Ocean View Café, California with a side of Lebanese
by Richard Foss In the mid ‘70s I started hanging out at a little vegetarian café in Manhattan Beach called Sunny Skys. It was on a walk street around the corner from Uncle Bill’s Pancake House, and the tiny interior space was flanked by a patio with a great view of the beach. Sunny Skys […]
A La Carte: Manhattan restaurants tank, more coffee places, Indian breakfast
by Richard Foss One Carnivore Up, One Down: The beach cities have seen a flurry of butcher shops opening, a surprising development in a neighborhood with several upscale supermarkets with expansive meat departments. One of the odder of these, Wagyu Meatsmith in Hermosa, closed at the end of the year. If you’re wondering where that […]
Wood Ranch Manhattan Beach, Good barbecue in a good environment
Wood Ranch BBQ specializes in wood-fired American cooking Doesn’t try to replicate ranch decor by Richard Foss In 1938, the King of England ate a hot dog. The occasion was a picnic in Hyde Park with President Roosevelt as part of the King’s first visit to the USA. The journalists noted that the King […]
Redondo’s Zoku specializes in skewered food, but has more to offer
by Richard Foss “This is a great cuisine for someone with a short attention span,” I remarked to my dining companion on my first visit to Zoku. At the time, I was eyeing a selection of skewered seafood, meats, and vegetables that was arriving at the next table. Each sliver of bamboo had one or […]
A LA CARTE: lil’ Vegerie wins big award, BBQ back, openings, and wine events
by Richard Foss Top Honors: Gourmets all over the world now know about ‘lil Vegerie, the tiny takeout-only cafe located in a Redondo strip mall on PCH. That’s because they were declared the #1 vegan restaurant in America in the October 24 issue of Food & Wine Magazine. The honor comes exactly one year after […]
Coastal Hermosa survives early storms, change for the better
by Richard Foss I am not a sports fan, but since so many people around me are, I have absorbed ideas from that sphere of existence. One concept from the award season has always seemed problematic, the awarding of the “most improved” trophy to athletes. Nominees must wince when they hear that they’re in the […]
The dinner of a thousand details: A feast in Paris illuminates fine dining expectations in California
by Richard Foss When I reminisce about memorable dining experiences at French restaurants, some people recoil from the idea. An image develops in their minds of stifling formality, complex etiquette, and a procession of mysterious, complex dishes. They fear they might not be sophisticated enough to understand the aesthetic, much less relax and enjoy it. […]
Family Heirloom: Gaetano’s in Torrance celebrate generations of restaurateurs
by Richard Foss In Los Angeles, something a century old is, well, old. The South Bay was mainly agricultural or chapparal in 1924, and as little as fifty years ago there were still open fields where office buildings and tract homes now stand. Compare that with European or Asian countries where there are many […]
Three decades of pizza on Pacific Coast Highway, Brooklyn Brick Oven Pizza
Brooklyn Brick Oven consistently delivers New York flavor. Want to argue? Fuhgettaboutit by Richard Foss I had to try some pizza on my first visit to New York, and did so with low expectations. Expat Manhattanites like to brag about how good it is, but there seems to be an element of ritual about it. […]
Two for the show – Pat Brown and son James honored for their early support of the Warner Grand Theater
by Richard Foss The Grand Vision Foundation periodically honors supporters of the arts, and for this year’s gala at the PV Golf Club they chose a duo whose contributions are very different. One is a veteran photojournalist, the other owns a downtown San Pedro restaurant, bar, and brewery. They might not seem to have any […]
Music and birthday candles for local college
“Shining Through the Decades” El Camino College’s Diamond Jubilee Celebration Concert marks 75 years of serving students and the community To commemorate this milestone, artistic director Joanna Medawar Nachef is heading up a free concert that features the ECC Symphony Orchestra, Chorale, Concert Choir, Women’s Chorus, Joanna Medawar Nachef Singers, and the Torrance Civic Chorale. […]
Seashore Chinese Restaurant Local Chinese, native flavors
by Richard Foss Depending on which set of statistics you look at, Chinese food is either the most popular restaurant cuisine in the U.S. or in second place. That includes high style fusion places, down home eateries, and take-out counters all lumped into the one category, but one statistic proves the appeal. There are more […]
Quietly, everything changed
By Richard Foss When Chef Tin Vuong opened the first Little Sister restaurant in 2013, the food was an unusually personal expression of his family’s history. As the South Vietnamese regime teetered, uncles and cousins scattered to whatever country would give them refuge, winding up all over South Asia. They reunited in the USA, IN […]
In Remembrance: Redondo Beach’s Charlie’s loses its namesake
by Richard Foss The South Bay lost a pillar of the local restaurant community with the death of Charles Byrd two weeks ago. Byrd, known universally as Charlie, co-owned and operated Charlie’s on Pacific Coast Highway since1992. Byrd moved from New York to Hermosa Beach in the 1980s and worked at Naja’s and then at […]
Chanteuse Jessica Fichot in concert Friday
Songs of past and present, near and far Chanteuse Jessica Fichot evokes Paris and old Shanghai at El Camino College Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you may have been expecting this: Jessica Fichot’s concert at Marsee Auditorium has been postponed, presumably to be rescheduled for next season. In the meantime, save […]