 Friday's Calendar section devotes its regular "My Favorite Weekend" column to the daily doings of superstar chef Wolfgang Puck, who almost choked me up with his admission that when he has friends in town he has his wife bring them to wherever he happens to be working that day and "hopefully, I'll get the chance to sit down and spend some time with them."
That is until I read about the $6,000 espresso machine he has in his house and thought, "OK, so that's what all this hard work is about." And who knows? Maybe a really good espresso machine is worth it. And besides, no matter how disappointed Puck's friends might be to not see much of him, surely they aren't disappointed at the prospect of eating in one of his restaurants under his care.
Other Puck favorites include: Angelini Osteria, Matsuhisa (where he enjoys the miso cod), Nokia, Griffith Observatory, LACMA and the Getty Center.
-- Jessica Gelt
Photo: Wolfgang Puck and his family. Credit: David Livingston / Getty Images
Patriotic wine tasting: Wine bar Pourtal in Santa Monica kicks off a tour-of-the-U.S. wine tasting Friday: "United Grapes of America: A patriotic tasting tour of 30 wines from 30 states." Each wine will be available to taste from Pourtal's Enomatic system, along with tasting notes. Owner Stephen Abronson and wine director Peter Birmingham sourced wines from as many states as possible (every state of the union has at least one winery, but state laws prevent the purchase of wine from some states). There's a "Cowboy Reserve" from Wyoming and a "Super Texan" Sangiovese from Texas. (And I'll admit it: I like Hill Country Viognier.) Available through July 13. Pourtal is open on the Fourth of July. 104 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 393-7693, www.pourtal.com
And if Bastille Day is your thing: There are no royalists at Comme Ça, which is planning to celebrate Bastille Day with a “block” party on July 12 and a special prix fixe menu that runs through that week. At Sunday's "block" party, they'll be hand-carving ice chips and chunks from one enormous block of ice for $5 cocktails, including the AF 69 (gin, Cointreau, honey and lemon verbena) -- so named for the daily Air France flight from LAX to Paris. Seven-dollar party snacks feature oysters a la nage, snapper escabeche, and pork belly confit. A $40 three-course prix fixe menu will be offered July 12 to 18. (Please see the jump for the menu.) Closed July 4. 8479 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, (323) 782-1104, www.commecarestaurant.com -- Betty Hallock
Illustration: Lauren Paska Bro / For The Times
Read more Small Bites: Patriotic wines at Pourtal; Comme Ca to celebrate Bastille Day (with a very big block of ice) »
Would you reconsider your lunch order if you knew the number of calories in that bacon cheeseburger or chili fries? California legislators are counting on it.
California's latest effort against obesity takes effect today: Chain restaurants with 20 or more locations have to provide brochures listing the nutrition information about their foods. That's the first phase of California's new menu labeling law.
The brochures must contain counts of calories, saturated fat, carbohydrates and sodium for all standard menu items. For sit-down restaurants, the information must be provided at the table -- in a brochure or menu insert or on a table tent.
“The way Californians order food is about to change. More than 17,000 restaurant locations throughout California will provide important nutrition information starting today. California is the first state in the nation to tackle obesity with menu labeling,” said Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), the author of the legislation with Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) and Assembly member Marc DeSaulnier (D-Concord).
The next phase will hit diners more directly: Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, calorie information must be on menus and indoor menu boards.
The legislation was modeled on a New York City ordinance that affects large chain restaurants that now post calorie counts on menu boards, including McDonald’s, Burger King, Starbucks and Quizno’s.
Nearly 16 million Californians are obese or overweight, and many suffer from diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension.
-- Mary MacVean
Photo: Quizno's menu with calorie counts. Credit: Center for Science in the Public Interest
A sampling of stories from across the Los Angeles Times:
-- Bob and Pam Eddy have fought to make a go of it selling live "desert lobsters," or Australian red claw crayfish. But wildlife officials have made the state of Nevada -- yes, Nevada -- even less hospitable to the crustaceans.
--Bewildered by the number of wine choices in the supermarket? (It's about the only downside to living in a golden age for wine, especially California wine.) There are now more than 2,800 wineries in California, reports the Wine Institute.
--Texas isn't exactly known for its pizza. But that's not stopping our man in Houston, who's on a reader-driven, music-inspired road trip.
-- Rene Lynch
Follow us on Twitter @LATimesFood
Wine picks from Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila
Photo credit: Jeff Scheid / Las Vegas Review-Journal
The mission, if you choose to accept, is to help Howard George of Huntington Beach get a freezer full o' mulberries.
