i8tonite

Tag: food

  • Food, Media & Food Media: My Opinion

    If you read my posts through my social media, I love food. Not just eating it but all of it. The business of it. The cooking of it. The exploitation of it. If there is one thing that we can all agree on concerning food ….it’s not a want but a need. Yes, there are expensive food items that we might want such as foie gras or white truffles but we all need access to fresh food, produce and clean drinking water. Dining out is a luxury.

    I bring this up because of food and media. There are food writers and food reviewers just as there are a variety of culinary newspapers, food magazines, and cooking blogs. Each covering the prospective news with a different angle and format for particular audience.

    I’ve been following the Dallas Morning News brouhaha regarding the restaurant critic, Leslie Brenner. I’m throwing my two cents into this. (Not as if someone asked.) However, I feel strongly that a newspaper has the right to freedom of speech. For anyone to censor a publication because the restaurant doesn’t like it…well, is wrong. It brings up some of the most terrifying news events. If the chef and his crew are already doing $150,000 worth of business then good for them….nothing to worry about. (Most journalists, in contrast, may not even make that in 4 years of writing for a newspaper.)

    Coming from a consumer and not a marketer, I love food reviews but they don’t determine my willingness to dine at a certain restaurant even if it’s from a Michelin guide. My selection is dependent on a couple of things such as does the owner/chef have more than one restaurant? I don’t want to go to restaurant where I’m supporting an empire. (Hence, I won’t eat at Guy Fieri’s or Mario Batali’s places.) I still love the romance of a neighborhood European bistro/ brasserie/ trattoria serving up delicious regional cuisine by one chef who owns the place; not by one chef who hires a multitude of chefs to cook under his/her name.

    In today’s day and age, no one is depending upon one source of medium. We have Facebook, Instagram and Twitter explaining, photographing everything before there is a printed word. Even if the food isn’t liked by one critic, there is always another critic who will love it. It’s the nature of the beast.

    Furthermore, I rely on the food reviewers. I want them and their publications to shell out the $200 or $300 tab before I get there….and tell me their thoughts. It’s incredibly expensive to dine out and I want to know that I’m getting a really good meal. It’s not coming back up the way it went down. However, I find a reveiwer who’s tastes run towards mine. LA Times’ critic Jonathan Gold is really towards far-flung, Asian foods. San Francisco’s Michael Bauer (from the Chronicle) prefers European based fare. (This doesn’t mean that they don’t like other cuisines but we all have personal preferences.)

    When there is a chef/owner, who puts up too much of a fuss about a reviewer coming in to dine or eat, it makes me feel uncomfortable….as if my freedom of speech is being taken away. The now-defunct Red Medicine “outed” Los Angeles Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbilia and I sort of found it heartbreaking. I personally felt she was doing her job. No one, not even a restaurant reviewer, deserves to be treated without respect. They are after all a paying customer. And she was a paying customer…regardless of who was paying for it.  Unlike the entertainment media, who get to view free movies and theater, then give a bad review; restaurant writers from major outlets publications pay for it such as “Bon Appetit”, “Food + Wine”, “Saveur” and other major newspapers. It’s paid for with journalistic integrity even if it costs an arm and a leg.

    Former New York Magazine restaurant critic, Gael Greene, and Ruth Reichl, former New York Times restaurant critic, would both dress up in costumes to review dining establishments. Maybe it needs to go back to that system so that a consumer and critic can get what they rightly pay for? Ultimately, the reason a critic gets to pay for the food is to determine if they will…or won’t…review the establishment. And it’s done anonymously so that the kitchen and staff are serving up just as if they were regular customers paying a bill.

    It’s not about taking sides. No one wants to be powerful enough to shut down an establishment that’s putting people to work. But at the end of the day, being a consumer, I want to know that the price tag for my meal will be worth the money I’m spending. It’s not cheap to eat out, nor am I saying that it’s inexpensive to own a restaurant…but there is always a better way than mean-spiritedness.

    To the media: I know so many restaurants and chefs who need to be reviewed, want to be reviewed and would love the attention…give it to them and ignore anyone who doesn’t want it. Tell me the news, don’t become it. (Listening up “The Today Show”….my opinion.)

  • A Grown-Up Pizza Party

    I’m a little late to my first post of 2015. I actually caught up a couple of weeks ago but now I’m slagging behind. Two posts per week was way too demanding so I brought it down to one per week. That’s 52 entries per year. Geez….it’s a damn publishing house.

