Show 191, October 1, 2016: Pacific Food & Beverage Museum’s “The Thoughtful Feast: A California Whiskey Dinner”

Richard FossOur colleagues at the Pacific Food & Beverage Museum are at it again. There’s a lot of interest in fine whiskey here IN California, but do you know about the fine whiskeys FROM California? Though the state’s been producing whiskey since at least the 1860s, there’s never been such a selection of styles at such high quality as there is now. And you probably haven’t had the chance to experience the range for yourself, but with the latest edition of “The Thoughtful Feast: A California Whiskey Dinner,” all that’s changed.

Joining us with all the spirited details are PacFAB Curator Richard Foss and Master Distiller Steve Gertman of Ascendant Spirits in Buellton.

On October 11, the Pacific Food & Beverage Museum (PacFAB), in collaboration with Women Who Whiskey – Los Angeles, will host a dinner featuring five highly distinctive styles of California whiskey, each paired with a sumptuous dish from the kitchen of 1212 Santa Monica, the newest culinary star on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade. Diners will enjoy the five whiskeys listed below, both neat and cocktailed, and a diverse five-course menu featuring lamb, pork belly, roasted root vegetables, and much more.

A portion of all proceeds support the National Food & Beverage Foundation (NatFAB), home of PacFAB, The Museum of the American Cocktail, and the Southern Food & Beverage Museum.

Dinner is $85 for all NatFAB, Women Who Whiskey, and Culinary Historians of Southern California members, or $95 for non-members, and includes tax and gratuity. NatFAB membership is available to all right here. Space is limited to 50 diners and reservations are required. Visit their website for more information and to purchase tickets now.

1212 Santa Monica is located at 1212 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA 90401.

Featured Whiskeys

Show 144, October 31, 2015: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Guest Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish

Andrew Gruel at the AM830 KLAA StudiosExecutive Chef Andrew Gruel of the rapidly growing Slapfish empire with restaurants in Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, LAX, and now, Irvine at UCI, is back as today’s special Guest Host.

Next a tantalizing preview of Saturday’s high-energy and appropriately loaded show and not, with apologies, for dieters. In the Halloween spirit only treats this morning! If we’re doing it right we will always leave you hungry and thirsty. In our case that’s probably a good thing…

SOCIAL Costa Mesa just celebrated their Year Anniversary and a lot of credit for their success can be attributed to personable Executive Chef Jeffrey Boullt. He’s out there cooking memorable tastes at a lot of high profile special events. We’ll meet him and perhaps pick up a few tips for success.

Food, wine and travel writer Susan Montgomery (also a Director and the Treasurer of IFWTWA) was just in the Valle de Guadalupe in Northern Baja on a VIP food and wine tour led and orchestrated by San Diego’s Wine Vault & Bistro. Sue joins us to profile her hugely recommendable 3-day adventure.

Venice, CA. – based Chef Nyesha Arrington is no stranger to the show. We’ve charted with her in the past when she was at The Wilshire and, more recently, about her pop-ups. She is now creating the menu at the new LEONA restaurant in Venice. Chef Nyesha is with us to provide all the tasty morsels.

How about easy to prepare cocktails that are sure to impress for your Halloween celebrations? Dennis Green, Director of Beverage at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula scares up a few creations for us.

It’s National Sandwich Day on Tuesday, November 3rd. We’re honoring the beloved “portable meal” created by the 18th century English noble, John Montagu. The Kroft, with locations at the Anaheim Packing House and Tustin Union Market, has created The Leftover Sandwich to mark the occasion. It’s more than a mouthful…We’ll hear all about it.

Wine pricing in restaurants whether it be by the glass or bottle can be a bit of a mystery. Our delightfully opinionated wine authority, Kyle Meyer of Wine Exchange, has some definite thoughts on the matter. We’ll pull the cork on this with Kyle.…

Our regular Guest Host, Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish, has some musings for us. He’s our resident seafood authority. We’re going to be talking about encouraging the revival of the California White Seabass and what’s being done locally to assist nature. It’s a popular sports fish for local anglers.

