Ray Garcia

Cochon 555 Returns to Los Angeles

After Cochon 555 2011, we surrendered. Fattened up like one of the hogs that the crowds of attendees had, locust-like, swirled around, oily-faced and intoxicated, we swore the thing off. We were almost politically opposed to the maniacal level of indulgence that the event seemed to encourage. Thi ... More >>

Easter Sunday Food Drink Specials

For those who celebrate the holiday, Easter Sunday is a time to gather loved ones for brunch and, maybe, an afternoon egg hunt. If you're planning to host a celebration at home, there are purveyors and markets like Lindy & Grundy who offer a range of resources from traditional smoked hams and legs o ... More >>

10 Best Restaurants for Brunch in Los Angeles

Brunch is one thing that's done well in Los Angeles, a town that's very well-versed in mashups -- Carmeggedons I and II, for starters -- that grab more attention than should be necessary. And while it may not be the favorite meal service of chefs, this internal struggle is not transparent when you'r ... More >>

Top 6 Weekend Food Events: ''Save the Waves" Fundraiser, Ray Garcia Lobster Demo, Food Art, Mexican Market Tour, Rum Tasting Downtown L.A. Dishcrawl

"Save the Waves" Fundraiser Support the Long Beach chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, an environmental advocacy group, with a multicourse, seafood-centric dinner from local chefs. The menu includes albacore tartare (from David LeFevre and Ray Hayashi of Manhattan Beach Post), smoked trout with kum ... More >>

Top 5 Weekend Food Events: FIG Sausage Fest, Feria de los Moles, Wine & Jazz Festival, BAM Fest Planet Taco Talk

FIG Inaugural Sausage Fest Chefs Vartan Abgaryan (Public Kitchen), Greg Daniels (Haven Gastropub), Daniel Mattern (Cooks County), Bernhard Mairinger (BierBeisl) and Kris Morningstar (Ray's and Stark Bar) join FIG chef Ray Garcia to grill up their best homemade brats. Sides, snacks and beers from Smo ... More >>

Farmers Market Sack Lunch: Sotera Jaime's Pupusas

Tired of ho-hum sack lunches? Time to talk to Sotera Jaime about her work-week pupusa plan of action. The cherubic abuela of Jaime Farms knows when to pull out that trusty electric burner at the office. Jaime makes sporadic appearances at her family's vegetable stand at the Wednesday Santa Monica F ... More >>

Novy Ranches Grass-fed Beef: Farmers Markets Aren't Just For Apples Anymore A Roasted Cow Head Recipe From Ray Garcia

At the Novy Ranches grass-fed Angus beef stands that have been popping up at various farmers markets the past few months -- Topanga, Woodland Hills, Sherman Oaks and several others) -- you'll find an assortment of steaks, roasts and ground beef, as well as plenty of "off" cuts like oxtail, beef chee ... More >>

Fig: 99 Essential Restaurants 2011

The Chef vs. The Sommelier: Fig Restaurant's Pinot Chardonnay Face-Off

flickr user cherylknauerPinot or Chardonnay?​When we popped by Fig in Santa Monica recently for a Happy Hour glass of wine, sommelier Matthew Lehman was happy to chat about the new Fig Pinot Noir we spied on the menu -- Lehman helped make it under the watchful eye of La Fenetre winemaker Josh ... More >>

Taste of Tehachapi Farm Dinners: Vultures, Angry Ostriches L.A. Chefs

Flickr user photography hoboOstrich Burger From Lulu's Cafe on Beverly​There are the typical farmers market discussions involving the final peach season days and those first fall apples. And then there are the back alley conversations about angry ostriches and vulture migrations, like the one ... More >>

Top 5 Weekend Food Events: Ribfest, Soda Tasting, Food For Thought, Live & Dine LA ColLAboration Beer Garden

ColLAboration Beer Garden Forget Bastille Day. In honor of Belgian Independence Day (actually celebrated on July 21st), ColLAboration will theoretically have Belgian brews on tap at its third summer beer garden. Technically, ColLAboration is a members-only club. For members, admission is free f; f ... More >>

Fig's Bacon Waffle: Bacon, Bacon Yeah, More Bacon

L. Balla​Some say bacon has hit the tipping point. It's everywhere, from cupcakes and chocolate bars to cakes, pies, and, yes, even guns and cologne. But just because something as delicious as bacon is trendy, doesn't mean it's any less important. Sure, sometimes it's over the top, but we lo ... More >>

FIG Launches New Bloody Mary Menu with Bacon & Foie

Guzzle & NoshTomato-Watermelon Mary (left) & Bllody Mary menu (right).​Ray Garcia, the chef who brought you the Kegs and Egg brunch with its bottomless pint of draft beer, is making FIG's brunch even better, introducing a cocktail menu featuring six new variations on the Bloody Mary ($12-16), ... More >>

Stage Raw: It's Official, Rada to replace Dillingham at CTG

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWS   Stage FEATURE on Rajiv Joseph's The Monster at the Door Craig SchwartzEdward L. Rada to replace Charles Dillingham at CTG​An unconfirmed tip reported to the Weekly a couple of weeks ago that Edward L. Rada would be taking over the reti ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Mo-Chica

Ask Mr. Gold: What's The Big Deal With Quinoa?

Anne Fishbeinthe invisible restaurant critic​ Dear Mr. Gold: What's the big deal with quinoa? I couldn't even pronounce it right when I first saw it on the menu at Hugo's in Studio City. Then I saw it at Trader Joe's and then I saw it everywhere. It has probably been around forever, but has on ... More >>

Happy Hour: Fig In Santa Monica, Half Off Everything (Yes, Everything)

J. GarbeeSeared Tuna Nicoise Salad At Fig​The Place: Fig, 119 Broadway, Santa Monica; (310) 395-6037. The Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 5-6 p.m. The Deals: Half off everything on the menu, including drinks What did we think? Turn the page to find out...