    My friends keep saying what a great idea it was to have a pizza party for the holidays. The idea,  which incorporated 3 agendas: a housewarming, a birthday and a holiday, came across my mind because of a friend’s invitation to her 4th Annual Cookie exchange celebrating Hanukkah/ Christmas. As we know, even though you say to people you don’t need anything; inevitably and good-naturedly, guests will bring something. By having a themed event where it was around a particular food  guests could ….bake, buy or have their food delivered….it allowed partygoers to participate inexpensively in your new found home, birthday and holidays.

    I’ve decided that a party is a very hard thing to have as an adult. We want them to be fun and full of conversation but we don’t want them to be drunken revelries or a rehash of our youth. We want our friends and family to meet and enjoy each other but without the sex in our parents bedroom or additional alcoholic inappropriateness which we used to think was charming when living in the East Village at the age of 21(or at least I did). No drugs just  fancy (and expensive) beers, wines and of course, a house drink. (In this case, Nick had his own “Cosmopolitan” recipe.) We want music but we don’t want it too loud so it drowns out the conversation and inevitably, no matter what you do, people still congregate in the kitchen or around the booze, even though the rest of the house is empty. There, of course, are the no-shows but then the tried and true stumble up the front porch, excited to be sharing your new life bringing, in this case, pizza.

    And what pizza we had!  I believe that the pies were arguably some of LA’s best joints such as Hollywood Pies (Chicago deep-dish), Prime Pizza, Stella Barra, Pizzeria Mozza, Mulberry Street, Wolfgang Puck, Big Mama’s Pizza, and Vicolo (a frozen cornmeal crust, made out of San Francisco and associated to the legendary Hayes Grill). A few of my culinary friends even made their pizza such as Mark, who made a “flammchuken”  and Mary who made her own freshly made Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza with homemade dough. The pizza that we ate that night showcased some of the best food in the Los Angeles/West Hollywood/ Hollywood/ Pico-Robertson area. (Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale, The Valley….different areas, so don’t get your underwear in a bunch.) Each pizza was a standout.

    Vicolo was a bit of a surprise when Donna pulled it out of a bag. It’s probably my favorite grocery store pizza. Living in San Francisco, I discovered Vicolo at my favorite grocery store, Falletti’s Foods on Broderick. It’s this buttery, cornmeal crust pizza found in a grocer’s aisle; not frozen but freshly shrink-wrapped. It has the honor to be associated to Patty Untermann, a former restaurant critic at the defunct San Francisco Examiner. (Untermann also owns the legendary Hayes Street Grill, a 35 year old Bay Area seafood icon , a great place to go before or after attending a concert at Davies Symphony Hall, a block away. )

    My friend Shelley invited me to dinner with Kathy and Jeff when Stella Barra first opened. I got to meet the very young but accomplished Chef/ Owner Jeff Mahin, who talked to the table about his process of dough-making. Pizzeria Mozza, I attended the friends and family dinner and met Nancy a couple of times.

    I could go on about my past experiences with some of these pizzas but it’s a new year and a new life. I now can look upon these gifts of food with new eyes and thoughts. Some people think of music with fond memories and food can bring up the same sense of personal history. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, you should stop and try at least one of these places.

    Next year, I’m thinking Chinese food. Happy 2015!

  • 2014: My Year in Food

    2014: My Year in Food

    With another year ending, I get a little reflective over 2014 and of my eating. Mulling it over in my head, I chronicled my year with food, cooking and eating as spurring me forward.  I still marvel at my ever changing tastebuds. Now that I’m firmly planted in middle age with no way of going back, I know it it’s my tongue that is leading me forward.

    Growing up I never even comprehended that I would physically get to be in the places that I’ve been nor did I ever think that I would eat and roast cauliflower once a week or make bread every other.  It was Shasta grape soda and the rare Filipino Chicken Adobe stewed up by my father. As an enlisted Navy man, these were rare occasions since he mostly was at sea.  With my Southern-bred and Caucasian mother, it was a can opener and a can of Campbell’s “franks and beans” since she wasn’t a big homesteader. If cooking was in the maternal cards, it was a meatloaf made with ketchup, stale bread, onion soup mix, topped by shrink-wrapped Kraft cheese slices.  (Is that even cheese?)

    photo (110)

    Looking into 2015, my world is rife with new opportunities of eating differently and experiencing more flavors. It’s less about surviving and more about living.  Nick and I are planning an early spring trip to Mukwanago, Wisconsin, where he’s from.. Nick has told me about growing up with his siblings and ice fishing in the winter, the mighty Green Bay Packer fans and town fairs where everything is fried. Twinkies. Onion Rings. French fries. Pretzels. Oreos. All coated in batter and cooked in oil. (Yes, please.) Served with beer. (I started running again just to keep up with eating.)

