![When Only the Best Will Do [cooking and dining]](https://easyreadernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Grow-Barry-75x55.jpg "When Only the Best Will Do [cooking and dining]")
![“The Guilty” – As we all are [MOVIE REVIEW]](https://easyreadernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/1-75x55.jpg "“The Guilty” – As we all are [MOVIE REVIEW]")
ES food – Sausal’s source
Sausal chef and owner Anne Conness found her inspiration in early California cuisine and craft beer
Mama D’s MB closes, Montana-themed restaurant opens, two new Yellow Vases, Events, and more dining news
A La Carte column for 17 October 2018
Downtown Will Smell Different… After over a quarter-century in business, the original Mama D’s will soon close. Like many downtown businesses they have been facing substantial rent increases, and it’s hard to make big money selling relatively inexpensive plates of pasta. Founder Chris Davidson spends his time at the Redondo Beach location, so those of […]
When Only the Best Will Do [cooking and dining]
![When Only the Best Will Do [cooking and dining]](https://easyreadernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Grow-Barry.jpg "When Only the Best Will Do [cooking and dining]")
Looking for those hard to find ingredients for a special meal? Here's where to go for worldwide groceries.
Have you ever been in line at a supermarket check stand and suddenly realized you couldn’t remember which loyalty card to pull out because you forgot where you were? You’re not the only one. Major grocery stores all have the same architecture and the same offerings, and if you only visit those you might regard […]
A passion for pork and tradition
A Spaniard and a Mexican prepare sausage and other meats in the tradition of their homelands
Those who cook to connect with their cultural heritage, or to recreate a meal they enjoyed in a local restaurant or on a vacation, often find they can’t get the ingredients they need at everyday markets. To replicate the flavors of other cultures usually means a very expensive session at a gourmet grocery. We’re lucky […]
La Sosta Open, Stealth Colombian Food and Nashville Chicken, Food events, and more South Bay dining News
A La Carte column for 04 October 2018
Not Where You’d Look For It, Part One… Though the South Bay has several Peruvian and Brazilian restaurants, we have almost no options for cuisines of the rest of South America. The exception is Macondo, which offers street food from Colombia. Haven’t seen a sign for it? You have two excuses: they’re new, and they’re on […]
A name change, new places for Thai, Hawaiian, Chinese and Mexican
by Richard Foss Common Complaint, Technological Response… Look at any survey of diners and one of the top complaints will be uncomfortably noisy restaurants. Since my email is at the end of each of these columns I hear this a lot, often with admonitions that I should tell people how loud restaurants are. I frequently […]
Back to basics, with a few surprises [restaurant review]
![Back to basics, with a few surprises [restaurant review]](https://easyreadernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Pappys_-CACobbSalad_-serverCortneySteinhoff_byJP-Cordero-9.jpg "Back to basics, with a few surprises [restaurant review]")
Pappy’s has transformed the former Papadakis into a fish restaurant with well executed traditional and contemporary offerings.
Restaurant designers who repurpose old buildings sometimes strike a balance between old and new aesthetics. Conserve that antique bar, those mid-century banquettes, the tile floor, but in a room with open beams and airy space instead of the lower ceiling that would have been standard a century ago. It’s a way of referencing an antique […]
Small wonder
Jame Enoteca is a promising and ambitious new arrival in an unlikely location by Richard Foss I don’t usually call restaurant owners’ judgment into question in reviews, but when I first visited the eatery, then called Workshop Enoteca, my first thought was, “What were they thinking when they did this?” The small space in the […]
Waterman’s Aims High [restaurant review]
![Waterman’s Aims High [restaurant review]](https://easyreadernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/chef-johnny-lopez.jpg "Waterman’s Aims High [restaurant review]")
New chef, new look show ambition at Waterman’s Restaurant, Bar and Safehouse
Despite having grown up up eight blocks from the beach, I never learned to surf, as I was so nearsighted that I couldn’t see the waves that were about to swamp me. Even so, that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy watching surfers and have an appreciation for surf music and surf culture. Those things seep […]
Small wonder [restaurant review]
![Small wonder [restaurant review]](https://easyreadernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/squid-ink-bavette4.jpg "Small wonder [restaurant review]")
Jame Enoteca is a promising and ambitious new arrival in an unlikely location
I don’t usually call restaurant owners’ judgment into question in reviews, but when I first visited the eatery, then called Workshop Enoteca, my first thought was, “What were they thinking when they did this?” The small space in the corner of a mini-mall was formerly a modest diner that handled a lot of takeout orders, […]
Sibling’s sibling shines [restaurant review]
![Sibling’s sibling shines [restaurant review]](https://easyreadernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/LSManagerTimmy.jpg "Sibling’s sibling shines [restaurant review]")
Unlike the original Little Sister, the Redondo location has ample space and a full bar with signature cocktails that fit the theme
There is a well-worn formula for success in the restaurant industry: create an appealing concept, work it until it’s perfect, then open branch operations that duplicate the original. If the chain is particularly successful then the original often acquires a mystique, the sense that this is the place where the magic came together. Diehard fans […]
Comfort food in an uncomfortable world: Food as education and escape
The obsession with food offers a portal to new worlds, and an escape from our own...
If you look at the attention and energy devoted to the dining scene, it’s hard to say this isn’t a golden age. It’s not just that people are willing to spend more on their food, though they are. You can get a $75 hamburger topped with caviar at Petrossian in Beverly Hills, or a $150 […]
Serve on Second stuck on first [restaurant review]
![Serve on Second stuck on first [restaurant review]](https://easyreadernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/E-Serve-on-Second-restaurant.jpg "Serve on Second stuck on first [restaurant review]")
The newly opened Hermosa Beach restaurant fills a need, but not quite yet
There is an edgy feel that you get in a new restaurant, when staff is still figuring out how the system works, the kitchen is still experimenting, and the service staff is gamely trying to keep diners from noticing the problems. They do, but most forgive and decide to come back later when things have […]
Yellow Vase opens two, P.F. Chang’s closes, Big Wok gets bigger, and more dining news
A La Carte column for 13 September 2018
Common Complaint, Technological Response… Look at any survey of diners and one of the top complaints will be uncomfortably noisy restaurants. Since my email is at the end of each of these columns I hear this a lot, often with admonitions that I should tell people how loud restaurants are. I frequently do mention this, […]
Magic in the kitchen [restaurant review]
![Magic in the kitchen [restaurant review]](https://easyreadernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/20180904-Comedy-Magic-ER-6.jpg "Magic in the kitchen [restaurant review]")
Comedy and Magic Club’s kitchen rivals the performances on its legendary stage
Let’s get this out of the way first: you didn’t go out for dinner at the Comedy and Magic Club primarily because you liked the food. You are there for the show, and the food is secondary. This is not a secret to them, or to any other entertainment venue that also serves food. You […]