Posts by Richard Foss

Sophistication Street: Hermosa Avenue has gradually morphed from a continuous party to a haven for creative chefs, and the trend accelerates with a new opening. Vinfolk is now serving in the former Chef Melba’s, and though the decor has been freshened, the softly lit elegance is the same. The cuisine by chefs Kevin de los…

Brews Hauls: After three years in business, the Brews Hall on the Hermosa Pier Plaza has shuttered. The one in Torrance is still open and apparently successful, but the concept didn’t fly in this area, probably because so many well established places all around them serve the same items. The previous restaurant in this space,…

I was reading about the difficulty of introducing new cuisines to America and came across the term “food neophobia.” On an evolutionary level this makes sense – a plant you’ve never eaten before might be poisonous, so it makes sense to stick with things you know. The downside is you might ignore a food source…

Sliced Out Of Hermosa: After seven years in business, The Cultured Slice cheese shop has closed, another specialty food store gone just a month after Grow in Manhattan Beach closed their doors. The Cultured Slice offered top quality products and made beautiful cheese and charcuterie boards, but was torpedoed by increasing food, staff, and insurance…

In an era when most restaurants seem to have been designed by focus groups, some stand out for quirky ideas and eccentric execution. They’re someone’s peculiar vision, their passion project, recreating an arcane place or time, or a visionary chef’s fusion of two cuisines that nobody has put together before. Sometimes they’re a commercial success,…

Casual restaurants in the South Bay tend to have a visual signature that is bright and cheerful – think of Good Stuff, Scotty’s, or the Ocean Diner as examples. Even the places that aren’t explicitly beach-themed look like a place you’d go on the way to or from the sand, colorful and welcoming. Compare this…

Found In Translation: Zoku, a new izakaya, opened in Riviera Village, and if you headed for a translator program to find out what the name means, you may be puzzled. Zoku means “genus,” a scientific term but an odd restaurant name. There’s a story to it, though — the restaurant’s real name is Torikizoku, which…

Some places never go out of style, not because they are timeless, but because they were anachronisms the day they went into business. Hermosa’s Ocean Diner, which evokes a roadside dive of the 1940s in décor and music, is a good example. It’s enduringly popular despite the fact that few people now alive can remember…

It’s not too odd that a café could also be called a learning place, because plenty of people do their studying at local coffeehouses. Almost all of these establishments have free wifi, comfy chairs and tables, and abundant caffeine, plus baked goods for those moments when you need to nosh to keep that brainpower steady.…