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

Show 143, October 24, 2015: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Guest Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish

Executive Chef Andrew Gruel of the rapidly growing Slapfish empire with restaurants in Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, LAX, and now, Irvine at UCI, is back as today’s special Guest Host.

Next an appetizing preview of Saturday’s high-energy and appropriately loaded show and not, with apologies, for dieters. If we’re doing it right we will always leave you hungry and thirsty. In our case that’s probably a good thing…

The Ranch Restaurant’s (Anaheim) incredible pastry Chef is David Rossi. He was the recipient in 2014 of the Golden Foodie Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef. This is “Peer Selected” award which gives the honor even more weight. David just returned from an intensive cacao (chocolate) tour and research trip in Ecuador. We’ll get all the sweetly decadent details…

Irish Whiskey connoisseurs listen up ! Jack Teeling, founder of Teeling Whiskey (Dublin, Ireland), is coming to VOM FASS in Claremont, CA the night of Oct. 27th. It’s an unusual opportunity for the public to taste the Teeling Whiskeys and meet Jack Teeling. Jack Teeling is our special guest.

Chicago-based Celebrity Chef Graham Elliot, co-host of the popular FOX TV series, “MasterChef” and “Master Chef Junior,” and the host of the new Food Network show, “Craziest Restaurants in America,” wants everyone to cook. He’s now written his first cookbook, Cooking Like a Master Chef: 100 Recipes to Make the Everyday Extraordinary. Chef Elliot joins us with a preview of the new book.

Culinary Historian Richard Foss is also the California Curator for both The Southern Food & Beverage Museum and Pacific Food & Beverage. His new book is Food in Air and Space: The Surprising History of Food and Drink in The Skies. There was a time when dining in the sky was a true gourmet experience. The always colorful Richard Foss is our guest.

The 5th Annual Garagiste Wine Festival returns to Paso Robles from November 5th to 8th. The Garagiste Wine Festivals are the first and only wine festivals dedicated to the undiscovered and under-recognized American artisan “garagiste” producers who are making some of the best, most exciting, handcrafted small-lot production wines in the world. Co-Founder Douglass Minnick joins us with the preview.

The award-winning food bloggers from MuyBuenoCookbook.com (Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack) and SweetLifeBake.com (Vianney Rodriguez) have teamed up to create Latin Twist – Traditional & Modern Cocktails, an all-new collection of Latin-American cocktails.

Yvette and Vianney are known for Mexican and Latin–fusion recipes made with easy-to-find ingredients. Yvette and Vianney are our guests.

Our regular Guest Host, Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish, has been on the road. We’ll hear about his Pop-Up Dinner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and other news of note .

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

Show 143, October 24, 2015: Food Historian Richard Foss

Richard FossCulinary Historian Richard Foss is also the California Curator for both The Southern Food & Beverage Museum (home of The Museum of the American Cocktail) and Pacific Food & Beverage. His new book is Food in Air and Space: The Surprising History of Food and Drink in The Skies. There was a time when dining in the sky was actually a true gourmet experience.

Richard shares the stories of the first libations in the air as well as the first meals. He also explains why airline food morphed from extraordinary to dull. In part this was motivated by one executive’s observation about leftover olives on salads. This then became the motivation for budget cutting on food costs along with deregulation…Oops!

The always colorful Richard Foss is our guest.

October 24: Andrew Gruel, The Ranch Restaurant, Teeling Whiskey, Graham Elliot, Richard Foss, Garagiste Wine Festival, Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack, Vianney Rodriguez

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Guest Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish
Segment Two: Executive Pastry Chef David Rossi, The Ranch Restaurant, Anaheim, CA
Segment Three: Jack Teeling, Proprietor & Brand Ambassador, Teeling Whiskey Distillery, Dublin, Ireland
Segment Four: Celebrity Chef Graham Elliott
Segment Five: Food Historian Richard Foss
Segment Six: 5th Annual Garagiste Wine Festival, Paso Robles, CA
Segment Seven: Latin Twist – Traditional and Modern Cocktails
Segment Eight: Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel, Slapfish

Executive Chef Andrew Gruel of the rapidly growing Slapfish empire with restaurants in Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, LAX, and now, Irvine at UCI, is back as today’s special Guest Host.