Here's his e-mail to the Daily Dish:
For me, no other berry comes close to the flavor and taste of mulberries. I first tasted them more than 20 years ago at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market and fell in love with them. I quickly learned, and was disappointed to know, that the season for these fabulous berries lasts less than two months from late June through early August. Every year I made it a habit of picking up many pounds and freezing them to enjoy long after the season had ended.
Six years ago I moved to Huntington Beach and have yet to find mulberries at any regular supermarket or farmers' market during the berries' season. So I am writing to you to ask for your help in finding this wonderful fruit in Orange County. With the season soon upon us, I do not want to go yet another year without mulberries. Your help will be greatly appreciated!!!
Howard, we know just how you feel. Times Food Editor Russ Parsons says that hunting mulberries can be tough -- and that it pays to know the right people. So dear readers, please keep your eyes peeled for these little berries, and leave a comment on The Daily Dish letting us know where they've been spotted.
-- Rene Lynch
RECENT & RELATED
PHOTO GALLERY: Your guide to the season's freshest produce
Find your local farmers market
Follow us on Twitter @LATimesFood
Photo credit: Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times
 In todays' New York Times, Jane Sigal writes about "The perfect burger and all its parts." She says that most accounts credit the burger's ascent to gourmet stardom to Daniel Boulud, who first stuffed ground sirloin with "truffles, braised short ribs and foie gras" eight years ago at DB Bistro Moderne in Manhattan.
Then she switches course to focus on what she writes is "a perfect burger recipe." The man responsible? Michael David, the executive chef at Comme Ça brasserie here in L.A.
The genius of his Comme Ça burger is that it is consistently juicy, perfectly seasoned and precisely medium-rare. The patty is charred on the outside and rosy pink from edge to edge.
It is a radical improvement on what most people already do, but it’s not much more complicated. His trick is to treat the burger the way many chefs do a steak.
He puts a good hard sear on both sides using his plancha, the freight train of flat tops, then transfers it to a 375-degree oven to finish cooking. After it comes out, there’s a built-in resting period while he toasts the buns and makes a last-minute lettuce salad.
I don't know about you, but I'm about five minutes away from making up some sort of excuse to leave work so I can go eat one of those burgers. For some reason, I bet I'll have to get in line.
-- Jessica Gelt
Photo: Comme Ça. Credit: Coral Von Zumwalt / For The Times
 Restaurateurs have long voiced their displeasure at negative comments left by anonymous diners on sites such as Yelp. But what happens when a site runs negative -- and potentially defamatory -- comments from anonymous tipsters under the guise of news?
A blind item about the Must wine bar in downtown L.A. has left the restaurant's co-owners, Coly Den Haan and Rachel Thomas, angry enough to threaten local dining blog Eater LA with legal action. Today the blog ran an item asserting that the Must falsely advertised items on its menu and, perhaps more crucially, threatened diners' health with poor sanitation and food safety. Their source? An anonymous tipster. "Cheese plates are not as advertised - Double Glouster Chedder, Explorateur Triple Cream Brie, Point Reyes, etc. are all in fact US Foods low-budget generic. You are paying $15 for $4 worth of generic cheese... House Made Peanut Butter is US Foods Generic... Besides not adhering to simple food saftey standards, such as soap, sanitizing, and throwing out chicken salad that's 2 weeks old, 90% of all 'fresh' menu items are cooked days beforehand and sit in the fridge, including all vegetables; even the ones that would take 5 minutes to cook per order." (19:59:27 UTC)
"Those accusations are completely false and we have receipts to prove it," says Den Haan.
Read more Must wine bar threatens local blog Eater LA with legal action after negative post »
 After beholding the majesty of Stevie Treichel's waffle BLT, Mel Lowery was moved to send in a photo of her famous homemade fudge. She makes it every holiday season to take to parties and to give as gifts. Her secret is that it is, as she says, the "easiest fudge in history." It's made with chocolate chips, a pinch of salt, vanilla extract and low-fat evaporated milk. Writes Lowery: "Full-fat won't set, non-fat is just gross."
When she's not making fudge or homemade peach pie, Lowery is one of the webmasters at www.true-blood.net.
-- Jessica Gelt
Photo: Mel's fudge. Photo credit: Alexander Lowery (Mel's 4-year-old nephew who allegedly swiped her camera and a piece of fudge)
 After closing for almost 18 months of renovations, Back on the Beach Cafe has re-opened. It's now part of the Annenberg Community Beach House and reportedly has a new chef and a new (but certainly not uncommon) commitment to local farmers market produce. Its phone lines are currently on the fritz but a message confirms that the restaurant is now open from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily and that it will begin serving dinner sometime next week.
