Taco Bell Corp.

One of Taco Bell's new breakfast offerings, the "Johnsonville sausage and egg wrap."

​When there was a multistate outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis in October, the Centers for Disease Control would identify the culprit only as "Mexican-style, fast-food Restaurant Chain A." Turns out, that's longhand for Taco Bell. At the time, the CDC refused to name the restaurant chain, saying there was no public-health reason to do so, according to Food Safety News. This despite the fact that 68 people in 10 states had been sickened, with nearly a third of them requiring hospitalization.

Confirmation that Taco Bell was central to the investigation comes in a document from the Oklahoma State Department of Health's Acute Disease Service, "Summary of Supplemental Questionnaire Responses Specific to Taco Bell Exposure of Oklahoma Outbreak associated cases Multistate Salmonella Enterititis Outbreak Investigation." Oklahoma was second only to Texas (43 cases), with 16 confirmed cases in the outbreak. Ill Oklahomans reported onset dates from Oct. 21 to Nov. 18, 2011. Other affected states were Kansas (2), Iowa (1), Michigan (1), Missouri (1), Nebraska (1), New Mexico (1), Ohio (1) and Tennessee (1).

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Of all the regional American sandwich specialties, an authentic Philly cheesesteak may be the hardest to find in Los Angeles. Boos Philly Cheesesteaks is one of the few sub shops where sriracha is offered as a condiment -- a happy California touch, to be sure -- but everywhere else, Boos is righteously traditional.

The bread? Soft, fluffy rolls shipped from Philadelphia mainstay Amoroso's. The meat? Peppery, salty slices of Dietz & Watson beef. The cheese? Whiz, of course, oozing in molten perfection from between the thin curling tongues of grilled meat and onions.

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​ We're still pinching ourselves to make sure this isn't a dream. Our sister blog City of Ate at the Dallas Observer tells us it isn't. The Bacon Milkshake from Jack in the Box is here!

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jgarbee

An Eagle Rock Brewery Growler On A Homebrew-Filled Cooler

​If there is a penultimate homebrew club myth, it is that you must know how to homebrew in order to join one. That's sort of like saying you can only join a cooking club if you know how to cook (and yes, it's perfectly acceptable -- encouraged -- to bring professional brews to a homebrew club like the Eagle Rock growler above). Part of the point, at least of many homebrew clubs, is for experienced brewers to teach the new hopheads like us how to fill our carboys. And there are so many different types of homebrew clubs out there, from the big boys in town like Pacific Gravity and the Maltose Falcons to the small clubs like the Yeastside Homebrewers, you've got plenty of choices. Each has a very different vibe, so it's wise to sample around town.

If you're still grumbling and saying you have no room for all that homebrew equipment, well, that's what friends with garages are for, right? There's also another little secret that homebrew clubs don't want you to know (or maybe they do): You don't have to even want to learn to homebrew to join, you simply need to appreciate (drinking) homebrewed beer. Here are our Top Five Reasons to Join a Homebrew Club.

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Courtesy of Abigaile

Crispy pork belly confit, bacon-green lentil ragout, poached farm egg (left), Fletcher from Pennywise spray-painting a Black Flag stencil

​Monday, Feb. 6, sees two restaurant openings: Abigaile in Hermosa Beach and Kitchen 24 in West Hollywood. Like a phoenix, Abigaile rises from the ashes of Union Cattle Co., which closed in January. Same owner (Jed Sanford), new concept (upscale American brasserie), new chef (Max DiMare of Wood Tavern in Oakland). Paying homage to the building's previous life as an artists co-op and rehearsal space known as The Church for seminal punk bands Black Flag and Redd Kross, Fletcher Dragge from Pennywise popped in to add a little color to the walls. Also, look for the in-house brewery, overseen by Brian Brewer from Stone Brewery.

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​In addition to being the Super Bowl (Patriots vs. Giants, by the way), this Sunday, Feb. 5, is the sixth annual World Nutella Day. OK, this is one of those holidays (Arbor Day, National Cream Puff Day) that may seem arbitrary and slightly ridiculous at first, when in fact it is a serious vindication for some of us.

In 2007, two American expat writers living in Italy, Sara Rosso and Michelle Fabio, made it official, declaring their love for the chocolate-hazelnut spread and the day a holiday. What to eat in the kitchen during the halftime show, if Madonna at 53 is not really your thing. Or read maybe, as Rosso and Fabio also have a book, The Unofficial Guide to Nutella, (history! stories! recipes!) out on Kindle.

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D. Gonzalez

The Original L.A. Snap: Tortilla chip

​The matchup: set. The invites: made. The main: seafood, thin-crust pizzas, maybe both combined. And the snack: The one thing from Los Angeles that makes an appearance at nearly every 'Big Game' Sunday -- not that we are bitter -- tortilla chips.

Much like the lore behind other popular Mexican foods, the exact point of origin for tortilla chips can be disputed. However, much of the credit for their rise to national popularly is given to Rebecca Webb Carranza, who in the 1940s began mass-producing them at her family's tortilleria in the Los Angeles neighborhood of West Adams. Since then, while others have tried to elevate the tortilla triangle in sometimes frightening ways, we've found the best tortilla chips in L.A. share similar roots.

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Joséphine Runneboom/Flickr

Alone at The Biltmore Hotel

​"A is for dining alone," M.F.K. Fisher wrote in An Alphabet for Gourmets, "...and so am I, if a choice must be made between most people I know and myself." We feel ya, Fisher.

Like Fisher, we would much rather dine alone, or not at all, if the alternative is being forced to indulge some twat droning on and on about their so-called life, or to endure that awkward moment when all diners' shared interests have been thoroughly hashed and it's not even dessert yet.

Poor Fisher found 1949 Los Angeles a bit hostile to the idea of a woman eating alone in a restaurant. While some restaurants today still aren't quite optimal for singles -- dishes served family-style, for example, or tables so uncomfortably big that you feel like Edith Ann -- Fisher nonetheless would have been in a good company of misanthropes, introverts, alone-but-not-lonelies who eat alone, and eat well, in the city. In no particular order, here are our favorite spots to dine alone. Comfortably. Happily. Shamelessly.

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LA Weekly Flickr pool/R. E. ~. ~

Two Guns Espresso

​This LA Weekly Flickr pool photo, taken by photographer R. E. ~, is just the sort of thing that makes you happy you live in this town. Great coffee. (Which was not the case even a few years ago, when we lived in a caffeine desert and had to drive north for decent espresso. No longer: If you want proof, read this.) Great coffee on the beach. Great coffee on the beach in utterly -- relentlessly -- beautiful weather. Can't say that about Portland or Seattle, now can you?

And a reminder that if you have any brilliant shots of food you've taken around town recently, you might consider uploading them on our Flickr pool. Never know where they might show up.

Miho Aikawa

A portrait from Dinner in NY.

​Thanks to The Kitchn, which tipped us to Dinner in NY, a project from photographer Miho Aikawa. The series of intimate portraits features an array of New Yorkers as they eat their dinner: alone or with friends, distractedly or contemplatively, texting, working, drinking, regaling friends, watching children.

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