Singapore

Prince Gomolvilas: The Only Gay, Thai, Science-Fiction Playwright

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here. While researching The Brothers Paranormal, his latest comedy-horror play, about Thai-American brothers who launch a ghost-hunting business, Prince Gomolvilas was invited to go o ... More >>

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's 50-Cent Drinks New Tea Service

We love a party where guests get a gift. Tomorrow, that's what's happening at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. In honor of the company's 50th year, three 12 oz. specialty drinks will be sold for 50 cents: English Toffee Latte, English Toffee Ice Blended and Chai Tea Latte. The event will take place from ... More >>

10 Great Restaurants Open New Year's Eve

There are plenty of ways to celebrate the end of the year, and going out to dinner is certainly one of the best. Make a reservation while you can, put on your best party frocks and check out one of these options for your dining pleasure. Please also remember to drink responsibly and that AAA offers ... More >>

Touche Amore's Southeast Asian Tour Diary: "I Cannot Put Into Words How Terrifying the Drive Was"

Los Angeles hardcore group Touche Amore is sharing their tour diary from their recent trip to Southeast Asian. Yesterday vocalist Jeremy Bolm described their wild times in Singapore and Malaysia, and for part two today he talks on their time in Indonesia. See also: Touche Amore's Southeast Asia Tou ... More >>

Drink This Now: 2011 Dirty and Rowdy Skin and Egg Fermented Semillon

OK, lovers of truly weird wines, have I got a doozy for you. A cloudy, funky, Napa Valley partially skin-fermented 100% Semillon. It was described to me by a woman at a wine store as "a beer drinker's wine." Others have compared it to orange wine. When first opened, it smells intensely of jalapeños ... More >>

L.A. Loves Alex's Lemonade: A Recap of the 2012 Event

L.A. Loves Alex's Lemonade Stand is arguably the premier charity auction/food and wine event raising money -- a lot of money -- for pediatric cancer research. Hosted by Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne (Lucques, A.O.C., Tavern) and David Lentz (The Hungry Cat), it was held for the third year in a row ... More >>

Ramen Red Alert!: Menya-Iroha Coming to Gardena, Kotoya to West L.A.

If the recent boom of Japan-imported ramen chains in Southern California is the cross-cultural cousin of the 60's British Invasion -- which feels like a fair comparison lately -- then round up the screaming fangirls, because the Beatles have just landed in Los Angeles and Gardena's Murakai Market is ... More >>

Food & Wine Picks 2012 Best New Chefs: Congratulations Bryant Ng of The Spice Table

Last night Food & Wine editor Dana Cowin announced the winners of that magazine's 24th annual Best New Chefs in America award. You know the drill: ten chefs from around the country are picked, awarded, featured in the July issue and fêted at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic this summer. So, drumroll p ... More >>

Ming Wong Remakes Chinatown at RedCat, Playing All the Roles Himself

The final scene of Roman Polanski's 1974 film Chinatown is the only one actually set in Chinatown. The others take place in downtown offices, fancy clubs, Hollywood houses, or Valley groves. But even though the last scene was shot on location, in the real Chinatown, Spring Street has been emptied of ... More >>

The Spice Table: Happy Anniversary A Week of Fun

If you have not yet been to The Spice Table, chef Bryant Ng's utterly beautiful brick house of a restaurant in Little Tokyo, you might try finally getting around to in next week. Although why you haven't yet gone to eat the marvelous marrow bones, or Ng's take on dishes from his native Singapore or, ... More >>

Andrew Zimmern's Pop-Up Dinner at Royal/T: How It's Different from Every Other Episode of Bizarre Foods America

Royal/T, the Culver City cosplay café, is in shambles right now -- a chaotic mess of boxes, dust, overturned tables and yes, TV cameras. It will be spic and span by 6 p.m., though, when Andrew Zimmern's "California Dreaming" pop-up dinner will opens its doors. Part fundraiser, part stint for his n ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Westfield Culver City Food Court

Bäco Mercat: An Exam in Culinary Poststructuralism

F. FriesemaJonagold apples​Some new small-plates restaurants are content to serve you hamburgers and fries. Others bring in influences from Singapore, Copenhagen or Tokyo. But the menu at Bäco Mercat, the new restaurant from Joseph Centeno of Lazy Ox, reads almost like a graduate exam in culi ... More >>

Anthony Bourdain on The Layover, L.A. and Jonathan Gold

Via the Travel ChannelAnthony Bourdain at the LudoBites truck.​We elbowed our way into the Travel Channel's crowded media conference call to speak with legendary chef, food writer and TV personality Anthony Bourdain about his new show, The Layover, premiering this month. When it was finally o ... More >>

Lukshon: 99 Essential Restaurants 2011

Moshe Kai Cavalin, UCLA Child Prodigy, Wrote Bestseller in Spare Time; Thinks You Can, Too!

Is there nothing 13-year-old Moshe Kai Cavelin can't do? Kid graduated from East Los Angeles Community College in astrophysics with a 4.0 last year, at which point he transfered to UCLA for math. (His LinkedIn profile lists his expected graduation date as 2012. Uh, did we mention he has a LinkedIn ... More >>

Ashley James' Cuisine Culture: From Four Seasons Beverly Hills to PBS

Kathy A. McDonaldTelegenic chef Ashley James with hotel garden-grown tomatoes​You've heard of the casting couch, how about the casting kitchen? Fresh from behind the stove, L.A. chefs, with their proximity to TV producers, seem to have a lock on new TV food shows this year. Ludo and Krissy Lef ... More >>

Q & A With Nancy Silverton: The Mozza Cookbook, The Problem of Gelato Doing One Thing at a Time Very, Very Well