Calls to the restaurant have not yet been returned (probably because the phones are not working), but stay tuned for additional information.
Back on the Beach Cafe, 415 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica. (310) 393-8282
-- Jessica Gelt
Photo: A view of the beach from the balcony of the Marion Davies guest house at the Annenberg Community Beach House. Credit: Reed Saxon / Associated Press
The Tasting Kitchen is open in the space that housed the very-recently-defunct AK. Instead of closing to retool, the restaurant is embracing the transition. The restaurateurs are calling it "a transparent culinary case study" (what others might call quick-change artistry).
Over the next eight weeks, as new chef Casey Lane (a veteran of Clarklewis restaurant in Portland, Ore.) trains staff and tweaks the menu and the restaurant undergoes design "modifications," the kitchen and dining room will remain open. An interim menu of eight to 10 choices will change daily. The restaurant will emerge with a new menu, new look and new name in the fall. 1633 Abbott Kinney Blvd., Venice, (310) 392-6644, www.thetastingkitchen.com
-- Betty Hallock
Photo of AK by Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times
Aaron Barnhart learned the hard way that the artisanal cocktails on offer at R Bar on Monday nights are meant for sipping, not for pounding. Barnhart is the Koreatown bar's new piano man, and during a break between sets, bartender Naomi Schimek offered him one of her specialties: a mix of habanero-infused vodka and muddled fresh pineapple and mango that she calls the Prop. 8. Maybe Barnhart just really needed a drink, or maybe he was misled by the sweeter fragrances coming off the glass, but he downed the whole thing in one gulp and spent the next 10 minutes panting from the heat, with a look suggesting that Satan himself was back there jostling the cocktail shaker. As surprised as Barnhart must have been by the not-kidding spiciness of the drink, it's even more of a surprise to find seriously adept and inventive cocktail craftsmanship along this stretch of 8th Street, where the most creative drink decisions usually involve choosing what style of paper bag to wrap your 40 oz. of Miller High Life in. But Schimek, a bartending vet of 14 years (she also works at Bar 107), is the Svengali of a cocktail gourmand’s mecca on Monday nights at R Bar. Her concoctions bring a new intensity to the term “locavore” -- the hibiscus syrup is steeped in-house, kumquats are gathered from an office park’s grove close to her home, and a forthcoming batch of mulberry brandy is made from the bounty of a tree in her backyard. “My mom was an herbalist, and when I make people drinks I really like the sense that the ingredients came from your own seeds,” she said. “I’ve always rented, and I’ve just been lucky that I’ve found houses with these amazing trees.”
Read more Where does a pirate drink artisanal cocktails? R Bar. Really. »
 This is a waffle BLT made by a friend of mine named Stevie Treichel. He was so excited about his idea that he e-mailed me a picture. Later in the week, when Stevie spoke with his father on the phone, he told him about it. And when he spoke with his mother, she mentioned that she'd heard about the waffle BLT. The whole family was pretty jazzed.
Stevie's waffle BLT came about the evening after he made homemade waffles for breakfast. He had waffles and the ingredients for a BLT and inspiration struck. This does not mean Stevie is the first person to do this (I think the Waffle in Hollywood makes a ton of sandwiches using waffles for bread), but since he thought it was his idea he has every right to be excited.
If you have a picture of a dish that you made at home or with friends that you feel truly proud of, please send it to me at jessica.gelt@latimes.com. We'll picture it on this blog in the "Snapshots" category.
(Also, Stevie's photo is a little blurry. Probably because he was so worked up. You should shoot for photographic perfection.)
-- Jessica Gelt
Photo: Waffle BLT / Stevie Treichel
 On Wednesday, a state law goes into effect that bans food containing trans fats from being sold at schools in vending machines and by outside contractors. The bill was signed into law two years ago but gave schools and vendors time to prepare for it.
“A poorly nourished child often makes a poor student who can’t concentrate or study well,” said Sen. Elaine K. Alquist (D-Santa Clara), the author of the bill, SB 490.
A separate legislative effort covers school cafeteria food.
Trans fats can be found in vegetable shortenings, cookies, crackers, pies and other foods made with, or fried in, partially hydrogenated oils.
Trans fats have been linked to heart disease. Many restaurants and food manufacturers have eliminated them in response to consumer demand or legislation.