Next an appetizing preview of Saturday’s high-energy and appropriately loaded show and not, with apologies, for dieters. If we’re doing it right we will always leave you hungry and thirsty. In our case that’s probably a good thing…

The Ranch Restaurant’s (Anaheim) incredible pastry Chef is David Rossi. He was the recipient in 2014 of the Golden Foodie Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef. This is “Peer Selected” award which gives the honor even more weight. David just returned from an intensive cacao (chocolate) tour and research trip in Ecuador. We’ll get all the sweetly decadent details…

Irish Whiskey connoisseurs listen up ! Jack Teeling, founder of Teeling Whiskey (Dublin, Ireland), is coming to VOM FASS in Claremont, CA the night of Oct. 26th. It’s an unusual opportunity for the public to taste the Teeling Whiskeys and meet Jack Teeling. Jack Teeling is our special guest.

Chicago-based Celebrity Chef Graham Elliot, co-host of the popular FOX TV series, “MasterChef” and “Master Chef Junior,” and the host of the new Food Network show, “Craziest Restaurants in America,” wants everyone to cook. He’s now written his first cookbook, “Cooking Like a Master Chef : 100 Recipes to Make the Everyday Extraordinary. Chef Elliot joins us with a preview of the new book.

Culinary Historian Richard Foss is also the California Curator for both The Southern Food & Beverage Museum and the Pacific Food & Beverage. His new book is Food in Air and Space : The Surprising History of Food and Drink in The Skies.” There was a time when dining in the sky was a true gourmet experience. The always colorful Richard Foss is our guest.

The 5th Annual Garagiste Wine Festival returns to Paso Robles from November 5th to 8th. The Garagiste Wine Festivals are the first and only wine festivals dedicated to the undiscovered and under-recognized American artisan “garagiste” producers who are making some of the best, most exciting, handcrafted small-lot production wines in the world. Co-Founder Douglass Minnick joins us with the preview.

The award-winning food bloggers from MuyBuenoCookbook.com (Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack) and SweetLifeBake.com (Vianney Rodriguez) have teamed up to create Latin Twist – Traditional & Modern Cocktails, an all-new collection of Latin-American cocktails.

Yvette and Vianney are known for Mexican and Latin–fusion recipes made with easy-to-find ingredients. Yvette and Vianney are our guests.

Our regular Guest Host, Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish, has been on the road. We’ll hear about his Pop-Up Dinner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and other news of note.

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

David RossiThe Ranch Restaurant’s (Anaheim) incredible pastry Chef is David Rossi. He was the recipient in 2014 of the Golden Foodie Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef. This is “Peer Selected” award which gives the honor even more weight.

David just returned from an intensive cacao (chocolate) tour and research trip in Ecuador. He visited the cacao plantation and production facilities of Republica Del Cacao, a single origin producer.

This chocolate is produced bean-to-bar in Ecuador. The milk and sugar used in the chocolate are local products, too.

David is now using this chocolate exclusively at The Ranch. On their Thanksgiving menu look for Republica Del Cacao Chocolate Pots De Crème with espresso chantilly.

We’ll get all the sweetly decadent details from Chef David…

Jack TeelingIrish Whiskey connoisseurs your attention, please! Jack Teeling, founder of Teeling Whiskey (Dublin, Ireland) is coming to VOM FASS in Claremont, CA the night of Oct. 26th. It’s an unusual opportunity for the public to taste the Teeling Whiskeys and meet Jack Teeling. Autographed bottles make great Holiday gifts!

