Daina Beth Solomon

At the Antigua Cultural Coffee House on a recent afternoon, Valentina Silva talked with us about Eastside Food Bites, her voice carrying over the coffee grinder's noisy whirr and the stereo's booming cumbia. Silva often eats at local spots such as Antigua, close to her Mt. Washington home in northeast......

The Computer Age. The Digital Revolution. The Information Era. Many also say it's the Food Age. We're bombarded by facts and opinions on how, what and where to eat. How to choose? That's where technology helps by putting ideas into our hands, literally. More and more, travel and food guides......

In this age of food we're bombarded by facts and opinions on how, what and where to eat. We Angelenos especially like our fine restaurants and casual eateries. But where to go? There are more than 20,000 restaurants in Greater L.A., according to the Weekly's Voiceplaces.com. There seem to be......

"When I go back to Japan, some people assume that I head straight for sushi bars," Sonoko Sakai once wrote in the L.A. Times. "But my favorite pastime is making pilgrimages to artisanal soba shops." Soba, which Sakai describes as "thin, earthy-looking buckwheat noodles," has long captured the writer-filmmaker's interest......

You always knew you wanted chili to complement your French dip sandwich. Didn't you? Well, find out tomorrow. Beginning at 10:30 a.m., Philippe the Original will offer a free cup of chili to the first 500 people who purchase a French Dipped Sandwich. The chili usually sells for $2.20 a......

Despite its name, The Escondite -- "hideout" in Spanish -- isn't that hard to find. It sits on the southeast corner of S. San Pedro and Boyd Streets on the border between Little Tokyo and Skid Row. (Owners Erin Carnes and Brian Traynam call the location "Skidrowkyo.") What's tricky is......

Misión 19 in Tijuana, chef Javier Plascencia's first independent venture, is celebrating its one-year-anniversary. Read "The Missionary," a profile of Plascencia by Dana Goodyear in this week's New Yorker, and you'll learn why that matters. Plascencia's mission is to bring innovative but authentic cuisine to the notorious border city where......

Sushi Nozawa is not known for its customer service. Many call chef Kazunomi Nozawa a "sushi tyrant," our critic once wrote. The L.A. Times dubbed him "imperious." And the restaurant famously features a sign that reads: "Special of the Day: Trust Me." So it wasn't a huge surprise that the......