 |
| Caesar Salad. Photo: stu_spivack, Flickr. |
Continue reading Restaurant That Invented Caesar Salad Closes
 |
| Mario Batali. Photo: Bauer-Griffin. |
Continue reading Mario Batali Owes $75,000 in Back Rent
 |
| Café des Artistes, Photo: NDX Photos |
Continue reading Cafe des Artistes Closes After 92 Years
Another legendary American drinking/dining outpost is under threat of demolition. San Francisco's Tonga Room, located in the Fairmont Hotel, may be forced out after more than seven decades of pushing Mai Tai and pu-pu. It seems the tower of the Fairmont in which the Tonga and its adjacent Hurricane Bar located is slated for redevelopment into condominiums. Plans for the new construction do not include the restaurant. 
Add Albertson's to the roll call of companies shutting doors due to the recession. The grocery chain has announced that they will be closing multiple stores in economically slammed locations like Florida, Texas, California and Nevada. Albertson's will still be the second-biggest supermarket chain in the U.S., but a bit of the bloom will be off the rose (or, if you prefer, ripeness off the tomato or mayo off the macaroni salad).
If you have ever flown into LAX, you have seen the Encounter Restaurant. The iconic building - a futuristic, spider-like construction - is one of LA's more famous landmarks because it is so recognizable. The restaurant is situated in the center of the structure, where the arches come together, and it rotates, giving diners a panoramic view as they turn past the building's glass walls. But the only encounter diners are likely to have with this restaurant now is a view from afar. The building that houses the restaurant has been shut down, deemed unstable by inspectors after a half-ton piece of stucco "fell off the underside of one of the arches and smashed into the eatery's roof." The arches don't provide nearly enough support for the restaurant itself and the structure hasn't been renovated in over 50 years. It will be closed for at least six months.
It looks like Mario Batali is giving up on
one of his New York eateries, Bistro du Vent, only 15 months after its opening. The Bistro is located on 9th St.
in midtown Manhattan. It received reviews ranging from "not bad" to "deeply satisfying" and
Frank Bruni gave it two
stars, so the food isn't what is causing the sale. Its downfall was probably helped by the scandal that occurred
last year, in which "four employees - including a chef - were caught on [security] videotape in a steamy
after-hours sex romp" in the restaurant. Though the employees were subsequently fired, it's not the sort of thing
that necessarily enhances a restaurant's reputation. Bistro du Vent has 12 years left on the lease and a
$13,500 monthly rent.
Perhaps I missed the taste boat on this one.
Beard Papa's is a chain of Japanese bakeries/dessert cafes that are famous for one thing and one thing only: cream puffs. When rumours of an LA location started last year, that was all I ever heard about. Beard Papa's. There's now one in Hollywood and another recent opening further south in Gardena, and I do recall what a feeding frenzy it was was when it first opened its doors.
Beard Papa was supposed to open its first location in Northern California at 99 Yerba Buena Lane in San Francisco back in January, but apparently, it is still not open. May the force be with you on opening day.
The LA Times cooks, starting with the basics of the basic, mirepoix, and glorifies timballo, a dish made of pasta or risotto that is baked into a mold. I think I remember something like this from my chilhood. It was called "spaghetti pie."
Teakettles are put to the test to determine which method is best for boiling water - stove top vs electric. The result? Seems to be a draw.
Dining about La La Land, SIV visits Boneyard Bistro for some barbecue and asks "Really, who wants to eat venison with foie gras in a casual, loud setting?" She gives it two stars (**). Counter-Intelligence heads down to Torrance for a study in washoku at Yuzu, and we get the lowdown on the down lows of Bastide's closing. It was just "too French." I don't know why, but that's funny to me.
In the world of wine, the Times gives us tips on how to spot a bad wine, and SIV highlights a 2004 Blanc Fumé de Pouilly par Didier Dagueneau (say that five times, fast) from the Loire. At $45 a bottle, it's "a relative bargain for a wine of this quality."
On January 14, Rockenwagner in Santa Monica will
close its doors.
