Food

After finishing an event in the Shaw neighborhood in Washington DC, my clients and I headed off for dinner. A friend recommended Tiger Fork, a Hong Kong-inspired restaurant. I googled the location and the map said Blagden Alley, which sounded like something out of Harry Potter. We walked down 9th Street NW and turned on N Street NW. Google Maps said we were there but we only saw closed businesses. However, halfway down the street was an alley so we turned down the alley and a bit further down found murals on the walls and bars and restaurants. We were in Blagden Alley. There was no name on the door but the large window told us we had found Tiger Fork. Blagden Alley is an historic district in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington DC. A series of intersecting brick-paved alleyways that date back to the 19th century were once home to workshops and stables and today is the location of bars and restaurants. Inside, Tiger Fork is bustling. Lighted lanterns hand from the ceiling and long communal tables run down the center of the restaurant. A large bar sits in the front center of the restaurant and flames from the woks can be seen from the open kitchen in the back.
08 March, 2018
When it comes to lunch-time, there are a few key terms that come to mind. I want a lunch that is healthy, affordable, quick and, of course, tasty. Well, look no further than Luna Grill and the Better Beet Bowl! Luna Grill has locations throughout Southern California and Dallas, Texas. My friend and I made a stop at the location in Sherman Oaks before heading on the road to Santa Barbara. With a contemporary design, this fast casual chain featuring Mediterranean cuisine was a healthy, affordable, quick and tasty meal before hitting the road. 
22 February, 2018
Maude has reinvented itself. The 25-seat restaurant has been redecorated with dark navy blue banquettes and customized chairs and the walls have been painted navy blue as well. Gone are the fresh bouquets of flowers on the counters and dried flowers hanging from the walls. The walls are now lined with black and white photographs, some picked up at flea markets and others of members of the Maude team on their culinary travels. The space is elegant, warm and inviting. The other new change is that instead of changing the menu monthly and featuring a singular seasonal ingredient, Maude is now focused on representing a wine region somewhere in the world and creating a menu inspired by the time the team spends there. These new menus will be offered quarterly and to start off 2018, Rioja, Spain was the selected region. The overall experience with the new regional theme was exceptional. The entire meal flowed so naturally. Instead of learning how the seasonal ingredient was used in each dish, we were told a story of what inspired the dish. As each dish was served, a member of the Maude team would introduce the dish and tell us something about their trip to Rioja. Understanding the meaning behind the dish enhanced the flavors. And the Rioja menu was a home-run!
13 February, 2018
If there is one way to eat chicken, it is fried. It is just so delicious when you get that perfectly tender and juicy meat surrounded by crunchy batter. Now, take that chicken and place it on a buttered Portuguese bun and add a variety of toppings to represent different Southern flavors and you have South City Fried Chicken, the Please The Palate pick of the week. South City Fried Chicken is Los Angeles' newest fried chicken location. Opened the first of February in downtown Los Angeles' Corporation Food Hall on Spring Street, South City Fried Chicken is owned by Chef Sammy Monsour (the "General") and business partner Joshua Kopel (the "Colonel"). Owners of Preux and Proper, located a few doors down, they have been bringing Southern Flavors to Southern California for a few years. Now, Monsour, originally from North Carolina, and Kopel, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are introducing Southern flavors in a series of fried chicken sandwiches at South City Fried Chicken.
10 February, 2018
Looking for a place to meet for drinks? Try Oriel Chinatown. Just north of Union Station on Alameda Street sits a building just below the raised train tracks. First a tire shop and then a nail salon, the space is now home to Oriel Chinatown, a French-themed modern wine bar and bistro. Oriel Chinatown is an oddly-shaped building with a few tables in the covered entrance and a few more to the right of the entrance, which lead to a patio. To the left of the entrance is the bar and a few more seats. The walls are white with pink and purple floors and furniture that are illuminated by the low lighting to create a rose-hued space. Oriel Chinatown is a project of Dustin Lancaster, who has opened Bar Covell and Augustine, two other wine bars in Los Angeles. At Oriel Chinatown the focus is on French wine.
