Will brake for fruit carts

Street vendors can stamp a town with the kind of intense flavor that goes way beyond the food they sell.  In Seattle, you can buy an espresso from a cart that rivals what you get at most of the city's high-end coffee bars; in Rio de Janeiro, vendors crisscross the beaches with grilled shrimp and whole pineapples, dismantled on the spot, that you remember for years (in my case, 15 and counting).  Here in Los Angeles, there are the fruit carts that pop up, in parking lots and along bus stops and sidewalks, like their umbrellas, bright and inviting and staggeringly colorful.  This morning I found a cart next to a bus stop near the corner of Beverly and Alvarado.  As I watched the umbrella flutter above the gorgeous rows of whole fruit, a young man cut pieces of fresh pineapple, mango, watermelon, jicama, cucumber, coconut and cantaloupe.  He put them into a plastic bag, then doused them with chile, salt and a generous squeeze of fresh lime.  It's these last touches, plus the unexpected crunch of the jicama and cucumber, that transform this from a pretty portable fruit salad to something miraculous.  A plastic fork.  A perfect summertime breakfast.  (The hotter it gets, the more chile.)

Fruit cart, corner of Beverly Blvd. and Alvarado St., $4 for a large bag of everything, with extra chile.

-- Amy Scattergood

Photo by Amy Scattergood

Mulberries

  After dinner at Farmer and Cook in Ojai, the dessert options were: vegan cookies or "dulce de leche" cake with fresh Pakistani mulberries from the chef's backyard. Umm, guess which option I took. And it turns out I got the last of the mulberries that night; other orders of cake that came out after mine were sans mulberries. Whew! But I'm still waiting for Persian mulberries (rounder, sweeter, more perfumed) to come my way, hopefully in the very near future.

Farmer and Cook, 339 W. El Roblar, Ojai, (805) 646-0960. Farm cafe hours: Friday to Sunday, 5 to 8:30 p.m.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo by Betty Hallock

Diana Kennedy at the Loteria Grill Hollywood

Last night chef-owner Jimmy Shaw opened the doors, if only for the evening, to his new Loteria Grill Hollywood to host a book signing for cookbook author Diana Kennedy. Kennedy's 1989 classic cookbook, "The Art of Mexican Cooking," has just been reprinted, and Shaw, a devoted fan of both book and author, cooked food from Kennedy's recipes for the party.

It was a nifty way to celebrate Kennedy while allowing a sneak peek inside the new restaurant, set to open on "June 10, 11, 12 -- somewhere in there," said Shaw. The sleek, bright spot, just west of the Geisha House on Hollywood Boulevard, was filled with fans of both chefs. Partygoers happily filled their plates with barbacoa, ensalada de nopalitos and higaditos de pollo en chipotle. Shaw cited the page number from the book for the last dish, and promised it would be on the new menu as a special. At the new restaurant, look for a menu very similar to the current one at the Farmers Market Loteria Grill, "only deeper", says Shaw. Kennedy won't still be there, unfortunately, when the doors officially open -- but she'll definitely be there in spirit.

Loteria Grill Hollywood, 6627 Hollywood Blvd.

-- Amy Scattergood

Photo by Amy Scattergood

Taco talk

Last night Zócalo hosted a panel discussion on taco trucks downtown at the Los Angeles Theater Center. Moderated by Chowhound's C. Thi Nguyen, the panel included LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold; author (of "The Gospel of Food") Barry Glassner; saveourtacotrucks.org co-founder Chris Rutherford; and Miriam Torres, co-owner of the Hermanas Torres taco truck.

Although Glassner played devil's advocate for much of the evening -- the event was, after all, a talk and not a rally -- it was a heavily biased discussion. Nguyen, a PhD candidate in philosophy at UCLA, kept things lively (impassioned oratory, food haikus) while he and the other panelists discussed the past, present and future of the taco truck.

Gold ("a taco is less a noun than a verb") was his usual brilliant self, while Rutherford pointedly suggested that voters make their wishes known when Supervisor Gloria Molina comes up for reelection.

But the emotional center of the group was Torres, who has been in the family business since she was 8 years old. "We're going to stay," she concluded, drawing the biggest applause of the evening, "and fight for what is right."

After the talk was over -- it will be available in audio and video on Zócalo's website -- the crowd filed out -- and promptly lined up in front of the taco truck (arranged for the event) parked outside. (Note: It was legally parked, as downtown isn't affected by the new county ordinance.) The highly descriptive discussion had left everyone very, very hungry.

