Show 210, February 11, 2017: Chef Marlene Moore, Temptations Food Walk, Pechanga Resort & Casino

Marlene Moore at the Pechanga Wine FestivalChef Marlene Moore is Pechanga’s two-time chili champ. She oversees the always busy Temptations Food Walk.

Her realm includes Caffee Cocoa – Fine Coffees and Coffee (24 hours), Pronto Italian, Agave Mexican Delights, American Classics (24 hours), Little Wok Asian Specialties, Pechanga Fried Chicken and Banh Mi (made to order) and hot dog carts.

In addition to Temptations Food Walk, Chef Marlene oversees all the food in the long-running Bingo Parlor and bustling Poker Room. In the well-appointed Poker Room the food comes to the Poker Table in custom tray tables. There is even a carving station.

We’ll chat with Chef Marlene about what’s new on her menus.

Show 199, November 26, 2016: Show Preview with Executive Producer amp; Co-Host Andy Harris and Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish Restaurant Group

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to all. No sorry leftovers here. Thanks for making us part of your Saturday. Now it’s on to festive Holiday parties, Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations…

Andrew and William GruelExecutive Chef Andrew Gruel of the rapidly growing Slapfish empire with restaurants in Huntington Beach, Brea, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, LAX, Irvine at UCI and, most recently, The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for Rams and USC Football, is back as today’s Guest Host. San Clemente is launching next. In May in Chicago during the National Restaurant Association’s annual conclave he received Nation’s Restaurant News’ Trendsetter MenuMaster Award for Slapfish.

Now a provocatively tantalizing preview of Saturday’s fully-loaded show and not, with profuse apologies, for dieters. If we’re successful we will always leave you incredibly hungry and thirsty. In our case that’s actually a pretty good thing…

Sara Moulton was one of the first breakout stars of the then embryonic Food Network and is currently the host of Public Television’s “Sara’s Weeknight Meals.” Her newest cookbook is the ambitious, Sara Moulton’s Home Cooking 101: How to Make Everything Taste Better. We’re in the kitchen with Chef Sara.

Since 1994 Zapien’s Salsa Grill & Taqueria has been the standout Mexican restaurant in Pico Rivera. It recently underwent a major refreshening. In 2003, Chef Marco Zapien joined The Grill full-time as the Executive Chef and partnered with his father, Jess, to become co-owner. Chef Marco has elevated the cuisine and enhanced its popularity well beyond the borders of Pico Rivera. Chef Marco is our guest.

Chef Marlene Moore is the dynamic chef at the popular Temptations Food Walk at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula. Earlier this year she successfully defended her title as Pechanga’s Chili Champ by, again, besting eight other talented Pechanga chefs in the 8th Annual Pechanga Microbrew Fest & Chili Cook-off. We’ll catch-up with the always on-the-move Chef Marlene and see what’s cooking for the Holidays.

They always do it B-I-G in Las Vegas. What’s accurately billed as the culinary event of the year, Ultimo – Le Grand Voyage, hosted by The Venetian and The Palazzo, will take culinary extravagance to new levels, December 9th through the 11th. The highlight of the festivities will be the Grand Banquet with lead Chef Thomas Keller. Sebastien Silvestri, Vice President of Food & Beverage for The Venetian and The Palazzo is our guest with a tantalizing preview.

Chef Andrew Gruel thankfully rescued us from potential Thanksgiving kitchen disasters with reliable information from a real, working chef. Now it’s on to December Holiday entertaining and the stakes are equally high. Is the Boss and spouse perhaps coming over for a Holiday Party? Chef Andrew has more practical and inspired Holiday cooking tips aplenty…

Join us via the airwaves next week, December 3rd, as we a bit belatedly celebrate the 4th Anniversary of the “SoCal Restaurant Show.” We’ll be live at SideDoor in Corona del Mar with a special brunch broadcast.

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

November 26: Sara Moulton, Zapien’s Salsa Grill, Temptations Food Walk at Pechanga, Ultimo – Le Grand Voyage

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish Restaurant Group
Segment Two: Celebrity Chef Sara Moulton of “Sara’s Weeknight Meals” and Sara Moulton’s Home Cooking 101
Segment Three: Chef / Proprietor Marco Zapien, Zapien’s Salsa Grill & Taqueria
Segment Four: Chef Marlene Moore, Temptations Food Walk, Pechanga Resort & Casino
Segment Five: Sebastien Silvestri, Vice President, Food and Beverage, The Venetian / The Palazzo, Las Vegas
Segment Six: Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish Restaurant Group – Holiday Entertaining

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to all. No sorry leftovers here. Thanks for making us part of your Saturday.

