Posts by Richard Foss

How To Lose Friends… I was having a very late lunch with a friend at a popular Hermosa Beach spot, so it was no surprise that we were the only ones in the very large café. The two of us had some business to discuss, so we asked our server to turn down the music…

I attended the Riverside Dickens Festival last week, a celebration of all things Victorian and of the literature of one prolific writer in particular. Two hundred years after his birth, Dickens continues to inspire filmmakers, academics, actors and reenactors, and at least one restaurateur – the one who opened Oliver’s Café in Redondo. Oliver’s Café…

American Farmhouse Tavern integrates regional cooking with high style Until recently, unless you lived near Santa Maria you probably had no idea that this farm-oriented community on the road to San Francisco had its own cuisine. You’ve had it any time you ordered tri-tip at a steakhouse, since before Santa Marians started grilling this cut…

Palmilla chef Christina Cipres is diplomatic when asked to compare what she serves with the fare provided by other restaurants on the Pier Plaza. “I’ve dined at a lot of the places in the pier area, including the taverns and pubs, and at all price points I’ve had very good food,” she insists. Nevertheless she…

Oriental Breeze, the most authentic Japanese restaurant almost nobody in the South Bay knows about Near the end of the Redondo Pier is a stand that sells funnel cakes, hot dogs, French fries, nachos, and ice cream, among other fast food. It has been open for many years and is reminiscent of places I’ve seen…

Greg Newman’s new venture delivers traditional Mexican cuisine with a refined flair I have become wary of restaurants that take high style to extremes; there are plenty of places I could mention where someone has spent cash and creativity on the décor, seemingly without ever considering what might be served inside their oh-so-hip spot after…

I often find myself dining at places where much more creativity is given to marketing and promotion than to making sure that the kitchen is doing anything remotely interesting. Occasionally, I come across the complete opposite – a place with excellent and creative food, but where nobody has given any thought about how to explain…

Usually, when you say you know how a chef thinks, you’re speaking metaphorically; you know what they do and can guess why they do it. It’s not like every customer at a restaurant can actually sit down with the chef at the beginning of a meal and discuss how to plan the flavors and courses…