Please The Palate |

Weekly Pop-up Dinner Series with Chef Bill Corbett All Summer Long!

Chef Bill Corbett made a name for himself as a pastry chef in San Francisco. He studied under some of the best pastry chefs and served as executive pasty chef for Michael Mina, The Absinthe Group and Coi, to name a few. He was named "Best Pastry Chef" by San Francisco Magazine in 2011, "New York's Rising Star Pastry Chef" by StafChefs in 2007 and named one of the Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America by Dessert Professional Magazine.

Now Corbett is living in Los Angeles and serving up savory vegetarian dishes at a weekly pop-up throughout the summer. The pop-up is located at Lamill Coffee in Silverlake. You can still get a great cup of coffee at Lamill but every Thursday and Friday night, you will enjoy the food of Corbett. The vegetarian tasting menu will change weekly. And it is very affordable. For $40 you will get four courses, and for another $20 you can get the wine pairing.

05 July, 2016

From the palette to the palate, food meets art at Ray’s & Stark Bar at LACMA

Food is art. And at Ray's and Stark Bar, the restaurant at LACMA, art is food. Inspired by the museum where Ray's is located, Chef Fernando Darin has created an internationally inspired menu using local seasonal ingredients. But it is the plating that takes it from food to art.

Chef Fernando Darin was born to an Italian family in a region of Brazil with Portuguese and African influences. He recently arrived to Ray's and Stark Bar after working for Eric Greenspan, Michael Voltaggio and most recently for Patina at the Hollywood Bowl and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Previous to cooking, he was a musician and artist for fourteen years. It is his global upbringing and artistic background that influence his food and drive his creativity. We started with the tuna tartare with avocado, oroblanco citrus fruit and taro chips and I was immediately transported to the realm of food as art. The presentation was like a beautiful art piece of art, balancing of color and dimension. The flavors are fresh and the oroblanca citrus brightens up the dish.

Tuna Tartare, avocado, oroblanco citrus fruit, taro chips

27 June, 2016

Pizza, Wine and More at Pizza Romana

Having lived in Italy many years ago, I know what good pizza tastes like. There is nothing better than a thin crust Italian pizza with the perfect balance of tomato sauce and cheese and a glass of Italian wine. And, I have found that place in Los Angeles at Pizza Romana.

Located on La Brea Boulevard, just south of Melrose in the space formerly known as Cube, Pizza Romana is owned by Alex Palermo. For those who loved the menu at Cube, rest assured that while Palermo changed the concept, those dishes are still on the menu. In addition, they put a large wood fired pizza oven in the center of the restaurant.

Alex Palermo grew up in Wisconsin, the son of a Roman father and American mother, and spent his vacations in Italy. He then attended college in Southern California. Having spent some time working at the La Jolla Pasta Company during summers and having visited Italy, he understood that homemade pasta is something that comes from "home". During his senior year in college, he took an entrepreneurial course. As Contadini was the only "fresh pasta" on the market at the time, he used his summer experience as an idea. He got a pasta machine from another company in San Diego and set it up at a friend's dad's restaurant in Santa Monica. He would work from 11pm to 4am making restaurant quality pasta for retail. Divine Pasta Company was born. His first client was Gelson's Market in 1992 and it grew from there where it can be found at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Costco today.

13 June, 2016