December 23: Donato Poto, Russ Bendel, Lawry’s Beef Bowl

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Adam Bell

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Co-Hosts Andy Harris & Chef Andrew Gruel
Segment Two: Restaurateur Donato Poto, il Pesce Cucina and Best Girl Part Two
Segment Three: Restaurateur Donato Poto, il Pesce Cucina and Best Girl Part Two
Segment Four: Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel
Segment Five: Orange County Restaurateur, Russ Bendel, Olea Part One
Segment Six: Orange County Restaurateur, Russ Bendel, Olea Part Two
Segment Seven: Sports Historian Todd Erickson, Lawry’s 62nd Beef Bowl Part One
Segment Eight: Sports Historian Todd Erickson, Lawry’s 62nd Beef Bowl Part Two

Now a joyful preview of this Saturday’s festive show. It’s not, with profuse apologies, for dieters. If we’re successful we will always leave you incredibly hungry and thirsty. In our case, upon careful reflection, that’s probably a pretty good thing… Keep in mind we’re here with you live every Saturday morning throughout The Holidays.

Greatly respected restaurateur Donato Poto, in partnership with Chef Michael Cimarusti, is responsible for the L.A. fine dining treasure, Providence, as well as the more casual Connie & Ted’s (with restaurateur Craig Nickoloff) in West Hollywood. It’s been a busy few weeks for them as they have launched il Pesce Cucina in Eataly in Westfield Century City as well as Best Girl, a 3-meal-a-day restaurant in The Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. We’ll get the full briefing from Donato.

We know restaurateur Russ Bendel from his successful wine country-themed establishments in Orange County, Vine in San Clemente and Ironwood in Laguna Hills. Now it’s a threesome with the launch of the handsome Olea, already making waves in Newport Beach. Russ Bendel explains what’s on the menu.

Lawry’s Beef Bowl is college football’s most celebrated bowl game tradition. Each year since its inception prior to the 1957 Rose Bowl Game, Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills has honored the players and coaches of each Rose Bowl‐bound team for their gridiron achievements. This is the 61st year of Lawry’s proud association with The Granddaddy of Them All.® Lawry’s Beef Bowl historian Todd Erickson is our guest. He actually authored the coffee table book on the official history of Lawry’s Beef Bowl.

All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness on this week’s show!

Greatly respected restaurateur Donato Poto, in partnership with Chef Michael Cimarusti, is responsible for the L.A. fine dining treasure, Providence, as well as the more casual Connie & Ted’s (with restaurateur Craig Nickoloff) in West Hollywood. It’s been a busy few weeks for them as they have launched il Pesce Cucina in Eataly in Westfield Century City as well as Best Girl, a 3-meal-a-day restaurant in The Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.

Headed up by acclaimed L.A. restaurant Providence, Il Pesce Cucina is Eataly’s fish market-inspired restaurant. For more than a decade, the team led by Chef Michael Cimarusti and Donato Poto has worked to elevate the standards of modern American seafood restaurants. At Eataly, Providence highlights the delicious varieties of California’s wild fish in their menus. All of the fresh seafood is responsibly sourced, with a particular focus on wild-caught and raw options that promise to satisfy every taste.

Tables are available on a first-come, first-served basis; il Pesce Cucina does not accept reservations.

“Providence, a restaurant with two Michelin stars, has defined a new standard of seafood cuisine in America. Led by Chef Michael Cimarusti and co-owner Donato Poto, this signature L.A. restaurant found its roots in the search for sustainable fish, wild caught and of the finest quality. Ingredients are treated with the greatest respect and technique, with the goal of bringing the freshest seafood flavors to your table. Eataly partners with Providence at Il Pesce Cucina because we believe in the same emphasis on ingredients and search for quality.”

We’ll get the full, mouthwatering briefing from Donato.

Named after the first film screened at The Theatre (now the Ace Theater adjacent to the Ace Hotel) in 1927, Best Girl is Downtown Los Angeles’ local haunt featuring rotating, seasonal fare and classic favorites. Best Girl is in partnership with the inimitable Chef Michael Cimarusti and business partner Donato Poto, renowned for championing sustainable seafood and elevating impeccable service in a casual atmosphere.

A multi-nominee for a James Beard Award, Cimarusti’s critically acclaimed restaurants Providence and Connie and Ted’s have earned him two Michelin Stars and international recognition as an industry giant. Cape Seafood and Provisions, his seafaring market, offers sustainable, wild caught fish, prime cuts and grab-and-go dishes. Chef Cimarusti’s menu for Best Girl represents his favorite meals made at home for family and friends — inviting and simple, every dish is expertly crafted, wholly delicious and available every day.

