Show 220, April 22, 2017: Chef Andrew Gruel, Opening Restaurants at Trade, Irvine, CA

Andrew Gruel at the AM830 KLAA StudiosEver wonder what it really takes to get an eagerly anticipated restaurant open?

For the last year we’ve been patiently following our own, Chef Andrew Gruel’s, progress in opening Two Birds (cluckin’ good chicken done two ways) and Butterleaf (vegetarian food for non-vegetarians) in the new Trade Food Hall in Irvine located near John Wayne Orange County Airport.

At long last they are about ready (subject to final permitting) to begin service. We’ll hear all about it.

Chef Andrew was also on the front page of the Orange County Registers “LifeStyle” Section on Thursday, April 20th talking about his openings at Trade. The feature, with photos, continues on Pages 3 and 6.

Show 166, April 2, 2016: Chef Philip Pretty, Restauration, Long Beach

philip-prettyThe annual Dine LBC – Long Beach Restaurant Week is taking place April 23 – May 1, 2016. Each participating restaurant from twelve unique neighborhoods in the city offers a three course menu priced at $20, $30, $40 or $50, either per guest with wine pairing options at fine dining locations OR dinner for two priced at $20, $30, $40 or $50, where diners share an appetizer, each enjoy their own entree, then share a dessert at more casual establishments.

Producer Terri Henry and Chef Philip Pretty of Restauration (a DINE LBC participating restaurant) are our guests with all the hunger-inducing specifics.

Show 71, May 3, 2014: Host Jet Tila and Producer Andy Harris

Chef Jet and Producer Andy preview the show.

Multiple James Beard Award-winning Pastry Chef Sherry Yard is familiar to the listening audience of the “SoCal Restaurant Show.” Her work-in-progress is the ambitious revival of the Helms Bakery in Los Angeles on the border with Culver City.

She will tell us all about her exciting new position as Corporate Vice President of the Culinary Division of iPic Theaters. Watching a movie on the big screen should be a deluxe experience with food to match!

There is a relatively new hidden gem of a very personal farm-to-table restaurant in Venice. That’s Barnyard Venice. Come hungry and prepare to be pleasantly surprised and also well-taken care of.

Nan Kohler, the Managing Partner of Grist & Toll – An Urban Flour Mill, is back for an encore. This time she’ll also be speaking about gluten-free and the milling process for flour.

Barbara Fairchild, the well-traveled Restaurant & Travel Editor for grapecollective.com is back with us to share some inspired restaurant finds from her recent travels both in Europe and in The States.

The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar in Tustin has a new location on the Bay in Newport Beach. It’s a “wow” of a spot!

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

Show 64, March 8, 2014: Host Jet Tila and Producer Andy Harris

Chef Jet and Producer Andy preview the show.

Let’s talk pure chocolate indulgence. We’ll be previewing the Big Island Chocolate Festival. Then it’s time for a trip to the Ninth Island for a Las Vegas dining update. Brock Radke, our Las Vegas insider, brings us up-to-date. There is a new Neapolitan pizzeria in town that’s generating long lines. The co-founder & executive chef provides the tasty details.

You’ve probably never tasted farm-raised fish like this unless you’ve dined at a Rick Moonen restaurant in Las Vegas or at The Meadowood Restaurant. A purveyor to the best restaurants is now serving home chefs with fresh fish on a very limited basis. There is an incredible craft brewery success story in Maui and you’ll hear all about it. They actually package their premium beer in cans!

Organic fruits and vegetables are top of the mind. Our resident produce expert, Robert Schueller (The Pastor of Produce) from Melissa’s, is back with an informative update.

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

Sending Food Back

Jet walks you through the proper etiquette for sending food back at a restaurant.

Show 55, January 4, 2013: Chef Ivan Orkin, The Ramen Authority

Ivan Orkin of Ivan RamenIn 2007, Chef Ivan Orkin, a middle-aged Jewish guy from Long Island, did something crazy. In the food-zealous, insular megalopolis of Tokyo, Ivan opened a ramen shop. He had never launched a restaurant previously.

He was a foreigner trying to make a name for himself in a place that is fiercely opinionated about ramen. At first customers came because they were simply curious. Word then spread quickly about Ivan’s handmade noodles, clean and complex broth and thoughtfully prepared toppings.

Soon enough Chef Ivan became a culinary celebrity in Japan. Fame in Japan begat his own best-selling brand of premium instant ramen.

