Show 354, January 4, 2020: Executive Chef Tony Esnault and Restaurateur Yassmin Sarmadi, Knife Pleat at South Coast Plaza Part One

Tony Esnault and Yassmin Sarmadi of Knife PleatKnife Pleat in South Coast Plaza’s Penthouse, Level 3, was one of the most eagerly anticipated restaurant launches of last year. It’s an elegant and approachable French restaurant with an appealing (and unusual) garden patio helmed by Michelin-starred chef Tony Esnault and restaurateur Yassmin Sarmadi, who are well-known from the Los Angeles culinary scene with Church & State and Spring. The couple’s chic new restaurant at lunch and dinner showcases modern, seasonal interpretations of classic French techniques by Esnault, one of California’s best French chefs.

“The husband-and-wife team is regarded as a powerful force in Southern California’s culinary scene, having partnered on their previous Los Angeles-based French restaurants, Spring and Church & State. Spring mesmerized critics by using fresh, local and seasonal ingredients to create a cultured tasting tour of the south of France. Church & State, under Sarmadi’s ownership, was named as one of the inaugural Michelin Guide California’s 2019 Bib Gourmand establishments.”

We’ll meet the dynamic husband-and-wife couple of both Chef Tony & Restaurateur Yassmin.

Show 46, November 2, 2013: Josiah Citrin, Chef/Proprietor of Melisse

Josiah CitrinFifteen years ago when fine-dining restaurants located outside of the protective umbrella of luxury hotels were at a low ebb in Los Angeles Chef Josiah Citrin sold his stake in a very popular Santa Monica dinner house and went out on his own to open a ultra-luxe, destination, freestanding, fine-dining, contemporary French restaurant with California accents. That was the start of Melisse. All these years later it still impresses.

Josiah is a new member of the Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation’s prestigious Culinary Council. On November 10th Josiah and five other culinary superstars will join forces to cook an extraordinary six course repast at Melisse in Santa Monica to raise funds for The Foundation. Two different levels of wine-pairings are available for a supplement.

The esteemed group of chefs includes Gavin Kaysen, the Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Operations for Daniel Boulud’s Café Boulud in New York, Palm Beach, and Toronto. He has previously represented the USA in the Bocuse d’Or culinary competition. For reservations please call 310.395.0881.

The Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation, established in 2008, is a non-profit organization led by a Board of Directors of renowned chefs Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller and Jerome Bocuse (Paul’s son.) The Foundation is devoted to recruiting, training, and financially supporting the promising young American chefs who compete on behalf of the United States in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or competition, held in Lyon, France every two years. Think of it as the Olympics of the culinary world…

November 3: Barbara Fairchild, Merrin-Mae Fuentebella, Jason Kessler, Anita Lau, Elizabeth Whitt, Josiah Citrin, Matt Bencivenga

Podcasts

Segment One: Host Jet Tila and Producer Andy Harris
Segment Two: Barbara Fairchild, food journalist, cookbook author, educator, and consultant
Segment Three: Chef Merrin-Mae, winning cheftestant, Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen”
Segment Four: Jason Kessler, food journalist
Segment Five: Anita Lau of the Mad Hungry Woman blog”
Segment Six: Chef Instructor Elizabeth Whitt
Segment Seven: Josiah Citrin, Chef/Proprietor of Melisse
Segment Eight: Matt Bencivenga, executive chef and partner of the Wolfgang Puck Catering Company

Jet Tila with Ben McKee of Imagine Dragons at Life is Beautiful Festival in Las VegasThanks to all of our loyal & enthusiastic listeners who were part of the audience for Jet’s Saturday afternoon cooking demo with Ben McKee of The Imagine Dragons at the Life Is Beautiful food and music festival in Downtown Las Vegas. It was standing room only for the demo in the Chefs On Stage East tent.

