"sage" news and stories

Champagne is taking off in restaurants all over LA.

In the kitchen, why mess with a classic? Keep macaroni and cheese simple. Sage is the star in recipes for Southwestern Squash Stew, Cheddar-Sage Cornbread, and Petrale Sole with Sage, Poblano and Tomatoes. Make sure you pick the right sage for your taste. It's not just for boba. Tapioca is going fom childhood pudding to sophisticated desserts: Tapioca with peaches and mint, Tapioca with strawberry gelée and fresh strawberries, and Cinnamon tapioca brûlée with Cherry Gastrique.

Out on the restaurant scene, Leslie Brenner visits an old stand-by, Giorgio's. Susan La Tempa praises The Colony Cafe in West LA and Betty Hallock tracks down the recipe for California white sturgeon from downtown's Water Grill.

Until this dish, I was never a liver lover. Once again, I witnessed the amazing transformative properties of bacon, actually, in this case, pancetta. The following recipe has evolved since I started making it, and over the years I've incorporated aspects of recipes from Saveur, Marcella Hazan and Mark Bittman.

While this 'sauce' can easily serve as a fine pasta course with some pappardelle, my favorite thing to do is turn it into a paté by blending it in the food processor with a little tomato paste. The tomato paste adds an acidic sweetness to the liver and turns the color from that muddy paté-gray to a wonderful rust color.

[Photo: Nick Vagnoni]