Do not laugh please. Turkey is the new Angus. I eat turkey burgers in ‘da hood all the time. Today, September 2nd, Jennie-O is sponsoring a “Make the Switch” campaign aiming to “save Los Angeles residents 50,000 grams of fat and 500,000 calories in just one day”. For all the TV fame whores, you know who you are, you’ll be on the set of J-O’s new commercial and may be featured for all of America to see.

EVENT DETAILS
Thursday, September 2nd
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
11655 Valley Blvd. El Monte, CA 91732

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On September 9, Oinkster & Manila Machine will join forces to host Taste of FPAC.  Menu below.

From the Oinkster (menu subject to change):

• Two off-menu items (via outdoor bbq and smoker and will be served to order)
• Pastrami Minis
• Pulled Pork Minis
• Oinkster Belgian Fries
• Oinkster Potato Salad
• Oinkster Ube Milkshakes
• Soft Drinks

From the Manila Machine:

• Sisig
• Pork Belly and Pineapple Adobo
• Beef Tapa Slider
• Lumpia
• Carabao Wings
• Ube Cupcakes
• Turon

This is to benefit: “The Association for the Advancement of Filipino American Arts and Culture, also known as FilAm ARTS, a multi-disciplinary community arts organization whose mission is to advance the understanding of the arts and diverse cultural heritage of Filipinos in the United States.” $50 is “inclusive of food and non-alcoholic drinks for the evening.” Cause you know what happens with Asians and AYCD events…

Thursday, September 9, 2010

6:00-10:00 PM

Oinkster 2005 Colorado Boulevard

Eagle Rock, CA 90041

Sign up for Groupon!

Everyone in the dining (class) room gasps.

While the above is an exaggerated re-enactment of the Q&A that followed every course at Seasons 52’s preview luncheon, there’s truth in the drama. There is no butter in the stock, hence every dish on the menu is no more than 475 calories. No one likes a calorie counter when dining out; it only took 2 courses to convince nearly everyone that butter isn’t an elixir to every culinary conundrum.

On this press-preview day, the diners were flanked by Mr. Stephen Judge, president of Seasons 52, himself an ex-chef and hotelier school graduate, instructed by Chief Chef Clifford Pleau, and oenologically led by Master Sommelier George Miliotes. With the executive team on site, the staff, which had already obtained weeks of training, prepared a very thorough sampler of the flagship Seasons 52’s fare.

Lump crab amuse. Ceviche inspired, with executive chef Pleau’s California culinary origins shining through. Easy to eat, easy to like. Easy on the waistline. Bring on the next!

While Californians may already scoff at the salmon on plank cooking as blase, please observe the ring of jus within the ringlet of onion on top of the salmon. This is the circle of vegetable sauce magic that may make you forget you’re in a chained restaurant. This was of the opague “sauce” that shocked and awed. The principle behind Seasons 52 may be similar to your fave neighborhood localvore joint, but the execution has to be different simply due to economy of scale. And this national scaling is what makes the restaurant even more impressive. Sure there are localy market driven restaurants such as The Fig or Ammo, but there’s no Canele in Schaumburg, IL & Orlando, FL.

The 4 cheese “ravioli” seared this meal into everyone’s mind, especially after chef Cliff demonstrated the recipe of this ravioli:

Dressed in vegetable reduction, not topped with butter, this wonton skin wrapped “ravioli” is cooked simply, dressed simply, and easily replicable at home. It’s less than 475 calories. It should be plenty tasty even for the Chanel sporting visitors of South Coast Plaza.

To finish the regimented meal, Seasons 52 lets you loosen the belt, but not loosen the wallet, for dessert. Every “mini indulgent” is $2.50. Understanding there is no way to make tasty desserts without butter and sugar, S52 simply controlled the portion on your behalf, just like how you should live your life.

Sitting at the main dining room of this particular restaurant feels much less corporate than Charlie Palmer’s 3 doors down, yet the entire franchise of Season 52 is a crafted brand of Darden Restaurant Group. Eating the food, it’s easy to see why Tiger keeps returning — it’s healthy, it’s sexy, accessible, tasty, and not too harsh on the paycheck.