The winner of the first annual IE Battle for the Best Bartender will be announced that night!

Since 1782 The Teeling Family has been crafting Irish whiskey and it all began with Walter Teeling. In 1782 Walter Teeling set up a craft distillery on Marrowbone Lane in the Liberties area of Dublin inaugurating a 230 year tradition of distilling for the Teeling Family. From Walter Teeling to the latest generation of Teelings in Jack and Stephen who are now carrying on the family’s legacy and forging a bright new future for distilling in Dublin and for Irish whiskey.

Jack Teeling is our special guest.

Graham ElliotChicago-based Celebrity Chef Graham Elliot, co-host of the popular FOX TV series, “MasterChef” and “Master Chef Junior,” and the host of the new Food Network show, “Craziest Restaurants in America,” wants everyone to cook.

He’s now written his first cookbook, Cooking Like a Master Chef: 100 Recipes to Make the Everyday Extraordinary. It’s an entertaining, accessible guide for the home cook to create delicious, beautiful food for every occasion. Chef Graham teaches great techniques and encourages everyone to have a lot of fun along the way. It’s all in line with his philosophy that there is no right or wrong when it comes to creativity in the kitchen.

Grouped by season, Chef Graham’s one hundred recipes are illustrated with gorgeous, full-color photographs and accompanied by simple, straightforward instructions – with some intriguingly tasty twists. Chef Graham believes that whether you are a top-notch chef or a talented home-cook, sometimes you want to be spontaneous and improvise, like a jazz musician.

Chef Elliot joins us with a preview of the book.

Richard FossCulinary Historian Richard Foss is also the California Curator for both The Southern Food & Beverage Museum and the Pacific Food & Beverage. His new book is Food in Air and Space: The Surprising History of Food and Drink in The Skies. There was a time when dining in the sky was actually a true gourmet experience.

The book also discusses the challenges of cooking in space. No environment on Earth is as alien as space, or as challenging when it comes to providing nutritious, appetizing food.

The always colorful Richard Foss is our guest.

Garagiste FestivalThe 5th Annual Garagiste Wine Festival returns to Paso Robles from November 5th to 8th. The Garagiste Wine Festivals are the first and only wine festivals dedicated to the undiscovered and under-recognized American artisan “garagiste” producers who are making some of the best, most exciting, handcrafted small-lot production wines in the world.

“We founded The Garagiste Festivals five years ago to gather and bring attention to, the growing but under-the-radar population of micro-production winemakers who we knew were making some of the most exciting, cutting-edge wines in the world,” said Doug Minnick, Co-founder of The Garagiste Festival. “As our Festivals have grown and expanded, they have helped spur the growth of our participating wineries, as well as of the Garagiste movement itself. It has been a true win-win-win: matching consumers with the hard-to-find artists they enjoy discovering, helping garagiste wineries find a highly targeted and self-selected audience, and all in support of our work with Cal Poly.”

The festivals are produced by Garagiste Events, a non-profit dedicated to furthering the education of future winemakers and those training for employment within the wine industry. Proceeds from the festivals support the Garagiste Festival Scholarship fund of the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo Wine and Viticulture Department.

Co-Founder Doug Minnick joins us with the preview.

Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack and Vianney RodriguezThe award-winning food bloggers from MuyBuenoCookbook.com (Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack) and SweetLifeBake.com (Vianney Rodriguez) have teamed up to create Latin Twist – Traditional & Modern Cocktails, an all-new collection of Latin-American cocktails.

Yvette and Vianney are known for Mexican and Latin–fusion recipes made with easy-to-find ingredients. Their cocktails – featuring fresh-squeezed juices and homemade mixers – have been so popular that the authors decided to devote a whole book to them.

Latin Twist! is the first book to celebrate the signature cocktails of 18 Latin American countries and Spain in one volume. It delves into the history of each country’s special ingredients, wines and liquors, and includes traditional drinks as well as the authors’ original recipes.

