Besha Rodell

This morning Adam Roberts, aka the Amateur Gourmet. posted an essay comparing communal tables to communism -- nice in theory, he says, not so great in practice. He's not the first -- here on Squid Ink last year, Elina Shatkin penned an op-ed expressing a similar opinion. Roberts offers many......

My mother's boyfriend, Jim, is a collector. Or, more accurately, a hoarder. Not the scary rats-in-the-couch-under-the-dead-dog kind (not yet, at least), but still. The guy has a lot of stuff. A lifelong North Carolinian, his house in Winston-Salem is full of animal skulls, stacks of magazines, shrines to various deities,......

"People think that if you work with high end cocktails you spend all your time drinking in upscale bars," says Eric Alperin, the bartender behind The Varnish. "But that's not necessarily the case." And while Alperin says he does spend a lot of time checking out his friend's bars to......

The Chef's Library is a series in which we ask chefs around town to tell us about their favorite cookbooks. Today, we talk to David Lentz, chef and owner of The Hungry Cat. "I truly that cooking is spontaneous, and I think that my cooking is spontaneous...you are influenced (or......

Leading up to this year's Best of L.A. issue (due out Oct. 4), we'll be counting down, in no particular order, 100 of our favorite dishes. 51: Almond croissant at Proof Bakery. It's hard not to drool all over the glass of the bakery case at Proof Bakery in Atwater......

Where the Chefs Eat is an ongoing series in which we ask a local chef to give us his or her favorite spots for everyday or cheap dining options. This week, Michael Voltaggio, chef at West Hollywood's ink. and ink.sack, tells us his favorite spots in L.A. "I was in......

This week the review focuses on a Baldwin Park oddity, Juan's Restaurante. Odd why? Well you can read the full review to find out, or check out the abridged version:......

See more of Anne Fishbein's photography from Holy Mole. On the plate in front of me crouches a small half-chicken, positioned on its side as if curled in the fetal position. Somehow, the plating and the bird's orientation make it especially hard to remove any meat — the breast is......

When a book arrives on your desk titled The MILF Diet, it's hard to imagine how anything could be much worse than the title itself. But it does get worse. Way, way worse. It begins as soon as the acknowledgments. Among others, Author Jessica Porter thanks "My stepmother, Anna, a......

Last week, it was finally announced that the owners of The Daily Grill, a chain with 29 locations nationwide, will be opening the first freestanding location of their "gastropub" concept, Public School 310, in Culver City this November. Yesterday, Nation's Restaurant News reported that the company's president Bob Spivak says......