Besha Rodell

A few weeks back, a reader wrote to us asking when I might review "restaurants that may appeal to men." At the time, I thought that the distinction was bogus -- what's the difference? We all eat, right? Well, it turns out that gender-specific restaurants are becoming kind of a......

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 John Sedlar, chef and owner of Rivera and Playa. John Sedlar is plotting a sea change (pardon the pun) for Playa. "I'm in the thick of......

In recent months, I've noticed a disturbing trend: The base price for a bottle of wine at the low end of a wine list in many restaurants has risen from around $30 to around $40. While $30-35 used to be the standard for the cheaper bottles on a list, many......

We thought we were going to a small reception at the State Department. It was day 3 of the Association of Food Journalists annual conference, this year held in Washington D.C. As we stood in line to undergo the rigorous security clearances needed to enter the building (we had been......

My vegetarian friend eyed the menu at Tar & Roses grumpily. "Such a tease," she humphed. At first, she had been delighted that an entire section of the menu was dedicated to vegetables, but as she looked closer, she realized that many of the vegetable dishes had meat or fish......

The Association of Food Journalists conference is taking part right now in Washington D.C., and this afternoon over lunch the ceremony took place for the AFJ's annual awards. 42 winners were announced in 13 catagories. LA Weekly took home two prizes during the awards: Food Editor Amy Scattergood took second......

This week, the restaurant review is a consideration of chef Andrew Kirschner's very popular Santa Monica restaurant, Tar & Roses. We urge you to read the full review, but for a quicker bite, here's the diet version: Food: Creative, produce-inspired small plates. From the review: "Andrew Kirschner has taken everything......

See more of Anne Fishbein's photography from Tar & Roses. At 5:28 p.m. on a Wednesday, the doors of Tar & Roses are locked. One by one, men in suits and groups of women in cocktail dresses approach the doors on the corner of Wilshire and Sixth Street in Santa......

Slate has a story today by Leon Neyfakh that aims to parse the true meaning and personality behind each and every Pepperidge Farm cookie. Driven by a need to understand his own love for the relatively boring Chessmen, Neyfakh sets out to eat every Pepperidge Farm cookie available. It was......

Among the weird and wonderful wines produced in Hungary, Kiralyudvar 's Tokaji Furmint Sec has been a favorite of wine writers and wine geeks for years. Widely available and priced at around $20 a bottle retail, the dry tokaji, made primarily from furmint grapes, is all golden honey petrol goodness,......