We’ll continue the full briefing from Donato.

Our Co-Host, Chef Andrew Gruel, joins us from Park City, Utah where he has just debuted the third Slapfish in Utah. Chef Andrew will share (and explain) some important hospitality business trends he sees for 2018. It’s a challenging time for the restaurant business at all levels from fast casual to fine-dining.

Named for a genus of trees that flourish in warm and tropical regions, Olea gives Bendel’s award-winning Napa and Sonoma wine country concepts at Vine, in San Clemente, and Ironwood, in Laguna Hills, a European accent with extensive wine selections from Italy, France and Spain.

Chef-Partner Jared Cook has created a menu of modern California cuisine that perfectly complements the “global wine country” approach the Bendel team has taken at Olea.

“It’s great to return to the community where my business partners and I began our careers,” said Bendel, a graduate of The Collins College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona who spent nine years at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar at Newport Center / Fashion Island before striking out on his own.

“Olea represents the continued progression we have created with our other two wine country-inspired cuisine restaurants,” Bendel said. The restaurant is Bendel’s largest, seating 130 guests, and like the other two locations is open for dinner nightly.

Cook has created new dishes exclusively for Olea, including blue crab baked oysters with champagne tarragon butter); terrine of duck liver, bacon and bourbon; wild-caught Pacific Blue Nose sea bass; herb-roasted prime beef cheek stroganoff with house-made rosemary pappardelle; Pacific Northwest filet mignon with black truffle and blue crab Béarnaise; and seasonal apple and pear cobbler with oatmeal crumble and cardamom ice cream.

Also on the menu at Olea are Vine / Ironwood crowd-pleasers such as Meyer lemon & honey duck wings and jumbo lump blue crab with roasted heirloom beets.

Olea’s interior is Tuscany wine country meets California Cuisine. An eclectic blend of timeless natural backgrounds includes antique French white oak floors, Black Mountain ledge-stone, black walnut millwork complemented with contemporary decorative lighting, and clean soft lines and a warm taupe color palette.

Dining areas are divided with sculptures instead of walls, made from natural tree branches on steel bases that lend privacy. The completely weatherproofed dining patio has a parkway setting with swagger light fixtures and citrus trees and herbs in large planters. Two olea (olive) trees flank the entrance of the restaurant.

A focal point of Olea, which totals 3,647 square feet, is a custom-made captain’s table in the wine room that can seat 10. The captain’s table is surrounded by working wine storage and wine displays, artwork and beautiful lighting fixtures.

Olea is located at The Walk, 2001 Westcliff Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660, by Kéan Coffee. Reservations are accepted on OpenTable, or by calling 949-287-6807. There is self-parking in a newly-constructed 300-car parking structure adjacent to the restaurant.

Russ Bendel tempts us what’s on the menu.

Tradition. College football is steeped in it, and there isn’t any tradition more enduring than “The Granddaddy of All Bowl Games,” the Rose Bowl. For 62 years, Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills has been a vital marketing partner in this tradition with its annual Beef Bowl (staged over 2 nights) serving as the proverbial rite of passage for champion gridiron gladiators in quest of Big Game glory.

This legendary private event (where only Tournament of Roses officials and sports media are granted access) has largely remained a mystery to the public while quietly generating a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes photo ops, stories, anecdotes, and quotes from college football’s most well-known players, coaches and sports commentators.

This year’s unusual Rose Bowl pitting the Oklahoma Sooners against the Georgia Bulldogs is the College Football Playoff Semifinal.

Lawry’s Beef Bowl historian Todd Erickson is our guest. He actually authored the coffee table book on the official history of Lawry’s Beef Bowl, Road to the Rose Bowl: 50 Years of Lawry’s Beef Bowl.

Podcasts

Show 249, November 25, 2017: Show Preview with Co-Host Andy Harris

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Adam Bell

Now a salivating preview of this Saturday’s ample Thanksgiving Weekend Show. No leftovers…it’s a fresh show. It’s not, with profuse apologies, for dieters. If we’re successful we will always leave you incredibly hungry and thirsty. In our case, upon careful reflection, that’s probably a pretty good thing…

Vina Ardanza, the iconic wine of Spain’s La Rioja Alta, S.A., celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. In September the President of La Rioja Alta, S.A., Guillermo de Aranzabal Agudo, was in the USA for a brief key city tour to celebrate. The United States is an important market for them. He’s on the line this morning from Spain to chat with us.

