Test Kitchen (Sotto) 9575 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90035 Dining date: 9/19/11 Test Kitchen’s run ended almost a year ago now, but its spirit lives on. The Townhouse hosted a reunion to celebrate the one-year anniversary of TK with two simultaneous dinners (one upstairs and one downstairs, $70 each) with completely different chef/mixologist lineups….
Picca 9575 West Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90035 Dining date: 8/23/11 Judging by the fact that the restaurant was packed on a Tuesday night, Picca is still one of the hottest restaurants in LA and definitely one of the biggest restaurant openings of the year. My first two trips to Picca were in parties of…
Dining date: 8/28/11 I don’t cook with mushrooms a whole lot. In fact, I grew up not liking them, always pushing them aside on my plate. Now, I’m far from a lover of mushrooms (unless they’re truffles?), but I’ll usually eat them if put in front of me. I stumbled upon some chanterelles at the…
Picnic in the Hills The Taste 2011 9900 Wilshire Blvd Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Dining date: 9/3/11 The Taste’s final event of the weekend-long festival was this picnic, hosted by Giada DeLaurentiis. I was glad to return to Beverly Hills (my favorite of the venues I visited); for the most part, the set-up was similar…
Baja Night 3.0 – Mexicali Taco & Co., Ricky’s Fish Tacos, Churro Borough of Los Angeles 1st St & Beaudry Ave Los Angeles, CA 90012 Dining date: 9/10/11 Street food has been spotlighted more and more in LA the last few years, largely led by the popularity of gourmet food trucks. However, two of my…
Shin-Sen-Gumi 132 S Central Ave Los Angeles, CA 90013 Dining date: 9/8/11 Little Tokyo has a lot of places that serve ramen, but the only really notable option has been Daikokuya. For me, the greatest downside is its own popularity – there is always a line outside, often very long. Enter Shin-Sen-Gumi, one of the…
Street Eats The Taste 2011 Paramount Studios 5555 Melrose Avenue Los Angeles, CA Dining date: 9/4/11 Day three of The Taste brought 4 events: Fashion Bites Brunch, Street Eats, Desserts After Dark, and Food Noir. I wanted to check out the Hollywood venue, and “Street Eats” would provide a perfect opportunity. I feel like ‘street…
Secrets from the Kitchen & Cellar The Taste 2011 9900 Wilshire Blvd Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Dining date: 9/3/11 After Friday’s opening night event “Burgers & Beer,” Saturday brought two more: “Secrets from the Kitchen & Cellar” and “Taco Tequila Tryst.” I elected to go to the first. Whereas the “Burgers & Beer” event was focused around…