Show 417, March 20, 2021: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris

We’re previewing the show with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris.

Casa Vega in Sherman Oaks under the watchful eye of 2nd generation restaurateur Christy Vega has reopened again for full-service dining. Celebrating its 65th Anniversary in 2021 there will be a year of festivities honoring the late founder, Ray Vega, who passed away earlier in the year. Also new is a changing series of $5.00 Margarita Mondays served from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. every Monday. Christy Vega is our guest with a Los Lucadores Foo in hand.
 
Barbara Fairchild, a past inductee in the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who in American Food & Beverage,” is the former, long-time Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appetit Magazine. She currently serves at the Chair of the Los Angeles Council for C-CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program and also is a member of the National Board of Directors for C-CAP. In normal times Barbara dines out frequently at a wide variety of restaurants. For the past pandemic year Barbara has stayed safely at home with restaurant dining on the far back burner. Barbara recently broke the fast with a celebratory birthday meal on the original patio of Spago Beverly Hills (with proper social distancing of the tables.) Barbara shares the memorable experience with us.

Mayfield Restaurant & Market is an ambitious, glowingly reviewed, modern California restaurant and market located in Downtown San Juan Capistrano in an extensively refurbished historic building. It’s on two levels and includes a comfortable covered patio. The menu has a distinctive Mediterranean and Levant flair and there is also an extensive cocktail list along with an ample selection of craft beers and natural wines. The operating days, and hours, have just been extended. All seating on the 2nd level patio and in the main dining room is properly socially distanced. Proprietor George Barker and Executive Chef Jayro Martinez join us.

“The international dining scene is a vast, ever-shifting landscape, and Today’s Special – 20 Leading Chefs Choose 100 Emerging Chefs (Phaidon) is perfectly positioned to help readers navigate it. Twenty of the globe’s leading chef-curators — 10 men and 10 women — have each selected five emerging chefs from around the world, showcasing a variety of styles of food, restaurants, and personalities. Each of the 100 selected chefs is profiled, with recipes, photographs, and menus, plus original commissioned essays that shed light on what makes a standout star in today’s culinary realm.” An L.A. area featured “Emerging Chef” in Today’s Special is Dave Beran of Pasjoli in Santa Monica and the now departed, Dialogue (up to a 20-course nightly tasting Menu,) which was highly praised. He was nominated for Today’s Special by New York-based Chef Daniel Boulud (Daniel.) We’ll meet Chef Dave Beran.

Our own Chef Andrew Gruel of the Slapfish Restaurant Group provides another timely and informative “Ask the Chef” segment where Chef Andrew responds to listeners thoughtful inquiries. Chef Andrew is regularly updating us on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis in the hospitality field and what we, as diners, can do to support the very survival of restaurants during the early stages of recovery which remains a genuine concern. Restaurants in Southern California are finally again allowed to operate for outside/patio dining and inside dining at reduced capacities with all the requisite COVID 19 safety precautions. We’ll “Ask the Chef.” As if restaurants didn’t have enough to contend with right now the insidious Dine & Dash” scheme to defraud restaurants is, unfortunately, a growing trend with a pair of awful variations. Chef Andrew explains…

All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness (with proper Social Distancing) on this week’s not-to-miss show!

March 20: Casa Vega, Barbara Fairchild, Mayfield Restaurant & Market, Dave Beran

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris
Segment Two: Restaurateur Christy Vega, Casa Vega, Sherman Oaks Part One
Segment Three: Restaurateur Christy Vega, Casa Vega, Sherman Oaks Part Two
Segment Four: Food & Travel Journalist Barbara Fairchild (former Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appetit Magazine)
Segment Five: Restaurateur George Barker an Executive Chef Jayro Martinez, Mayfield, San Juan Capistrano Part One
Segment Six: Restaurateur George Barker an Executive Chef Jayro Martinez, Mayfield, San Juan Capistrano Part Two
Segment Seven: Restaurateur & Chef Dave Beran, Pasjoli, Santa Monica
Segment Eight: Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel of the Slapfish Restaurant Group with “Ask the Chef”

We’re previewing the show with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris.

Casa Vega in Sherman Oaks under the watchful eye of 2nd generation restaurateur Christy Vega has reopened again for full-service dining. Celebrating its 65th Anniversary in 2021 there will be a year of festivities honoring the late founder, Ray Vega, who passed away earlier in the year. Also new is a changing series of $5.00 Margarita Mondays served from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. every Monday. Christy Vega is our guest with a Los Lucadores Foo in hand.

