Food

This post originally appeared on FoodableTV.com Sea urchin is the “new bacon.” It can be found on many Los Angeles restaurant menus, such as Salt’s Cure,...

The Little Door restaurant is like a little secret hideaway, but it's not a secret. The space on 3rd Street in West Hollywood has been known as a romantic French restaurant since it opened in 1996. It seems  to be tucked away but it's actually on a busy street and easy to find, if you are looking for it. In September (2014), The Little Door opened a second location, tucked out in the open on 26th Street, just south of San Vicente, in Santa Monica (across the street from the Brentwood Country Mart). The Little Door Santa Monica With ornate wrought iron fencing covering the entrance on 26th Street, it is easy to miss The Little Door Santa Monica, if you are not looking. There are no signs that pop out as you drive by. But, located in the former space of Mimi's, enter the "little door" and you are in a large open patio area. To the right is indoor dining and bar and there are two private rooms in the rear [who hadn't been to a bridal shower, baby shower or birthday lunch in those spaces when it was Mimi's?]. But what the Little Door Santa Monica offers is lots of outdoor dining space that will make you feel like you have been transported to a French Mediterranean village.....white washed walls with blue accents and lots of fresh greenery. While the space may be a perfect romantic destination at night, it is an ideal spot for a weekend brunch.
Driving down Sepulveda Blvd towards LAX, it is easy to not really pay attention to the area around Jefferson Blvd. We are accustomed to seeing large chain business after chain business: from El Pollo Loco, Fed Ex, Big Lots, Pacific Stereo and Just Tires to Buffalo Wings and Pizza, Fast Signs, AAA Pawn and Jewelry and H&R Block. But tucked among all of these rather uninteresting stores is a hidden gem! While other local family businesses have given way to these chain businesses, for 50 years Sorrento Italian Market has been serving the local community with specialty food products and wine from Italy. Sorrento Italian Market The store was opened in 1963 by Alberto Vera and his wife Ursula. Icons in the community, Alberto was the former mayor of Culver City and generations of families grew up going to the store. In 2010 and 2011 respectively, Alberto and Ursula passed away and son Albert Vera Jr. took over the family business.
Are you afraid of cooking entirely? Perhaps you have a few go-to recipes but want to learn new ones. Feel like you are too busy to make a tasty meal? Meal and a Spiel is here to help! Meal and a Spiel Founded by Elana Horwich, Meal and a Spiel is about easy, accessible, healthy, good food. It is about getting dirty, trying things out, eating and having fun. Meal and a Spiel offers three things - classes, recipes and spiels. Classes: If you are based in Los Angeles, you can attend a single class or buy a package. Classes are $100 and take place in a private home with a maximum of 10 people. Go with a group of friends or go by yourself (as I did) and make new friends. You can also book a private group class.
Are you a Food Network Junkie? If so, you probably saw the new culinary competition All-Star Academy in which ten home cooks across the country were paired with Food Network famous chefs. If not, here's a quick update. After eight episodes, it came down to two finalists and Santa Barbara local Vanessa Craig was one of them. Paired with Chef Michael Symon, she was energetic, spunky and lots of fun to watch. Sadly she didn't win the final prize but 2nd place isn't shabby! After the national exposure and now that the show is over, Vanessa is back home in Santa Barbara. Her passion is to share her love for food and her love of Santa Barbara and is now a private chef and caterer with her newly launched business Vanessa Loves Food. Vanessa Craig in the kitchen
Last summer I attended an extraordinary dinner at Los Angeles Food and Wine called Dining with the Michelin Stars. One of the featured chefs was David Kinch of Manresa in Los Gatos. After eating his delicate Beggar’s Purses and Beef with Pole Beans, Puffed Rice and Onion Broth at the dinner, I swore that a dining experience at Manresa was on the top of my list. But, the only issue was, when would I be in Los Gatos? Well, it happened! After a weekend at Pebble Beach Food and Wine, my friend and I were flying out of San Jose Airport and Los Gatos is just 15 minutes from the airport. So, despite all the eating we had done over the weekend, we hightailed it out of Pebble Beach when the event ended and drove straight to Los Gatos. Los Gatos is a charming little town that looks like it was lost in time. Our navigation took us down a few streets (a few arguably seemed like ally-ways) and we pulled up in front of Manresa. Manresa Manresa opens for dinner at 5:30pm (the bar opens at 5:15pm). The restaurant offers a 14-course tasting menu for $198 and takes about three hours. Sadly we only had about one and a half hours before we had to head to the airport. But, the good news is that if you sit at the bar, Manresa offers an abbreviated tasting menu called "Bar Bites." It's five courses (pulled from the full tasting menu) and was what we had time for.
Even if you live in Santa Monica, you might not know about breakfast and lunch spot Tiato. Located on the ground floor of an office building on Colorado Blvd at Harvard Street, it is a daily destination for people who work in the area. But, even if you don't work in this area, Tiato is worth a stop for breakfast or lunch. Tiato
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