Zócalo Public Square Lecture Series, (213) 403-0416.

-- Amy Scattergood

Notes from the Test Kitchen: On location

Most of the recipes we shoot for the Food section are done in the studio adjacent to the test kitchen. But sometimes we have stories -- or entire issues -- that require we shoot the recipes outdoors and/or on location. Our current issue, with stories on outdoor entertaining and summer cocktails, featured recipes just begging for some outdoor exposure.

So last Thursday, our crew (Test Kitchen director Donna Deane, art director Jan Molen, photographer Kirk McKoy, intern Kristin Buchanan and I) packed everything up and went on location ... my backyard.  I thought I'd post some "behind the scenes" images from the shoot.

Left, Kirk sets up a shot featuring a slice of the mango upside-down cake. He's using natural light, diffusing the direct sunlight slightly with an overhead screen, and adding highlights to the whipped cream and part of the cake using mirrors.  The shot had to be done early in the day before it got too hot and the whipped cream melted.  Contrary to a lot of commercial food photography that might use stand-ins (like shaving cream in this case), every item we shoot is true to the recipe ... and edible.

Before the food is even brought out, the props are positioned, the lighting is established and camera angles are explored. Below, that's Kirk setting up the table for a close-up of all of the dishes for Regina Schrambling's story. And that's him again setting up the Brazilian black bean salad.

photo gallery.

Below, the same set-ups from Kirk's point of view (all of the dishes, the black bean salad -- plus the sausages).  For more images, check out the Food section

-- Noelle Carter

Photos by Noelle Carter and Kirk McKoy

Notes from the Test Kitchen: Rocco DiSpirito in the house

The Times Test Kitchen was jamming last Friday morning as we hosted a CyberGuy taping with host Kurt Knutsson and celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito.

The segment, which will air this Wednesday at 7:45 a.m. on the KTLA Morning News (as well as online and in other major broadcast markets), focuses on cooking with ingredients on hand: Rocco (with the aid of a couple of recipe websites) helps Kurt prepare some quick dishes utilizing the few items he happens to have in the pantry and refrigerator. 

The taping generated a lot of excitement, and people dropped by from various sections of the paper to check out all the activity. In addition to Rocco and Kurt, the kitchen was humming with camera and technical people, producers, prep and support staff.

The Test Kitchen is active on any given day with recipe testing, photo and video (check out Quick Fix) shoots. Completed in 2000, the current kitchen is three times the size of the former space and features a more open design with high ceilings, wide counter spaces and themed backdrops (it contains both contemporary and traditional cabinetry and countertops that alternate between black and green granite and white marble surfaces).

Now if only we could have Rocco for some of our shoots...

-- Noelle Carter

Photos by Noelle Carter

'StarWatch': Fruit of the Loom Guys at Palate

I loved those '80s Fruit of the Loom commercials that featured the Fruit of the Loom Guys -- you remember -- Apple, Purple Grapes, Green Grapes, Leaf. And I'm even a fan of their more recent work -- such as the music video "Blue" that I ran across on YouTube ("I had a dream / That my whole world was blue / A royal Xanadu / The world was so brand-new / And everywhere, the underwear was blue / In shades of cobalt too"). So I was excited to see Purple Grapes and Green Grapes at the new restaurant Palate in Glendale, even though they spent the whole night hiding (from the paparazzi?) in the giant urns.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo by Betty Hallock

Benefit-dinner shooters

Last night was the second annual Celebrate the Market benefit dinner, held at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica to benefit the Southland Farmers' Market Assn.  Nineteen prominent local chefs set up food stations.  Midway through the polite noshing, farmer John Tenerelli of Tenerelli Orchards and Chef Josie Le Balch of Josie Restaurant were both honored; cookbook authors Evan Kleiman and Anne Willan presented.  It was a rather staid affair, given the nature of auctions and hotel ballrooms.  But the company (Spago pastry chef Sherry Yard and her new husband helmed a dessert table) and the food were terrific. 

