Culver City​ Last Wednesday, Sprouts Farmers Market, a grocery chain from Arizona, opened its doors in Culver City. With many locations already in place outside of Arizona, (in both Texas and Colorado) Sprouts clearly has a defined brand that they are able ... More >>

Langer's Deli: Pastrami, Yes, But What Else?

Langer's Deli is, according to many, home to the greatest pastrami sandwich on earth (and we feel strongly about which of those pastrami sandwiches is best). As with the garlic chicken at Versailles, people who eat there often pass up trying one of the many other items on their massive, diverse menu ... More >>

5 Most Disgusting Items In The Trader Joe's Freezer Aisle

Trader Joe's is really inexpensive. To be honest, it is at times somewhat frighteningly so. But we continue to shop there, mainly because of those low prices, their large wine selection, snappy packaging and generally friendly staff. It is a brand we've come to trust, without ever really stopping to ... More >>

Uh-Oh: Campbell's Soup Recalls 15 Million Pounds of SpaghettiOs with Meatballs

​Donald Goerke must be rolling in his grave. The USDA has announced that Campbell's Soup has recalled three different varieties of SpaghettiOs with meatballs, at a combined weight of 15 million pounds. We talked to company spokesman Anthony Sanzio, who started off by pointing out that "The US ... More >>

Michael Voltaggio Leaves the Langham: "My Goal Is To Stay In L.A."

PHOTO: Courtesy of Bravo TV Michael Voltaggio​The LA Times reported yesterday that Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio has decided to part ways with The Langham. We caught up with the chef late this morning, just before he stepped into the kitchen at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic, to get his t ... More >>

Squid Ink Food Fight: Currying Flavor, Thai Red Curry with Beef

Curry can mean many things, its contents and flavors capable of splitting off into innumerable directions. Two Indian vegetable curries from two restaurants on the same block can vary greatly, so imagine the differences between a Pakistani tikka karahi and a pork katsu curry from Osaka? In many case ... More >>

World Cup Update: South African Grub at World Fare Bus

South Africa, in case you've been living under a rock -- but can for some reason still read Squid Ink -- is the host nation for this year's World Cup. Thus far, their team has tied with Mexico and lost to Uruguay, with another Group A game coming up against France. But what if you want to get into t ... More >>

Meet Your Food Blogger: Geoff Nicholson of Psycho Gourmet

Geoff NicholsonPortrait of the writer with a dead goose​When asked about Volkswagens -- the subject of a trilogy of his novels -- writer Geoff Nicholson says "Well, I just kind of like 'em is all." Nicholson mainly writes novels, but he's got a blog about walking, an addendum to his book abo ... More >>

Top Chef Masters Recap: Cheese, Crying and Marcus Samuelsson

Bravo TVEpisode 2 of Top Chef Masters​ Episode 2 of Top Chef Masters kicked off last night, and while there were no L.A. chefs represented in this episode, the show does take place in L.A., so we got to enjoy a lot of B-roll shots of Union Station. This week's chefs were Marcus Samuelsson (R ... More >>

'South Park' Episode Takes Cues From L.A.'s Famous KFC Pot Shop

Noah Galuten​Wednesday night's episode of South Park appears to have been inspired in part by Los Angeles' now-legendary Kentucky-Fried-Chicken-turned-medical-marijuana dispensary in Palms. The pot-shop operators at Exposition Boulevard and Hughes Avenue used the KFC provenance to its advantag ... More >>

Meet Your Food Blogger: Javier Cabral of Teenage Glutster

Javier Cabral turned 21 two weeks ago, which means not only that now he can legally drink alcohol when he eats out with his blogger friends, but that the name of his blog, Teenage Glutster, seems a bit outdated. Some might agree that after a mention from Dana Goodyear in a New Yorker profile of Jona ... More >>

Once Bitten, Twice Fried: Best French Fries in Los Angeles, Part 2

Because we can't get too much of a good thing, here's the second installment of our quest for the city's most outstanding fries. This list (organized alphabetically) includes the pure, the gently garnished, and the heavily adorned in a world that's a vast, exciting terrain of Kennebec vs. Russet, pe ... More >>

Best of L.A.: Sandwiches

Best of L.A.: Happy Hour

Best of L.A.: Burgers

Best of L.A.: Recreation and Self-Improvement

Best of L.A.: Food and Drink

Best of L.A.: Shopping

Best of L.A.: Nightlife

New KFC Opens In Palms? Sort of...(Instead of Fried Chicken, They Sell Marijuana)

There has been an abandoned Kentucky Fried Chicken in Palms, slumping sadly these past few months on the corner of Exposition Blvd. and Hughes Ave. What, locals wondered, would replace it? A new burger joint? A Peruvian rotisserie chicken stand? It turns out that the KFC has been replaced by... a KF ... More >>

A Lunchtime Paean: The Bay Cities Meatball Sandwich

A meatball sandwich, like Roberto Benigni, needs structure to reach its potential, and the one at Bay Cities Italian Deli is more than up t ... More >>

Last Night's #2 NBA Draft Pick Tweets on Beverly Hills Italian

As Henry Abbot, the editor of the ESPN basketball blog Truehoop often points out, NBA players are known to have pretty bad taste in food (Feed Your Habit: 10 Places to get your Ceviche Fix

Like many great dishes, the operating principles of ceviche are simple: take seafood, marinate it in citrus, occasionally throw in some spice. If that doesn't sound good to you, you're probably an idiot. Living in Los Angeles and not liking ceviche is a lot like living in Germany and not liking hard ... More >>

"Man Bites World" Writer Running Out of Cuisines, Asks Mr. Gold

Is it the end of the world?