    We’ve also discussed going to Miami where Nick lived for over 20 years. With Cuba opening up, Miami is going to be a glorious hotbed of traditional Caribbean infusion; even more so, I suspect, than

    Miamibefore.   (I’ve been to Miami once. I ate at Versailles, walked Lincoln Road but stayed at the Four Seasons which isn’t in the Cuban area nor near South Beach.)

    For work, there are, as always regular trips to New York City and San Francisco. Last year, I felt so grateful for working with the much admired San Francisco culinary couple Lori Baker and Jeff Banker, of the closed Baker & Banker. They, as chefs, epitomized what I truly love and admire in a great restaurant. Extraordinary yet simple recipes that were made with love of cooking. Lori Baker’s bread and housemade butter alone where enough of a reason to go to San Francisco and plunk down eight bucks. Banker’s signature dish of Potato Latkes with House Cured Salmon was celestial; a charming yet slightly innovative take on the American deli plate.

    Early in 2014, Nick and I traveled to Palm Springs where I ran into the lovely and masterful chef, Scooter Kanfer. She reigned supreme in Los Angeles with her restaurant, The House, and was one of the much lauded chefs turning out beautiful replications of American favorites like “Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes”, “Macaroni & Cheese” and “Shortbread Animal Cookies with Milk”.  She’s cooking up some of her staples and other fare at Café Tropicale.  If you haven’t been there in recent months or years, it’s time to go. Scooter is one of the best chefs Southern California has produced.

    The local LA restaurants that I still continue to patronize are Il Fico on Robertson and Beverly Boulevard’s Cook’s County. The latter is spearheaded by another husband and wife team, Daniel Mattern and Roxana Jullapat. They remind me of the So-Cal version of Baker & Banker. Unfortunately, the couple, as reported by the LA Times, are moving on from Cook’s County and hopefully, their love of cooking will transpire in another venue. At Il Fico, Chef Giuseppe Gentile, a native of Puglia Italy, re-creates exemplary pastas, pizzas and other regional dishes native to his homeland.  The restaurant itself reminds me of a local Pugliese trattoria. My favorite place to eat is at the bar facing the rows of beautiful at the wine bottles and their Italian labels.

    I guess the key thing though is that I’ve continued to cook and work which is all I really want to do. I worked a lot. I cooked a lot. Regarding cooking though, three things predominated in my digestion: Chicken, baking and sugar. That’s because Nick casually strolled into my world and he LOVES sugar and roasted chicken. It doesn’t make a difference where the sugar comes from as long as it comes in the form of baked goods. Cheesecake. Chocolate chip cookies. Peanut butter cookies. Skillet cookies. Apple, blueberry or banana crème pies. German Chocolate Cake. If it’s concoction that goes into an oven, filled with custard or topped with frosting…Nick will eat it. Let’s be clear, do not confuse candy, which can be used in pies, cakes and cookies, to be preferable. Nope. M & M’s in the cookie dough is far more delicious than eating the morsels out of a bag.

    This of course spurred me on to making even more cookies than I ever have. I’ve always been one to whip up a batch of chocolate chip dough, wrap it up in foil and parchment to freeze for the occasional guest. Now, I make about two to four dozen cookies in a month, freezing them so Nick and I have them on hand to eat before bedtime.

    There is also the revelatory “No Knead Bread” that I discovered (always behind the 8-ball…that’s me) which has allowed the baking of my own bread. Sandwiches. Croutons. You name it…I make from this easy bread baking recipe. It comes from theIMG_20140823_150336 (2) Sullivan Street Bakery recipe but was adapted by the cooking enthusiast and New York Times writer Mark Bittman. Now, I’ m perpetually making my own loaves about every two weeks.  When I lived in New York City during my twenties, I made puff pastry which I labored over for days before a cocktail party which was honoring a Francophile. I was making Cheese Straws, which in my youthful head, I thought were the sophistication of sophistication.  They seemed innocuous enough to attempt yet become laborious appetizers and with that…I was done with baking. Of course, this was before the internet, computers and smartphones and now I can find recipes for baking that are really easy like “No Knead Bread”. (We call it the “Ice Age”.)

    Mojo ChickenLastly, the chicken, mostly thighs, which Nick and I have roasted, baked, skinned, fried, boiled, dredged and whatever else you can do to the plucked bird. Mostly, we roast chicken thighs with the skin side up, drizzled with olive oil, squirts of lemon, chopped rosemary and garlic and salt and pepper. Cooked for about 35 to 35 minutes, making a crunchy skin and succulent meat fortifies us for the evening, when served with a salad. The leftovers we nibble on for lunch.

    In 2015, I see more of the same. More work with really great people like Jim Burba and Bob Hayes, who hopefully will have a stage production in New York City,  the opening of San Pedro’s 26,000 square foot, craft brewery, Brouwerij West, and really great food.