08 February, 2018
Jaffa, the oldest neighborhood of Tel-Aviv, has inspired Los Angeles' new modern Israeli restaurant Jaffa. Located on West 3rd Street in West Hollywood, Jaffa LA is a bright space that includes stone walls and reclaimed wood, serving up modern Israeli cuisine. Chef Anne Conness, who's nuevo rancho cuisine I first tried at her El Segundo restaurant Sausal, fell in love with the cuisine of Israel after traveling there with business partner Nancy Vrankovic. At Jaffa LA, Chef Conness has taken the modern Israeli cuisine that she fell in love with and combined it with locally grown, fresh and seasonal ingredients, well-raised meat and sustainable seafood. On my first visit to Jaffa LA for their "friends and family" preview, we took a seat on the patio where baskets of blankets were nearby to wrap ourselves in as it got chilly. We started with drinks, choosing from an eclectic international wine list, which includes Israeli wine, cocktails and mocktails. A glass of sparkling pink Bailly-Papierre NV Cremant de Bourgogne, France was the way to start.
01 February, 2018
Grocery shopping can be a pain. At least, I find it to be. I prefer to get fruits and vegetables from one location and staples from another. And then there is finding time to go to the market. Every time I come home from traveling, I just wish I would have groceries waiting for me. Well, I have found just that with Milk & Eggs, the Please The Palate pick of the week. After a week of travel, I placed my order while I was still traveling. I then got home and my order arrived first thing the next morning just in time for me to make a morning cappuccino! Milk & Eggs is a website (and app) that connects us, the customer, to the best foods. They offer milk, eggs, dairy, meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, breads, pastas, beverages, spreads, dips, sauces, fresh herbs, chips, snacks and more....basically anything you might need. And they are all the freshest products possible, as well as locally acquired. There are also meal kits and recipes. And, if you are following a diet, such as Mediterranean, Atkins, Paleo, Vegan, Diabetic, Keto, South Beach or Whole 30, they each have a section with ingredients specific to each diet.
27 January, 2018
This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.
Editor’s note: Until my son moved to Los Angeles to go to medical school and then decided to stay there for his residency, I’d never thought of L.A. as a culinary destination. But since then, every time we visit him, he takes us to a new and fascinating place: a hole in the wall that serves fabulous ramen, or a seemingly ramshackle place on the beach the cooks up spicy wonderful Caribbean food, or the place that is reported to have the best burger in L.A., located down a hallway behind a butcher shop in Santa Monica. Who knew that an intern has so much time to eat? But it is turning out that L.A. has one of the most vibrant and diverse food scenes I’ve ever visited. With this in mind I asked our wine columnist Allison Levine, who lives in L.A., for a list of her favorites. —Sasha Paulsen
For years, when one thought of food, restaurants and must-eat-at destinations, Los Angeles was not a city that came to mind. But the city of 14 million has been gaining recognition for its food scene over the last five or so years.
Los Angeles Times Food Critic Jonathan Gold called Los Angeles the “food city of the moment” and restaurant critics from New York and San Francisco have agreed. In fact, Zagat named Los Angeles number one in their list of “30 Most Exciting Food Cities in America 2017.”
I spend much of my time traveling around the country and the world. It is always exciting to explore the food scene in a given city and enjoy wonderful meals. But every time I come home to Los Angeles, I am really blown away by the quality and diversity of the food scene, where chef-driven restaurants, exotic cuisine and innovative cooking are all celebrated. There is also the sheer quantity of restaurants.
New restaurants are opening on a weekly basis. Local celebrity chefs have opened additional locations, new young chefs have realized their visions and a handful of well-known out-of-town high-profile chefs have descended upon Los Angeles for their newest outposts. At times, it seems almost impossible to keep up, but I do my best. Here are some of my favorite restaurants where I had some of my more memorable meals of 2017.
11 January, 2018
Good Measure has been on my list of restaurants to try since it opened this past summer. But between my travel schedule and availability to get across the city to Atwater Village, I had yet to go. But, for the very last day of 2017, I finally went to Good Measure for brunch and alas it is the Please The Palate pick of the week. Good Measure is a wine-inspired restaurant. Opened by Matthew Kaner, one of Food & Wine's Sommeliers of the Year 2013 and wine director of Bar Covell and Augustine, the 75-seat Good Measure has more than 1000 bottles of wine from around the world. And chef Mike Garber, who previously worked at the now-closed BLD and at Ammo, has created a menu to pair with the wines.
06 January, 2018
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