For almost 20 years, Hans Rockenwagner has been serving California-fied German food in a lofty space on Main Street. In more recent history, Rockenwagner changed its format a bit and built a restaurant within the restaurant, the small 30-seat "Rockenwagner Room" separated from the Brasserie by a few curtains and a lot of dollars. I'm not exactly sure why Rockenwagner is shutting down, but there are rumours that Herr Rockenwagner isn't completely bidding us auf wiedersen.
If you're in LA and you haven't yet been to Rockenwagner, there's no time like these last few days. Rockenwagner has a rockin' happy hour during which Hans' famous pretzel burger, along with a few other items, is only $5. The pretzel burger on the regular menu is three times that! Of course, dinner is great, too. I had the wild boar stew and thought it was almost a good as the weisswurst appetizer I had first.
With Wilshire taking over Knoll's Black Forest Inn and Rockenwagner closing its doors in a few days, where in LA's westside am I going to get my spatzle fix?!? Hopefully not Schatzi on Main...
[Photo Sarah Gilbert]
A few weeks after the fall of Baghdad, Chen Xianzhong opened the first authentic Chinese restaurant in post-Sadaam Iraq. His only competition? A rival joint in the Green Zone whose proprietors he writes off as "amateurs" whilst intimating that the restaurant doubles as a massage parlor. Everything was going great for awhile - until a suicide bombing "spewed body parts into the dining room." Now Chen and a few workers prepare take-out from the top of his Chinese goods emporium for a few regulars who got hooked on his food before choas wrecked his business. Craig S. Smith has more in the New York Times.
Famed French restaurant, La Brasserie in Washington D.C. closed last month after 27 years of catering to the Capitol Hill crowd. The restaurant was was located in a town house on Massachusetts Avenue. Famed diners included Al Gore Sonny Bono, Jimmy Stewart, Paul Newman and Jane Fonda. The owners bought the restaurant in 1978 and the restaurant served French-inspired food. Considering that this is the second closing of a long-established restaurant serving French food in a major city that we've seen recently, I have to wonder if maybe people just are not interested in eating French anymore. 
Maisonette, the only Ohio restaurant to earn five stars in the latest Mobil Travel Guide, suddenly closed its doors Monday. The owner had been planning to relocate to a suburban area for fall 2006 but shut down due to slow summer business and lack of cash flow. The restaurant was in its 57th year and six employees had been working there more than 30 years. According to the AP, the owner, Nathan Comisar, still plans to open the new suburban restaurant but has been running into zoning problems. The article also seems to hint that Maisonette's troubles weren't only due to summer slowdown but also that the restaurant's luxe French style wasn't connecting with urban consumers anymore.
December may have peppermint bark, but have you thought to incorporate the taste of autumn into white chocolate with a rich pumpkin swirl?
10 More Dirty Restaurant Tricks
5 Things You Didn't Know About Turducken
10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love to Hate| # | Blogger | Posts | Cmts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slashfood Editor | 87 | 0 |
| 2 | Alexa Weibel | 50 | 2 |
| 3 | Sarah LeTrent | 37 | 0 |
| 4 | Hanna Raskin | 29 | 0 |
| 5 | Sara Bonisteel | 18 | 0 |
| 6 | Emily Farris | 18 | 0 |
| 7 | Jennifer Lawinski | 15 | 0 |
| 8 | Michael Thomas Hastings | 10 | 0 |
| 9 | Monika Bartyzel | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | Jennifer Iserloh | 8 | 0 |
| 11 | David Koeppel | 7 | 0 |
| 12 | Mike Pomranz | 6 | 1 |
| 13 | Jose Ralat Maldonado | 6 | 1 |
| 14 | Joshua M. Bernstein | 5 | 2 |
| 15 | Lisa Schweitzer | 5 | 0 |
| 16 | LeNell Smothers | 5 | 0 |
| 17 | Erin Meister | 4 | 0 |
| 18 | Max Shrem | 4 | 0 |
| 19 | John Devore | 4 | 0 |
| 20 | Sarah Christine | 3 | 0 |
Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:
