Show 183, August 6, 2016: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Chef Andrew Gruel

Andrew Gruel at the AM830 KLAA StudiosExecutive Chef Andrew Gruel of the rapidly growing Slapfish empire with restaurants in Huntington Beach, Brea, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, LAX, Irvine at UCI and, most recently, The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Rams and USC Football, is back as today’s special Guest Host. In May in Chicago during the National Restaurant Association’s annual conclave he received Nation’s Restaurant News’ Trendsetter MenuMaster Award for Slapfish.

Now a provocatively tempting preview of Saturday’s abundant show and not, with profuse apologies, for dieters. If we’re successful we will always leave you incredibly hungry and thirsty. In our case that’s actually a pretty good thing…

The OC Fair in Costa Mesa continues through August 14th. What’s new in Fair Food? We’ll chat with the well-known “Chicken Charlie” Boghosian, a pioneer in fair food favorites. You just might call him the “King” of fried fair food and other treats!

Huntington Beach restaurateur Alicia Whitney is seemingly taking over the City one block at a time. Her newest full-service restaurant is SeaSalt Woodfire Grill featuring Santa Maria-style barbecue. She is also now on the sand at Bolsa Chica State Beach with two open beach food stands and a third set to open soon. We’ll detour Alica for a quick respite and get all the tasty details.

Brouwerij West is a unique Belgian-inspired craft brewery and venue located in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles. The company was founded in 2010 by talented brewer Brian Mercer and is now led by Mercer and his partner Dave Holop. Brouwerij West’s new home opened in February 2016 in a former Port Warehouse originally built by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Proprietor Brian Mercer taps the keg on Brouwerij West for us.

One of the pioneering food trucks in Orange County is the innovative Dos Chinos taco truck (Chef Hop Phan) which is a tasty fusion of Latin-Vietnamese fare. It’s also now a permanent food stall at the 4th Street Market in Santa Ana. Hop Phan’s newest concept is Sit Low Pho (Vietnamese) at the 4th Street Market. We’ll meet him.

Introducing non-native fish to United States waters can disturb the existing delicate ecological balance. Such is the case of Asian carp in the Great Lakes. To the rescue may be the prehistoric-looking, and fast growing, alligator gar. It was previously native to these same waters. Chef Andrew Gruel will explain this fish tale.

The three waves of voting for The Golden Foodie Awards, the People’s Choice Food Awards in Orange County, is on now through August 21st. Voting for the 1st categories concludes on August 7th. Hosting the Awards is Food Network’s Simon Majumdar(“Cutthroat Kitchen.”) He’s our guest.

Gold Medals won by wines at our area County Fairs used to have a tremendous impact on wine sales. Now, this is much less the case. Our resident wine authority, Kyle Meyer of Wine Exchange, has his informed perspective.

All of this and lots more absolutely incredible deliciousness on Saturday’s show!

Show 183, August 6, 2016: Brian Mercer, Founder, Brouwerij West, San Pedro

Brian MercerBrouwerij West is a unique Belgian-inspired craft brewery and venue located in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles. The company was founded in 2010 by talented brewer Brian Mercer and is now led by Mercer and his partner Dave Holop. Brouwerij West’s new home opened in February 2016 in a former Port Warehouse originally built by the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Brouwerij West’s operation encompasses 26,000 sq. ft. of the Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles facility, including 8,000 sq. ft. devoted to visitor use for its Tasting Room and events, as well as a 17,000 sq. ft. outdoor courtyard / beer garden.

Brouwerij West brews its beers using traditional ingredients and methods mixed with creative inspiration to produce its own take on classic Belgian-style ales. Brouwerij West’s new facility is covered with solar panels and generates more electricity than it uses, and its mash filter-based brewery uses 30% less water than traditional breweries.

On Saturday, August 20th is the 3rd in the series of Summer Popfuji concerts. The family-friendly event features five bands, five food trucks, and a new Brouwerij West beer release. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. with music playing from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Parking is free and plentiful. Cover charge is $5.00 for those 12 years of age and older,

 Proprietor Brian Mercer taps the keg on Brouwerij West for us.

 

August 6: Chicken Charlie Boghosian, SeaSalt Woodfire Grill, Brouwerij West, Dos Chinos, Simon Majumdar, Wine Exchange

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Chef Andrew Gruel
Segment Two: Celebrity Fair Food Concessionaire, “Chicken” Charlie Boghosian
Segment Three: Restaurateur Alicia Whitney’s Sea Salt Wood Fired Grill, Huntington Beach
Segment Four: Brian Mercer, Founder, Brouwerij West, San Pedro
Segment Five: Chef Hop Phan, Dos Chinos & Sit Low Pho, 4th Street Market Santa Ana
Segment Six: Chef Andrew Gruel, The Alligator Gar Makes a Comeback
Segment Seven: Simon Majumdar, Voting for the Golden Foodie Awards
Segment Eight: Kyle Meyer, The Wine Exchange, Wine Competitions at County Fairs

Andrew Gruel at the AM830 KLAA StudiosExecutive Chef Andrew Gruel of the rapidly growing Slapfish empire with restaurants in Huntington Beach, Brea, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, LAX, Irvine at UCI and, most recently, The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Rams and USC Football, is back as today’s special Guest Host. In May in Chicago during the National Restaurant Association’s annual conclave he received Nation’s Restaurant News’ Trendsetter MenuMaster Award for Slapfish.