Whether you are hosting a backyard fiesta or just entertaining a few friends, there is a drink in this book for every occasion. Try a luscious Passion Fruit Caipirinha from Brazil, Chile’s fruity Borgona, or Argentina’s national drink, the deceptively simple Fernet con Cola.

Yvette and Vianney are our guests.

Andrew GruelOur regular Guest Host, Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish has been on the road. We’ll hear about his Pop-Up Dinner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and other news of note.

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Guest Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish
Segment Two: Executive Pastry Chef David Rossi, The Ranch Restaurant, Anaheim, CA
Segment Three: Jack Teeling, Proprietor & Brand Ambassador, Teeling Whiskey Distillery, Dublin, Ireland
Segment Four: Celebrity Chef Graham Elliott
Segment Five: Food Historian Richard Foss
Segment Six: 5th Annual Garagiste Wine Festival, Paso Robles, CA
Segment Seven: Latin Twist – Traditional and Modern Cocktails
Segment Eight: Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel, Slapfish

Show 83, August 9, 2014: Guest Host Chef Jimmy Shaw and Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris preview the show

Guest Host Chef Jimmy Shaw of Loteria! Grill restaurants and Producer Andy preview the show.

Chef Jimmy Shaw of Loteria! Grill is with us. He brought the rich Mexican Street Food of his native Mexico City to Los Angeles. Keep in mind that Los Angeles is the 2nd largest Mexican City in the World. It all started in 2002 with a modest stand in the Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax in Los Angeles.

Chef Jimmy Shaw educates us on the ample Mexican sandwich, The Torta. He also talks about stocking Mexican ingredients in your home pantry.

Josh Lurie of Food GPS is at it again with delectable food and beverage events. The 3rd Annual Food GPS Fried Chicken Festival is set for Sunday afternoon, August 17th in Chinatown’s historic Central Plaza.

The Museum of the American Cocktail (based in New Orleans at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum) is presenting an evening of cocktails, food, and entertainment featuring (the always entertaining) culinary historian and author Richard Foss on August 18th at 6:30 p.m. at Roxanne’s Lounge in Long Beach. The presentation is : “Dry With a Twist: A Liquid Lesson in How Prohibition Changed America.”

One of the most important wine regions in Mexico is the Valle de Guadalupe located about an hour and one-half South of Tijuana. The best of these wines are slowly finding their way North to Southern California. Manuel Alvarez of AlXimia Vino Elemental winery joins us from the Valle de Guadalupe with his Family’s story.

Tarit Tanjasiri is the baker/proprietor of the revered CremaCafe in Seal Beach. It started as a small breakfast and lunch spot. Tarit couldn’t source a bread for his sandwiches that satisfied him so he added an adjacent production bakery. We’ll meet him.

“A new kind of cocktail book, The 12 Bottle Bar, distills the craft cocktail movement for the home bar. Irresistibly uncomplicated, just 12 bottles create over 200 distinct and seasonal cocktails, including beer and wine cocktails.” The husband-and-wife authors are with us.

Orange County’s answer to the prestigious, red carpet awards shows is The Golden Foodies. Voting has started for this year in the first group of categories and the public is invited to vote for their favorite restaurants and related categories. Good luck to all…

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

Show 83, August 9, 2014: Food Historian & Author Richard Foss

Dry with a Twist: A Liquid Lesson in How Prohibition Changed AmericaThe Exhibition Room at Roxanne’s Cocktail Lounge & Latin Grill, Long Beach’s “hidden speakeasy,” hosts the next edition of Touring the Cocktail: MOTAC Los Angeles, a liquid lesson in how Prohibition changed America. Come out for an evening of culture and cocktails, costumes and music! Dress as a flapper, bootlegger, moonshiner, or temperance crusader (no hatchets please, ladies). There will be prizes for the best costume, giveaways, and more!

