Jessica Ritz

Credit: Paul Koob

Know Thy Cheeses: A, B, Cheese!: The Alphabet Book About Cheese

There are many books about cheese. There are plenty of books that depict mice, and their love of cheese. And countless children's book authors and illustrators have figured out clever ways to show the alphabet, but none with the specific dedication to dairy products and rodents as seen in A,......
The critic is inducted into the Beard's Who's Who.; Credit: J. Ritz

Last Night: The 2011 James Beard Foundation Awards + The Winners

We Californians have a reputation, however fictional or exaggerated, for looking on the bright side of things. So when it comes to reporting on the 2011 James Beard Foundation Awards, which took place last night at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, we'll take a glass-half-full approach. Even if......
A traditional Passover food takes many forms

A Passover Cocktail Recipe: The Sangria Haroset

Charoset -- also spelled haroset, charoses, haroses, charoseth and so on, depending on your phonetic preference -- comes in many forms and textures. Some traditions cook and pulverize dried fruits, nuts and spices into a paste suited for spreading, which is all the better to symbolize the mortar the Jews......
Credit: J. Ritz

Now Open: Mother Dough Pizza in Los Feliz

When a pizza restaurant runs out of dough during a busy night, it's a bummer for hungry customers who show up expecting to eat. For the restaurant, there could be worse problems. To anyone else, the irony is kind of amusing, given that the business's name itself contains said pizza......
Traditional Venetian sweet-and-sour Pesce in carpione at Angeli Caffe.; Credit: J. Ritz

Passover Roundup: 8 Ways to Celebrate Pesach in a Restaurant

Los Angeles chefs and restaurants approach Passover with respect for tradition, while applying their own unconventional and unexpected touches. There will be plenty of matzo ball soup. And then there will be Thai-style gefilte fish, macaroons and macarons. Most of the following holiday options on April 18 and 19th, however,......
Credit: Flickr user: R. E. ~

Back on Top: Yamashiro Farmers Market Returns to Hollywood

When it opened last spring, the farmers market located at the sprawling property adjacent to Yamashiro restaurant in the Hollywood Hills gave the people what they want. Maybe they didn't know they wanted it, but anyone who made the brief trek up Sycamore Avenue was rewarded with some of the......