At right was the most elaborate: a shrimp and oyster cocktail shooter from Melisse chef Josiah Citrin.  Through the gleaming funnel went Japanese green tomato water, into individual glass cups rimmed with celery salt.  Inside the cups?  Shrimp and Luna oysters from Carlsbad Aquafarm, Tabasco pearls, cucumber granita.  The little skewers -- the "chaser" to the shooter -- were tiny profiteroles filled with avocado mousse.  (Citrin is not known for his minimalism.)  The 18 stations that followed, which included an amazing corn flan from Grace chef Neal Fraser and a confit of pork belly appetizer by former Leatherby's Cafe Rouge chef Mark Gold -- set to open Eva soon in Sherman Oaks -- were pretty fun too.  Although not as much fun as crashing the hotel pool afterward would have been.  Maybe they could auction that next year...

-- Amy Scattergood

Photo by Amy Scattergood

Beachfront grills

The thrill of a new grill isn't limited to ones you buy. Last Sunday when our family made its annual Mother's Day pilgrimage to Leo Carrillo State Park, we found the camp rangers had been hard at work over the winter. The nasty old fire pits -- low, cinder-block squares without grills -- were gone. In their place stood four new pedestal grills that any mother would love. For the first time we could stand up straight to flip burgers and roast marshmallows with ease. That counts at Leo Carrillo -- located 28 miles up the Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Monica at the northern tip of Malibu -- because this is one beach BBQ spot where you can watch your kids playing along the park's 1.5 miles of beach dotted with tide pools and reefs and never leave the coals unattended. Our tradition, however, involves the ballet, an evening performance we view from our picnic table.

We arrive around 4 p.m., just as the beach bums are leaving and the chilly ocean breezes kick up. As we spread out tablecloths, unwrap cheese and take our first sip of wine -- a floral Sauvignon Blanc from Potter Valley in Mendocino (2007 Republic of Sauvignon Blanc) -- a kite surfer unfurls his brightly colored rig. By the time the burgers hit the buns, the sky is full of kites, with more than a dozen surfers racing back and forth through the waves.

As long as everyone remembers to wear at least two layers of fleece -- it's COLD out there --there is nothing more tranquil, or more memorable, than watching these magnificent kites against orange evening sky. The kids are wiping the S'more graham cracker crumbs off their jackets when the surfers pack up their kites around 7 p.m. We've inaugurated the beach season for a new year.

-- Corie Brown

Photo by Chris Fager

Taco libre!

Last night a group of taco fans (loyal, aggrieved, stubbornly hungry) gathered in East L.A., lining up for wobbly, sauce-drenched, carne asada-loaded paper plates at the Tacos El Galuzo truck parked on Whittier Boulevard.  Parked legally, that is, for the final hours before the new city ordinance went into effect at 12:01 a.m. today.  Now taco trucks must move every hour or face misdemeanor charges, $1,000 in fines and-or 6 months in jail.  These new regulations apply only in unincorporated parts of the city, but as the folks at saveourtacotrucks.org, which sponsored the gathering, point out on their website, that's 65% of the county. 

The taco crowd was good, especially considering that the Lakers were playing Game 5 only a few miles away.  And the gathering was upbeat, proving that a heady taco al pastor can generate more civic goodwill than a questionable city ordinance.  Saveourtacotrucks.org founders Chris Rutherford and Aaron Sonderleiter (looking tired, overwhelmed by the enormous publicity their site has generated, and a bit sauce-spattered) said they've received more than 9,000 signatures on their petition -- but no comment from District 1 County Supervisor Gloria Molina. 

"I'm curious to see what the next step will be," said Sonderleiter, a schoolteacher from Highland Park who started saveourtacotrucks.org with a $6 investment in the domain name ("that's almost two nights' dinner"). 

So are we.  And not just the next step by the city -- but the next steps, and routes, of the trucks themselves.  News from your favorite taco trucks? Comment below. 

Tacos El Galuzo, 5555  Whittier Blvd., Los Angeles (as of 10 p.m. yesterday).

-- Amy Scattergood

Correction: As many readers have pointed out, the new regulations apply to unincorporated parts of the county of Los Angeles (I incorrectly referred to the city of Los Angeles).

Photo by Amy Scattergood

Notes from the Test Kitchen: Ricotta cheesecake

Sometimes it's hard to get sympathy from friends when you tell them you work in a test kitchen. For the last two weeks, we were "forced" to test cheesecakes.....

One of our recipes was for a classic Italian cheesecake from Ciro Marino of Marino Restaurant in Hollywood. Like many chefs, he uses no measuring cups or spoons -- everything's eyeballed -- and the cake bakes in the oven until it's done -- no timers. That, and his method is different. Rather than bake the cheesecake in a water bath, Ciro places the cake on the bottom of a 450-degree oven and props the door open with a pan. And the baking process is twofold: The cake bakes first until it has risen properly, then bakes again for coloring.

