Show 193, October 15, 2016: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel, Founder, Slapfish Restaurant Group

Andrew Gruel and his son WilliamExecutive 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 Rams and USC Football, is back as today’s Guest Host. San Clemente is launching next. 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…

When it comes to excitement in food and beverage a large, transient hotel property designed for the short-stay business traveler located near Los Angeles International Airport with 985 rooms probably wouldn’t be top of the mind. That assumption would be a mistake as Executive Chef Thomas O’Keefe of the LA Airport Marriott will explain.

Food Finders, a local food rescue non-profit, is organizing Chefs to the Rescue”, a fall fundraising event on Tuesday, October 18th from 6 – 9pm at the Expo Arts Center in the Bixby Knolls neighborhood of Long Beach. For this very unusual event, Food Finders is challenging prominent local chefs to create tasting samples and small plates made from perfectly edible and safe rescued, recovered or repurposed food that otherwise would end up being tossed away. Joining us with all the details is one of the featured chefs, Chef Philip Pretty of Restauration, and the event’s Producer, Terri Henry.

Culinary celebrity Katie Chin is a prominent Chinese food expert and best-selling author. Her newest cookbook is Katie Chin’s Everyday Chinese Cookbook: 101 Delicious Recipes from My Mother’s Kitchen. The book pays homage to Katie’s late Mother, the legendary chef and restaurateur, Leeann Chin. Katie is our guest.

Over 50 years ago Nicolaniello Buono opened a modest Italian Grocery and Deli in San Pedro. In 1973 that transitioned into Buono’s Italian Pizzeria. There are now two locations in Long Beach and the original in San Pedro. The Flagship is at 250 W. Ocean Blvd. in the heart of Downtown Long Beach. Two generations of the Buono Family are still actively involved. Family CEO, Frank, hand-kneads the dough for us.

The Brand Boulevard Block Party on October 22nd will celebrate the latest additions to the Glendale culinary community along with local favorites like Porto’s Bakery. The festival includes the finest fare from 20+ chefs and restaurants, tastings from wineries and local craft breweries, live entertainment and lots more. The charitable beneficiary is the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP.) One of the participating restaurants is the soon-to-be Bacari G.D.L. at The Americana at Brand. It’s a contemporary wine and cicchetti bar with creative small plates. It’s obvious an executive chef is involved. Co-founder Robert Kronfli joins us.

Our Co-Host, Chef Andrew Gruel, is a devotee of breakfast. Last week Chef Andrew shared his favorite hole-in-the-wall OC neighborhood spots for a hearty breakfast. We got such a positive response to this segment that we’ll continue…Every popular national fast food spot that serves breakfast has a signature a.m. menu item. Chef Andrew will highlight his favorites.

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

Show 193, October 15, 2016: Robert Kronfli, Bacari G.D.L. & Brand Boulevard Block Party

Robert KronfliThe Brand Boulevard Block Party on October 22nd will celebrate the latest additions to the Glendale culinary community along with local favorites like Porto’s Bakery. The festival includes the finest fare from 20+ chefs and restaurants, tastings from wineries and local craft breweries, live entertainment and lots more. The charitable beneficiary is the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP.)

Participants include: Shake Shack, Golden Road Brewing, Mainland Poke, The Tsujita, Lobos Truck, Lemonade, Epic Taco Shop, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, K Ramen. Burger. Beer., Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop, Coolhaus, Porto’s Bakery, Bourbon Steak Los Angeles, Frida Mexican Cuisine, Bacari G.D.L., Duke Bakery, Granville Cafe, Momed, Philz Coffee, The Pie Hole, The Wooden Fork, Hitching Post Winery, Inception Wines and more!

Early Birds $50 | At the Door $60

One of the participating restaurants is the soon-to-open Bacari G.D.L at The Americana at Brand. Glendale is the Kronfli Brothers 3rd restaurant (Bacaro L.A. (2008) & Bacari P.D.R. (2014)) in partnership with Executive Chef Lior Hillel. They describe the restaurants as a “Wine & Cicchetti Bar”. The cleverness of the small plates demonstrates that there is a creative executive chef planning the menus. Also the wine selections are obviously selected with great care. Everything isn’t sourced from one distributor which is the easy way to go for convenience.

Co-founder Robert Kronfli joins us.

October 15: LA Airport Marriott, Food Finders, Katie Chin, Buono’s Italian Pizzeria, Brand Blvd Block Party

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel, Founder, Slapfish Restaurant Group
Segment Two: Thomas O’Keefe, C.E.C, Executive Chef, Los Angeles Airport Marriott
Segment Three: Chef Philip Pretty, Restauration, Long Beach, “Chefs to the Rescue” Benefit
Segment Four: Katie Chin, Chinese food authority and best-selling author Part One
Segment Five: Katie Chin, Chinese food authority and best-selling author Part Two
Segment Six: Frank Buono, CEO, Buono’s Authentic Pizzeria, Long Beach and San Pedro
Segment Seven: Robert Kronfli, Bacari G.D.L. & Brand Boulevard Block Party
Segment Eight: Co-Host, Chef Andrew Gruel, Slapfish Restaurant Group

Andrew Gruel and his son WilliamExecutive 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 Rams and USC Football, is back as today’s Guest Host. San Clemente is launching next. 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…

When it comes to excitement in food and beverage a large, transient hotel property designed for the business traveler located near Los Angeles International Airport with 985 rooms probably wouldn’t be top of the mind. That assumption would be a mistake as Executive Chef Thomas O’Keefe of the L.A Airport Marriott will explain.

