A cookbook from David Chang's favorite restaurant: Joe Beef

Here's the book for all you David Chang fans out there. It's called “The Art of Living According to Joe Beef: A Cookbook of Sorts,” and it's from his favorite restaurant in the world (and that's a quote). 

Never heard of it? 

Neither had I. That may be because it's in Montreal. 

From the photos inside, it looks like a real guy's place, irreverent and fun. 

In his intro to the book, Chang describes his first visit there. “The decor had a rustic, lived-in feel — the kind that makes you never want to leave. It had personality. It was alive. Those are rare and typically fleeting qualities in a restaurant.” The food, he says, was amazing. He’s now good friends with co-owners and co-authors Fred Morin and David McMillan. 

“As far as this book,” Chang continues, “I don’t think anyone can replicate what these guys do. But it’s worth trying. The food, sure, learn it. Learn to love trains, learn to weld, learn to make your own smoker, learn anything you can from these guys. I think there’s some kind of Montreal black magic to it, that it might only work up there with all those crazy French Canadians. But after checking out how many good recipes, how much secret knowledge, how much humor, and how many good stories they’ve stuck between these two covers, I am ready to be proven wrong.”

So what are these French Canadians cooking that you can cook?

Pork fish sticks (pulled pork in the shape of fish sticks), porchetta alla Joe Beef (Boston butt wrapped with pork belly and seasoned with a paste of rosemary, garlic, chile, fennel seeds, vermouth, salt, pepper and olive oil), kale for a hangover (cooked with bacon, onion, garlic and white wine), filet de boeuf (cut into thick chunks, hog-tied and roasted, served with marrow bones, gentleman steak sauce and fries), chicken skin tacos. . . and on and on. Lots of great stuff here. 

Some of them, like Hot Oysters on the Radio, mackerel Benedict or sausage martini, are just a wee bit difficult to imagine. But with this book, you'll be able to try them out and save yourself the cost of a plane ticket to Montreal in the middle of winter.

Anybody been to Joe Beef? What's it like and what did you think?

"The Art of Living According to Joe Beef: A Cookbook of Sorts" by Frédéric Morin, David McMillan and Meredith Erickson (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley: 2011, 291 pps., $40).

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-- S. Irene Virbila
Twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Photos: David McMillan at the bar at Joe Beef. Credit: Jennifer May / Ten Speed Press.

Nadia Giosia dishes on her 'Bitchin' Kitchen' and building your own brand

Nadia Giosia, a.k.a Nadia G., is a Renaissance woman. The young Italian bombshell has built an empire for herself -- from designing her own cookbook to successfully launching the first online lifestyle entertainment brand to be brought onto prime time TV. Cooking Channel -- the Food Network's younger, edgier rebellious sister -- recently picked up Giosia’s Web-based show “Bitchin' Kitchen,” which aired for the first time Oct. 6.

Giosia started her career in branding and design, and eventually branched out into her own unique hybrid of cooking and comedy. She attributes much of her success to social media, knowing how to market herself and being a "photo/design ninja".

You can read more about how she made it here.

--Krista Simmons
Follow me on Twitter @kristasimmons

Photo courtesy of "Bitchin' Kitchen"

Sampler Platter: L.A. street food festival, giant lobsters, Bar Keeper wants liquor license and more

Gargantuan lobsters rising from the seas and enslaving the human race... It sounds preposterous, but it's a potential and very real downside of global warming, which is building bigger lobsters without increasing the world's butter reserves. Perhaps someday, when the age of peak butter has passed, we'll look back at bread baskets and flaky, golden tarts as the harbingers of doom for a society on the brink of collapse. Until then, I salute our crustacean overlords.

-- Giant lobsters from rising greenhouse gases? NPR
-- Bar Keeper in Silver Lake is looking to get a liquor license by June. Food GPS
-- Palm oil production devastating Sumatran forests. CNN
-- Salami and Parmesan cheese used as weapons in supermarket battle. Telegraph
-- The search for the world's perfect stove. New Yorker
-- Arrowhead water bottles reduced by 21% (from 1 gallon to 3 liters). LiveCheap
-- Learning to appreciate cognac in Cognac. Los Angeles Times
-- L.A. Street Food Festival scheduled for Valentine's Day weekend. LAist
-- Vertical Wine Bistro changes it up with new chef Doug Weston. Eat LA
-- Roaming Hunger food truck tracking site goes live.
-- Tootsie Roll goes kosher. Palm Beach Post
-- Greek, Indian, Chinese and more: Vancouver's many cuisines. Los Angeles Times
-- Spicy kettle corn and more recipes from bigLITTLe. Goop

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Vintage bar signs on the wall at Bar Keeper. Credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times