Andrew and William GruelExecutive Chef Andrew Gruel of the rapidly growing Slapfish empire with restaurants in Huntington Beach, Brea, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, LAX, Irvine at UCI and, most recently, The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for Rams and USC Football, is back as today’s Guest Host. San Clemente is launching next. In May in Chicago during the National Restaurant Association’s annual conclave he received Nation’s Restaurant News’ Trendsetter MenuMaster Award for Slapfish.

Now a provocatively tantalizing preview of Saturday’s fully-loaded show and not, with profuse apologies, for dieters. If we’re successful we will always leave you incredibly hungry and thirsty. In our case that’s actually a pretty good thing…

Sara Moulton was one of the first breakout stars of the then embryonic Food Network and is currently the host of Public Television’s “Sara’s Weeknight Meals.” Her newest cookbook is the ambitious, Sara Moulton’s Home Cooking 101: How to Make Everything Taste Better. We’re in the kitchen with Chef Sara.

Since 1994 Zapien’s Salsa Grill & Taqueria has been the standout Mexican restaurant in Pico Rivera. It recently underwent a major refreshening. In 2003, Chef Marco Zapien joined The Grill full-time as the Executive Chef and partnered with his father, Jess, to become co-owner. Chef Marco has elevated the cuisine and enhanced its popularity well beyond the borders of Pico Rivera. Chef Marco is our guest.

Chef Marlene Moore is the dynamic chef at the popular Temptations Food Walk at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula. Earlier this year she successfully defended her title as Pechanga’s Chili Champ by, again, besting eight other talented Pechanga chefs in the 8th Annual Pechanga Microbrew Fest & Chili Cook-off. We’ll catch-up with the always on-the-move Chef Marlene and see what’s cooking.

They always do it B-I-G in Las Vegas. What’s billed as the culinary event of the year, Ultimo – Le Grand Voyage, hosted by The Venetian and The Palazzo, will take culinary extravagance to new levels, December 9th through the 11th. The highlight of the festivities will be the Grand Banquet with lead Chef Thomas Keller. Sebastien Silvestri, Vice President of Food & Beverage for The Venetian and The Palazzo is our guest with a tantalizing preview.

Chef Andrew Gruel thankfully rescued us from potential Thanksgiving kitchen disasters with reliable information from a real, working chef. Now it’s on to December Holiday entertaining and the stakes are equally high. Is the Boss and spouse perhaps coming over for a Holiday Party ? Chef Andrew has more practical and inspired Holiday cooking tips aplenty…

Join us via the airwaves next week, December 3rd, as we a bit belatedly celebrate the 4th Anniversary of the “SoCal Restaurant Show.” We’ll be live at SideDoor in Corona del Mar with a brunch broadcast.

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

Sara MoultonSara Moulton was one of the first breakout stars of the then embryonic Food Network and is currently the host of Public Television’s “Sara’s Weeknight Meals.” She is also the author of the Associated Press column “Kitchen Wise.”

Her newest cookbook is the ambitious, Sara Moulton’s Home Cooking 101: How to Make Everything Taste Better.

Not just a collection of wonderful recipes, HOME COOKING 101 is a teaching manual aimed at the home cook. The recipes will indeed make it easier to put dinner on the table on a weeknight, but, as Sara notes in her introduction, “more important is that each recipe specifically demonstrates a tip or method that can make you a better and more confident cook while also teaching you to make your dishes taste better.”

Accordingly, the book’s first chapter is a compact and handy rulebook entitled “The Ten Basics of Good Home Cooking.” It advises the home cook as follows:

  • Shake hands with your stove
  • Buy a good knife
  • Get organized
  • Follow the recipe exactly the first time you make it
  • Dispense with mise en place
  • Reach for the salt
  • Balance flavors
  • Build umami
  • Use all your senses
  • Don’t waste food

As for the recipes, there are 150 of them—all new and accompanied by photographs that illustrate, step-by-step, the book’s key techniques. The book also boasts guest recipes from a stellar cast of some of Sara’s favorite chefs and cookbook authors, including Rick Bayless, Amanda Cohen, Hiroko Shimbo, Jacques Torres, Marc Vetri, and Grace Young.