Now a provocatively tempting preview of Saturday’s abundant show and not, with profuse apologies, for dieters. If we’re successful we will always leave you incredibly hungry and thirsty. In our case that’s actually a pretty good thing…

The OC Fair in Costa Mesa continues through August 14th. What’s new in Fair Food? We’ll chat with the well-known “Chicken Charlie” Boghosian, a pioneer in fair food favorites. You just might call him the “King” of fried fair food!

Huntington Beach restaurateur Alicia Whitney is seemingly taking over the City one block at a time. Her newest full-service restaurant is SeaSalt Woodfire Grill featuring Santa Maria-style barbecue. She is also now on the sand at Bolsa Chica State Beach with two open beach food stands and a third set to open soon. We’ll detour Alica for a quick respite and get all the tasty details.

Brouwerij West is a unique Belgian-inspired craft brewery and venue located in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles. The company was founded in 2010 by talented brewer Brian Mercer and is now led by Mercer and his partner Dave Holop. Brouwerij West’s new home opened in February 2016 in a former Port Warehouse originally built by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Proprietor Brian Mercer taps the keg on Brouwerij West for us.

One of the pioneering food trucks in Orange County is the innovative Dos Chinos taco truck (Chef Hop Phan) which is a tasty fusion of Latin-Vietnamese fare. It’s also a permanent food stall at the 4th Street Market in Santa Ana. Hop Phan’s newest concept is Sit Low Pho (Vietnamese) at the 4th Street Market. We’ll meet him.

Introducing non-native fish to United States waters can disturb the existing delicate ecological balance. Such is the case of Asian carp in the Great Lakes. To the rescue may be the prehistoric-looking, and fast growing, alligator gar. It was previously native to these same waters. Chef Andrew Gruel will explain all.

The three waves of voting for The Golden Foodie Awards, the People’s Choice Food Awards in Orange County, is on now through August 21st. Voting for the 1st categories concludes on August 7th. Hosting the Awards is Food Network’s Simon Majumdar
(“Cutthroat Kitchen.”) He’s our guest.

Gold Medals won by wines at our area County Fairs used to have a tremendous impact on wine sales. Now, this is much less the case. Our resident wine authority, Kyle Meyer of Wine Exchange, has his informed perspective.

All of this and lots more absolutely incredible deliciousness on Saturday’s show!

Chicken Charlie BoghosianThe OC Fair in Costa Mesa continues through August 14th. What’s new in Fair Food? We’ll chat with the “Chicken Charlie” Boghosian, a pioneer in fair food favorites. You just might call him the “King” of fried fair food! He invented the deep-fried Twinkie.

In the just concluded Fair Food Competition, Charlie was awarded Gold medals for his bacon-wrapped fried chicken leg (Best Fried Food) and for his Maui Bowl (Ethnic Category.)

New for Chicken Charlie this year is the clever Chicken In a Waffle On a Stick, and Escargot and Caviar Doritos.

Away from the Fair circuit “Chicken Charlie” Boghosian has a year-round restaurant in San Diego. It’s Chicken Charlie’s FryBQ.

Alicia WhitneyHuntington Beach restaurateur Alicia Whitney is seemingly taking over the City one block at a time. Her newest full-service restaurant is SeaSalt Woodfire Grill featuring Santa Maria-style barbecue. Her pitmasters are actually from one of the well-known Santa Maria barbecue spots in the hamlet of Santa Maria! Santa Maria wines are highlighted on the list.

She is also now on the sand at Bolsa Chica State Beach with two renovated, open beach food stands and a third set to open in the near future. We’ll detour Alica for a quick respite and get all the tasty details.

Right now Alicia is bookending Bolsa Chica State Beach with the already operating SeaLegs at the Beach and Pacific Kitchen. Opening soon is SeaSalt Burger.

Brian MercerBrouwerij West is a unique Belgian-inspired craft brewery and venue located in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles. The company was founded in 2010 by talented brewer Brian Mercer and is now led by Mercer and his partner Dave Holop. Brouwerij West’s new home opened in February 2016 in a former Port Warehouse originally built by the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Brouwerij West’s operation encompasses 26,000 sq. ft. of the Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles facility, including 8,000 sq. ft. devoted to visitor use for its Tasting Room and events, as well as a 17,000 sq. ft. outdoor courtyard / beer garden.