In it’s 2^nd season on KCET is “The Migrant Kitchen,” an Emmy-winning series. The 4-episode series explores how the next generation of chefs is creating cuisine inspired by the immigrant experience. Chef Diep Tran of Highland Park’s Good Girl Dinette is part of the upcoming “Beyond Pho” episode. We’ll meet her.

MaxLove Project is an innovative, grassroots nonprofit organization with a mission to increase the quality of life and reduce health risks for all children surviving cancer, both in treatment and beyond. MLP empowers families fighting childhood cancers and related life-threatening conditions with quality of life care, fierce foods, whole-body wellness resources, education and research. Co-Founder Audra Wilford is our guest.

Upon learning that rice and bread were the culprits for her husband’s Type 2 diabetes, entrepreneur Deepa Thomas deconstructed and reinvented her native Indian cuisine. She slow-carbonized family recipes, used Western cooking techniques, incorporated breaking-news research on gut health and weight loss, and even drew from her grandfather’s Ayurvedic wisdoms. After three months, Deepa lost twenty-five pounds and freed her husband from a ten-year-long routine of insulin shots. The impressive result is documented in the thoughtfully realized Deepa’s Secrets – Slow Carb New Indian Cuisine. Deepa returns to the “SoCal Restaurant Show” for an encore chat.

Our Co-Host, Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish, is a certified coffee devotee. We’ll talk in-depth about his favorite beverage. He also shares some insider’s coffee trivia that may surprise you.

All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness on this week’s show!

Show 249, November 25, 2017: Chef Andrew Gruel, Co-host & Slapfish Restaurant Group

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Adam Bell

Time to catch-up with our on-the-go, esteemed Co-host, Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish, Butterleaf and Two Birds fame. Chef Andrew’s favorite beverage is coffee. He shares some coffee trivia that will probably surprise you. We’ll get brewing with a fresh pot. French Press, of course…

Chef Andrew suggests that brewing coffee at home is really the way to go for a superior coffee experience. Even the casual coffee lover will appreciate the obvious difference.

Getting started is easy. You want to get a small coffee bean grinder and a French Press. You can accomplish this for about $30. Get the beans whole & keep in the refrigerator. Grind the beans & brew as needed. You can heat the water used for the French Press in the microwave.

Simple…

Chef Andrew joins us from Family Thanksgiving celebrations on the East Coast.

November 25: Andrew Gruel, La Rioja Alta, S.A., Diep Tran, MaxLove Project, Deepa Thomas

Posted on November 23, 2017 by Adam Bell

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Co-Host Andy Harris
Segment Two: Guillermo de Aranzabal Agudo, President, La Rioja Alta, S.A. (Vina Ardanza)
Segment Three: Chef / Proprietor Diep Tran, Good Girl Dinette, Highland Park, Los Angeles
Segment Four: Audra Wilford, Co-Founder, MaxLove Project
Segment Five: Deepa Thomas, Deepa’s Secrets – Slow Carb / New Indian Cuisine Part One
Segment Six: Deepa Thomas, Deepa’s Secrets – Slow Carb / New Indian Cuisine Part Two
Segment Seven: Chef Andrew Gruel, Co-host & Slapfish Restaurant Group
Segment Eight: Andy Harris, Co-Host & Executive Producer

Vina Ardanza, the iconic wine of Spain’s La Rioja Alta, S.A., celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. In September the President of La Rioja Alta, S.A., Guillermo de Aranzabal Agudo, was in the USA for a brief key city tour to celebrate. The United States uis an important market for them. He’s on the line this morning from Spain to chat with us.

In it’s 2^nd season on KCET is “The Migrant Kitchen,” an Emmy-winning series. The 4-episode series explores how the next generation of chefs is creating cuisine inspired by the immigrant experience. Chef Diep Tran of Highland Park’s Good Girl Dinette is part of the upcoming “Beyond Pho” episode. We’ll meet her.

Upon learning that rice and bread were the culprits for her husband’s Type 2 diabetes, entrepreneur Deepa Thomas deconstructed and reinvented her native Indian cuisine. She slow-carbonized family recipes, used Western cooking techniques, incorporated breaking-news research on gut health and weight loss, and even drew from her grandfather’s Ayurvedic wisdoms. After three months, Deepa lost twenty-five pounds and freed her husband from a ten-year-long routine of insulin shots. The impressive result is documented in impressive Deepa’s Secrets – Slow Carb New Indian Cuisine. Deepa returns to the “SoCal Restaurant Show” for an encore chat.