Jet and Andy preview the show. We have everything from a snapshot on where to dine now in New York to what it takes to prepare and serve gourmet food to the demanding VIPs at the Breeder’s Cup at Santa Anita. Also we’ll get the behind-the-scenes with a winning chef from Food Network’s new hit series “Cutthroat Kitchen” hosted by Alton Brown. Jet is one of the regular judges for the first season.

Barbara FairchildBarbara Fairchild is a respected food journalist, cookbook author, consultant, and educator. She is best known to us as the long-time former editor of Bon Appetit Magazine when they were based in Los Angeles.

This summer she taught a course in the Arthur L. Canter Journalism Institute at the prestigious New York University. Barbara tells us all about that as well as provides us with some great Manhattan dining suggestions ranging from a deli find to fine dining Italian and a comfortable celebrity chef restaurant that’s really worth going to.

Merrin Mae FuentebellaChef Merrin-Mae is a cheftestant on the first season of Food Network’s high pressure “Cutthroat Kitchen” hosted by Alton Brown. Her episode is entitled “Kiss My Grits” and was first aired on October 6th.

The level of competition was particularly intense and the sabotages were devilish. Chef Merrin-Mae made us proud in SoCal (she is a local) and she won the episode. One of the other cheftestants was a “Chopped” winner and was eliminated after the first round!

She currently works at Alma with executive chef Ari Taymor. When she did the show she was part of the culinary team at Sotto.

The latest fad diet that is getting a lot of attention is the Paleo Diet (also known as the caveman diet.)

Jason Kessler of Food RepublicFood journalist Jason Kessler of Food Republic and Bon Appetit was actually on the diet for 40 days and shares his experience with us. Jason’s observation is that because the diet is so restrictive you can drop some weight rather quickly. The severely limiting factor is that it gets monotonous rather fast.

San Diego, we haven’t forgotten you.

anita-lauAnita Lau of the Mad Hungry Woman blog is with us with a San Diego dining discovery. Anita was a nominee for a Golden Foodie award in Journalism this year.

Anita’s find is Ristorante Kaz. This is an intriguing Japanese Italian fusion cuisine spot. Anita’s favorite bite was an angel hair pasta dish with creamy sea urchin with spinach and salmon roe.

Elizabeth WhittFeeling ambitious in the kitchen…? Time to get a running start on holiday cooking and entertaining. Our superstar chef instructor, Elizabeth Whitt, of www.ChefElizabeth.com is with us again to get those holiday preparations pointed in the right direction with relative ease.

Pumpkin is in this year. Chef Elizabeth has both a savory and sweet recipe to add to your holiday collection. First up is an incredible Pumpkin Risotto with a fresh baking pumpkin or butternut squash. For dessert there is a not too sweet Pumpkin Cheesecake. Yum….!

When Chef Jet has his own culinary questions he turns Le Cordon Bleu, Paris-trained to Chef Elizabeth. She has a series of popular holiday classes coming up that always sell out early. On November 7th she has “Make-Ahead Holiday Side Dishes” from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and “Holiday Pies and Desserts” the same day from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Then on December 5th its her most popular class, “Appetizers and Hors D’oeuvres,” from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

All classes are at the Cypress Community Center in Cypress.

Josiah CitrinFifteen years ago when fine-dining restaurants located outside of the protective umbrella of luxury hotels were at a low ebb in Los Angeles Chef Josiah Citrin sold his stake in a very popular Santa Monica dinner house and went out on his own to open a ultra-luxe, destination, freestanding, fine-dining, contemporary French restaurant with California accents. That was the start of Melisse. All these years later it still impresses.

Josiah is a new member of the Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation’s prestigious Culinary Council. On November 10th Josiah and five other culinary superstars will join forces to cook an extraordinary six course repast at Melisse in Santa Monica to raise funds for The Foundation. Two different levels of wine-pairings are available for a supplement.

The esteemed group of chefs includes Gavin Kaysen, the Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Operations for Daniel Boulud’s Café Boulud in New York, Palm Beach, and Toronto. He has previously represented the USA in the Bocuse d’Or culinary competition. For reservations please call 310.395.0881.

The Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation, established in 2008, is a non-profit organization led by a Board of Directors of renowned chefs Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller and Jerome Bocuse (Paul’s son.) The Foundation is devoted to recruiting, training, and financially supporting the promising young American chefs who compete on behalf of the United States in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or competition, held in Lyon, France every two years. Think of it as the Olympics of the culinary world…

The 2013 Breeder’s Cup, horse racing’s premier international event, returns to storied Santa Anita Park on November 1st and 2nd.

Matt BencivengaWolfgang Puck Catering (they cater the annual Governors Ball for The Oscars) has been selected to serve it’s fine-dining, seasonal cuisine to some 5,000 demanding VIP attendees. Wolfgang Puck Catering’s cuisine will be served in the Trackside Marquee, Frontrunner, Sierra Vista, Trophy Lounge and the Chandelier Room.

Founding Executive Chef and Partner (of Wolfgang Puck Catering) Matt Bencivenga joins us to talk about the challenges of maintaining Spago quality at large events. It takes a lot of skill, planning, and an army of chefs.

Podcasts

Segment One: Host Jet Tila and Producer Andy Harris
Segment Two: Barbara Fairchild, food journalist, cookbook author, educator, and consultant
Segment Three: Chef Merrin-Mae, winning cheftestant, Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen”
Segment Four: Jason Kessler, food journalist
Segment Five: Anita Lau of the Mad Hungry Woman blog”
Segment Six: Chef Instructor Elizabeth Whitt
Segment Seven: Josiah Citrin, Chef/Proprietor of Melisse
Segment Eight: Matt Bencivenga, executive chef and partner of the Wolfgang Puck Catering Company

Show 44, October 19, 2013: Host Jet Tila and Producer Andy Harris

Host Jet Tila and Producer Andy Harris preview the show.

We had some particularly high profile culinary celebrities with us this week. Daniel Boulud (of his flagship Daniel in New York) is in Los Angeles the Week of Oct. 21st and we had him for a long, engaging chat discussing his new book, on keeping a classic French restaurant fresh and operating a new restaurant in Las Vegas.

Also when it comes to Thai food in America one of the leading authorities is Andy Ricker of Pok Pok in Portland and Brooklyn. He modestly does not profess to being an authority on Thai cuisine but Chef Jet feels otherwise. Surprisingly he’s not even Thai. Jet gets all the 411 from him on some of his signatures dishes and his love of all things Thai.

November 24: Ricardo Zarate, Inn at Europa Village, Deep End Dining, Marche Moderne

Podcasts

Segment One: Chef Jet Tila and Producer Andy Harris
Segment Two: Chef Dean A. Thomas, Innkeeper (with his wife, Nicole) of The Inn At Europa Village and Executive Chef de Cuisine at Europa Village Winery and Tasting Room
Segment Three: Eddie Lin of the blog “Deep End Dining” and the new Web series for YouTube, “Kamikaze Kitchen.”
Segment Four: Eddie Lin Part Two
Segment Five: Chef Ricardo Zarate and Business Partner & Restaurateur Stephane Bombet of Picca in West Los Angeles and Mo-Chica in Downtown Los Angeles
Segment Six: Ricardo Zarate and Stephane Bombet Part Two
Segment Seven: Amelia Marneau of Marche Moderne in The Penthouse (Level 3) at South Coast Plaza
Segment Eight: Food TV Producer and Culinary Personality Eric Boardman

The Holidays are upon us and the “SoCal Restaurant Show” is getting into the spirit of the season. It’s a stuffed grab bag of entertaining info this week.

Ever wonder what a busy chef (and new father) does for his own Family on Thanksgiving? Chef Jet gives us the behind-the-scenes on his Thanksgiving 2012.