Barbara Fairchild, a past inductee in the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who in American Food & Beverage,” is the former, long-time Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appetit Magazine. She currently serves at the Chair of the L.A. Council for C-CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program) and also is a member of the National Board of Directors for C-CAP. In normal times Barbara dines out frequently at a wide variety of restaurants. For the past pandemic year Barbara has stayed safely at home with restaurant dining on the far back burner. Barbara recently broke the fast with a celebratory birthday meal on the original patio of Spago Beverly Hills (with proper social distancing of the tables.) Barbara shares the memorable experience with us.

Mayfield Restaurant & Market is an ambitious, glowingly reviewed, modern California restaurant and market located in Downtown San Juan Capistrano in an extensively refurbished historic building. It’s on two levels and includes a comfortable covered patio. The menu has a distinctive Mediterranean and Levant flair and there is also an extensive cocktail list along with an ample selection of craft beers and natural wines. The operating days, and hours, have just been extended. Proprietor George Barker and Executive Chef Jayro Martinez join us.

“The international dining scene is a vast, ever-shifting landscape, and Today’s Special – 20 Leading Chefs Choose 100 Emerging Chefs (Phaidon) is perfectly positioned to help readers navigate it. Twenty of the globe’s leading chef-curators — 10 men and 10 women — have each selected five emerging chefs from around the world, showcasing a variety of styles of food, restaurants, and personalities. Each of the 100 selected chefs is profiled, with recipes, photographs, and menus, plus original commissioned essays that shed light on what makes a standout star in today’s culinary realm.” An L.A. area featured “Emerging Chef” in Today’s Special is Dave Beran of Pasjoli in Santa Monica and the now departed, Dialogue (up to a 20-course nightly tasting Menu,) which was highly praised. He was nominated for Today’s Special by New York-based Chef Daniel Boulud (Daniel.) We’ll meet Chef Dave Beran.

Our own Chef Andrew Gruel of the Slapfish Restaurant Group provides another timely and informative “Ask the Chef” segment where Chef Andrew responds to listeners thoughtful inquiries. Chef Andrew is regularly updating us on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis in the hospitality field and what we, as diners, can do to support the very survival of restaurants during the early stages of recovery which remains a genuine concern. Restaurants in Southern California are finally again allowed to operate for outside/patio dining and inside dining at reduced capacities with all the requisite COVID 19 safety precautions. We’ll “Ask the Chef.” As if restaurants didn’t have enough to contend with right now the insidious “Dine & Dash” scheme to defraud restaurants is, unfortunately, a growing trend with a pair of awful variations. Chef Andrew explains…

All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness (with proper Social Distancing) on this week’s not-to-miss show!

Christy Vega of Casa Vega

Casa Vega in Sherman Oaks under the watchful eye of 2nd generation restaurateur Christy Vega has reopened again for full-service dining. Celebrating its 65th Anniversary in 2021 there will be a year of festivities honoring the late founder, Ray Vega, who passed away earlier in the year. Also new is a changing series of $5.00 Margarita Mondays served from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. every Monday.

“The Foo Fighters taco has returned to Casa Vega through the end of April. Originally launched in December 2020 as the second installment of the restaurant’s charity band tacos (following the initial launch with Fall Out Boy in October), the special collaboration was cut short when the restaurant temporarily closed that month in response to new COVID restrictions. Now that Casa Vega has reopened for dine-in and take-out, the taco has returned as a special combo plate (Foo Fighters Especial) created by Foo Fighters lead singer Dave Grohl—inspired by his passion for smoking meat—as well as a cocktail.” The libation is the Los Lucadores Foo with a shot of La Gritona resposado, fresh lime juice and Modelo Especial.

“The profits from each taco are donated to No Us Without You, a charity providing food security for undocumented back of house staff and their families created by Va’La Hospitality in the early weeks of the pandemic. As Casa Vega celebrates its 65th anniversary this year, expect more taco collabs and programming to be announced soon.”

Christy Vega is our guest with a Los Lucadores Foo in hand.

Journalist Barbara Fairchild

Barbara Fairchild, a past inductee in the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who in American Food & Beverage,” is the former, long-time Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appetit Magazine. She currently serves at the Chair of the L.A. Council for C-CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program) and also is a member of the National Board of Directors for C-CAP.

In normal times Barbara dines out frequently at a wide variety of restaurants. For the past pandemic year Barbara has stayed safely at home with restaurant dining on the far back burner. Barbara recently broke the fast with a celebratory birthday meal on the original patio of Spago Beverly Hills (with proper social distancing of the tables.) Barbara shares the memorable experience with us. She also provides us with an overview of C-CAP and the upcoming virtual culinary fundraising event they are presenting nationally on Thursday evening, April 29th with culinary celebrity Carla Hall as the honoree (and hosted by Marcus Samuelsson.)