Yeah, it is a pretty wonderful job, especially for this cheesecake fanatic.  Amy Scattergood has today's cover story on cheesecakes, so naturally we simply had to test various recipes incorporating classic cream cheese, farmer cheese, mascarpone and even ricotta as a cake base.

But even cheesecake testing can have its stressful moments -- and I'm not just talking about how to burn off all the extra calories you consume with all the testing and tasting.  Each recipe has to be tested (and retested) until we're certain it will work in the average home kitchen.

Amy scrupulously noted every measurement and step when she watched Ciro in his kitchen (check out the video on the Food section website), but could we duplicate the results?  We tested a recipe from Amy's notes in the test kitchen, measuring out ingredients and assembling the cake.  Everything looked fine. We put the cake on the bottom of our 450-degree oven and propped the door open with a small saucepan. Then we stood there and watched it bake. Everything seemed to work fine, but when the cake was sliced after chilling, it just fell apart. The flavor was there, but the texture definitely wasn't.

What to do? We wanted to keep the integrity of Ciro's recipe but still have a cake that worked. We talked it over and retested the cake, keeping everything the same except for the method. We moved the cake to the bottom rack of the oven, and cut the baking process to just one step. Oh, and we closed the oven door. (To be honest, we were a little uncomfortable with a recipe that required that the oven door be propped open.) The result?  The cheesecake was great, faithful to the original, and the slices disappeared in no time.

For you fellow cheesecake fanatics, check out the recipe (and two others) in today's section.

-- Noelle Carter

Photos by Noelle Carter

Sliders, of the black cod variety

Sliders -- tiny burgers on tiny buns -- what's not to adore? There are your Krystals and your White Castles -- but a black cod slider on a mini brioche Breadbar bun dotted with sesame seeds and served with house-made ketchup and cornichons (mini pickles!) -- this one really called to me. (Others might not have been so enamored. Can a slider be indifferent?) It's from Breadbar guest chef Noriyuki Sugie, formerly of Tetsuya in Sydney and Asiate in New York. It has great proportions; it's diminutive, but it has stature -- tall with fried black cod, held together with a long, fringe-topped toothpick. That house-made ketchup is nicely tangy, great with the sweet black cod. Sugie's menu is available until May 15, after which he and his slider (and truffle-salted scallops, and crab guacamole with Meyer lemon puree, and medallions of foie gras and ankimo ... ) are gone.

Breadbar, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City, (310) 277-3770. 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo by Ling Hung

Denio's Farmers Market and the Roseville Livestock Auction

I was up in Sacramento recently visiting the in-laws and decided to check out Denio's Farmers Market and Swap Meet in nearby Roseville. The market, open since 1947, sits near Roseville's rail yard, a historically significant transport hub for agriculture from the Central Valley.

Denio's is a massive marketplace -- sprawling almost 70 acres -- with aisles and aisles of fresh produce and local food products. You name it: tons of fresh fruits and vegetables (I sampled my first fresh cherries of the season), local honeys (I loved the blackberry) and cured olives, as well as stands carrying vegetable plants and herbs for the garden. The swap meet component (by far the larger part of the operation) contains everything from clothing and antiques to tools, machinery and parts for almost anything. (Need a part for your John Deere? Odds are you'll find it.)

Across the street from the market, you'll find the Roseville Livestock Auction. The bidding starts at 9:30 every Saturday morning for general livestock, including pigs, goats and sheep. (The cattle auction starts at 12:30.) The facility auctions poultry on the first and third Sundays of the month; horses and tack the second Saturday of the month.

If you're like me and fantasize about the farming life, it's a great place to go. You can score some tomato plants for your garden along with your dinner vegetables, or go crazy and buy a chicken or two. Now I know where to get that pet pig I've always wanted...

-- Noelle Carter

Photos by Noelle Carter

More fun in Culver City

Culver City's restaurant row, which is expanding as fast as a SimCity game, gained yet another hip eatery when the new M Cafe de Chaya lifted its plywood and opened its doors on Sunday.  Look, no long lines like those at its Melrose Avenue sister restaurant (the Chaya operation also includes Chaya Brasseries in both Los Angeles and San Francisco and Chaya Venice.) 

