Author Anna Thomas makes soup, signs books

 
Anna Thomas, whose book "The Vegetarian Epicure" introduced many cooks to interesting vegetarian dishes more than three decades ago, has a new book out focusing on soups. She'll be signing books and offering a tasting of food from "Love Soup" at a few spots in the area.

On Saturday at 2 p.m., she will appear at Treasure Beach and Cafe in Ojai, where she lives -- and where one of her sons is cooking. Treasure Beach is at 928 E. Ojai Ave.

On Sunday, readers can meet Thomas at 3 p.m. at Diesel Books in the Brentwood Country Mart on 26th Street in Santa Monica.
 
And on Tuesday at 7 p.m., she will be at Chaucer's Bookstore, 3321 State St. in Santa Barbara.

-- Mary MacVean

Photo: Anna Thomas cooks in her Ojai kitchen. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

 

Rustic Canyon and Huckleberry's Loeb and Nathan to open ice cream shop in Brentwood Country Mart

The owner of Brentwood Country Mart, known for his painstaking pursuit of tenants he thinks belong in his casual neighborhood hangout, has scored a coup in signing rising culinary stars Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb to run an ice cream parlor.

The couple opened the hit Huckleberry bakery in Santa Monica earlier this year. Loeb also owns Rustic Canyon Wine Bar & Seasonal Kitchen. Both restaurateurs grew up on the Westside, said Loeb, who has a nostalgic connection to the Country Mart.

"I must’ve gone to Reddi Chick 5,000 times," he said, referring to the mart's popular chicken stand. (He told Food GPS 6,000 times.)

The pair plan to open the shop in January, and will make small batches of ice cream daily. The shop has yet to be named, but "it should be fun," Loeb said. "The idea is to go back to from-scratch craftsmanship of making ice cream in eight to 12 flavors. We'll have ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cakes, root beer floats --  all things ice cream."

Loeb promised he wouldn't get carried away making up exotic new flavors. "The idea is to use really good quality chocolate, strawberries and cream," he said. "Flavors will be old-fashioned but with imaginative twists."

Country Mart owner Jim Rosenfield bought the 60-year-old property on 26th Street in Santa Monica in 2003 and has been chasing his favorite retailers ever since. "Huckleberry is our kind of tenant," he said.

-- Roger Vincent

Photo of Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb by Ann Johansson / for The Times

The Review: Tavern in Brentwood nabs 2.5 stars

What if no one had introduced Caroline Styne, then-manager of Jones, to Suzanne Goin, who at the time was chef de cuisine at Campanile? We wouldn't have Lucques or A.O.C., two of L.A.'s most beloved restaurants. And we certainly wouldn't have the partners' new Tavern in Brentwood.

Styne and Goin are the food world's equivalent of Lerner and Loewe or Leiber and Stoller. Everything they do just seems to work effortlessly. The two share a certain sensibility and aesthetic. At any of their restaurants, there's a sense of comfort and sensuality, contemporary rustic cuisine and warm but crisp service, and an enticing environment. But most of all, they each have a strong sense of place.

Still, given the larger stakes and tonier surroundings, Tavern is just a wee bit disappointing in terms of its food at this point, which is very much in the Lucques genre but not quite there yet.

For S. Irene Virbila's full review and an accompanying photo gallery, please click here.

Photo: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Cupcake Madness with SusieCakes, Yummy, Sweet E's, Whole Foods

To celebrate its 3-year anniversary Saturday, July 18, SusieCakes will hide golden tickets inside 10 of its cupcakes. Prizes include a spot in one of their baking or cake decorating classes, a free 6- or 9-inch cake, five dozen mini-cupcakes and one dozen cupcakes. Winners will also be entered in a grand prize drawing to receive a 9-inch specialty layer cake every month for a year. The ever-expanding bakery will open its newest location, in Manhattan Beach next Saturday, July 25. (SusieCakes: Brentwood, Calabasas, Newport Beach)

Can’t make it to the county fair? Starting in August, Yummy Cupcakes will offer concession stand-themed cupcakes in flavors: buttered popcorn, Goobers, Good N’ Plenty, Hot Tamale, Sour Patch Kids and Raisinettes. (Yummy Cupcakes: Santa Monica, Burbank)

Are these a new item or something that's long been around? Either way, it's come to our attention that Whole Foods recently started promoting its in-house cupcakes -- decorated like Cookie Monster, piglets, bears and other adorable animals -- quite aggressively. Here's a shot from the Pasadena store.

And if you're too lazy to get out of bed and buy yourself treats, you can now have a passel of mini-cupcakes delivered to you by Sweet E’s mini bake shop, reports Daily Candy. They come in a travel-safe white box and include flavors: Peanut Butter Blizzard, chocolate-iced, cookie dough-stuffed vanilla cake, and S'mores. There's no storefront; order online or by phone (323-422-8885).

--Elina Shatkin

Photos: Top: courtesy of SusieCakes. Bottom: Rob Takata / For The Times.