The picturesque Temecula Valley Wine Country is only 90-minutes from most of Los Angeles and is a great local getaway with numerous inviting attractions including a winery for every palate and budget.

In the last year The Inn at Europa Village (located on a hilltop with an unrivaled view of the Valley) has been remodeled and enhanced, and now defines the standard of truly memorable bed and breakfast establishments in the Temecula Valley.

The personable Innkeepers are the dynamic duo of Executive Chef Dean Thomas and his wife, Nicole. Chef Dean also oversees the culinary operations at the neighboring Europa Village Tasting Room & Vineyards.

We’ll talk with Dean about his unusual hands-on approach to managing a bed and breakfast and the show-stopping breakfasts he creates with premium local ingredients for his appreciative guests every morning!

Eddie Lin of Deep End DiningJoining Jet in studio will be Asian food blogger extraordinaire and culinary personality Eddie Lin. You may know him from “Deep-End Dining.” He also has a new Web series, “Kamikaze Kitchen.”

Eddie’s most recent assignment is as a contributor to Los Angeles Magazine’sDigest” blog.

Peruvian cuisine has captured the attention of SoCal foodies. At the forefront is Chef Ricardo Zarate who achieved fame in L.A. with his hole-in-the wall spot, Mo-Chica, originally located in the Mercado La Paloma just East of the USC campus. This was later relocated to a more ambitious and expanded space Downtown at 514 W. Seventh St.

Ricardo Zarate of Mo-Chica and PiccaBefore that Ricardo and his business partner Stephane Bombet launched the upscale Picca (Peruvian/Japanese small plates) on W. Pico Blvd. just East of Century City.

A new spot in Marina del Rey is on the horizon.

Jet will chat with both Chef Ricardo and Stephane Bombet about their expanding restaurant empire which started quite modestly.

Our vote for nicest couple in the hospitality business in Orange County has to be Florent and Amelia Marneau who are the greatly respected proprietors of the acclaimed Marche Moderne located in The Penthouse (Level 3) at South Coast Plaza.

Since they opened in 2007 the restaurant has earned the reputation as the premier French restaurant in Orange County and beyond. Florent is behind the stoves and Amelia creates the incredible desserts and also graciously runs the front-of-the-house.

Throughout the year they do noteworthy special events to keep their establishment fresh. This morning Amelia joins the show to preview Marche Moderne’s “40 Days of Champagne and Caviar” Holiday Celebration. Nightly until December 30th Marche is showcasing a nightly special menu of six top caviar selections and bubbly from four renowned Champagne houses along with the traditional accoutrements and caviar-friendly cocktails. If you don’t think that says “Holidays” with a flourish then forget about it…

Finally Careers through Culinary Arts Program Los Angeles Advisory Board Member (and food TV producer) Eric Boardman is with us to discuss the spirited C-CAP alum competition in the style of Food Network’s “Chopped” that was part of last Saturday’s “Getting Our Just Desserts” Benefit at The Art Institute of California-Los Angeles’ campus in Santa Monica. Eric was the Master of Ceremonies for the competition and shares the results.

Podcasts

Segment One: Chef Jet Tila and Producer Andy Harris
Segment Two: Chef Dean A. Thomas, Innkeeper (with his wife, Nicole) of The Inn At Europa Village and Executive Chef de Cuisine at Europa Village Winery and Tasting Room
Segment Three: Eddie Lin of the blog “Deep End Dining” and the new Web series for YouTube, “Kamikaze Kitchen.”
Segment Four: Eddie Lin Part Two
Segment Five: Chef Ricardo Zarate and Business Partner & Restaurateur Stephane Bombet of Picca in West Los Angeles and Mo-Chica in Downtown Los Angeles
Segment Six: Ricardo Zarate and Stephane Bombet Part Two
Segment Seven: Amelia Marneau of Marche Moderne in The Penthouse (Level 3) at South Coast Plaza
Segment Eight: Food TV Producer and Culinary Personality Eric Boardman