    At the end of 2014, I don’t think I have been more content in my life. Sure, I have my anxiety attacks…who doesn’t but I feel at peace…and cooking has really been an important personal action in maintaining that balance.

    It could all fall to pieces….but as long as I have a place to cook and eat, I think it will be okay. Happy 2015!!!

  • Brews, Bread and Bumps in Life

    Last night, I published a blog item. In it, I was profusely apologizing about my lack of posting for the past two weeks (to my two fans). Life became life and with dinners out, work (which sometimes is about going out), seeing friends, looking for new apartments with Holly (the pitbull), JJ (the Frenchie) and Nick (the Man from Wisconsin) so I wasn’t able to write until this weekend. Once I hit publish, it vanished. Right then and there. Poof. Twilight Zone-like.  I talked to WordPress, “chatting” with “Pam” about where it could have possibly gone. (We both agreed that it went the way a pair of socks in the washer…). So, I have to recreate it which might be a good thing; right? Let’s take the lemons and make lemonade? Still, I hate re-dos.

    medium_198494799

    And through all of this up-and-down, in-and-out,  I find that I get a little anxious when I can’t eat or cook the way I want. Fresh, sustainable, local. For me, eating and being out is overwhelming at times.  Admittedly, it’s a personal control issue. Hands down. Who doesn’t want to go out? Isn’t that what commercials ask of us? Let’s eat at Applebee’s, Chili’s, MickeyD’s? But I do it frequently and have eaten out often, eating with clients and enjoying their meals…all in the name of work. However, I really like being in my home and cooking. There is such safety and calmness in it. Some people turn to the bottle of wine, videogame or television, I look at recipes and try to cook. It’s inspirational and very meditative. I sometimes think that if I could, I would grow my vegetables, butcher my livestock and sow my own wheatfields just so I can get as close as I can to eating well.  After all, eating well is the only thing I can control. Once, I step out my door, I feel that my life becomes an issue of circumstance.

    With all that said, I have eaten some glorious sandwiches at my client Carvery Kitchen. Handmade and house-baked bread, succulent meats piled in innovative ways with dipping sauces. My favorite: Eating the freshly roasted pastrami in a French dip. Clean and lustily juicy.

    Banh Mi Porchetta

     

     

    Over this past weekend, I attended The Shelton Bros “The Festival” which was hosted at clients Brouwerij West. I’m not a beer geek  but I’m learning a lot about the process of making beer. Sometimes, it a lot about engineering. There is a process to it. Winemakers let the liquid sit and ferment, creating delicious drinks. With beer, it’s a process of taking the grain and extracting the “wort” (sugar water) and turning it into lusty libation.

    Many amazing things were said about the event from LA Weekly and The Los Angeles Times famed beer writer, John Verive.  It was from these articles that I truly realized the importance of the craft beer movement. It’s not unlike the Slow Food Movement or artisan winemakers. Truly, craft beer making is an art form.

    Besides Brouwerij West, there was a really interesting beer from Treehouse Brewing in Ohio. It’s called “Double Shot”; like the name implies, it’s made with coffee from Oregon’s Stumpton. It’s aroma was powerful with coffee and malt. Not a combination I would ever have thought I would smell together. Coffee and beer. It used to be “Black Coffee“.

    Treehouse Brew

  • Chicken Soup

    Homemade Chicken Soup with Store Bought Dumplings, Savoy Cabbage, Carrots and Swiss Chard
    Homemade Chicken Soup with Store Bought Dumplings, Savoy Cabbage, Carrots and Swiss Chard

    Whatever I’m doing, I’m in that moment and I’m doing it. The rest of the world’s lost. If I’m cooking some food or making soup, I want it to be lovely. If not, what’s the point of doing it? – Sade Adu

    When I’m sick, as I have been for the past several days with the flu. I turn the world off. My head is pounding. My body is aching with chills and fever. And the only thing that I want to eat…nothing else….is Chicken Soup. It makes me feel better instantly as I can smell it wafting through the house with rosemary, onions, thyme, garlic, celery and chicken.

    photo (110)<

    I can't do the canned stuff. Not anymore. It makes me puffy from the salt as a preservative not as a brightener/ enhancer.

    I prefer making my own. Even with a fever of 100. I was shaking violently as I cover the chicken with water. Cutting up the vegetables. Slowly. After, throwing everything into the pot to simmer, I go back to bed. There is something nourishing and lovely with aromas perfuming the house so that I when I wake up I feel better instantly. I can't wait to have it coat my sore throat and warm me up.

    Plus, I have leftover stock for later for when I'm not sick.