Season 52, the first in California, opened in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza yesterday. Go there, but leave the butter at home. Here, it’s as if the prestige in the trick magic is revealed: there is no butter yet the food, available nation wide, is surprisingly good.

Season 52
South Coast Plaza

Here, the story of a certain Mr. Lefty and his cute piglets shall be told.

Lefty Ayers is a man with epic interests. He sculpts found art, he does wood burned paintings, he’s an artistic welder, he’s a loving husband, a rancher and a roaster of whole hogs. Oh, he also reads blogs. Or, at least, he read my blog.

Early this spring, I received following details concerning his ranch:

Our leased ranch is 120 acres hidden in the oak and pine covered mountains above Quail Lake. The Sandburg Ranch was started in 1897 and for the most part was known for it’s apples sent in to LA in the 1920’s and 30’s. Some apples still grow from trees that are almost 80 years old.

He continues:

Our pork program has had very good responses from what we raise on a very healthy feed menu. The Berkshires are a new part of what we are doing. Our first ones will be ready for an early summer revealing BBQ here at the ranch. The fresh loins with all the trimmings will be set up for all those that are wanting to try our pork. Unfortunately, there won’t be acorn finished ones until latter in the year.

Dropping the typical hyperboles, it is sufficient to simply say: some people got excited after happening upon the words: “pork”, “acorn”, “LA”.

A month and a half after the initial email exchange, 2 LA boys (the term “boys” used loosely) and an Iowan poet decided to spend an idyllic afternoon wrestling shoats into their new playground with built-in acorn buffet at Reride (nay, Sandburg) Ranch. Ultimately, we discovered there is a tremendous difference between personalities such as the LA Cowboy, and Mr. Ayers, a not-so-urban cowboy.

First, please toss out any image of what one may perceive as organized ranching, think a homestead near the Castaic Lakes, just outside the boundaries of Angeles National Forest, instead. Much of this land used to be an apple orchard. Once upon a time, a unique apple variety literally called the “Sandberg”, now “heirloom”, produced tons of apples from 2000 trees. Now, horses roam, and scout troops come for camp outs and bonding time. Near the house, prolific century old oak trees can be found. And with oaks, come acorns. With acorns, come fatty fat fat piggies.

On this particular afternoon, the Ayer family (and friends, bearing butter churned fresh from local cream) sat us down under the great tree and we had ourselves a Saveur centerfold worthy feast. There were skillet fried chicken, potted biscuit, slow cooked beans, and gentle crisp winds from the nearby forest.

After lunch, the magical process of pigs digging for acorn was witnessed by our entire lot after the lucky Berkshire shoals were wrangled into their new make shift pen. Here, the 2 piggies acted as if they were in nature. There was no trough, no feed, no corn. They simply snouted away the loose top soil and went to town on the fallen nuts. For weeks, this is all they feasted. To supplement their diet, everything and anything produced on the ranch’s ground is thrown into feeding ritual; apples, eggs, wheatgrass, etc. Reride Ranch is a pig’s immovable feast.

Going back to the business of eating pork — 6 months after the initial contact, Lefty sold a (blue butt) hog raised mostly on milk and mishmash of pasture & eggs, etc., to a butchering class hosted by Opa’s Craft & Chef Neal Fraser of the temporarily closed Grace. McCalls Meats should have received the first of the FDA approved processed Berkshire raised on a mixture of acorns, milk & pasture as of this post. By now, localvores in Priuses should all be asking the question: how can I eat these cute little things? One, contact Opas Craft, I hear he’s smoking a big ass chunk of ham. Two, contact McCalls and request Lefty’s Berkshire. Three, check back on this space. Reride Ranch is a small operation, and there’s a definite difficulty in amortizing the cost of hog rearing. By supporting this rancher, and requesting his pork, we’re able to further Lefty’s cause of raising ranch fresh acorn fed Berkshires (and by God, maybe someday even Mangalitsas???) within the greater Los Angeles region, at a sustainable cost structure to us all.

