Show 106, January 17, 2015: Troy Johnson, Food Critic, San Diego Magazine Continues…

Troy JohnsonTroy Johnson, San Diego Magazine’s colorfully opinionated Food Critic and Editor-at Large, continues.

He also pens the San Diego Food News Blog available on the San Diego Magazine’s Website. You also know him as a regular judge on Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games now in Season 2.

Is foie gras now returning to San Diego area restaurants as it is in Los Angeles and Orange County? We’ll get Johnson’s thoughts on foie gras.

Earlier in the month Troy launched a thoughtful, multi-part series on San Diego Magazine’s blog, “Thoughts on Foie Gas.” It’s a worthwhile read.

In the December issue of San Diego Magazine Johnson profiled his top ten new restaurants in San Diego. In the number one position is Richard BlaisJuniper & Ivy and number two is Ironside Fish & Oyster also in Little Italy. The full reviews of both are on San Diego Magazine’s Website

Show 53, December 21, 2013: Host Jet Tila and Producer Andy Harris

What's Cooking with Jet Tila and Travis RodgersThanks for all the supportive words about “What’s Cooking with Travis and Chef Jet Tila” heard just after 7:50 a.m. on Friday morning on AM 830 KLAA as part of “The Travis Rodgers Show.” Travis is taking a well-earned Holiday break. The segment will return just after 7:50 a.m. on Friday, January 4th. The previous features are all available for your listening pleasure within the “Media” area of the “SoCal Restaurant Show” Website.

Chef Jet and Producer Andy preview the show. Highlights are Susan Feniger talking about her new Mud Hen Tavern on the site of the former Street in Hollywood, Troy Johnson, the Food Critic of San Diego Magazine, and Celebrity Chef Brian Malarkey (from San Diego) who is opening an ambitious restaurant on The Sunset Strip.

Show 53, December 21, 2013: Troy Johnson, Editor-at-Large & Food Critic of San Diego Magazine

Troy JohnsonTroy Johnson, the Food Critic of San Diego Magazine, represents the enthusiastic new breed of youthful restaurant journalists with a point-of-view.

You perhaps remember him on Food TV from his Cooking Channel series, “Crave.” He’s also one of the regular judges on Food Network’s new Sunday evening “Guy’s (Fieri) Grocery Games.”

There is a lot happening on the San Diego restaurant scene. The big noise is that chef and restaurateur Richard Blais is leaving his base in Atlanta to open Juniper & Ivy in the Little Italy area of San Diego. It will seat 200 when open so this is an ambitious project! Chef Blais is probably best known nationally for his multiple seasons on Bravo’s “Top Chef.”

In addition to his reviews in San Diego Magazine, Troy also writes about restaurant comings and goings in San Diego County.

Show 37, August 3, 2013: Life Is Beautiful Festival in Las Vegas

Life is Beautiful FestivalLas Vegas, a spot known for excess on a grand scale, has never seen anything quite like this before and it’s a really big one!

It’s the Life is Beautiful festival set for some 18 blocks of Downtown Las Vegas (including the grounds of a large casino hotel) from October 25th through Sunday, October 27th. It’s an impressive line-up of world class music, food, art and learning. Tickets are already on sale.

With more than 60 prominent chefs and restaurants, 24 wineries and 24 breweries participating in the culinary part of the festival alone, L.I.B presents the attendees with a full-scale food festival experience. The elite Culinary Advisory Board is headed by Chef Bruce Bromberg of the Blue Ribbon restaurants in New York. (His Las Vegas flagship is Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill at The Cosmopolitan.)

“The food experiences of L.I.B. were carefully designed to be interactive, innovative and unexpected,” says Jolene Mannina, Head of Culinary Arts for the festival. “Working with the vision of our Culinary Advisory Board of 12 world-renowned chefs, we’ve created an approach that we feel will set us apart from other food festivals, giving both our patrons and chefs a chance to enjoy something new, fresh and, of course, delicious.”

Jolene is a local celebrity in her own right in the Las Vegas culinary community. Food critic and former ABC Radio correspondent Al Mancini (creator of the popular Eating Las Vegas guidebook series) calls her the “Queen of The Scene”. She originated a much-talked-about late night chefs’ completion series, the Back of the House Brawl.

Show 30, June 1, 2013: Hawaii Food Tours’Chef Matthew Gray

Matthew Gray of Hawaii Food ToursThink of Chef Matthew as your Hawaii Food Ambassador. He’s a former chef from Los Angeles who moved to Hawaii some 20 years ago. He was previously the respected food critic for the largest Islands’ newspaper, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

About six years ago Matthew created Hawaii Food Tours to provide visitors with highly entertaining, one-of-a-kind food adventures that are off the usual tourist path. For the last two years Hawaii Food Tours has been voted the Number One tour in Hawaii! His signature food tour is the Hole-in-the-Wall Tour where you discover the rich history of Honolulu through food. The guests taste some 15 to 20 snacks, foods, and treats of both the savory and sweet variations. Matthew takes his guests to unusual places they would never discover on his own.

