Anne Fishbein

Lou Amdur at LOU

See also: L.A.'s Wine Bars Are Better Than Ever. Here Are Our Seven Favorites

Lou Amdur, may have sold his cozy, Laundromat-and-Thai massage parlor adjacent Hollywood strip mall wine bar, LOU, last March. But he still has that gift for being able to effortlessly hold forth on all things wine and food. Want proof? Recently, we got him on the phone to discuss appropriate Easter meal wine pairings. Along the way, he managed to squeeze in mini-lessons in what not to do with country hams, a definition for the Yiddish word gedempte, what a California Chardonnay could do to earn the descriptor of "slutty," as well as a tiny bit of news about Lou 2.0.

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Kathy A. McDonald

Wine list at Hinoki & the Bird

A restaurant is in many ways like a party: You need atmosphere, music, good food and choice of drink. At the recently opened Hinoki & the Bird in Century City, the party is in full swing: entrance jammed, bar, dining room and patios full, and the cocktails and wine flowing.

Begin with a cocktail from cocktail mastermind Sam Ross. The pitch-perfect, not-too-sweet daiquiri in a compact coupe is a good start. Second that with some bubbles from Louis Roederer to accompany the oysters -- a rotating list of small purveyors guarantees briny freshness -- and then delve into the wine list put together by wine consultant Mark Mendoza (Rivera downtown is his current gig).

A longtime colleague and collaborator of chef-owner David Myers and executive chef Kuniko Yagi at Sona ("I have big love for Kuniko, we worked side-by-side for seven years," says Mendoza), the sommelier has put together a selection of "wines from everywhere," he says. What's in the cellar? Turn the page.

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G. Snyder

Nam Kao Tod at Night + Market

On Sunday night, Kris Yenbamroong held a wine dinner with Lou Amdur (of the much-missed LOU wine bar) at Night + Market, and it was at a level of food and wine geekdom that is both rare and thrilling to those of us who like a little cerebral stimulation while we stuff ourselves and drink too much.

The theme of the dinner was "Lost," and it focused on pieces of food and drink culture that are disappearing, for one reason or another. And so, there were dishes like koa kan chin, a steamed banana leaf pouch that holds jasmine rice fortified with pig blood and served with raw onion, cucumber, dried chile, cilantro and lime. The dish is something Yenbamroong's mother grew up eating in Northern Thailand, but it has since almost disappeared. Yenbamroong explained that the one vendor who sells it has turned to selling iced lattes instead.

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Flickr/Le Vin Parfait

To embrace the jumble of flavors of Thanksgiving the wines, whether white or red, should always inhabit the middle register: broad but not flabby, rich but not too rich, fruity and full but not too full, tannic but not too gripping. They have to support like a mattress and give like a cushion.

All of these attributes apply to the wines normally recommended -- Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhône, Chianti, American Zinfandel and Chardonnay -- all perfectly fine selections, but I ask you: why be normal?

Herewith, a selection of Thanksgiving wines that you might not otherwise reach for, which work beautifully with the feast but which happen to inhabit a decidedly alternative universe. Turn the page.

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If you're not otherwise occupied this Sunday afternoon -- which would mean what, two questionable NFL games or maybe recounting some more votes in Florida -- then maybe you should consider heading over to Domaine LA for a wine and fried chicken pairing. OK, it's really a book signing in disguise, but this is hardly any book signing. And hardly any wine and fried chicken. The fried chicken will be from Ludo Lefebvre, who will be there signing his recently published book LudoBites -- with his food truck parked conveniently nearby.

And the wine will be courtesy of New York Times wine columnist and author Eric Asimov, who won't be there in real life signing his new book, How To Love Wine, but will be there in the form of flights of wine and shipped-in autographed copies of said book.

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Flickr/sarah_lincoln

fino and tapas

There are many perfect food pairings in the world -- Sauternes and foie gras, Muscadet and oysters, Champagne and potato chips, Barolo and truffled anything -- but no pairing in the world is so perfectly simple as the pairing of Marcona almonds and fino sherry.

These are the rich, flavorful almonds that originate in Spain, generally larger and more squat than the standard issue. They're usually blanched, then lightly fried, salted, sometimes tossed with herbs, and often come coated in a good fragrant olive oil. As anyone who's had even one of these knows, they are completely addictive.

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Barnaby Draper Studios

The Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival

The second annual Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival concluded Sunday, a slickly produced, three-day debauch mostly held in and around the capacious digs of L.A. Live and its Marriott property -- though neither conference room nor rooftop exhibition tent could adequately contain the assemblage of white-coated, telegenic, A-list cooking talent that showed up, knives at the ready, to spoil us all with deliciousness.

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B. Hansen

Amelia Ceja, with wines

You've picked out a good Cabernet. What should you serve with it? Beans -- Mexican beans. That's what Amelia Morán Ceja would do. Ceja is the first Mexican-American woman to head a wine production company, Ceja Vineyards. "People never thought to pair wine with Mexican food until we came along," she says.

Why beans? "Because they have the most perfect protein," she says, when eaten with accompaniments such as cheese and corn tortillas. In that way, they compare to meat, the usual Cabernet partner.

Ceja is used to making waves, with food or wine. Tiny, spunky and outspoken, she was picked by the Ceja family to head their business "because I was the best," she says. This put her on a level with the "middle-aged Northern European men" who dominate the wine industry. "It is very gratifying to me to have penetrated an industry that is not easily penetrated," she says.

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flickr/ricko19

Thinking Beyond Cabernet + Steak With Christina Machamer

After winning season four of Hell's Kitchen, Christina Machamer became sous chef at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at the London West Hollywood. But these days, she's traded the rapid-fire kitchen life to become the wine educator and resident chef -- albeit one with limited kitchen opportunities -- at B Cellars in Calistoga.

After her contract ended at the London West Hollywood, Machamer took some time off to study wine at The Culinary Institute at Greystone in Napa Valley, where she passed level two (known as the Certified Sommelier exam) in the Court of Master Sommeliers' four-level educational program. She returned to L.A. as part of the opening kitchen team at Bouchon in Beverly Hills, but soon found her way back to wine country, where she's shaking up the high-end wine scene with a little Fruity Pebbles tasting fun. Get her back-of-the-house perspective on the wine industry and her Mad Libs take on food and wine pairings after the jump.

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Bistro 45

Pasadena's Bistro 45 will celebrate its 22nd anniversary with a party on Monday, Jan. 23 starting at 6 p.m. (the restaurant is usually closed on Mondays). It kicks off at 6 with Gruet Sparkling Rose upon arrival. Tables will be set with seafood brandade, pork rillette, house mustard, baguettes and cornichons. You will then be served "copious quantities" of steamed mussels with pomme frites, Bloomsdale spinach tarts and a chopped Caesar salad.

Entrees include leg of Aussie lamb, seared Scottish salmon and grilled winter vegetables with aged balsamic vinegar. Dessert will consist of platters of petit fours: dark chocolate truffles, Champagne lemon tartlettes and mini opera cakes.

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