Elina Shatkin

--Portland, OR: Restaurateur discovers 1809 Italian cookbook. --Anchorage: Local pigs' popularity leads to pork drought. --Duluth: Chocolate-covered sausage. --Las Vegas: Chefs offer suggestions on treats for Santa. --Middleton, WI: Restaurant to hold Seinfeld-inspired Festivus fundraiser --San Francisco: The best hot cocoa in the Bay Area. --France: French farmer jailed in......

After long ago upgrading from fast food spuds that were defrosted and deep-fried to pre-soaked, twice-fried shoestring fries, it seemed French fry technology could advance no further. Or so we thought. Heck, if a disposable razor can have five blades, why can't a potato be fried three times? On a......

Restaurant reviewers like to believe they operate incognito. That's no easy task in the internet age, and it just got much more difficult for Los Angeles Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila (@sirenevribila) who was outed by an angry restaurateur. Actually, first she was kicked out then she was outed......

After a year in legal limbo and what looked like certain defeat only weeks ago, the House this afternoon passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (a.k.a. S. 510), paving the way for the first overhaul of America's food safety system in seven decades. The vote was 255-144 mostly along party......

The battle for the streets of Venice has moved -- to a parking lot. And as of today, it looks like an accord may have been reached. A few of the food trucks that had been banned from parking on Abbot Kinney at last month's First Fridays, will be allowed......

Spanish chefs José Andrés, Ferran Adrià and Juan Mari Arzak will pop up in Los Angeles for what's being billed as "a discussion on innovations in food and technology." The event, which occurs at 5:30 p.m. on January 3rd at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, is free and open......

Bite Bar in Santa Monica has closed, as of yesterday -- though chef Elizabeth Goel plans to revamp the concept and introduce "a new format" i.e. catering and special events. The small restaurant and bakery, which opened in March of 2010, was known for its baked goods (especially the croissants)......

From humble taco tables to neighborhood trucks to brick-and-mortar joints, Los Angeles has no shortage of taquerias. Yes, that might be the understatement of the century. The rub is that while we're awash in carne asada and al pastor, Mexico City-style tacos de guisado are something of a rarity. They're......

--Sinosoul tweets that the San Gabriel outpost of Sichuan restaurant Shu Feng Garden, a Jonathan Gold favorite, has closed. (Rowland Heights location still open.) --Yesterday was officially Burrito Day in LA. Vote for your fave. Echo Park Now --Huell Howser returns to Broguiere's Dairy to learn how they make eggnog......