Kismet is a restaurant at the edge of the Los Feliz neighborhood in Los Angeles. In his LA Times review Jonathan Gold may have called the place “quasi-Middle Eastern”, but its groove and its neighborhood could not be more reflective of what’s going on in Los Angeles right now. So I wasn’t surprised during a…
Category: Food
Now that we’ve cleared the holiday hurdle it’s time to start thinking about surviving the winter. I live in So Cal where our winters are typically mild. Often wet, but always mild. Still, I look for the joy in the season wherever I can find it and cool-weather pleasures don’t get simpler than a steaming…
We’re looking towards another Christmas and, despite myself, I’ve made Chocolate-Ginger Cookies for the holiday cookie season. That same time of year when I tell myself (year-after-year) that I’m just not going to bother. I don’t mean I’m not going to bother with the holidays. Though it’s fun to insinuate it just to watch the…
I ate these Pork and Pineapple Adobo Tacos weeks ago. I was so inspired by Ben Mims’ Los Angeles Times recipe for Adobo Roast Pork Shoulder with Pickled Pineapple Salad that I quite literally went out that same day and shopped the recipe. Once I had made the dish I couldn’t stop myself from serving…
An invitation to taste through the new line of Tayson Pierce single-vineyard, limited production Napa Valley wines, paired with Wally’s Santa Monica Executive Chef Ryan Kluver’s gourmet cuisine, came at just the right time. I’ve been somewhat down lately. It seems to me that good ol’ common sense has gone out the window– disrupting everything…
Just like that and I’ve turned the seasonal page. It’s Chilled Dragon’s Tongue Beans followed by Celery and Jicama Salad one week. Then, with barely a look backward, I’ve got a cool–season soup featuring Turmeric and Cauliflower. Not that it’s exactly cool in Los Angeles. But it’s not really hot either. In fact, it’s perfect.…
Isn’t this a pretty bean? It’s a sweet bean too, with a fierce name. Dragon Tongue is a ”Romano” bean, which means its pods are flat rather than round. Though technically it’s still a wax bean (another questionable name) because its pods have a yellow background. This is a summertime recipe. At least in Los…
