Elina Shatkin

Margarita Dinner This four-course dinner from executive chef Alex Moreno features a different margarita (made with Don Julio tequila) to complement each dish. The menu includes lobster ceviche, braised pork belly with an artichoke sunchoke ragout and arroz con leche. WHEN: 7 p.m., Thu. Jan. 19 WHERE: Border Grill Santa......

Son of a Gun is, for the most part, a seafood restaurant, one where Animal duo Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo give reign to their less aggressively meaty side. The join only began serving lunch last week, but already the place is mobbed by 1 p.m. Even for lunch, you'll......

Here's a little fuel for the fire of our slow-burning medlar obsession. About a week-and-a-half ago, Proof Bakery in Atwater Village began selling medlar "Tootsie Rolls" made by Jessica Koslow of Sqirl. Made from the ancient and rare fruit (rare in Southern California, anyway), the chewy little candies sell for......

We don't know whether the swans at the recently reopened Hotel Bel Air are unionized, but several other Wolfgang Puck employees resolved a major labor dispute this week. On Tuesday, a judge gave preliminary approval to a $500,000 settlement that resolved claims by nearly 2,000 current and former employees of......

Naples vs. Venice Regional Italians cuisine goes head-to-head as two mammas, Napoli native Maria Marino and Venetian chef Luciana Ongaro, take over the kitchen at Marino Ristorante to cook dishes in the styles of their Italian hometowns. In one course, paccheri di gragnano al ragu imperiale (rigatoni stuffed with veal,......

With the resurgence in pickling and preserving, Los Angeles County's revived Master Food Preserver (MFP) program is all the rage. The MFP, which we first reported on back in January, is taking applications for the spring 2012 class. Open to L.A. County residents, the 12-week session covers canning, pressure canning,......

This Sunday, South Bay local Jed Sanford will close down a Hermosa Beach landmark. Union Cattle Co. will shutter for a month-long overhaul and will reopen in early February as Abigaile, an upscale American brasserie with touches of Italian, French and Spanish influence. The chef is Max DiMare of Wood......

It's National Hot Toddy Day, another holiday seemingly invented for food writers who need to fill blogs with dubious copy (cough, cough). Not that we have anything against warm cocktails. They're romantic. They're old. They're vaguely medicinal. Amid the tame Los Angeles winter, however, hot toddy consumption lacks a certain......

The latest chef to step behind the virtual turntable at KCRW is Jonathan Waxman, who returns to his Southern California roots in his set for the radio station's Guest DJ Project. Waxman, the chef/owner of Barbuto in New York City and author Italian My Way, has a short but diverse......