Our Co-Host, Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish, is a certified coffee devotee. We’ll talk in-depth about his favorite beverage.

All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness on this week’s show!

Vina Ardanza, the iconic wine of Spain’s La Rioja Alta, S.A., celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. In September the President of La Rioja Alta, S.A., Guillermo de Aranzabal Agudo, was in the USA for a brief key city tour to celebrate. He’s on the long-distance line this morning from Spain to chat with us.

Although it had already been produced and marketed for a few years before, the brand was officially registered on September 28, 1942 under the chairmanship of Leandro Ardanza. It takes the name from one of the five families who founded La Rioja Alta, S.A. in the Haro Station District of Spain in 1890.

Vina Ardanza is a wine mixing different varieties and plots. To achieve the “burgundy style” with great aging potential, La Rioja Alta, S.A. blends wine with different characteristics. On the one hand, Tempranillos from Rioja Alta, elegant, fine, with great aging potential, medium structure and moderate alcohol content. On the other, Granachas, powerful wines with great structure originating in Rioja Baja.

Vina Ardanza is a typical Rioja blend without a set recipe. The Vina Ardanza style is unique, but the blend of varieties, percentages, terroirs, barrels and even how long it is aged, varies with each vintage, always looking for consistency.

American Oak has always been linked to the personality of Vina Ardanza. With long aging periods, it provides distinctive nuances that connect with the profile of wines historically produced by La Rioja Alta, S.A.

Vina Ardanza, like the other wines of Grupo La Rioja Alta, S.A., is not made every year. They only market vintages in which both Tempranillo and Granacha attain their quality requirements. This happens 5 to 6 times per decade.

Airing on Wednesday evening, November 29^th is the “Beyond Pho” episode of “The Migrant Kitchen.” Banh Mi. Spring rolls. Pho. The war and its subsequent refugees. These are things most commonly associated with the Vietnamese culture and its people. But a group of chefs in Los Angeles (including Cassia’s Bryant Ng and Kim Luu-Ng, Diep Tran of Good Girl Dinette, and Minh Phan of Porridge & Puffs) are hoping to demonstrate that there’s so much more than that. Featured in the episode: Cassia in Santa Monica, Good Girl Dinette in Highland Park, Red Boat Fish Sauce.

The second season of the James Beard Award and Webby-nominated series, continues to spotlight chefs who are combining traditional, ethnic cuisines with new flavors and fresh techniques that have transformed the culinary landscape of the city, making it one of the food capitals of the world. Season Two examines tradition and innovation in cuisines celebrating the food cultures of Mexico, Vietnam, Japan and India, as well as their various interpretations found in Los Angeles.

We’ll meet Good Girl Dinette’s Chef Diep.

MaxLove Project is an innovative grassroots nonprofit organization with a mission to increase the quality of life and reduce health risks for all children surviving cancer, both in treatment and beyond. MLP empowers families fighting childhood cancers and related life-threatening conditions with quality of life care, fierce foods, whole-body wellness resources, education and research.

MaxLove Project, an Orange County nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of child cancer patients, survivors and their families, recently raised $240,000 at their annual fundraiser to launch an initiative in partnership with Northern California-based The Charlie Cart Project with the goal of placing a nutritional teaching kitchen in every children’s hospital in the country.

The Charlie Cart is a mobile teaching kitchen equipped with a sink, oven, pantry storage, kitchen supplies and more. Each cart costs $9,500, as opposed to the enormous expense of constructing a kitchen at each children’s hospital nationwide.

“MaxLove Project has grown out of the idea that food can be medicine. When families face serious health conditions like pediatric cancer, they need to be empowered to take their children’s quality of life in their own hands,” MaxLove Project Co-Founder Audra Wilford, whose son Max is a brain cancer survivor, said. “By learning culinary skills and the nutrition science principles we call ‘Fierce Foods,’ parents and kids together can thrive against the odds.”

MaxLove Project is developing a curriculum where representatives and local chefs will educate doctors, nurses and the public on the healing potential of food as medicine. Locally, MaxLove Project has teamed up with Chefs Azmin Ghahreman of Sapphire Laguna, Zov Karamardian of Zov’s Bistro, Greg Daniels of Haven Gastropub, Michael Puglisi of Electric City Butcher and Cathy McKnight of Eilo to spearhead the movement.

Co-Founder of the MaxLove Project, Audra Wilford, is our guest.

After three months, Deepa lost twenty-five pounds and freed her husband from a ten-year-long routine of insulin shots. The impressive result is documented in Deepa’s Secrets – Slow Carb New Indian Cuisine.