Whether you take one of Matthew’s tours or not he’s happy to be a dining resource to all Island visitors. Just e-mail him through his Website for his objective list of restaurant recommendations. He’ll also graciously respond to specific inquiries.

June 1: Hawaiian Food and Restaurant Special

Podcasts

Segment One: Hawaii Food Tours’Chef Matthew Gray
Segment Two: Jeffrey Vigilla, executive chef of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu
Segment Three: Celebrity Chef Alan Wong, Alan Wong’s, Honolulu
Segment Four: Chuck Furuya, Master Sommelier and partner in DK Restaurants, Honolulu
Segment Five: Celebrity Chef Sam Choy, Sam Choy’s Kai Lanai, The Big Island, Hawaii
Segment Six: Les Apoliona, Land Asset Manager, Land Assets Division of Kamehameha Schools of Hawaii

Summer is upon us and the vacation travel season is at hand. Both Jet and Producer Andy have recently been to Hawaii. Saturday will be our Hawaii special bringing you the best (and tastiest) tips for visits to Oahu and The Big Island.

Matthew Gray of Hawaii Food ToursChef and food critic Matthew Gray has been objectively observing the Oahu food scene since 1993. He was previously the food critic for the local newspaper, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Whether it’s a joint in Chinatown making their own noodles or the best in high-end cuisine Matthew knows the territory.

Some six years ago he created Hawaii Food Tours to provide visitors with highly entertaining, one-of-a-kind food adventures. His signature food tour is his Hole-in-the-Wall Food Tour where you discover the rich history of Honolulu through food. Matthew takes his guests to unusual places they would never discover on their own.

Chef Jeffrey Vigilla of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach ResortJeffrey Vigilla is the accomplished executive chef of the 2,860 room Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu on 22 lush tropical acres. It’s the largest hotel property on the famed Waikiki Beach with the widest stretch of beach. Chef Vigilla is going local with as much of his menu ingredients as possible. His chocolate is from Waialua Estates on Oahu and he even sources local honey.

 

Alan WongHawaii’s Alan Wong is one of the pioneers of Hawaiian Regional cuisine. Now, sourcing and serving the freshest local ingredients is in vogue. In Hawaii, Alan owns the flagship Alan Wong’s in Honolulu as well as the more casual Pineapple Room in Ala Moana Center. On Maui his most recent establishment is Amasia at the Grand Wailea.

The President dines with the First Lady at Alan Wong’s on his yearly vacations on Oahu.

On Sunday, June 2nd Chef Alan will be one of the celebrity chefs cooking at the Share Our Strength Taste of the Nation Benefit at Studio at Montage Laguna Beach.

Chuck FuruyaChuck Furuya of the D.K. Restaurant Group with hugely successful properties on Oahu, Maui, and The Big Island was only the 10th person in the United States to pass the rigorous Master Sommelier examination. He’s the recognized leader in the Islands in furthering wine education.  He loves to introduce undiscovered wines to his guests and good value is always part of his mission. No wine snobbery here…

Sam ChoyThe Big Island’s Sam Choy is known as Hawaii’s culinary ambassador to the world. He has a new restaurant on The Big Island, Sam Choy’s Kai Lanai, with a 180-degree view of the Pacific Ocean. He’s also known as the “Godfather of Poke” which is his signature dish. Chef Sam is the author of 16 cookbooks and is a regular culinary celebrity chef aboard Crystal Cruises.

Kamehameha Schools is Hawaii’s largest private landowner with some 365,000 acres on The Big Island, Maui, Molokai, Oahu, and Kauai. They own the choice land in Waikiki that are the sites of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and associated upscale retail complex. One of their new initiatives is to support value added agriculture with entrepreneurial leaseholders of their land. Two out of three coffee estates in the Kona area are on Kamehameha Schools leased land.

Les Apoliona, a land asset manager for the north Kona district for the Land Assets Division of Kamehameha joins us to talk about the inventive effort to support these businesses and the move to make The Big Island more self sufficient in the production of food. Les has a background in food service and hotel management and is well-known in the restaurant community of The Big Island.

Podcasts

Segment One: Hawaii Food Tours’Chef Matthew Gray
Segment Two: Jeffrey Vigilla, executive chef of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu
Segment Three: Celebrity Chef Alan Wong, Alan Wong’s, Honolulu
Segment Four: Chuck Furuya, Master Sommelier and partner in DK Restaurants, Honolulu
Segment Five: Celebrity Chef Sam Choy, Sam Choy’s Kai Lanai, The Big Island, Hawaii
Segment Six: Les Apoliona, Land Asset Manager, Land Assets Division of Kamehameha Schools of Hawaii/a>