Reride Ranch

http://www.localharvest.org/reride-ranch-M39338
Lake Hughes, CA

Click on all pictures to enlarge:

2 years ago, this quick tour of East Los Angeles revealed not greatest al pastor stand, but a commoner’s food that’s universally appreciated by the people of Boyle Heights and EasLos. Then, it was difficult to imagine the ubiquitous outdoor trompo powered by a portable propane tank could be superceded by a spit from a lunchero. No. Seriously. Leo’s, as tweeted by The Bandini late July, is putting out a superior al pastor to anything East of the 101 has to offer.

There’s not much to report back beyond what Bandini has already covered. After 3 visits, it seems the neighboring artistic, cash-strapped, gringoes have already invaded the lunchero. Certain nights, along with the folks waiting for the bus at the gas station, dudes in Kangols and white loafers can be spotted after clubbing further up north in Hollywood. Only 1.5 months has passed since The Great Taco Hunt’s report, and the quality of the al pastor has slipped slightly. In order to keep up with the demand while only rotating 1 single trompo, the taquero has begun to griddle uncharred, uncooked, shaven bits of pork on the plancha, thereby nearly completely defeating the purpose of having fiery flames spitting out between ceramic grilling elements.

Still, the slightly sweet, heavily spiced pork butt shaved from a spit, topped with daftly sliced, then flung, pineapple, can not be beat for $1. There’s no mole or fancy sauces ala Loteria, but at this price, you may never want a taco from a restaurant again.

Nonetheless, Leo still sports some of the best al pastor for $1, especially because A, real estate simply costs more West of 110, and B, this taco man flicks his pina through the air with precision of a hackey sack player. Please be aware the various green salsas pack a whopping punch and there are no medio/mild labels on the salsa buckets.

Leo Catering (Leo’s Tacos)
La Brea & Venice, Los Angeles, CA

For Westsiders and Hollywood kids, The Factory is the “Love Child” of say, Blue Palm and The Yard, with a bit of Mendocino Farms or Tender Greens in the genes. Think local produce, Seafood Watch approved fish, paella nights, mussels steamed in beer, local breweries on tap & burger specials, all served up with a side of co-owner and chief foodie operator who’s both a tricyclist & parched beer drinker.

After visiting a handful of times, during all hours — they open at lunch, have a great happy hour and run special events — I’ve come to love the environs here. The food isn’t Ammo chic, nor Campanile famous, but this is Bixby Knolls at its best. Sit outside, and you’ll be reminded of the gritty air in Long Beach’s finer neighborhood. Sit at the tables and you may be subjected to the noise of a barren strip mall retail space transformed into a near chic restaurant. Sit at the bar and chances are Guy Fieri’s unloved mug will be attempting to burst through a huge flatscreen TV that’s irradiating your face.

Despite all that, the food is just right. It’s not the best of anything, yet it makes no attempt at being “B”. However, it accomplished at what it strives to achieve: “We are about doing the right thing & feeling good about what we are doing”. Translation: this is a comfortable casual chic neighborhood restaurant serving food that won’t make you fat, that won’t make you feel guilty as a Prius-driving centrist liberal with a pair of 3 year old twins. You will see greens from farms as close as Long Beach and on The Factory’s facebook page, you’ll see simply prepared foods served to prideful Bixby ultra-locals.

In the beginning, there were complaints of counter-based only service along with high prices. Half a year in, there are extremely affordable lunch options: “1/2 Boccadillo Sandwich with your choice of Roasted Poblano & Tomato Soup or a Farm Box Side Salad + Ice Tea/Soda + Brownie = $7″ , a fantastic happy hour featuring 8 rotating beer taps ,

And the restaurant has essentially changed to a full service model. The food, with Natalie Gutenkauf’s self-proclaimed inoridnate interest in Spanish cuisine, should be familiar to anyone who’s followed Paltrow’s “Spain… On The Road Again“. But really, where else is there a designer kids menu to go with a pub whose owner takes pride in her tod’s cooking skills? Forage LA? Nay, Factory LB.