Whether you were a regular tippler or never let a drop of alcohol past your lips, Prohibition affected every American’s life. Dining options, dating habits, vacation choices, and perhaps most infamously, the attitude of citizens toward law enforcement, were forever altered by the temperance movement’s short-lived crowning achievement. Even so, most Americans don’t really understand who we were before that great experiment, how Prohibition came to pass, and the ways in which the period reverberates to this day.

Historian Richard Foss, author of “Rum: A Global History,” transports participants to a world of temperance terrorists and flappers, moonshiners and smugglers, and ordinary citizens who just wanted a drink and would get it by any means necessary. Drinkmaster David Valiante executes a menu of five period cocktails, illustrating the ways in which America’s palate for drinks has changed. (Don’t worry, bathtub gin will not appear on the menu, but some delightful and largely forgotten beverages will make a glorious reappearance.) A light dinner of savory specialties from Roxanne’s Latin Grill is included in the price of admission.

Tickets are $40 in advance, $35 for members of SoFAB/MOTAC and the USBG. Tickets at the door are $50 (subject to availability.)

August 9: Jimmy Shaw, FoodGPS, Richard Foss, AlXimia Vino Elemental Winery, CremaCafe, David and Lesley Jacobs Solmonson, Golden Foodies

Podcasts

Segment One: Guest Host Chef Jimmy Shaw and Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris preview the show
Segment Two: Chef Jimmy Shaw of Loteria! Grill and The Torta Co.
Segment Three: Food GPS Fried Chicken Festival, Chinatown
Segment Four: Food Historian & Author Richard Foss
Segment Five: Manuel Alvarez of AlXimia Vino Elemental Winery
Segment Six: Tarit Tanjasiri of CremaCafe & Bakery
Segment Seven: The 12 Bottle Bar
Segment Eight: The Golden Foodies

Guest Host Chef Jimmy Shaw of Loteria! Grill restaurants and Producer Andy preview the show.

Chef Jimmy Shaw of Loteria! Grill is with us. He brought the rich Mexican Street Food of his native Mexico City to Los Angeles. Keep in mind that Los Angeles is the 2nd largest Mexican City in the World. It all started in 2002 with a modest stand in the Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax in Los Angeles.

Chef Jimmy Shaw educates us on the ample Mexican sandwich, The Torta. He also talks about stocking Mexican ingredients in your home pantry.

Josh Lurie of Food GPS is at it again with delectable food and beverage events. The 3rd Annual Food GPS Fried Chicken Festival is set for Sunday afternoon, August 17th in Chinatown’s historic Central Plaza.

The Museum of the American Cocktail (based in New Orleans at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum) is presenting an evening of cocktails, food, and entertainment featuring (the always entertaining) culinary historian and author Richard Foss on August 18th at 6:30 p.m. at Roxanne’s Lounge in Long Beach. The presentation is : “Dry With a Twist: A Liquid Lesson in How Prohibition Changed America.”

One of the most important wine regions in Mexico is the Valle de Guadalupe located about an hour and one-half South of Tijuana. The best of these wines are slowly finding their way North to Southern California. Manuel Alvarez of AlXimia Vino Elemental winery joins us from the Valle de Guadalupe with his Family’s story.

Tarit Tanjasiri is the baker/proprietor of the revered CremaCafe in Seal Beach. It started as a small breakfast and lunch spot. Tarit couldn’t source a bread for his sandwiches that satisfied him so he added an adjacent production bakery. We’ll meet him.

“A new kind of cocktail book, The 12 Bottle Bar, distills the craft cocktail movement for the home bar. Irresistibly uncomplicated, just 12 bottles create over 200 distinct and seasonal cocktails, including beer and wine cocktails.” The husband-and-wife authors are with us.