The Culver City macrobiotic cafe and deli is twice the size of the Melrose cafe too, which is why, according to the server who handed me my soy milk cappuccino and vegan raspberry-chocolate chip muffin this morning, they've moved the pastry ops for both restaurants to the new spot -- which also sports plenty of tables and some sunny indoor seating (outdoor coming soon).  If you go outside and squint, you can expand your people-watching to the patio at Fraiche just down Culver Boulevard.  Or bring your binoculars and see what the folks outdoors at (in east-west geographic order) Tender Greens, Ford's Filling Station and Akasha are eating: Look, all the pretty new restaurants lined up in a row.  And, to judge by the spreading plywood (you can almost hear the city engineers clicking on their keyboards) across the street -- signs for Rush Street, Gyenari -- there's no end in sight.  Well, at least until you run into Sony.  Virtual restaurant, anyone?

M Cafe de Chaya, 9343 Culver Blvd., Culver City.  (310) 838-4300.  Daily, 8 am to 9 pm. 

-- Amy Scattergood

Photo by Amy Scattergood

Big Sunday pozole

Big Sunday, the country's largest volunteer event, is my annual reminder of why I love to cook. And with 20 to 30 folks showing up for the Big Sunday project I run at a shelter for runaway teens, it's the perfect opportunity to make pozole, a dish that can handle both a swarm of eager sous chefs and a crowd at the dining table.

The kids we serve come from Central America and Mexico, most came here looking for parents they believe are working in the U.S. It can break your heart. But, frankly, on Big Sunday, there's no time to dwell on the tragedy. I organize volunteers (pictured here, Utku Cakirozer and Steve Goldinger) into teams to clean, paint, overhaul gardens and other projects. But there must be something particularly satisfying about chopping because most people want to help make dinner.

The kitchen has a none-too-reliable stove and only the basics in cooking gear, so I've learned not to over-reach on the equipment needs. A few years back, I realized pozole was THE dish for this event. Preparing the condiments -- chopped avocados, radishes, onions, cabbage, oregano -- can keep a team of volunteers busy for hours. And the base stew of pork and hominy is foolproof. I've searched out authentic recipes that aren't crazy difficult. This year I modified a pozole verde recipe by Anya von Bremzen. We made queso fresco quesadillas accompanied by salsa with fresh serranos, tomatoes, red onion and cilantro (another project for my team of choppers). Dessert was fresh strawberries, gooey brownies just from the oven and ice cream. The crowning glory: Fresh tangerine juice. We did most of our shopping at the Hollywood Farmers Market and one of the vendors overheard my husband and I talking about the project. She pulled a bushel of tangerines from the back of her truck and gave them to us gratis.

My spin on Anya's take on this traditional dish from the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Guerrero is to use pork broth made from pigs feet and garlic that I made the night before Big Sunday. But it is Anya's method of making a puree with fresh tomatillas, onions, poblanos, jalapenos, garlic, cilantro and oregano in the blender that elevates this dish without making it an ordeal.  Throw in the shredded chicken and cubes of pork loin, let it stew and wait for the applause.

By the time we leave, the sweet smell of peppers and tomatillos is wafting down the halls. Too shy to poke their noses into the kitchen while we are working, the kids are lined up ready to chow down when we leave. And rather than exhausted by the day of chopping and shredding, the kitchen crew talks eagerly about next year's Big Sunday supper at the shelter.

-- Corie Brown

Photo by Corie Brown

The season's first cherries

There are certain seasonal signals -- the first pitch of opening day, the smell of outside grilling after the rainy season -- that have a particular resonance, a mnemonic depth that carries beyond games, food, weather.  Add the year's first cherries to that happy list.  At this morning's Santa Monica Farmer's Market, the crowd at the cherry stand was so thick you'd think Barack Obama himself was handing out the Brooks cherries, in stunning shades of vermillion, loaded in plastic tubs like marbles.   

Now that you think about it, maybe a good old-fashioned cherry pie would be the perfect way to get those Super Delegates in line. 

Brooks cherries, $4 to $6 for a small or large container, from Erickson Farms. 

-- Amy Scattergood

Photos by Amy Scattergood

Cheeseburger love

If your immediate reaction to seeing lron Man (or maybe, given Robert Downey, Jr., they should have called it Ironic Man) was anything like mine was this past weekend, you've been desperately craving cheeseburgers -- along with those misplaced Black Sabbath CD's and your own personal ICBM -- ever since walking out the theatre doors. 