In sum, Sara writes, “The goal of this book is two-fold: to sharpen your sense of taste and to provide you with a raft of time-tested techniques that I hope will become second nature to you.”

We’re in the kitchen with Chef Sara.

Marco Zapien of Zapiens Salsa Grill and TaqueriaSince 1994 Zapien’s Salsa Grill & Taqueria has been the standout Mexican restaurant in Pico Rivera. It recently underwent a major refreshening.

In 2003, Chef Marco Zapien joined The Grill full-time as the Executive Chef and partnered with his father, Jess, to become co-owner. Chef Marco has elevated the cuisine and enhanced its popularity well beyond the borders of Pico Rivera.

Chef Marco has refined a unique style of cooking that incorporates two generations of his mother’s and father’s family recipes with the passionate creativity he has enhanced throughout his culinary career.

The Salsa Grill serves truly traditional Mexican food with items such as Lengua and Enchilades en Mole on the Chef’s Specialties menu, Camarones Mojo De Ajo and Tequila Fried Shrimp on its Seafood Specialty Menu, and fresh Menudo, Cocido and Pozole served daily.

They even make their own tortillas right there fresh throughout the day. This is the base of their tortilla chips, too. Can’t get any fresher than this!

Chef Marco is our guest.

Marlene Moore at the Pechanga Microbrew Festival and Chili CookoffChef Marlene Moore is the high-energy chef at the popular Temptations Food Walk at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula. She is famous for the signature Pechanga Fried Chicken.

Earlier this year she successfully defended her title as Pechanga’s Chili Champ by, again, besting eight other talented Pechanga chefs in the 8th Annual Pechanga Microbrew Fest & Chili Cook-off which was a benefit for Habitat for Humanity Inland Valley.

Her winning chili creation is “Temptation” Hearty Southern Style Chili.

Chef Moore, originally from Trinidad and Tobago, retained her title despite stiff competition from Chef Ronnel Capacia of Kelsey’s, who serves southwestern chili in his appetizer selections for lunch and dinner every day. Now in its eighth year, 1,459 people came to enjoy craft and microbrews, chili and music at the 2016 Pechanga Microbrew Festival.

We’ll catch-up with the always on-the-move Chef Marlene.

Ultimo A Weekend ExcellenceThey always do it B-I-G in Las Vegas. What’s billed as the culinary event of the year, Ultimo – Le Grand Voyage, hosted by The Venetian and The Palazzo, will take culinary extravagance to new levels, December 9th through the 11th.

The highlight of the festivities will be the exclusive Grand Banquet with lead Chef Thomas Keller and a team of international culinary all-stars including Curtis Stone of Gwen (Hollywood) and Maude (Beverly Hills) fame. $2 million in Lalique crystal (flown in from France just for this dinner) will decorate the long table. It’s also a benefit for the Ment’or BKB Foundation.

Sebastien Silvestri, Vice President of Food & Beverage for The Venetian and The Palazzo is our guest with a tantalizing preview.

Andrew and William GruelChef Andrew Gruel thankfully rescued us from potential Thanksgiving kitchen disasters with reliable information from a real, working chef.

Now it’s on to December Holiday entertaining and the stakes are equally high. Is the Boss and spouse perhaps coming over for a Holiday Party?

Chef Andrew has more practical and inspired Holiday cooking tips aplenty to share…

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris and Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish Restaurant Group
Segment Two: Celebrity Chef Sara Moulton of “Sara’s Weeknight Meals” and Sara Moulton’s Home Cooking 101
Segment Three: Chef / Proprietor Marco Zapien, Zapien’s Salsa Grill & Taqueria
Segment Four: Chef Marlene Moore, Temptations Food Walk, Pechanga Resort & Casino
Segment Five: Sebastien Silvestri, Vice President, Food and Beverage, The Venetian / The Palazzo, Las Vegas
Segment Six: Chef Andrew Gruel of Slapfish Restaurant Group – Holiday Entertaining