California law requires restaurants to use fats with less than half a gram of trans fats per serving by Jan. 1, 2010; the standard will apply to deep-fried bakery goods a year later. -- Mary MacVean Photo: Meal time at Cesar Chavez Elementary. Photo by Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
Earlier this week we posted a list of local finalists for the first nationwide Restaurant Design Awards, noting that downtown L.A. was heavily represented. We might even have gone so far as to call downtown L.A. a design mecca. (OK, I admit it was I who called it that, and now I have to admit that I was right.)
In last night's ceremony, held by the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles, three out of six Jury Award winners are from downtown L.A. The jury consisted of L.A. Weekly restaurant critic Jonathan Gold; downtown nightlife baron Cedd Moses (wait a minute, downtown nightlife baron ... just kidding, we trust Moses to be objective); design partner Michael Palladino from Richard Meier & Partners Architects; and graphic designer Louise Sandhaus.
And without further ado, the winners are (follow that jump):
Read more The Restaurant Design Awards: Downtown L.A. wins big »
 Fans got a taste of what they’ve come to crave from Top Chef during Episode 3 on Wednesday: a sprinkling of drama, a few sound bites from a trash-talking European chef and a dash of frenzy during the "elimination challenge."
Ludo Lefebvre was a breath of fresh air for the series, making it clear that he was there to win. Many of these top-notch chefs seem to be tip-toeing around one another and playing nice simply because there’s a charity involved. We want drama! We want blood!
Fortunately it didn't take long for the show to serve up both. The quick-fire challenge was to create a dish using a single color palate. The waiters accidentally forgot to bring out the beet gazpacho that accompanied Ludo's beef carpaccio, which led to a melodramatic outburst. When the gazpacho finally was delivered, the judges weren't pleased with the monochromatic mess that resulted. The drizzled beet soup turned the plate into a gory murder scene. Ludo's wasn't the only slip-up, though. Wilo Bennettleft the ring around his salmon tartare, but the judges didn’t give a hoot. He won the quick fire.
For the offal street food elimination challenge, all four of the chefs chose to prepare dishes from Latin America. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an Angeleno who’s all about a late-night taco run, but there are so many roads they could have taken with those ingredients (heart, tripe, tongue and pig’s ear).
For example, Ludo drew the pig ear for the challenge and chose to make a quesadilla, which seemed a bit unimaginative considering pig ear has so many street food-friendly applications (Thai hu mu plao or French-fried pig ear salad, to name two). Plus, television's guru of Mexican cooking, Rick Bayless, was his competition. Cindy Pawlcyn's bland menudo had everyone underwhelmed, and judge James Oseland was perturbed by Bennett's cold pita pocket. Bayless' tacos de lengua (tongue tacos) ended up bowling over the judges and the tourists at Universal Studios who got to do the scoring.
The quote of the hour was definitely Ludo’s threat to Bayless, “I will beat you with my quesadilla!” Sounds like grounds for a restraining order to me.
--Krista Simmons
Photos: Bravo TV
New chef at Shangri-La: The Hotel Shangri-La has tapped Dakota Weiss as the new chef at its restaurant, replacing Noah Rosen (you might recall him tweeting about the fact that he had been fired earlier this month). Weiss started Monday, the same day she moved back to L.A. from Philadelphia, where she had helped restaurateur Stephen Starr (Buddakan, Morimoto) open Parc. Weiss previously was chef at the Tower Bar at the Sunset Tower Hotel in Hollywood. Weiss says she is slowly rolling out her menu, starting with a couple of new items Friday. "Very fresh, very simple, no foams," Weiss says. "Lots of seafood, a big raw bar menu." Plus, look for her "thousand-dollar pretzels." 1301 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 394-2791, www.shangrila-hotel.com.
Recent changes at the Bazaar: Michael Voltaggio quietly exited Jose Andres' Bazaar at the SLS Hotel at the end of April as chef de cuisine, succeeded by Jorge Chicas, who has long been part of Andres' core culinary team and also helped open the Bazaar. Look for Voltaggio as a guest chef at Noriyuki Sugie's "Hatchi" dinner series at Breadbar next month. Meanwhile, according to @SLSHotel: "Chef Jose Andres is in town today ... getting ready for a busy weekend!" 465 S. La Cienga Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 246-5555, www.thebazaar.com.
Top Cheffer takes over restaurant: Former "Top Chef" contestant Stefan Richter is opening a restaurant in Santa Monica; he's partnering with the owner of L.A. Farm on Olympic Boulevard. According to a news release, "Stefan's at L.A. Farm will bring a cosmopolitan classiness to the Santa Monica dining scene," because, of course, Richter is known for being classy. The menu will feature "light California cuisine," including tapas at dinner. There will be cocktails too, along with Milwaukee's Best and Pabst Blue Ribbon. An August opening is scheduled. 3000 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 449-4000, www.lafarmrestaurant.com.