The Factory
Facebook Page
Twitter

As an amateur picture taker, a place like Royal-T holds visual pleasantries that always compliment a meal. Beyond the AAIA awards for restaurant interior design, something must be said about the integration of all that tasty and pretty in the house of Royal-T. Ms. Susan Hancock, an ex-Orlandoer and New Yorker, has graciously, and surprisingly, allowed all of Los Angeles in on her collection. While private car collections are often open to the public, private art collections often only find posthumous homes and then opened to the public eye. This is where The Royal/T collection differs. Only 13+(deduced) years afters into the art buying, the Asian-inflected Hancock collection is already for free public consumption within the 10,000 Royal/T space, wholly operated by the Hancock Collection.

After 2 years, Royal/T has become simultaneously the symbol of all that is AWESOME in the US cos-play movement, as well as a space for the now ubiquitous LA “pop-up” dining scene, and the place with the most touchable Murakami in Los Angeles. The kitchen’s light & breezy brunch and lunch menu is now humming along, and at night, more serious chefs can expres their very own “food art”.

For this iteration of pop-up’s at Royal/T, Chef K. Yamada, previously of Katsuya Encino & Takami Downtown, has partnered with Thinkbox 20 Marketing to present “Sushi Pop Up” a tasting menu-only event served up 5 nights (Thursday / Friday beginning August 26th) this late August / early September.

The evening started extremely well with a “creamy miso soup” that’s highly evocative of mushroom chowder. It was musky, full of soy, with a slight hint of dairy (which was most probably a figment of food memory and taste assocation). Delish, imaginative, a nice blend of Northeast and the Far East. Someone request a recipe of this to LA Time’s Culinary SOS please.

The ceviche tower is clearly a riff on Chaya’s tuna tartare. In addition to tuna, halibut, salmon & yellowtail are sandwiched ala a fun triple decker. To eat, use fingers to lift up a layer of fried gyoza skin and stuff into mouth. If spicy peppers are too invasive, first remove the slivers of chili peppers before performing finger-to-mouth feeding. Tasty & arty this was, if not a bit un-inventive.

The ika roll course is best eaten with no sauce (kewpie mayo, sriracha, miso). For a surprising pairing & texture, sample the 3 dollops of flavored mashed potato, one dotted of fish roe, after sampling a slice of the maki.

Next, a crudo of halibut, paired to a seaweed “salad”. This is the consummate Japanese dish as served in California. A few thin slices of deftly cut halibut, some sprinkling of a matcha sea salt, finished off with lemon juice, dressed with fresh chopped tomato and yellow beets. A simple seafood dish in faux Mediterranean tradition, all it’s missing is some olive oil. To punch up the accessible halibut flavor, pick up snippets of wakame salad in between bites of fish and yellow tomatoes.

Kani “koro” (croquette) is a popular izakaya dish. A simple recipe can be found here. The lump crab croquette is usually served with tartar. As popular as tartar sauce might be in terms of American fish fry, a simple Kewpie could pair just as well with this colonial era dish. Here, the only difference vs. a casual crab cake recipe is the use of Panko. No matter, a crab cake is a crab cake is a crab cake; this particular crab cake will probably satisfy most who opt for the 13 course menu.

To finish, both the 7 and 13 course tasting (dare we use “omakase” before it’s too hackneyed?) offer a sake infused tiramisu which, from what I gathered from text messages the next day, was a chart topper.

Thank you to Think Box 20, Chef Yamada, & Royal/T for the hosted preview event.

Chef K Yamada’s Sushi Pop Art
August 26th – September 6th, Wednesday & Thursdays
Prix-Fixe Menu only
Reserve here

Lines were long at the beginning of the festival due to a delayed fire marshall inspection. At 12:30pm, less than half of the food vendors were online. Yet by 2:30, attendees were reporting very short queues. Asian culinary studiousness at its prime. Utilizing food tickets results in more sanitary money/food exchange, and expediated the lines. The only thing needed improving was signage for the “secondary” food ticket sales towards the rear of the festival grounds.

