Despite New York's deli domination -- and the alarm of passionate "Seinfeld" enthusiasts -- "Save the Deli" author David Sax believes Los Angeles to be the true deli capital of the U.S.
"Top Chef" finalist Stephan Richter opens the "smart and cheeky" Stefan's at L.A. Farm restaurant in Santa Monica.
The Times marvels at the jarringly whimsical shape -- and "powerfully aromatic" flavor -- of the "Buddha's hand" fruit, and praises ragu as "fall food as its best: slow cooking that develops deep, harmonic flavors."
A Los Angeles food club has been meeting monthly for a whopping 45 years.
An ode to the breaded goodness of pork schnitzel, plus tons of good cooking tips.
Lost Coast Brewing adds to its proliferation of fruity brews with a Tangerine Wheat Beer, a beverage primed to be "a charming outdoor sipper."
The delicious aspects of Chinese Hunan cooking and a positive review of Xiang Wei Lou, a "plain but spiffy café" in San Gabriel, Calif.
This year's Anatolian Cultures & Food Festival boasted amazing, sticky dondurma ice cream, full-scale structural reproductions and even a Turkish quesadilla.
Writer Dan Neil weighs in on Carl's Jr.'s sexy Padma Lakshmi commercial and the politics of mixing sex and fast food.
A brief review for Costa Mesa's Pizzeria Ortica, which offers unusual fare like house-cured yellowtail and milk-braised Kurobuta pork short ribs ... plus a more detailed review by critic Irene Virbila.
Here's what's cooking in the Los Angeles Times Food Section today: What's hot, what's not: Russ Parsons and Amy Scattergood weigh in on what a kitchen essential really is.
Celebrity chefs will cut some costs to keep their restaurants afloat in this economy. But cutting quality remains verboten.
Spice your own: Combine spices to create something special...and uniquely you.
On the dining scene, SIV gives new tapas joint Bar Pintxo 1½ stars and Fraiche is doing so well in Culver City, it's already thinking of expanding to additional locations.
Naturally, every Food section around the country is covering Thanksgiving, and The Los Angeles Times is only different in the approach: looking at the Thanksgiving table as a palette of colors:
The most interesting article of the day (in my opinion, of course) is from Regina Schrambling who ponders the anonymity of restaurant reviewers from professional journalists to bloggers (and if you happen to recognize a mysterious half face on the article, yes, that is yours deliciously!)
I know it's already the end of August, which means the close of the season for the quintessential summer dessert, ice cream, but let's be real here. Is there anyone who doesn't eat ice cream year round?
I didn't think so. Besides, I've always been a late bloomer, so ice cream on the patio starts now for me, especially since I got a brand new ice cream maker fairly recently.
While I have the ice cream maker, as well adorable bowls and spoons to serve the many flavors I have made thus far, I realized that I didn't have a proper scooper. I was scraping ice cream, gelato, and sorbet with a large dinner spoon and trying unsuccessfully to shape it into a perfect ball. I have now come to the conclusion that I need a proper ice cream scooper.
Thanks to the LA Times, which reviewed seven ice cream scoopers, I now know which one I should get. Though there were some fancy scoopers like the Deni electric scooper that's supposed to make it easier to scoop hard ice creams, and the Calphalon Three-Way that makes scoops into pretty floral shapes, I live the one that also got the highest rating - the KitchenArt scooper with the gel grip (the one pictured top row, middle).
As far as wine regions, the Central Coast of California uses unusual grapes and SIV praises a hot wine, Le Picpoul from the Languedoc region in France.
You must have A/C in your house if you can stand to be in the kitchen! White wine gelees are a refreshing addition to the summer table and the Times hunts down the recipe for Grilled Cheese from restaurant Lucques.
The turkey turned out perfectly, but the gravy's a different story. Avoid botching the one recipe that guests pour over their entire Thanksgiving plates with these quick fixes.
What Can I Get You Folks? - Eating Out for Thanksgiving
In Defense of Guy Fieri
'Top Chef Vegas' - And Then There Were Five
