Posts by Richard Foss
Celebrity chefs at the Strand House
Two of the most famous chefs in America were in the kitchen at the Strand House Monday as part of their guest chef series – and in the kitchen doesn’t mean just watching or giving orders. Nancy Silverton and Matt Molina were right in the thick of things, slicing, saucing, and cooking with a team…
Read MoreA La Carte: latest Beach Cities restaurant news
The parade of changes in Manhattan Beach is astonishing, with numerous closures announced and more places on the market.
Read MoreCatalina Coffee Company’s comfy cuisine [RESTAURANT REVIEW]
There is a science involved in making restaurants a precise level of uncomfortable. It was quantified in the 1960’s, when certain chains were concerned about customers staying too long over their meals. So they researched color schemes and types of furniture that that would make people decide to leave as soon as they finished eating.…
Read MoreLittle Gourmet in El Segundo is a little gem [RESTAURANT REVIEW]
Little Gourmet owner Juan used to cook at Anthony’s before it was sold to Rock ’N Brews, and he didn’t change the menu much when he opened his own place.
Read MoreA La Carte: Kitchen takeovers
Coming Soon To A Restaurant Near You… Several South Bay restaurants are hosting prestigious chefs visiting our neighborhood and showing off while they’re here. Abigaile has been leading the way, with culinary luminaries such as Chef Tin Vuong. (Last week Abigaile’s patrons decided that the Mayor of Manhattan Beach is a better cook than his…
Read MoreFishing With Dynamite, new Manhattan Beach restaurant from MB Post’s LeFevre
David LeFevre has announced his newest venture, a restaurant called Fishing With Dynamite.
Read MoreLupita’s: regional specialties from Mexico [RESTAURANT REVIEW]
There is a place in the world for restaurants that do a limited repertoire flawlessly – the burger joint that doesn’t offer fifty different combinations of toppings and buns, just one perfect burger. Most Mexican restaurants in the South Bay are in this category, and I have joked that you could take the menu from…
Read MoreThe return of Uncle Stavros [RESTAURANT REVIEW]
Just over a hundred years ago there was a great controversy about what were called hyphenated Americans – people who held American citizenship but cherished their Irish, German, or other heritage. This has never been a problem when it comes to restaurants – we have always accepted places that served German and American,…
Read MoreLast year’s top new restaurants in the South Bay
The overall quality of the dining experience in the Beach Cities has been improving, and it’s harder each year for newcomers to match the standards of their established competitors, much less excel in comparison.
Read MoreBeach dining year in review [2012 Newsmaker]
2012 was a turbulent year in the local dining scene, one in which local restaurants worked to attract thrifty diners. Despite a slow but steady economic recovery, the tendency was for expensive and high-concept places to close and be replaced by more modest and straightforward establishments. The South Bay’s most ambitiously themed restaurants, Maison Riz…
Read MoreLemonade: the cafeteria, re-imagined
There’s a sign I have seen in stores selling handcrafted or custom-made goods that encapsulates one of the sorry truths of the universe. It reads, “Fast, cheap, and good: Pick any two.”
Read MoreThe miracle of Dominique’s Kitchen, newly opened in Redondo Beach
Chef Dominique Theval, a veteran of restaurants in Paris, London, Bermuda, and Cambodia, makes a statement in Redondo It is often said of car engines, the human eye, and the internet that that it is miraculous that they not only work well, but that they work at all. So many things have to go right,…
Read MoreThe reinvention of Baleen Kitchen [RESTAURANT REVIEW]
The baleen whales that migrate along our coast are some of the most majestic creatures in nature, and any time I can get out on a boat to watch them I seize the opportunity. To wonder about their minds and senses and what they think of the land-based creatures who intrude into their watery world…
Read MorePitfire Grill comes to MB, chefs takeover Abigaile, Simmzy’s 100,000th burger…..
Arrivals and Departures… Downtown Manhattan Beach has big changes going on. Pomodoro’s conversion to a Pitfire Grill is underway, and I’m looking forward to the new opening – I have visited other locations and been impressed by the quality and value. Elsewhere, things seem to be up in the air at the former Sashi location;…
Read MorePolly’s on the Pier [RESTAURANT REVIEW]
Polly’s on the Pier persists I was deliberately vague in the directions that I gave my brother. “Just drive straight after you go through the entrance to the parking lot on Harbor Drive. I’ll meet you at that restaurant on the pier.” “What restaurant on the Redondo pier?” “The only restaurant on the pier.” “There…
Read MoreManhattan Beach’s Union Pizza Co. marries New York to Chicago
Midwestern food gets little respect among Californians; try to explain the allure of Cincinnati Greek chili or Milwaukee frozen custard and you are most likely to get a blank look in return. There is some appreciation for Midwestern barbecue, but beyond that it’s generally neck and neck between ignorance and apathy. This is unfortunate, because…
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