Orange County’s answer to the prestigious, red carpet awards shows is The Golden Foodies. Voting has started for this year in the first group of categories and the public is invited to vote for their favorite restaurants and related categories. Good luck to all…

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

Jimmy Shaw of Loteria Grill and Torta CompanyChef Jimmy Shaw of Loteria! Grill is with us. He brought the rich Mexican Street Food of his native Mexico City to Los Angeles. Keep in mind that Los Angeles is the 2nd largest Mexican City in the World. It all started in 2002 with a modest stand in the Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax in Los Angeles.

There are now Loteria! Grill restaurants in Hollywood, Studio, City, Westlake Village, Santa Monica and Downtown at Fig at 7th.

“Lotería! Grill has grown from the open-air stall at the Farmers Market to become a nationally renowned group of restaurants that offer a casually elegant, fun and relaxed atmosphere in which to enjoy everything from a refreshing agua fresca or margarita to award-winning, delicious regional specialties and slowly cooked guisos served with handmade corn tortillas.  Favorites like the Chicharrón de Queso, and the Probaditas, a mini-taco sampler of our signature guisos, have their guests coming back frequently for more.”

Chef Jimmy Shaw educates us on the ample Mexican sandwich, the Torta. He also talks about stocking Mexican ingredients as part of your regular home pantry.

Joshua Lurie of Food GPSJosh Lurie of Food GPS is at it again with delectable food and beverage events. The 3rd Annual Food GPS Fried Chicken Festival Presented by Bolthouse Farms is set for Sunday afternoon, August 17th in Chinatown’s historic Central Plaza. Hours are 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

This all-inclusive, chef-focused event includes some of L.A.’s best chefs preparing unique fried chicken dishes and complimentary sides. Additionally, there are an array of delicious desserts (Valerie Confections) and beverages.

Participating chef Jesse Furman (Free Range LA) and Josh Lurie of Food GPS preview the Festival.

Dry with a Twist: A Liquid Lesson in How Prohibition Changed AmericaThe Exhibition Room at Roxanne’s Cocktail Lounge & Latin Grill, Long Beach’s “hidden speakeasy,” hosts the next edition of Touring the Cocktail: MOTAC Los Angeles, a liquid lesson in how Prohibition changed America. Come out for an evening of culture and cocktails, costumes and music! Dress as a flapper, bootlegger, moonshiner, or temperance crusader (no hatchets please, ladies). There will be prizes for the best costume, giveaways, and more!

Whether you were a regular tippler or never let a drop of alcohol past your lips, Prohibition affected every American’s life. Dining options, dating habits, vacation choices, and perhaps most infamously, the attitude of citizens toward law enforcement, were forever altered by the temperance movement’s short-lived crowning achievement. Even so, most Americans don’t really understand who we were before that great experiment, how Prohibition came to pass, and the ways in which the period reverberates to this day.

Historian Richard Foss, author of “Rum: A Global History,” transports participants to a world of temperance terrorists and flappers, moonshiners and smugglers, and ordinary citizens who just wanted a drink and would get it by any means necessary. Drinkmaster David Valiante executes a menu of five period cocktails, illustrating the ways in which America’s palate for drinks has changed.  (Don’t worry, bathtub gin will not appear on the menu, but some delightful and largely forgotten beverages will make a glorious reappearance.) A light dinner of savory specialties from Roxanne’s Latin Grill is included in the price of admission.

Tickets are $40 in advance, $35 for members of SoFAB/MOTAC and the USBG. Tickets at the door are $50 (subject to availability.)

Manuel Alvarez of AlXimia Vino ElementalOne of the most important (and historic) wine regions in Mexico is the Valle de Guadalupe located about an hour and one-half South of Tijuana. The best of these wines are slowly finding their way North to Southern California. Manuel Alvarez of AlXimia Vino Elemental winery joins us from the Valle de Guadalupe with his Family’s story.

Wine tasting and tours are available to visitors at this architecturally significant winery.

“AlXimia is a wine-making project born from the meeting of the senses and the world, with special attention to the earth, the plant, the fruit and its benefits. We are trying to understand, use and preserve nature.