Food Finders, a local food rescue non-profit is organizing “Chefs to the Rescue”, a fall fundraising event on Tuesday, October 18th from 6 – 9pm at the Expo Arts Center in the Bixby Knolls neighborhood of Long Beach. For this very unusual event, Food Finders is challenging prominent local chefs to create tasting samples and small plates made from perfectly edible and safe rescued, recovered or repurposed food that otherwise would end up being tossed away. Joining us with all the details is one of the featured chefs, Chef Philip Pretty of Restauration, and the event’s Producer, Terri Henry.

Culinary celebrity Katie Chin is a prominent Chinese food expert and best-selling author. Her newest cookbook is Katie Chin’s Everyday Chinese Cookbook: 101 Delicious Recipes from My Mother’s Kitchen. The book pays homage to Katie’s late Mother, the legendary chef and restaurateur, Leeann Chin. Katie is our guest.

Over 50 years ago Nicolaniello Buono opened a modest Italian Grocery and Deli in San Pedro. In 1973 that transitioned into Buono’s Italian Pizzeria. There are now two locations in Long Beach and the original in San Pedro. The Flagship is at 250 W. Ocean Blvd. in the heart of Downtown Long Beach. Two generations of the Buono Family are still actively involved. Family CEO, Frank, hand-kneads the dough for us.

The Brand Boulevard Block Party on October 22nd will celebrate the latest additions to the Glendale culinary community along with local favorites like Porto’s Bakery. The festival includes the finest fare from 20+ chefs and restaurants, tastings from wineries and local craft breweries, live entertainment and lots more. The charitable beneficiary is the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP.) One of the participating restaurants is the soon-to-be Bacari G.D.L at The Americana at Brand. Co-founder Robert Kronfli joins us.

Our Co-Host, Chef Andrew Gruel, is a devotee of breakfast. Last week Chef Andrew shared his favorite hole-in-the-wall OC neighborhood spots for a hearty breakfast. We got such a good response to this segment that we’ll continue…Every popular fast food spot that serves breakfast has a signature a.m. menu item. Chef Andrew will highlight his favorites.

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

Thomas O'KeefeWhen it comes to excitement in food and beverage a large, transient hotel property designed for the business traveler located near Los Angeles International Airport with 985 rooms probably wouldn’t be top of the mind. That assumption would be a mistake as Executive Chef Thomas O’Keefe of the LA Airport Marriott will reveal.

This is a busy Marriott airport property (55,000 square feet of meeting space) that Chef Thomas has made a destination for locals to dine at, too. His three full-service restaurants are JW’s Steakhouse, Latitude 33 (3 meals a day), and Champions Sports Bar. Chef Thomas makes it a point to buy locally when he can.

The beef at JW’s is local premium, true natural, from Brandt Farms. It’s corn fed beef, sustainably raised without hormones or antibiotics.

We’ll get an unusual behind-the-scenes look at the kitchens of the L.A. Airport Marriott.

Philip PrettyFood Finders, a local food rescue non-profit is organizing “Chefs to the Rescue”, a fall fundraising event on Tuesday, October 18th from 6 – 9pm at the Expo Arts Center in the Bixby Knolls neighborhood of Long Beach. Our own Chef Andrew Gruel will be there with Slapfish.

For this very unusual event, Food Finders is challenging prominent local chefs to create tasting samples and small plates made from perfectly edible and safe rescued, recovered or repurposed food that otherwise would end up being tossed away.

“With 40% of perfectly edible food ending up in our local landfills, and yet one in four of our neighbors considered “food insecure”, we felt this was an opportunity to host a fun event that calls attention to those disturbing statistics and celebrate local chefs’ creativity at the same time,” said Patti Larson, executive director of Food Finders. “We chose this theme for our annual fall fundraiser because it’s not only timely, but aligns perfectly with our mission of reducing not only hunger but food waste.”

Participating chefs include:

Tickets are $45 per guest or $80 per couple and are available for advance purchase through the Food Finders website.

Joining us with all the details is one of the featured chefs, Chef Philip Pretty of Restauration, and the event’s Producer, Terri Henry.

Katie ChinCulinary celebrity Katie Chin is a prominent Chinese food expert and best-selling author. Her newest cookbook is Katie Chin’s Everyday Chinese Cookbook: 101 Delicious Recipes from My Mother’s Kitchen. The book pays homage to Katie’s late Mother, the legendary chef and restaurateur, Leeann Chin.