Equal parts cookbook, health-guide, kitchen companion, and memoir, Deepa’s Secrets introduces breakthrough recipes that are simple to prepare, colorful, and healthy while still keeping the complexity and integrity of their rich South Asian flavors. To demystify an “exotic” cuisine, Deepa provides step-by-step instructions with ingredient substitutions, shortcuts, and secret techniques that will make New Indian easy, everyday fare.

Proceeds of the book sales benefit the non-profit FoodCorps. Their mission is to connect kids with the skills (and meals) they need to thrive.

Deepa returns for an encore chat.

In Deepa’s Secrets Deepa shares more than seventy recipes that are as mouthwatering and seductive as they are healthy and healing. Combining Western cooking techniques, new research on gut health and weight loss, and drawing on Ayurvedic wisdom (“When diet is right, medicine is of no need; and when diet is wrong, medicine is of no use”). The recipes Deepa developed allowed her and her husband to each lose more than twenty pounds and her husband to be free from a ten-year dependence on insulin shots.

A graduate of Delhi University with degrees in journalism and political science, Deepa Thomas moved to the US and, in 1985, founded Deepa Textiles. After 21 years and 23 design awards, the company has been credited with transforming the $10 billion a year contract furniture industry.

Time to catch-up with our on-the-go, esteemed Co-host, Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish, Butterleaf and Two Birds fame. Chef Andrew’s favorite beverage is coffee. We’ll get brewing with a fresh pot.

Chef Andrew joins us from Family Thanksgiving celebrations on the East Coast.

Podcasts

Show 247, November 11, 2017: Chef Andrew Gruel, Slapfish and Trade’s Two Birds & Butterleaf

Posted on November 13, 2017 by Adam Bell

Co-host, Chef Andrew Gruel, joins us from the road with an informative “Ask the Chef” segment.

Stressed about preparing the Thanksgiving feast for your extended family? Pause…Take a breath…Chef Andrew Gruel to the rescue. Chef Andrew offers his practical chef’s tips for a stress-free, Thanksgiving celebration.

Among Chef Andrew’s top tips are doing the casserole side dishes ahead and freezing them, calibrating the oven to verify the temperature and brining the bird for enhancing the flavor. Also consider selecting a Heritage Turkey. It’s really something special.

Show 245, October 21, 2017: Chef Andrew Gruel, Slapfish and Trade’s Two Birds & Butterleaf

Posted on October 23, 2017 by Adam Bell

Co-host, Chef Andrew Gruel, joins us from the road with an informative “Ask the Chef” segment.

Last week Anthony Bourdain of CNN’s “Parts Unknown” gave an exclusive interview to Business Insider with Chef Danny Bowien. Along the way Bourdain provided an epic rant on his dislike of Yelp! We’ll get Chef Andrew’s informed perspective from his own experience. He diligently responds to every Yelp! review.

Chef Andrew Gruel connects with us by phone this week after launching the first Slapfish in New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Show 244, October 14, 2017: Chef Andrew Gruel, Slapfish and Trade’s Two Birds & Butterleaf

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Adam Bell

Chef Andrew Gruel rejoins us after launching the first Slapfish in New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Chef Andrew and Lauren dine out often with their young son, William. We’ll get Chef Andrew’s informed thoughts about managing young kids in restaurants and what the parents’ responsibilities are.

Both Slapfish and Butterleaf were part of last Saturday afternoon’s Oozefest 3 (cheese festival of epic proportions) at Main Place Mall in Santa Ana. Slapfish is bringing back the Lobsticle with queso dip, a signature item from the original food truck.

Show 243, October 7, 2017: Show Preview with Co-Host Andy Harris

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Adam Bell

Now a tantalizing preview of this Saturday’s abundant show. It’s not, with profuse apologies, for dieters. If we’re successful we will always leave you incredibly hungry and thirsty. In our case, upon careful reflection, that’s probably a pretty good thing…

Program Note: Next Saturday, Oct. 14^th is our 5^th Anniversary Show and the celebration is on. We’re live from the state-of-the-art Melissa’s Test / Demonstration Kitchen. It’s a really full show with culinary VIP’s aplenty including our original Co-Host, Chef Jet Tila of “Cutthroat Kitchen with Alton Brown” on Food Network and the author of 101 Asian Dishes You Need To Cook Before You Die.