Today there are two busy Ivan Ramen locations in Tokyo and the new Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop in Manhattan. Ivan Ramen New York, a full-service Japanese restaurant, will open in the next couple of months.

Show 52, December 14, 2013: Celebrity Chef Scott Conant oversees his highly successful empire of five Scarpetta restaurants

Scott Conant of Scarpetta and Food NetworkChef Scott Conant oversees a growing restaurant empire from his base in Manhattan. There are hugely successful Scarpetta restaurants in New York City, Miami Beach, Toronto, Beverly Hills at The Montage Hotel and Las Vegas at The Cosmopolitan. He’s known for an extraordinary spaghetti dish.

He also has the more casual, D.O.C.G. Enoteca at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

The Scarpetta Cookbook (his third) is just out for the Holidays. His goal is that the reader will really be able to recreate his restaurant dishes by following the recipes.

Scarpetta Beverly Hills just celebrated its 3rd birthday.

Chef Scott is familiar to millions of viewers of food television as one of the original permanent judges on Food Network’s “Chopped.” His well-established judging style is to be honest but not hurtful.

“Chopped” is probably the hardest legitimate cooking competition series on the air. As Scott explains it’s all real. None of the competing chefs have a clue as to what’s in their mystery basket of ingredients until they open it! Chef Scott reveals that “Chopped” has just been renewed for three more seasons.

Show 52, December 14, 2013: Sherry Yard, the acclaimed executive pastry chef for Wolfgang Puck for 20 years

Sherry YardL.A.’s acclaimed pastry princess, Sherry Yard, is with us for the last segment. Sherry was Wolfgang Puck’s (Spago) executive pastry chef for twenty years. She is a multiple James Beard Award-winner. Her first cookbook, The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts won a Beard Award for “Best Baking Cookbook.” She serves on the national Board of Directors for the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) and also is a part of Los Angeles’ Advisory Board.

Her current project (with Lukshon’s and Father’s Office’s Sang Yoon) is the revival of the fondly remembered Helms Bakery located on the site of the former Helms Bakery, an iconic home delivery commercial bakery that left the scene years ago. It looks like Summer of 2014 for the opening. It’s an ambitious project in a large space which previously served as part of Helms’ loading dock.

The exciting all-day concept keeps evolving but it’s going to be a bakery and cafe with a lot more. All the bread will be prepared and baked right there. They will roast the beans for the coffee on site. You’ll be able to get sandwiches and full meals packaged to take home.

You can sign-up for their monthly newsletter to keep current on the opening for Helms Bakery.

Meanwhile on Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday afternoons look for the restored yellow Helms Bakery delivery truck in front of their future restaurant space across from Father’s Office. Sherry is selling her soon to be famous chocolate chip cookies and various hand-crafted ice cream novelties. Everything is deliciously scratch-made. Call it a tasty preview of coming edible attractions…

Show 38, August 10, 2013: Chef Edward Lee Continued…

Smoke and Pickles cookbook by Edward LeeChef Lee’s first cookbook is Smoke & Pickles. It was nominated for a James Beard Award. It’s a very honest portrayal of Chef Ed’s career to date.

He shares a particularly humbling moment of terror from his past in New York. Chef Jeremiah Tower from San Francisco (an imposing man) happened into his little restaurant in New York for a meal. Tower cooked for Alice Waters early in the history of the iconic Chez Panisse in Berkeley and had a very successful restaurant of his own in San Francisco, Stars, in the 90s. It was the Spago of it’s day in the Bay Area. It was obvious to Ed that Chef Tower was totally underwhelmed with the experience. That moment of abject terror created the path and motivation for Ed to become a better cook.

He’s also a new father.

Chef Ed shared his thoughts on preparing the perfect fried chicken. One of the tricks is to poach the chicken before frying. It gives the chicken a ton of extra flavor.

Show 31, June 15, 2013: Pastry Chef Roxana Jullapat, Co-Owner of Cooks County in Los Angeles

Roxanne Jullapat of Cooks County RestaurantThe low-key husband and wife team of Roxanne and Daniel Mattern are the proprietors and culinary team behind the well-received Cooks County.

With their extensive fine-dining backgrounds the goal is to take the freshest of local ingredients and prepare them so they taste delicious without over thinking the process. They source their produce at three area farmers markets each week.

Their thought is the age of overindulgence is behind us and this is the way younger folks want to cook and eat. You can also frequent a restaurant of this style more often.

Roxana’s favorite desserts use fresh fruit of the season. For Father’s Day she is bringing back her signature Chocolate Stout Cake with house-made Stout ice cream!