Posts by Richard Foss

“Great boasts deserve great scrutiny,” said someone wise. I’m not sure who that was, because I overheard someone attributing the saying to an obscure Victorian author without saying which one. Pithy wisdom may be valued regardless of the source, and this maxim is equally useful for political assertions and restaurant menus. That maxim was what…

While walking from my parking space to Natural World Market, I found myself smiling at the irony of the name. Nothing about the stretch of Artesia where it is located is natural, from the concrete beneath my feet to the power lines that stretch overhead. The market and café is a concrete and glass box,…

by Richard Foss I was one of the first customers when Hermosa Brewing Company opened in 2018, though that was an accident. My brother and I were walking away from dinner elsewhere when we noticed that the lights were on, so we stopped in for a pint. We had more than that, not only because…

The pandemic shutdowns have given me plenty of time to practice replicating favorite restaurant dishes. Each time an experiment works, it makes me believe that I might be ready to assay an even more demanding recipe next time. There is one I would never try, because it can’t be made at home: the omakase sushi…

  Closings and openings: After ages as the Poop Deck and a change of name a few years ago, The Deck is going to close on April 1. Hermosa’s favorite oceanfront dive bar was facing a huge rent increase and can’t survive selling inexpensive beer and burgers. Speculation is The Deck will be replaced by…

Chicago pizzas and Italian beef sandwiches top the menu at Red & Louie’s   The Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov famously demonstrated that he could cause dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. It was a pioneering discovery about psychology, demonstrating a reaction between two things not associated in nature, a clanging sound and…

Petros Benekos of Petros Restaurant in Manhattan Beach looked a bit weary toward the end of the dinner rush on Friday, but he was also  exhilarated because the restaurant had a nearly full outdoor patio. As he is well known for chatting with his customers and making them feel at home, I knew he would…

Mi Burrito is an unlikely standard bearer for authentic Mexican flavors One of the most frequent questions I get from readers is where to find great, traditional Mexican food. They want the real thing that makes you feel like you’re in Guadalajara, East LA, or somewhere else where locals savor authentically powerful, yet subtle flavors.…