Without further ado, the winners from Saturday:

Choco Pie Eating Contest: Chilin Peng
Soju Mix-off winner: Joel Black. Cocktail name: “K-town Cobbler”

Judge’s Selection: Park’s BBQ
Best Beef: Hansong (green tea kalbi? whoah)
Best Pork: Olympic Restaurant
Best Fusion: Choonchun Dakgalbi
Chef Ludo’s Pick: Park’s BBQ
Jonathan Gold’s Pick: Ham Ji Park

Looks like Park’s worked it Saturday, and is back to its true form after last year’s odd defeat. Kudos to the critically acclaimed Western Ave restaurant. But really, let’s get to the pictures of people stuffing their pie holes with Choco Pie!

Last year, the festival was super hot and sticky, with beer flowing like blood at a bull fighting ring. This year, the pay for play format remains, but food tickets will be instated to facilitate cleanliness and speediness. To keep up with the times, the number of food trucks has increased, but Ktown strong holds of Soowon and Park’s BBQ will return.

Check in on their twitter account for latest updates and give-aways.

China Sizzling Summer Nights:

Every Saturday of August, 2010, 5:00pm – Mightnight. Chinatown Los Angeles: West Plazas between Broadway and Yale Street, from College to Bernard Street

Part food event, part summer party, Chinatown Summer Nights presents an exciting hot spot for Angelenos this August. Taste the many culinary offerings of Chinatown and LA’s gourmet food trucks; sample the neighborhood’s wares; watch Chinese chefs perform cooking demonstrations; experience large-scale, outdoor video projections; shop from Los Angeles artists at the LA Craft Experience; take part in hands-on, Chinese cultural activities presented by local organizations and museums; sip on Chinese beer and dance in Central Plaza with KCRW’s DJ’s!

What you really care about are the eats. And note, I’ve never seen previously 25% off coupon to Hop Woo so click on the Chinatown page for your coupons ASAP!

# Foo Chow Restaurant
# 15% off total purchase
# Good till 08/13/10
# 949 N. Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
# p. 213-485-1294

# Full House Seafood Restaurant
# 10% off total purchse. Valid between 11am and 1 am
# No Expiration
# 963 N. Hill Street, Los Angeles, Ca 90012
# P. 213-617-8382

# Golden City Restaurant
# 10% off dinner only with free dessert.
# No Expiration
# 960 N. Hill Street, Los Angeles, Ca 90012
# P. 213-253-2660

# Golden Dragon Restaurant
# 25% off dinner only 3 pm-10 pm, not including banquets, or combined with other special offers
# Good till 11/15/10
# 960 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, Ca 90012
# P. 213-626-2039

# Hop Woo Barbeque Seafood Restaurant
# 25% off total purchase.
# Good till 12/31/10
# 845 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, Ca 90012
# P. 213-617-3038

# New Dragon Seafood Restaurant
# 20% off dinner only, from 5 pm to 10 pm. Dine-in and Take-out, $25 minimum purchase. Cannot be combined with other special offers. Not Valid on holidays. Limit one coupon per transaction.
# Good till 12/31/10
# 934 N. Hill Street, Los Angeles, Ca 90012
# P. 213-626-6050

# Queee Sushi Station & Portugese Cuisine
# 10% off total purchase, for lunch and dinner
# Good till 09/30/10
# 643 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles, Ca 90012
# P. 213-221-7870

Chinatown Summer Nights

Ammo’s Sunday Roast on August 8th will feature fish instead of the typical pork, beef and lamb.

And instead of presenting a wine maker, or a farmer, as tradition at Ammo Roasts, a book signing with Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food will be the pre-dinner festivities.

After talking about wild fish, a $50 5 course meal featuring 4 courses of seafood will be served:

While fish, octopus & squid ice cream flavors are available in Jpan, but most would probably want to to the roasted figs flavor instead.

Ammo Restaurant
1155 North Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038-1204
(323) 467-3293