Southern California’s cheese festival of epic proportions – OOZEFEST – is back for its third consecutive year. It’s produced by 100eats and FOODBEAST. It takes place at the Main Place Mall in Santa Ana (new location) on Oct. 14^th. This one-day, ultimate cheese fest will feature a wide variety of ooey-gooey culinary creations. Our own Chef Andrew Gruel will be represented there with both Slapfish (LOBSTICLE with queso dip) and Butterleaf (crispy avocado nachos with cashew cheese.). Tickets for OOZEFEST are available here.

The grand master of cooking in America, Jacques Pépin, has a new apprentice in the kitchen: his granddaughter, Shorey. The new cookbook is A Grandfather’s Lessons: In the Kitchen with Shorey. Jacques Pépin is probably the most famous cooking teacher in the world, renowned for his knife skills. Ever since she was very young, his granddaughter, Shorey, has loved “helping” him in the kitchen. Now that she is twelve, Jacques gives his charismatic pupil a short course on preparing “food that is plain, but elegant, and more than anything, fun.” In the process, he proves himself as inspiring to her as he is to the country’s greatest chefs.

Bowls of Plenty – Recipes for Healthy and Delicious Whole-Grain Meals is a fresh and flexible approach to grain bowls–thoughtfully structured one-dish meals that marry health and flavor–from James Beard Award-winning journalist and acclaimed cookbook coauthor Carolynn Carreño. The Foreword is by Mozza’s Nancy Silverton. We’ll meet Carolynn.

Flagship Food Group and 505 Southwestern have launched a unique campaign, the “Clash of the Hatch,” a food truck challenge curated by 505 Southwestern^® and Celebrity Chef Eric Greenspan. Celebrating the Hatch Valley green chile harvest season, the “Clash of the Hatch” brings together 10 of LA’s most popular food trucks to compete to make the best dish possible featuring 505 Southwestern^® Hatch Valley Flame Roasted Green Chile. The 10 finalists chosen to compete are Locol, Border Grill, Baby’s Badass Burgers, Grilled Cheese Truck, South Philly Experience, Vchos Pupusas, Chubbee Monkee, India Jones, Dogtown Dogs and Wise Barbecue Co. Chef Eric turns up the heat and fills us in.

Located in Macy’s South Coast Plaza shopping center in Costa Mesa, California, the new Wolfgang Puck Kitchen (with its own entrance) specializes in Wolfgang’s interpretation of global comfort fare. The menu features a variety of signature recipes made with the best available, locally-sourced ingredients. As one of the newest casual concepts in the Wolfgang Puck dining collection, Wolfgang Puck Kitchen promises a welcoming and relaxed dining environment, appropriate for a business meeting, leisurely lunch, family dinner or meal on the go. General Manager and Executive Chef Joshua Turner joins us.

All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness on this week’s show!

October 7: Jacques Pepin, Carolynn Carreno, Eric Greenspan, Wolfgang Puck Kitchen

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Adam Bell

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Co-Host Andy Harris
Segment Two: Chef Jacques Pépin, A Grandfathers Lessons – In the Kitchen with Shorey Part One Part One
Segment Three: Chef Jacques Pépin, A Grandfathers Lessons – In the Kitchen with Shorey Part One Part Two
Segment Four: Carolynn Carreño, Bowls of Plenty
Segment Five: Chef Eric Greenspan, 505 Southwestern’s “Clash of the Hatch” Food Truck Challenge
Segment Six: Joshua Turner, Chef & General Manager, Wolfgang Puck Kitchen, South Coast Plaza

We’re awarding a lucky listener and their guest a pair of seats at Café del Rey’s Italian Wine Dinner hosted by Italian Wine Ambassador Laura Donadoni on Thursday evening, Oct. 12th. This is an incredible $250 gift! If you’re attentively listening to the first half hour of the show on this Saturday morning you’ll have the answer to the question that goes out @ 10:45 a.m. If you’re then the first caller with the correct answer, the special Italian wine evening at Café del Rey is yours. Good luck to all!

Southern California’s cheese festival of epic proportions – OOZEFEST – is back for its third consecutive year. It’s produced by 100eats and FOODBEAST. It takes place at the Main Place Mall in Santa Ana on Oct. 14^th. This one-day, ultimate cheese fest will feature a wide variety of ooey-gooey culinary creations. Our own Chef Andrew Gruel will be represented there with both Slapfish (LOBSTICLE with queso dip) and Butterleaf (crispy avocado nachos with cashew cheese.)

