Please The Palate |

Please The Palate Pick of the Week: EatWith with Chef Christina Xenos

I love going on food tours when I am traveling in a new city as they are a great way to see a city and learn about the culture. I find nothing more fulfilling than when I can meet with locals and experience their culture through their eyes. And that is why Eatwith, the world's largest community for authentic culinary experiences with locals, is the Please The Palate pick of the week.

Eatwith is in more than 130 countries and they are bringing people together through food. Cooking classes, food tours and dining experiences are hosted by home-cooks, food-lovers, MasterChefs and Michelin-starred chefs. My Eatwith experience was with Christina Xenos, a professional chef, cookbook author, recipe developer, and journalist based in Los Angeles. I have known Christina for years as a journalist but had yet to enjoy her cooking. When she announced her dinner, featuring cuisine from Sifnos, the Cycladic island in the Southern Aegean Sea and said the proceeds of the ticket sales would benefit the Union Station Homeless Services in Los Angeles, I bought my ticket. Christina is Greek-American and her family roots are from the islands of Crete and Milos. She travels there annually and this past summer she visited Sifnos, the birthplace of the first Greek cookbook author Nikolaos Tselementes. An island known for baking in clay pots, she worked with farmers and cooks while on her trip to learn these traditional recipes.

30 November, 2019

Fresh Oysters, Lobsters Rolls and more at Shuck House in the Westfield Century City Food Court

Freshly shucked oysters, lobster rolls, clam chowder and a myriad of seafood options are not what one might think of when thinking of a food court in a shopping mall. Eating in the food court at a shopping mall usually conjures up images of fast food chains offering Chinese food, Mexican food and pizza. But, at the glitzy renovated Westfield Century City Shopping Center, the food court is anything but average and that is where Shuck House is shucking fresh oysters and serving other seafood delights.

Shuck House is one of the food options inside the food court. It is not a stand alone restaurant. It is a space where you order at the counter and then can find a seat anywhere in the food court, both inside or outside.

21 November, 2019

From Morning to Night, From Coffee to Wine – Head to Bar Avalon in Echo Park

From morning to night, Bar Avalon in Echo Park is the place to be. Located in the Mohawk Collective development on Sunset Boulevard, Bar Avalon is a casual neighborhood restaurant where you can start your day with coffee and end your day with wine.

Bar Avalon is located inside a brick building with floor to ceiling glass walls. Inside the space is has high barn-wood ceilings which make the space seem larger than it is. Exposed brick walls and leather booths warm the space. The open kitchen offers seating so that you can watch the cooks work. You can also sit at the bar that is cleanly decorated with wine bottles. There is also an outside patio where one can dine and also where you will find planters with herbs that the kitchen uses. All in all, it is a cool east-side space.

14 November, 2019