Urban Homesteading Panel: Your DIY Food Security Garden

smgov.net​ If you like to spend your weekends putting beds of lettuces in your back yard, growing herbs on your roof, or raising chickens next to your swimming pool (please do not do this, at least not literally), you might want to head over to the Santa Monica Public Library this Thursday to ... More >>

The Thursday Edition: A Roundup of Newspaper Food Stories

SapphireBlue22stack of newspapers​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 ... More >>

Fig & Garcia Farms Teach At-Risk Teens About Nutrition & Local Produce

C. BishopBraised Oxtail with oranges and prunes from FIG & Garcia Farms' dinner​ Last night, Fig's executive chef Ray Garcia hosted the restaurant's first farm dinner of 2011, serving dishes filled with Fallbrook's Garcia Farm's (no relation) recent harvest of over 50 varieties of citrus. Whi ... More >>

Fig Garcia Organic Farm Team Up For Farm Dinner

Flickt/madid#​ While the rest of the country is stuck under three free of snow and ice, an L.A. "winter" means we're still able to get up early, throw on our stylish (if completely unnecessary) Uggs, beanies and gloves and head to the Santa Monica farmer's market for sweet peaches, corn, straw ... More >>

Your De Rigueur Test Kitchen (& Walter Manzke) Update

A. Scattergoodthe bar at Test Kitchen​ As the culinary experiment of Test Kitchen winds down, the chef musical chairs act continues. Tonight and tomorrow night, November 30th and December 1st, Walter Manzke (Church & State, Bastide, ____ ) will be cooking Spanish tapas with Perfecto Rocher (t ... More >>

The Mashed Potato: A Chef Survey

Nicholas Dynan, WBUR Radio​ Chances are, this is how Thanksgiving Day is going to look if you're cooking dinner: You're going to make sure you have a defrosted turkey on hand, get some pies in the oven, and then tackle a sack of potatoes. According to the USDA, the average American consumes mo ... More >>

A Recipe From The Chef: Ray Garcia's Quinoa Salad With Orange Blossom Vinaigrette

starchefs.comQuinoa Salad At Fig​When we talked to Fig chef Ray Garcia earlier this week, he told us about cooking for small dogs in large handbags (not his handbags, or dogs for that matter) and the evolution of bacon-wrapped-bacon (get the recipe here). Lately Garcia has been focusing on t ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 10/18-10/22

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "In further news, I had three octopus heads for lunch today in Koreatown. But they were little ones." Seoul Octopus Day The Relative Joys of Octopus Heads. "While the study may not lead to intensive family planning strat ... More >>

Q & A With Ray Garcia, Part 2: What Dogs Order At The Peninsula, Real Restaurant Cooking Helping Kids With Heirloom Tomato (And Marijuana) Issues

J. GarbeeSeared Tuna Nicoise With Quail Eggs​We left off yesterday's chat with Ray Garcia, Executive Chef at Fig in Santa Monica, with dog food. "It was probably seared ground sirloin, some of the best beef in the country, and the dog didn't like the temperature or something like that," says G ... More >>

Q & A With Fig's Ray Garcia: On FBI Dreams, Revolutionary Sushi Cooking For Dogs

J. GarbeeRay Garcia​Ray Garcia, Executive Chef at Fig in Santa Monica, is perhaps the only 32-year-old chef who can say he has worked for Thomas Keller, Douglas Keane, and a picky canine in the same year (more on that later, but yes, a customer at the Peninsula Beverly Hills, where Garcia was ... More >>

Stage Raw: Loveland

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSTheater Feature on La Razon Blindada and A Wolf Inside the Fence and NEW REVIEW GO LOVELAND ​Photo by Leland Auslender What a rare experience it is, when a character that's as maniacal, sexually overheated and as transparently off the rails as a ... More >>

Theater Reviews: Chico's Angels: Chicas in Chains, Hello, Merrily We Roll Along

Also, Valentino Valentina, Sultan's Battery and more

Chico's Angels: Chicas in Chains

Stage Raw: Hello

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSTheater Feature on Polish punk and Glendale's classicistsNEW REVIEW GO HELLO ​ Photo by Mark Bennington You may not find logic in this quirky tale about love, marriage and the enigma of sexual attraction but you'll recognize a lot of human truth. ... More >>

Mélisse Hosts The Spotted Pig's April Bloomfield in 'Michelin Mashup'

Photo via Kitchenrat.com.​There are guests, there are guest chefs and there are guest star chefs. On July 26th, Mélisse will feature chef April Bloomfield of New York City's The Spotted Pig, who would come under the latter category, in an event the restaurant is calling "Michelin Mashup: Cook ... 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 >>

Fig Out

Whether you swing carnivore or vegan, Ray Garcia has you covered — or wrapped

Photo Gallery: Fig Out at Santa Monica's Fig Bistro

Need a visual aid for your print edition? Jonathan Gold visits Fig in Santa Monica's Fairmont Miramar Hotel ("Garcia's cooking seems to carry within it more than a bit of aggression, and if I were a culinary therapist rather than a critic, I might take the slug of bacon in the brussels sprouts or th ... More >>

New Bacony Brunch on the Horizon: Ray Garcia's Sunday Menu at Fig

Chef Ray Garcia expands the world of bacon.Restaurant customers, watch what you wish for.

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 >>

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

Market Forces: Fig at the Fairmont Miramar

Ray Garcia's menu follows the flavors of the seasons

Death Race 2000

Horror filmmaker Eric Red crashed his Jeep, killing two. Then he slit his own throat. That was only the beginning