Author Katie Chin’s love of cooking blossomed at an early age—watching and later helping her renowned mother, Leeann Chin, prepare delicious Chinese dishes in her popular restaurants. Born in China, Leeann was an award-winning restaurateur and author revered for her ability to demystify Chinese cooking for the American home cook. Katie inherited her mom’s passion and talent, and has become a respected food writer and television personality in her own right. Sadly, Leeann passed away in 2010, but her recipes live on. Katie is eager to share her mother’s food legacy with you in this book—an homage to Leeann’s mastery of all that Chinese cooking has to offer.

This treasury of family recipes includes many unique dishes that Leeann developed during a six-decade career in the food business, including time-honored classics that she herself learned from her mother in China. Some dishes reflect Leeann’s Chinese-American childhood or are recipes which Katie and Leeann developed while together. Others are creations that Katie has developed more recently. Woven throughout the book are fond memories and anecdotes from Katie’s childhood, always involving cooking and eating with her mom.

Katie Chin’s Everyday Chinese Cooking is a celebration of Leeann Chin’s amazing mastery of the complete array of flavors and techniques in Chinese cuisine, and her unique ability to make them accessible to Westerners. Katie provides tips and techniques which allow anyone to create a refined and tasty Chinese meal at home.

Favorite Chinese recipes include:

  • Firecracker Shrimp
  • Mu Shu Pork
  • Peking Duck Summer Rolls
  • General Tso’s Chicken
  • Tangerine Beef
  • Hoisin Lacquered Ribs
  • Tea-Smoked Sea Bass
  • Banana Wontons
  • Five Spice Chocolate Cake
  • And many more…

Katie Chin was born and raised in Minneapolis by her award-winning restaurateur mother, Leeann Chin. She is the co-author of Everyday Chinese Cooking (Clarkson Potter, 2000) and author of 300 Best Rice Cooker Recipes and Everyday Thai Cooking. She was co-host with her mother, Leeann, of the 2003 national PBS cooking series Double Happiness. Katie has served as a guest judge on Food Network‘s Iron Chef America and appeared on Cooking Channel‘s Food(ography) program in 2013.

When not testing out her new recipes on family and friends, she divides her time as a private chef and culinary consultant. Katie has been called the “Asian Rachel Ray” by many of her fans because of her sparkling personality and approachable style.

Frank BuonoOver 50 years ago Nicolaniello Buono opened a modest Italian Grocery and Deli in San Pedro. In 1973 that transitioned into Buono’s Italian Pizzeria. There are now two locations in Long Beach and the original in San Pedro. The Flagship is at 250 W. Ocean Blvd. in the heart of Downtown Long Beach. Two generations of the Buono Family are still actively involved.

“From the pizza fashioned from hand-kneaded dough made fresh daily, to the homemade sauces and sausages, to the fresh mozzarella, and the gas-fired brick ovens, eating at Buono’s is like dining at a pizzeria in the Old Country. When you order any of their Italian specialties, such as lasagna, spaghetti, eggplant parmigiana, or linguini e vongole, you are tasting a bit of Italy near the shores of the Pacific.

Family CEO, Frank, hand-kneads the dough for us.

Robert KronfliThe Brand Boulevard Block Party on October 22nd will celebrate the latest additions to the Glendale culinary community along with local favorites like Porto’s Bakery. The festival includes the finest fare from 20+ chefs and restaurants, tastings from wineries and local craft breweries, live entertainment and lots more. The charitable beneficiary is the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP.)

Participants includeShake Shack, Golden Road Brewing, Mainland Poke, The Tsujita, Lobos Truck, Lemonade, Epic Taco Shop, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, K Ramen. Burger. Beer.Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop, CoolhausPorto’s Bakery, Bourbon Steak Los Angeles, Frida Mexican Cuisine, Bacari G.D.L., Duke Bakery, Granville Cafe, Momed, Philz Coffee, The Pie Hole, The Wooden Fork, Hitching Post Winery, Inception Wines and more!

Early Birds $50 | At the Door $60

One of the participating restaurants is the soon-to-open Bacari G.D.L at The Americana at Brand. Glendale is the Kronfli Brothers 3rd restaurant in partnership with Executive Chef Lior Hillel. Co-founder Robert Kronfli joins us.

Andrew Gruel at the AM830 KLAA StudiosOur Co-Host, Chef Andrew Gruel, is a devotee of breakfast. Last week Chef Andrew shared his favorite hole-in-the-wall OC neighborhood spots for a hearty breakfast. We got such a good response to this segment that we’ll continue…

Every popular fast food spot that serves breakfast has a signature a.m. menu item. Chef Andrew will highlight his particular favorites.

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel, Founder, Slapfish Restaurant Group
Segment Two: Thomas O’Keefe, C.E.C, Executive Chef, Los Angeles Airport Marriott
Segment Three: Chef Philip Pretty, Restauration, Long Beach, “Chefs to the Rescue” Benefit
Segment Four: Katie Chin, Chinese food authority and best-selling author Part One
Segment Five: Katie Chin, Chinese food authority and best-selling author Part Two
Segment Six: Frank Buono, CEO, Buono’s Authentic Pizzeria, Long Beach and San Pedro
Segment Seven: Robert Kronfli, Bacari G.D.L. & Brand Boulevard Block Party
Segment Eight: Co-Host, Chef Andrew Gruel, Slapfish Restaurant Group