A. ScattergoodNancy Silverton and her new cookbook at Mozza​ Nancy Silverton, who is an over-achiever in much the same way as is, say, Malcolm Gladwell, has had a productive summer even by her standards. Mozzas in Newport Beach and Singapore recently opened; Amy Pressman's burger project, Shor ... More >>

The National's Matt Berninger On Shutting Down Honolulu's Airport and Finally Ending Their Tour

Keith Klenowski​By Michael Christopher Criss cross continents for as long as the National has and weird shit is bound to happen. Take, for instance, an incident last summer in Honolulu when the band's frontman, Matt Berninger, was taken into federal custody under suspicion that he had smugg ... More >>

L.A. Traffic a Breeze Compared to 10 Other Global Cities, Including Beijing, Moscow and Milan

It's time to jam.​Traffic in L.A. is about as fun as a trip to the dentist's office, and yes, we usually rank at the top when it comes to American metropolises with the worst "gridlock." But on a global scale, we're actually a walk in the park. At least according to IBM's latest "Global Commu ... More >>

Is This Salad Illegal? The (Semi-)Illicit Thrill of Laphet Tote

Yoma Myanar's tea leaf salad​Up in San Francisco, the signature dish at the popular network of restaurants called Burma Superstar is a tangy, nutty salad so uniquely delicious, it should be illegal. In some Asian countries, it is.

Street Fusion Cart Launches at Home Depot Center

The Home Depot Center's Street Fusion Cart​Even major league sports are cashing in on the street food trend. This Saturday, May 26th, the Home Depot Center debuts its new Street Fusion food cart at the LA Galaxy vs. Chivas USA game. "Fusion" is the operative word, with a menu that spans half-a ... More >>

Last Night: Top 10 Quotes from KCRW's Global Street Food Panel

Guzzle & NoshCrowds wait in fron of the Nom Nom Truck (left); a taco from Mariscos Jalisco (right).​If you've been to some of the apallingly oversold food truck festivals of the past couple years, the sight of lines snaking around food trucks outside the Broad Stage on Sunday morning should ha ... More >>

DJ of the Week Nobody (Low End Theory, Alpha Pup) Talks Touring, Blank Blue, and Sampling!

Jacob Connelly​ Nobody is a humble genius, one of "extremely minor fame" from Soulmates, Pacific Drift, And Everything Else, Tree Colored See, and Blank Blue. His solo album, released last year on Alpha Pup, attracted rave reviews for its creative use of samples, beats, and Autotune vocals; ... More >>

First Bite: Lukshon, Sang Yoon's Latest

F. FriesemaJonagold apples​ We can be forgiven for surmising that something's up at Lukshon, can't we? Because we are at a Sang Yoon restaurant, nobody has tried to tackle us on the way to our (reserved!) table, and we are drinking Singapore Slings or an Beaujolais-style Canary Islands wine ca ... More >>

Make Your Reservations Now: Sang Yoon's Lukshon Opens

L. Balla​ If there's one thing Sang Yoon knows how to do, it's build anticipation. After months of preparation, rampant media speculation, publicist road blocks, and a few days of preview dinners last week, he finally debuts his new Culver City restaurant, Lukshon, tomorrow. It's safe to say, ... More >>

Eat and Drink Well for Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve 2011

So, it's time to plan New Year's Eve if you haven't already. Avoid the amateur's night problem by putting your 2011 celebration in the hands of restaurant pros who will handle the fine food and drink part. And save you clean-up troubles. Merriment, cheer, reflecting on the past year (which may or ma ... More >>

Theater Reviews: Cinderella, Schmutzigen Deutsche Kabarett

Also, Sweet Mama String Bean and more

Cook This, Not That! Hits Shelves Eat This, Not That! Guessing Game

amazon.com​The 2011 edition of Eat This, Not That!, which stemmed from a popular feature in Men's Health magazine, has hit bookshelves in recent days, along with a new version of spinoff, Cook This, Not That! - the second cookbook in the series, this time featuring recipes under 350 calories. ... More >>

Luster Fades, Fondness Lingers at Formosa Café

Flickr/stevendamron​ Now in its 76th year, this much-loved, occasionally ridiculed museum of old Hollywood has careened from glamor to self-parody and back again so many times, it's impossible for anyone--employees and patrons alike--to gauge whether the drinks are ironic or genuine. That said ... More >>

Been There. Done What?!

Jillian Lauren opens up about her life as a teenage harem girl in Brunei

ROCK PICKS: CEU, GIRL IN A COMA, COLDPLAY, GRAVEYARD

Also, Amadou & Mariam,The Pains of Being Pure, Jason Collett, The Smithereens, and others.

Stage Raw: Actors and Chickens and Bears, Oh My!

THE WEEKEND'S NEW REVIEWS ARE EMBEDDED IN THIS WEEK'S COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSCo-hosts Vanessa Claire Smith and Jake Broder at the 20th annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards Monday night. Photo by Tim NorrisTHE 30TH ANNUAL L.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDSCo-hosts Jake Broder and Vanessa Claire Smith wer ... More >>

Noodle Island: That Slurping Sound

Ancient ginger and a chicken obsession

Kill Them All. Kill Them All!

Music and video games: an endless, wretched love affair

Dining

Quest for Fire: Out of the Flames

L.A.'s best roasted, grilled sizzled and wood-baked cooking

The Firebird

Letters

Young, Dumb and Full of Cumin

Ask Mr. Gold

The Fourth World

Frenetic leisure, acid archaeology and the new breed of travel writers

The Final Frontier

Depending on whom you ask, stem-cell research is either a medical godsend or further proof that God is dead.

Bang the Gong Slowly

Asian-American theater’s great leap forward

Margarine World

Brain Food

There She is, Miss Macabre

Dough Boy

The creator of the California pizza

Mixmasters

Around here, we call it street-level multiculturalism.