George Barker of Mayfield Restaurant and Market

Mayfield Restaurant & Market is an ambitious, glowingly reviewed modern California restaurant and market located in Downtown San Juan Capistrano in an extensively refurbished historic building. It’s on two levels and includes a comfortable covered patio. The menu has a distinctive Mediterranean and Levant flair and there is also an extensive cocktail list along with an ample selection of craft beers and natural wines.

The operating days, and hours, have just been extended.

Friday through Saturday from 5:00 p.m. until late is their Supper Club menu. It’s served family-style. The menu categories (with choices in each area) include Rip and Dip, Small Plates, Large Plates and Desserts. Especially popular is the Za’atar Fried Chicken with hot honey, house ranch and house pickles.

An a la carte Dinner menu is offered Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 5:00 p.m. until late.

The daytime, a la carte menu is served Tuesday (newly added) to Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It offers menu categories of Dips, Breakfast Bits and Lunch Dishes. Dishes are designed to be shared.

The newly extended Happy Hour is Tuesdays (all day) and Wednesday & Thursday from 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Mayfield Market is stocked with premium food products Chef Jayro makes in-house and items Mayfield uses and loves. They carry anything to do with eating and drinking well, including pantry items, natural wines, homeware, cookbooks and more.

Proprietor George Barker and Executive Chef Jayro Martinez join us.

Chef Dave Beran

“The international dining scene is a vast, ever-shifting landscape, and Today’s Special – 20 Leading Chefs Choose 100 Emerging Chefs (Phaidon) is perfectly positioned to help readers navigate it. Twenty of the globe’s leading chef-curators — 10 men and 10 women — have each selected five emerging chefs from around the world, showcasing a variety of styles of food, restaurants, and personalities. Each of the 100 selected chefs is profiled, with recipes, photographs, and menus, plus original commissioned essays that shed light on what makes a standout star in today’s culinary realm.” An L.A. area featured “Emerging Chef” in Today’s Special is Dave Beran of Pasjoli in Santa Monica and the now departed, Dialogue (up to a 20-course, seasonally changing nightly Tasting Menu) which was highly praised. He was nominated for Today’s Special by New York-based Chef Daniel Boulud (Daniel.)

“Pasjoli is an elevated French bistro from award-winning chef Dave Beran. The restaurant pays homage to French cuisine utilizing the bounty of produce available in Southern California. Rooted in classic French cuisine and inspired by Parisian markets, Pasjoli reflects Beran’s thoughtful cooking style, showcasing his creative touches on bistro fare.”

Prior to moving to California, Beran was the chef de cuisine at Alinea and executive chef at Next in Chicago where he received a James Beard Award for Best Chef Great Lakes and was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs in 2014.

We’ll meet Chef Dave Beran.

Chef Andrew Gruel of the Slapfish Restaurant Group

Our own Chef Andrew Gruel of the Slapfish Restaurant Group provides another timely and informative “Ask the Chef” segment where Chef Andrew responds to listeners thoughtful inquiries. Chef Andrew is regularly updating us on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis in the hospitality field and what we, as diners, can do to support the very survival of restaurants which is a genuine concern as recovery slowly starts to happen.

Restaurants in Southern California are finally again allowed to again operate for outside/patio dining and limited inside dining at reduced capacities with all the requisite COVID 19 safety precautions. We’ll “Ask the Chef.”

As if struggling restaurants didn’t have enough to contend with right now the regrettable Dine & Dash” scheme to defraud restaurants is, unfortunately, a growing trend with a pair of awful variations. Chef Andrew explains…

Chef Andrew also updates us on the inspiring progress for the grass-roots, 86 Restaurant Struggle campaign to benefit out-of-work and struggling restaurant workers. Chef Andrew and his wife, Lauren, have already distributed over $380,000 in small grants to deserving restaurant workers in serious need. All applications are carefully vetted by the Gruels. The substantial need, and fundraising, continues…

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris
Segment Two: Restaurateur Christy Vega, Casa Vega, Sherman Oaks Part One
Segment Three: Restaurateur Christy Vega, Casa Vega, Sherman Oaks Part Two
Segment Four: Food & Travel Journalist Barbara Fairchild (former Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appetit Magazine)
Segment Five: Restaurateur George Barker an Executive Chef Jayro Martinez, Mayfield, San Juan Capistrano Part One
Segment Six: Restaurateur George Barker an Executive Chef Jayro Martinez, Mayfield, San Juan Capistrano Part Two
Segment Seven: Restaurateur & Chef Dave Beran, Pasjoli, Santa Monica
Segment Eight: Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel of the Slapfish Restaurant Group with “Ask the Chef”