Brouwerij West brews its beers using traditional ingredients and methods mixed with creative inspiration to produce its own take on classic Belgian-style ales. Brouwerij West’s new facility is covered with solar panels and generates more electricity than it uses, and its mash filter-based brewery uses 30% less water than traditional breweries.

Proprietor Brian Mercer taps the keg on Brouwerij West for us.

Hop PhanOne of the pioneering food trucks in Orange County is the innovative Dos Chinos taco truck (Chef Hop Phan) which is a tasty fusion of Latin-Vietnamese fare. It’s also a permanent food stall at the 4th Street Market in Santa Ana.

Hop Phan’s newest concept is Sit Low Pho (Vietnamese) at the 4th Street Market. He’s planning something fresh for the upcoming Trade market hall in Irvine arriving before year’s end.

Chef Hop is already a veteran of Food TV. Most recently he competed on FYI’s Man versus Child: Chef Showdown.

You’ve also seen him on NBC’s “Food Fighters,” Cooking Channel’s “Eat Street”, Food Network‘s “Cutthroat Kitchen” and “Chopped.”

We’ll meet him.

Andrew Gruel at the AM830 KLAA Studios“Southern California raised us on Asian and Latin food. It’s what were made of – every sinew is built on years of carne asada and Vietnamese pho…”

Introducing non-native fish to United States waters can disturb the existing delicate ecological balance. Such is the case of Asian carp moving into the Great Lakes.

To the rescue may be the prehistoric-looking, and fast growing, alligator gar. According to the AP it can grow longer than a horse and heavier than a refrigerator. It’s previously been considered a trash fish. It used to thrive in this habitat before being decimated because the thought was that it threatened sport fish.

Chef Andrew Gruel will explain all.

Simon MajumdarThe three waves of voting for The Golden Foodie Awards, the People’s Choice Food Awards in Orange County, is on now through August 21st. Voting for the 1st categories concludes on August 7th.

This first Week includes, Best American Cuisine, Best Mexican, Food, Best Vegetarian Food, Bartender of The Year, Best Pizza, Best Italian Food and Best French Cuisine.The Golden Foodie Award’s celebrates chef driven and/or independent restaurants and allows for food lovers to decide the winners. Voting takes place from August 1 – 21, with each week offering different categories. Nominees are announced at the end of each week. The Golden Foodie Awards are comprised of 24 categories.

The Golden Foodie Award’s is a democracy and recognizes the best chefs, libations and cuisine. With its focus on involving the Orange County community to vote, the GFA’s serve as a great honor allowing the people to decide who is best. Winners will be announced on September 25th in Newport Beach at the red carpet gala event at the Fairmont Newport Beach.

Hosting the Awards is Food Network’s Simon Majumdar (permanent judge on “Cutthroat Kitchen.”) He’s our guest.

Kyle Meyer of Wine ExchangeCoveted Gold Medals won by wines at our area County Fairs used to have a tremendous impact on wine sales. Now, this is much less the case. Our resident wine authority, Kyle Meyer of Wine Exchange, has his informed perspective.

“As we were drifting through a few reflective moments about where the wine world has been, and where it was going, a question arose.  What ever happened to fairs?  You know, pig contests, funnel cakes, and wine judgings. As we think back to the early days of Wine Exchange (such as it was), we remember what a big deal fair judgings and gold medals used to be in the scheme of wine marketing.  A gold medal at a wine competition like the Orange County Fair, L.A. County Fair, Sonoma Harvest Fair, and the California State Fair were kind of a big deal.  Now, not so much.  What happened?”

“Well, history happened.  Now mind you we speak from a fair bit of experience having been involved with the local fair for nearly a decade and part of a few judging panels as well.  Over the years we have been on both sides of the do-these-competitions-matter debate, and can play both sides.  But ‘back in the day’, the results of a major competition used to resonate throughout the industry.  Now the effect is pretty short term and localized.  Why?  There are lots of reasons.”

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Chef Andrew Gruel
Segment Two: Celebrity Fair Food Concessionaire, “Chicken” Charlie Boghosian
Segment Three: Restaurateur Alicia Whitney’s Sea Salt Wood Fired Grill, Huntington Beach
Segment Four: Brian Mercer, Founder, Brouwerij West, San Pedro
Segment Five: Chef Hop Phan, Dos Chinos & Sit Low Pho, 4th Street Market Santa Ana
Segment Six: Chef Andrew Gruel, The Alligator Gar Makes a Comeback
Segment Seven: Simon Majumdar, Voting for the Golden Foodie Awards
Segment Eight: Kyle Meyer, The Wine Exchange, Wine Competitions at County Fairs