-- Betty Hallock
Photo: Hotel Shangri-La. Credit: Hotel Shangri-La
Eat your hash, then get to high: Hotel Erwin in Venice Beach has been open for about 30 years, but last year came under the management of the boutique hotel chain Joie de Vivre. Now, the hotel is revealing its new look (to fit in with the artsy, boho Venice milieu). But most important, for my purposes at least, Hotel Erwin is opening a new restaurant and a rooftop lounge. Hash restaurant is slated to open July 3 for breakfast and begin serving dinner on July 7. In the morning, the restaurant will serve a number of specialty breakfast hashes and dishes with playful names such as snooze-you-lose omelets. During dinner service, Hash will take on a bit of a French bistro air and serve dishes including red beet ravioli and spiced Kurobuta pork chops. The hotel's snazzy rooftop lounge, High, officially opens Friday night. A hotel spokeswoman says the open-air lounge and terrace is the highest rooftop space in Venice Beach and has 360-degree views from Catalina Island to the Hollywood sign. There won't be much food, just a bar menu of light snacks, including salami and oysters of the day. The drink menu includes artisan beers, wine and fresh cocktails with names such as Windward Ho and Lifeguard's Lemonade. 1697 Pacific Ave., Venice Beach. (310) 452-1111; www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/erwin.
Octohotel: Terranea Resort in Ranchos Palos Verdes has opened eight new dining and drinking destinations: the upscale Mar'sel, which features ocean views and a menu of California classics with French and Spanish accents; Nelson's, which is being dubbed "a 21st century homage to a modern surf shack"; the relaxed, family-friendly Catalina Kitchen; the poolside Terranea Grill, featuring upscale bar food; classy lounge spaces with club chairs, fireplaces and sofas (the Lobby Bar, Living Room & Terrace); the Spa Cafe with light, healthful fare; Sea Beans coffee shop; and finally, the casual Cielo Point, which is next to the "adults-only pool." 6610 Palos Verdes Drive South, Rancho Palos Verdes. (310) 265-2800; www.terranea.com.
-- Jessica Gelt
Photo: High Lounge at Hotel Erwin. Credit: Hotel Erwin
Michelin is ditching Los Angeles, at least for now. You won't be seeing a 2010 Michelin guide for L.A. or Las Vegas this year.
The move represents a step back for the Michelin guide, published by the French tire company, which had been expanding the number of cities it covered in an attempt to become the preeminent arbiter of global dining.
"We're taking a temporary suspension of those two cities for 2010," a spokeswoman for Michelin North America said, "due to the economic environment."
The first North American guide, "Michelin Guide New York City 2006," was published in 2005. And the first Los Angeles guide followed two years later, "Michelin Guide Los Angeles 2008" (criticized by the likes of former Times Food section editor Leslie Brenner and LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold). Michelin will publish 2010 guides for New York and San Francisco.
Michelin continues to pursue its development in Asia and will be publishing a Kyoto/Osaka guide for the first time this year (following Tokyo, Hong Kong and Macau).
Asked whether there would be a 2011 Los Angeles guide, the Michelin spokeswoman answered: "I don't know about 2011, but we were told the suspension is temporary."
See a list of L.A.'s 2009 Michelin-starred restaurants after the jump. Do those stars seem a little dimmer now?
-- Betty Hallock
Photo: Cover of "Michelin Los Angeles 2009". Credit: Michelin
Read more Michelin won't be publishing 2010 guides for L.A. or Las Vegas »
This year marks the first nationwide Restaurant Design Awards. The awards will be bestowed upon the lucky winners by the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles on Friday. Hopefully, a number of you fine people have already voted for your favorite contender. And I trust you used your discerning taste to vote for a local. The local finalists are listed below, with commentary by me. (Because you care what I think. Yes, you do!)
Restaurants:
Cafes/Bars:
Lounges/Nightclubs:
The fact that downtown L.A. accounts for more than half of the local finalists is a bit of a coup. It is true that a whole bunch of restaurants have opened in the area lately. Can we dub downtown a design mecca? I love dubbing things. Look for the list of winners to post here at The Dish at 7 p.m. Friday.
-- Jessica Gelt
Photo: Bottega Louie. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times
 Midweek roundup of food bites featuring a burger shaped like a shoe, a documentary about food stamps and a local band's foray to a noodle bar.
-- Elina Shatkin
Photo: Los Angeles Times.
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