The grand master of cooking in America, Jacques Pepin, has a new apprentice in the kitchen: his granddaughter, Shorey. The new cookbook is A Grandfather’s Lessons : In the Kitchen with Shorey. Jacques Pépin is probably the most famous cooking teacher in the world, renowned for his knife skills. Ever since she was very young, his granddaughter, Shorey, has loved “helping” him in the kitchen. Now that she is twelve, Jacques gives his charismatic pupil a short course on preparing “food that is plain, but elegant, and more than anything, fun.” In the process, he proves himself as inspiring to her as he is to the country’s greatest chefs.

Bowls of Plenty – Recipes for Healthy and Delicious Whole-Grain Meals is a fresh and flexible approach to grain bowls–thoughtfully structured one-dish meals that marry health and flavor–from James Beard Award-winning journalist and acclaimed cookbook coauthor Carolynn Carreno. The Foreword is by Nancy Silverton. We’ll meet Carolynn.

Flagship Food Group and 505 Southwestern have launched a unique campaign, the “Clash of the Hatch,” a food truck challenge curated by 505 Southwestern^® and Celebrity Chef Eric Greenspan. Celebrating the Hatch Valley green chile harvest season, the “Clash of the Hatch” brings together 10 of LA’s most popular food trucks to compete to make the best dish possible featuring 505 Southwestern^® Hatch Valley Flame Roasted Green Chile. The 10 finalists chosen to compete are Locol, Border Grill, Baby’s Badass Burgers, Grilled Cheese Truck, South Philly Experience, Vchos Pupusas, Chubbee Monkee, India Jones, Dogtown Dogs and Wise Barbecue Co. Chef Eric turns up the heat and fills us in.

Located in Macy’s South Coast Plaza shopping center in Costa Mesa, California, the new Wolfgang Puck Kitchen specializes in Wolfgang’s interpretation of global comfort fare. The menu features a variety of signature recipes made with the best available, locally-sourced ingredients. As one of the newest casual concepts in the Wolfgang Puck dining collection, Wolfgang Puck Kitchen promises a welcoming and relaxed dining environment, appropriate for a business meeting, leisurely lunch, family dinner or meal on the go. General Manager and Executive Chef Joshua Turner joins us.

All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness on this week’s show!

The grand master of cooking in America, Jacques Pepin, has a new apprentice in the kitchen: his granddaughter, Shorey. The new, light-hearted cookbook is A Grandfather’s Lessons: In the Kitchen with Shorey.

Jacques Pépin is probably the most famous cooking teacher in the world, renowned for his knife skills. Ever since she was very young, his granddaughter, Shorey, has loved “helping” him in the kitchen. Now that she is twelve, Jacques gives his charismatic pupil a short course on preparing “food that is plain, but elegant, and more than anything, fun.” In the process, he proves himself as inspiring to her as he is to the country’s greatest chefs.

Curly hot dogs; spinach with croutons; sushi salmon cakes; skillet bread and homemade butter; raspberry cake: These recipes will become irresistible new classics for kids. Along the way, Jacques imparts lessons in kitchen etiquette, from how to set a table to how to fold a napkin properly — even how to load a dishwasher. And perhaps the most important lesson of all: that the best meals are the ones shared at home with family.

One of the great bonuses of the creative book is the companion video series—full of additional recipes and tips, plus more Jacques and Shorey—at Sur Le Table’s website. 33 of the fun recipes in A Grandfather’s Lessons are entertainingly demonstrated by Jacques and Shorey.

BIO: One of the world’s most famous cooking teachers and educators, Jacques Pépin has published more than twenty-five cookbooks, including his new book, Jacques Pépin Poulet & Legumes and his PBS tie-in cookbook Jacques Pépin: Heart & Soul in the Kitchen and his memoir, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen. He has also starred in fourteen acclaimed cooking series on public television and is a contributing editor to Food & Wine magazine. Jacques shares his knowledge through the curriculum and teaching at International Culinary Center where he has been a dean since joining in 1988.

Before coming to the United States, Jacques served as the personal chef to Charles de Gaulle. Jacques has won many accolades and awards, including a prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the James Beard Foundation in 2005, several IACP Cookbook Awards, the Legion of Honor, France’s highest distinction and was named the first recipient of the Julia Child Award by the Julia Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. He lives with his wife, Gloria, in Madison, Connecticut.

Bowls of Plenty – Recipes for Healthy and Delicious Whole-Grain Meals is a fresh and flexible approach to grain bowls–thoughtfully structured one-dish meals that marry health and flavor–from James Beard Award-winning journalist and acclaimed cookbook coauthor Carolynn Carreno. The Foreword is by Nancy Silverton. We’ll meet Carolynn.

