Posts by Richard Foss
Bagel Blues, gingerbread giant, culinary events, and more restaurant news.
Holiday cheer, or lack thereof: According to a survey, the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest night of the year at bars. It’s sometimes called Blackout Wednesday, and there are good and bad reasons people might tend to overdo it that evening. Some folks are celebrating a reunion with friends and family the day before…
Read MoreChickens Gone Global
Fried chicken has been multicultural from its beginnings, a Scottish cooking style married to a West African tradition of battering using a seasoned flour. Those traditions combined in the American South in the 1830s and were an instant hit. Regional styles quickly developed, with cornmeal used in some areas, wheat in others, and seasonings mild,…
Read MoreAustralian gone global
Ask most Americans about Australian food and you’ll get a jumble of disconnected impressions that have little to do with reality. Top will be “shrimp on a barbie,” a phrase Australians don’t use, because anything big enough to be skewered and grilled will be referred to as a prawn. The bloomin’ onion isn’t an Aussie…
Read MoreA restaurant unclosed, Cantina on the Pier, Spanish in El Segundo, dining events, and more
Goodbye, Hello Again: While writing about the South Bay dining scene for 35 years, I have covered many restaurant openings and closures, but very few instances of a place announcing that they planned to shut down but changed their mind. That’s what happened at Brewco, which announced on September 12 they would close, but reversed…
Read MoreMore than just a steak
Musician Brian Eno once wrote a list of what he called “Oblique Strategies” for solving creative problems, which are valuable for many endeavors besides music. One of my favorites is “Make a blank canvas valuable by putting it in a perfect frame.” I find this advice useful when considering the pros and cons of steakhouses.…
Read MoreAsian traditions in motion
The nomenclature of the culinary world has steadily become less precise, to the distress of academics and purists, and yawns from just about everybody else. Yes, tapas used to mean Spanish cuisine, but is now anything served on small plates. Things called martinis contain neither gin nor vermouth, and there is such a thing as…
Read MoreLobster Guy’s on a roll
Lobsters in their native environment don’t look appetizing, unless you get hungry when looking at aliens in 1950s science fiction movies. It’s a beady-eyed horror, with more legs (10) than a spider, and natural armor like a tank. As if that isn’t enough, it has claws that look vicious even in repose. There’s an old…
Read MoreSmall wonder, Thai style
It’s hard to believe anyone ever looked at the space that is now Siam I Am and thought, “That’s a perfect space for a restaurant”. They may have the smallest dining room in the South Bay, though I’d have to take a tape measure both here and to the nearby Cozy Café to be sure.…
Read MoreMongolian and coffee in Redondo, bagels to El Segundo, restaurant events, and more
Last call at Brewco: When Brewco opened 32 years ago, the brewpub craze was in full swing, nationwide, and local craft beer was prized. They outlasted all of their local competitors, but now are about to serve their last pints. The last day of operation will be October 15, after which the building will be…
Read MoreOdd name, odd location, interesting ideas
When I first saw an article about Goop Kitchen, I thought there was a typo in the name. Could it be that it was supposed to be “Good Kitchen,” but the letter “d” was upside down? They can’t have deliberately given the place a name that means “a viscous or sticky substance,” could they? They…
Read MoreYou have to know it’s there
One way of asserting status among people who love dining out is to reveal a secret spot – somewhere nobody else knows about where you can almost always get a seat and a really good meal. The appeal is obvious, both in being first among your friends to find a cool place, and it being…
Read MoreParis on Pier
Last week we had houseguests, who sounded delighted when I told them we were going to a new Hermosa restaurant that was quite promising. “What’s the cuisine?” asked my friend Lou.” When I told him it was a French bistro, he looked concerned. “I don’t have a jacket or collared shirt,” he said with an…
Read MoreThe restaurant server problem
by Richard Foss To a historian who has been following the ups and downs of the dining industry, the biggest controversy in that field has a familiar ring. There are shortages of people willing to work, say restaurant owners, and those who do take a job are ready to move on as soon as another…
Read MoreSlow evolution at Strand House
One of the tribulations of being a restaurant reviewer is when I recommend a place I have recently visited, suggest specific items they should try, and then get an email the day after my friends visit that reads, “They didn’t have any of the things you suggested, and the server said something about a change…
Read MoreHit and miss and just plain odd
I remember when someone explained the idea of the elevator pitch, and how it could force a creative person to refine an idea. The concept is that if you can’t explain what something is in a brief time, you should rethink the idea. It’s not always right because some subtle or unique ideas can’t be…
Read MoreAuthenticity and innovation off the beaten path
by Richard Foss The life of commercial fishermen has always been hard, dirty, and unglamorous, which hasn’t stopped restaurants evoking it in their decor. Decorators scavenge nautical wrecking yards for patched nets, rusty lobster pots, and bits of anything that might plausibly have been used to catch fish. As soon as the last rusty binnacle…
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