Barbara Hansen

The Taiwanese restaurant Monja has just opened a branch in Rosemead. Actually, it's not a branch but a space three times as large as the original Monja in City of Industry. There, the kitchen was too small to handle the crush of customers. The new site will serve as a......

What could be more delicious than chocolates infused with black garlic? If you don't agree, don't worry; you can't taste them here anyway. They're only available in South Korea. And they're not as weird as they may sound. Black garlic is ordinary garlic that has been fermented and aged until......

Imagine a dish so brilliantly orchestrated you'd assume it came from a top-drawer chef. Wouldn't you listen with respect when he told you it was a shrimp-infused dip with wild-harvested Asian vegetables? And wouldn't you expect to pay an inflated price? Instead, that very dip is humble enough to serve......

You'll feel good when you eat at Mexicano, the new restaurant planned by Jaime Martín del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu of La Casita Mexicana. Not just because you've had a delicious meal but because you'll be eating food prepared by jobless older Latinos who've been given a place to work......

You can't have too much of a good thing -- that is, if you like Thai food. Next week you'll be able to prove this at two events that will provide all the curries, noodles, grilled meats and spicy salads that you could dream of. The first ever National Thai......

California's Keitt mangoes are real desert rats. They grow at Mecca in the Coachella Valley, where temperatures can top 120 degrees. But this doesn't bother the Keitts; they thrive in the blistering heat, bulking up to as much as two pounds apiece. That's probably because the mangoes take in a......

You've probably spent extravagantly on a kitchen appliance that you thought you would love forever -- used it once, then stuffed it away, never mind the guilt. This almost happened to Alain Cohen, chef-owner of Got Kosher? Café on Pico Boulevard. Cohen spent a couple of grand on a schwarma-maker......

If you want the lowdown on where to eat really good Mexican food in Oxnard, here is your list, with one proviso. It's based solely on the merits of the salsas these places put out, whether they're actually Mexican or not. The list is short -- just five made the......

Better get moving -- or you'll miss out on Hatch chiles.The season for these prized chiles from New Mexico starts August 8 and lasts to the end of September. Because time is short, Hatch fans buy huge batches, then roast the chiles and store them in the freezer. What's so......

Forget the bulgogi and galbi. Instead, chill out in Koreatown with the coolest noodles around. You probably already know naengmyeon, the buckwheat noodles that come either in chilled broth or dry, with spicy seasonings. It's a Koreatown staple, but so are other cold noodle dishes that you'll want when it's......