Gorgeous, layered, satisfying bowls have become the next wave of healthy eating. From food blogs to Instagram, farm-to-table bistros to chain restaurants, “the bowl” has become part of our culinary vocabulary. And whole grains are not just for hippies and health nuts anymore! Hearty grains like quinoa, farro, millet, and spelt are replacing flour or corn tortillas, bread, pasta, white rice, and mashed potatoes as the base or vehicle for other, richer, more complex ingredients. What’s more, grain bowls are easy-to-make, and family-friendly, and convenient for busy home cooks and weekend chefs alike.

Carolynn joins us.

The 10 finalists chosen to compete are Locol, Border Grill, Baby’s Badass Burgers, Grilled Cheese Truck, South Philly Experience, Vchos Pupusas, Chubbee Monkee, India Jones, Dogtown Dogs and Wise Barbecue Co. Chef Eric turns up the heat and fills us in.

Each truck is challenged to develop an innovative menu item that matches the truck’s food genre and style. Trucks are encouraged to drive awareness and sales of their item through social media and creative marketing. The truck with the winning item will be invited to the Flagship global research and development center in Burbank, California, to develop a version of their menu item as a consumer retail food product. 505 Southwestern^® will work to distribute this product into retail channels, and the winner will receive 1% of the net revenue, subject to a minimum of $20,000 and up to a maximum of $100,000.

“Anyone who knows me, my restaurants, or my TV shows, knows that I am passionate about great restaurants and operators. Food trucks represent the epitome of real time innovation and passionate entrepreneurs- exactly the kind of people I, Flagship, and 505 Southwestern^® love engaging with,” said chef Eric Greenspan. “I think this is an exciting event, and I can’t wait to see what these food trucks create.”

Highlights include the signature Chinois Chicken Salad, Crab Cakes with marinated tomatoes and basil aioli, and Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf with Yukon gold potato puree, crispy onion strings and with a port wine sauce.

As one of the newest casual concepts in the Wolfgang Puck dining collection, Wolfgang Puck Kitchen promises a welcoming and relaxed dining environment, appropriate for a business meeting, leisurely lunch, family dinner or meal on the go. A shaded patio is part of the design.

General Manager and Executive Chef Joshua Turner joins us.

Podcasts

Show 240, September 9, 2017: Show Preview with Co-Hosts Andy Harris and Chef Andrew Gruel

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Adam Bell

Now an appetizing preview of this Saturday’s tantalizing show. It’s not, with profuse apologies, for dieters. If we’re successful we will always leave you incredibly hungry and thirsty. In our case, upon careful reflection, that’s probably a pretty good thing…

We always look forward to sharing with you the new, creative taste sensations at the 95^th LA County Fair on now through September 24^th in Pomona. Already creating excitement is Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on virtually everything edible including pizza. The master of midway food himself, Chef Dominic Palmieri, The Midway Gourmet, joins us for the tempting high calorie update.

Taco Rosa, Chef Ivan Calderon’s upscale Mexican restaurant in Newport Beach, will host “Battle of the Tequileros“ on Mexican Independence Day, Saturday, September 16th from 1-5 p.m. Bringing together 26 different tequila and mezcal brands, the celebratory event will benefit Save our Youth (SOY), a local non-profit serving the at-risk youth of the Newport-Mesa area through arts, fitness, education, and scholarship programs. Chef Ivan is our guest.

During his 35 years of professional cooking, Chef Rich Mead has cultivated relationships with the highest regarded local sustainable farms, allowing him to create the freshest menus using locally sourced, seasonal ingredients and specially grown vegetables. In 2016, after years of planning, Chef Mead unveiled a unique and sustainable field-to-fork dining experience at Farmhouse, located within Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar. Nestled on over 6 acres in the garden-like setting, Farmhouse features exclusive wines, craft beers, signature cocktails, artisan refreshments and a healthy based seasonal cuisine. We pull Chef Rich out of the local farmers market for a chat.

Farhana Sahibzada is a Chef and Cooking Instructor full of incredible passion for the food she cooks. Her dishes ooze with the scrumptious authenticity of her homeland, Pakistan. Blessed with a rich cultural heritage of Indian and Arabic influences, the region offers a vibrant tapestry of exquisite tastes. Her cookbook is Flavorful Shortcuts to Indian / Pakistani Cooking. We’ll meet her.

Chef Andrew Gruel is poised to take Slapfish’s signature fish and chips to London. Since this is a traditional British dish that’s a bit unusual. Chef Andrew will present us with an informative Fish and Chips 101 as part of our continuing “Ask the Chef” series.

All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness on this week’s show!