August 20: Brock Radke, Warren Schwartz, West Coast Prime Meats, Pampas Grill, Memories of Michel Richard

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Chef Andrew Gruel
Segment Two: Brock Radke, Managing Editor, Las Vegas Weekly Part One
Segment Three: Brock Radke, Managing Editor, Las Vegas Weekly Part Two
Segment Four: Chef Warren Schwartz, Magpies Softserve, Silver Lake
Segment Five: Jay Henderson and Terry Hanks, West Coast Prime Meats’ “Meatheads” Part One
Segment Six: Jay Henderson and Terry Hanks, West Coast Prime Meats’ “Meatheads” Part Two
Segment Seven: Francisco Carvalho, Pampas Grill Churrascaria, Original Farmers Market and Culver City
Segment Eight: Remembering Chef Michel Richard with Food Journalist & Author, Russ Parsons

Executive 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 Co-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…

Journalist Brock Radke is our well-connected Las Vegas insider. He’s the Managing Editor of Las Vegas Weekly and has been reporting on the dynamic Las Vegas scene for 15 years. He’s back with his regular dining update.

Warren Schwartz is a prominent fine-dining chef. Foodies probably know him best for his long tenure as the Executive Chef of the landmark Saddle Peak Lodge in Malibu Canyon. His new venture is Magpies Softserve in Silverlake in partnership with his wife, Rose, an accomplished pastry chef.

Hamburgers are always a juicy topic of interest on the show. Joining us to chat about the ultimate burger and its creation are the “Meatheads” from West Coast Prime Meats, Jay Henderson and Terry Hanks. I’ll have mine medium rare, please…

If you think churrascaria fare (Brazilian BBQ) is all there is to the food of Brazil kindly think again. With the Rio Olympics in their last week it’s time for an education on Brazilian fare. Joining us is the founder of Pampas Grill (Original Farmers Market and Culver City,) Francisco Carvalho.

In the late 80s one of the most prominent chef pioneers in Los Angeles was Michel Richard of Citrus. He was an amiable, larger-than-life culinary personality. Sadly he left us on August 13^th. Russ Parsons (the former, long-time Food Editor at The Los Angeles Times) knew him well. Russ joins us for a remembrance.

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

We’ll get updated on Downtown Las Vegas restaurant happenings, celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Caesars Palace, and talk about a pioneering chef’s sad restaurant closing.

Warren Schwartz is a prominent fine-dining chef. Foodies probably know him best for his long tenure as the Executive Chef of the landmark Saddle Peak Lodge in Malibu Canyon. His new venture is Magpies Softserve in Silverlake in partnership with his wife, Rose, an accomplished pastry chef.

“Magpies Softserve is a scratch recipe soft serve dessert shop. We make our soft serve mix and all toppings in house. We wanted to expand the flavors of typical soft serve ice cream from the traditional vanilla and chocolate by creating flavors of soft serve that bring us back to our childhood, flavors that inspired us to become chefs.”

“We love ice cream. Opening a dessert shop has always been a dream of ours. This idea came to us while we were on a family vacation in Palm Desert, when for nostalgia sake, we decided to go into a Dairy Queen. As we were licking our cone, we came up with the idea at the same time. “Let’s do a chef-y Dairy Queen” and the idea was born. We would have all-scratch soft serve recipes with life inspired flavors and we would make all toppings in-house. We would create flavors that we grew up with and represent us.”

Rose is Korean American, born and raised in South Florida, and Warren is a true Valley Californian. Between the two of us, we came up with flavors that can really tell a story. From a Horchata (non dairy), to a Cortadito, a sweetened Cuban espresso to Yuzu Honey, a traditional Korean tea that is unique to the American palate. We had a lot of fun creating flavors that are authentic to us.”

Hamburgers are always a juicy topic of interest on the show. Joining us to chat about the ultimate burger and its creation are the “Meatheads” from West Coast Prime Meats, Jay Henderson and Terry Hanks. I’ll have mine medium rare with dill pickles, please…

The Meatheads will give us the informed 411 on how to create that better burger at home with a side order of all the insider’s tips. What are the best cuts of beef for the ultimate burger blend? How do you grind your hamburger meat at home without it being a major effort?

What’s the best cooking method for the burger; fried or grilled? How about seasoning? How do you avoid that turkey burger from being dried-out?

If you think churrascaria fare (Brazilian BBQ) is all there is to the food of Brazil kindly think again. With the Rio Olympics in their last week it’s time for a broader education on Brazilian fare. Joining us is the founder of Pampas Grill (Original Farmers Market and Culver City,) Francisco Carvalho.

Think caipirinhas, Feijoada, Farofa, and cheese bread besides the familiar Picanha cut…

Chef Michel opened Citronelle in Georgetown in 1993 and became a prominent figure on the Washington, D.C. culinary scene. It was his later home base.

Russ Parsons (the former, long-time Food Editor at The Los Angeles Times) knew him well. Russ joins us for a remembrance.

From Russ Parsons in the Los Angeles Times, November 1, 2006 :

“Every cook has his chef — someone they look up to above all others — and for almost 20 years (and even beyond, it turns out), Michel has been mine. I am not alone in this. He is regarded by his peers as a chef’s chef–an endless and generous source of new ideas and techniques. When Thomas Keller wrote his foreword to Michel’s new book, “Happy in the Kitchen,” he titled it “Why Didn’t I Think of That?””

“It has been my terrific fortune to know a lot of really talented chefs over the years. Some have a wonderful innate sense of flavor. Some have a jeweler’s eye when it comes to presentation. Some can play technical tricks that make you gasp. Michel combines all three along with wit and intelligence.”

“I used to tease Michel that if someone told him he was the best chef in Los Angeles, he’d ask, “What about California?” If they said California, he’d ask, “What about the United States?” And so on. Even if someone told him he was the best chef in the world, he’d ask, “What if there are restaurants on other planets?””