Los Angeles Food Blog

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad.

• "Salisbury steak is so comforting, yet so yesterday." Just Add Bacon: 5 Freaky Frozen Dinners.


• "One of them was an ex bank robber, one of them was an alcoholic and one of them was a drug addict. I remember one of them turning around and saying to me, so you want to be a chef?" Q & A With Andy Cook: The Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood Chef Talks About Gordon, LA Weather & The Importance of Chip Butty.


• "Am I about to recommend Golden State again? I'm afraid so." Ask Mr Gold: The Sunday Meal. Burgers, Beers and Fries.


• "The difference between a good loaf of bread and dog shit is just a couple decisions that people make." A Conversation with Baker Jim Lahey + His Recipe for No-Knead Bread.
Continue reading " Short Attention Span Dinner Theater:"...
Tags: Amy Scattergood, food news, week in review

Sarah Goodfriend

Baker Jim Lahey

​Baker Jim Lahey, owner of New York's Sullivan Street Bakery and author of the recently published cookbook My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method, was in town the other day on a brief 2 day leg of his current book tour. He sat down with us to talk about the book and his no-knead method, popularized by a 2006 Mark Bittman article in the New York Times.

Lahey is something of a bread socialist, and he talks about his no-knead method the way a grass-roots politician might talk about town meetings. "I like to call it the food democracy movement. The democratization of good food is that it doesn't only have to be for the good restaurants; it's for everyone." Simplifying the process of bread-baking is the guiding theme of the book, which was co-written by Rick Flaste, a former Los Angeles Times editor. "The difference between a good loaf of bread and dog shit is just a couple decisions that people make," says Lahey. "It has nothing to do with the ingredients themselves."

As for whether Lahey was in town canvassing for bakery locations, he says that yes, he's interested, but that "there isn't anything on the table" yet. Turn the page for Lahey's views on his technique, whether bread needs saving, and his recipe for no-knead bread.

GIna Clover

And she bakes too!

​If there's one thing Hollywood is full of, it's stereotypes. But dig a little deeper and you'll find that the people here aren't always as they appear: the hipster dreams of being a fireman; the town's most revered bartender just wants some time alone with his bike.

In this installment of Your Server's Other Job, we visit with Gina Clover who, in addition to working the door at The Varnish, lies in her skivvies inside a glass box at The Standard in Hollywood and blogs.

Whether you find the idea of a girl in a box titillating or terrifying, there's no denying it's fascinating. From Lynch's Boxing Helena to Ibsen's A Doll's House (not to mention the current TV show of almost the same name with a not dissimilar premise) the disparity of women being at once fetishized and revered is controversial. "My parents definitely think I'm a stripper. They're like, 'You're lying in your underwear in a public place? Uh...'"

Try as I might, I couldn't get Urth Caffé to share the recipe for their award-winning, outrageously good pumpkin pie with us. To be fair, co-founder Shallom Berkman did actually take the time to get back to me, but sadly the response also came with the old "It's a family recipe" chestnut. He went on to say, "I believe it is the best pumpkin pie I have ever tasted... Urth is a worthy institution to support by enjoying purchasing your pumpkin pies from us."

L. McCave

pumpkin pie alternative

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As the holiday approaches and you're all cooking, eating and taking pictures of your food, (your table, your mis en place, whatever) a reminder that you might consider submitting your pictures to the LA Weekly Flickr pool. Everybody else can look at your photos, and we can showcase them in slideshows and blogs. While we're in PSA mode, remember that you can follow us on Twitter @LAWeeklyFood.

A. Scattergood

handwritten menu at The Tasting Kitchen

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Ah, the Internet: invented by Al Gore, home to millions of fact-checkers. For anyone worrying that Walter Manzke has left or is leaving Church & State, the man just took 2 days off. Your pigs ears aren't going anywhere, and neither is the chef. Manzke thinks that the rumor got started on Yelp, and was probably fueled by the fact that the downtown bistro is a favorite for industry people. Like most of the high profile chefs who have been in town filming Top Chef Masters. (Oh, is that supposed to be a secret? Sorry.) So, no, Jonathan Waxman is not taking over the stoves. Neither is Marcus Samuelsson, both of whom have been at the restaurant a number of times recently. So, by the way, has Thomas Keller. Hey, he has his own bistro.

Anne Fishbein

Walter Manzke (center) and Co. at Church & State

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Soda Pop's, a new mid-city lunch spot, soft-opened Wednesday on La Cienega. The menu is divided in to old and new school, hot and cold sandwiches, ranging in price from $7-$12 and salads. Custom-built wooden tables, benches and a bar, plus antique school chairs make the place look clean, but not severe. "It doesn't have to be pretentious," owner David Puopolo says. "It's lunch."

E. Courtland

Well-stocked specialty sodas

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The opening of Ixtapa Cantina, the new Mexican restaurant from Jack Huang (Bar Celona, Villa Sorriso) has been delayed to the first week in December. The Old Town Pasadena location was previously the home of Fred's Cantina. Prior to that, it housed Moose McGillicuddy's. Ixtapa is currently open, sort of, to friends and family, while they await the arrival of furniture.

"That's why they call it 'friends and family,'" says Ixtapa's rep. "People accept the fact that they might be sitting on a cardboard box." The menu, which will consist of small plates, is being finalized. Check back in, because during opening week Huang will be giving away a trip to the Mexican resort town of Ixtapa (for which the restaurant is named) as part of the inaugural festivities. Hey, if the furniture hasn't arrived yet, maybe you can use that box you'll be sitting on for your trip.

Ixtapa Cantina: 119 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. (626) 304-9955.

A. Scattergood

Ixtapa cantina in Pasadena

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Still hoping your crazy banjo-playing cousin is going to bring over something a little more useful this Thanksgiving, say, a pastry chef? According to this week's Name That Pastry Chef Zoe Nathan, having a pastry chef in the family doesn't mean the Thanksgiving table is going to be filled with dozens of pies and tarts. "We are going to my mom's, and I am sitting on the couch," announces Nathan as an assistant parades a tray full of freshly baked fruit tarts through Huckleberry Cafe's tiny kitchen in Santa Monica.

Jenn Garbee

Thanksgiving Pressure Even Gets to Pastry Chefs

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THE Beverly Hills deli, Nate 'n Al has opened a second location in the Lakes shopping center in Thousand Oaks. The new location opened on Tuesday to a crowd eager to for their very own Nate 'n Al experience: bowls of chicken matzo-ball soup and The Hollywood smothered in Russian dressing. Nate 'n Al may have the transported the same food-encyclopedia of a menu to the new location, but what about the 60 year-old waitresses named Doris?

Photo Credit: Nate Steiner

Matzo ball soup has arrived in Thousand Oaks

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Nate 'n Al: 2200 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.,Thousand Oaks; (805) 494-3354.