Baja California is wine country, and wines are, in our view, the product of the transmutation of the four natural elements:

  • the earth that nourishes and gives rise to the vineyards
  • the scarce water that is vital in the Valle de Guadalupe
  • the fresh air that comes from the sea and
  • the fire in the form of the heat from the sun, providing the freshness and warmth needed to ripen the grapes and give them the adequate acidity, while at the same time generating the energy needed for the process
  • When you assemble these 4 elements, the space (or ether) becomes the fifth element that makes possible their existence.

AlXimia is a family business focused on the work of the sensible. It is a group born at home, amidst the respect for the environment, in the tradition of teaching and knowledge transfer. AlXimia travels through the wine trail manifested in a free and existential thinking against the structured and accurate scientific thought process, daring to innovate.  Started by a mathematician turned winemaker, this amazing winery was built by an innovative architect, the mathematician-winemaker and his astronomer father.”

Tarit TanjasiriTarit Tanjasiri is the consumed baker/proprietor of the revered CremaCafe & Artisan Bakery in Seal Beach. It started eight years ago as a small breakfast and lunch spot. Tarit couldn’t source a bread for his sandwiches that satisfied him so two years ago he added an adjacent production bakery. It’s the café on one side and the bakery on the other. We’ll meet him.

Tarit’s Kouign Amann was one of the OC Weekly’s “100 Favorite Dishes of 2014.”

According to Anne Marie Panoringan of the OC Weekly : “Per Tarit, a Kouign Amann is a pastry from the Brittany region of France. It’s often considered more of a cake than a pastry, although Crema utilizes croissant dough for their version. Layers of butter, dough, sugar and a bit of sea salt are formed. Shaped to resemble a blooming rose, it is then placed in the deck oven to bake. Sweetness and density are much higher in France, and they come in many more sizes, shapes and filling flavors.”

David and Lesley Jacobs Solmonson“A new kind of cocktail book, The 12 Bottle Bar, distills the craft cocktail movement for the home bar. Irresistibly uncomplicated, just 12 bottles create over 200 distinct and seasonal cocktails, including beer and wine cocktails.”

David Solmonson and Lesley Jacobs Solmonson, the husband-and-wife authors (and noted cocktail enthusiasts) are with us.

“We’re living in the midst of a cocktail renaissance – artisanal cocktails. Celebrity mixologists, drink menus that outshine wine lists and feature ingredients as fresh and complex as the most sought after meals. Just as home cooks have looked to popular restaurants and chefs for new recipes, imbibers want to bring the magic of a local speakeasy straight to the living room.”

Golden Foodie AwardsOrange County’s answer to the prestigious, red carpet awards shows is The Golden Foodies. Voting has started for this year in the first group of categories and the public is invited to vote for their favorite restaurants and related categories. There are two more weeks of voting cycles…

Winners are chosen by the people. It’s a People’s Choice Food Awards. The Golden Foodie Awards Gala at The Fairmont in Newport Beach is Saturday evening, September 28th. Good luck to all…

Voting concludes on August 9th for the categories of : Mexican, Vegetarian, Pizza, Beer, American Cuisine, Burger, Cocktail, and Best Food Talk Radio Show.

The Founder of The Golden Foodies, Pamela Waitt, and J.C. Clow of The Winery Newport Beach join us. It’s been announced that J.C.’s The Winery Newport Beach has been nominated (one of three nominees in the category) for Best New Restaurant.

Podcasts

Segment One: Guest Host Chef Jimmy Shaw and Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris preview the show
Segment Two: Chef Jimmy Shaw of Loteria! Grill and The Torta Co.
Segment Three: Food GPS Fried Chicken Festival, Chinatown
Segment Four: Food Historian & Author Richard Foss
Segment Five: Manuel Alvarez of AlXimia Vino Elemental Winery
Segment Six: Tarit Tanjasiri of CremaCafe & Bakery
Segment Seven: The 12 Bottle Bar
Segment Eight: The Golden Foodies