The marketing plug of the movie has Downey's character, newly escaped from months of desert-cave imprisonment, celebrating his liberation by gobbling good old American fast food cheeseburgers.  I don't know about you, but if I'd just forged (literally) my own super hero suit, blasted myself out of the terrorist-occupied desert and finally made it back to my gazillions, I'd go for something a little more upscale. 

Sang Yoon's blissful burger (pictured above) at Father's Office, say, with its caramelized onions, gooey mix of Gruyere and Maytag Blue and thatch of arugula (which is what I got for my post-movie fix, the new FO being right up my street).  Or the Hungry Cat's Pug Burger, loaded with bacon and bleu and so massive that it should have nascent action heroes as its target audience. Downey's character should have sent out for the burger from 25 Degrees, or Chris Kidder's burger at Literati II.  Or, better yet, considering Tony Stark's tax bracket, Michael Mina's truffled-cheese-Kobe-burger from the Stonehill Tavern at Dana Point. Come on, he's a billionaire arms dealer with his own quadrant of Malibu, wouldn't he skip the drive-thru -- Thomas Keller's obsession with In-N-Out notwithstanding -- and get LA's best?  Did I miss some burgers? Comment below.  A girl can't live on popcorn alone.

Father's Office, 3229 Helms Avenue, Culver City.  (310) 736-2224. 

-- Amy Scattergood

Photo by  Michael Segal/Los Angeles Times

Naples goes gourmet

Naples, the tony waterfront neighborhood in Long Beach, has never been known as a gourmet hangout. Folks who live there seem to be less interested in salumi than sailboats (the ones at their backyard docks). But that may be changing. There are a couple of good restaurants on the island now and a pretty good kitchenware store. Most recently, and surprisingly, there’s Naples Gourmet Grocer. Tucked in the corner of a strip mall, it is stuffed full of unexpected treasures.

Start with Fra’ Mani salumi, including the salametto and sopressata, and even Paul Bertolli’s fresh Italian sausages, which are much harder to find. There are three hams: silky La Quercia prosciutto from Iowa as well as prosciutto from Parma and 20-month-aged jamon serrano from Spain. There’s also chorizo bilbao from La Espanola, guanciale from Niman Ranch and ventreche and andouille from D’Artagnan. Cheeses include a nice run of Cowgirl Creamery and a couple of very good choices from Cypress Grove, including the new Truffle Tremor, a creamy goat with a subtle undertone of white truffles. Breads and pastries are from Bread Bar. Ice creams are from Ciao Bella and Dr. Bob. Packaged goods include oils from La Tourangelle, caramels and marshmallows from Little Flower Candy Co., jams from June Taylor and pickles from Rick’s Picks.

All that wonderful food and great picnic spots not five minutes away -- it looks like Naples may be changing.

Naples Gourmet Grocer, 5650 E. 2nd St., Long Beach. (562) 439-6518.

-- Russ Parsons

Photo by Russ Parsons

Gordon Ramsay L.A. reservation line is open!

Ladies and gentlemen, find your cellphones: The reservation line for Gordon Ramsay's new L.A. restaurant, Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood, is open -- even if the doors aren't.  Ramsay's first West Coast restaurant, which is in the former Bel Age location, officially opens for dinner on May 27 (lunch to start the following day).  This follows the opening, in 2006, of the Gordon Ramsay at the London New York, Ramsay's American debut.

A menu just faxed over lists dishes such as California spiny lobster with white port sauce, rack of Sonoma lamb with olive-crusted fingerling potatoes and West Coast halibut with Kumamoto oysters and Champagne velouté.  (Notice all the nice regional tags.)  What we can also expect is some stunt staffing, as the winner of this year's "Hell's Kitchen" (Ramsay's American reality show, the finale of which is set to air July 8) will be installed as "senior sous chef," according to Ramsay's publicist. Ramsay may like publicity, but he's unlikely to want a surprise "Kitchen Nightmares" (Ramsay's other American reality show) episode either. Therefore, said senior sous chef will be under the watchful eyes of executive chef Josh Emmett (who will oversee from Ramsay's New York restaurant) and chef de cuisine Andy Cook.  And, one hopes, Ramsay himself, in all his high-volume, obscenity-laced glory.  Maybe, if we're lucky, he'll cook too. 

Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood, 1020 N. San Vicente Blvd, West Hollywood.  Reservation line: (310) 358-7788.

-- Amy Scattergood

Photo courtesy of Susan Magrino Agency