 Pastry chef Danielle Keene has left BLT Steak, Laurent Tourondel's Sunset Boulevard steakhouse, for the joint kitchens of the Little Door and Little Next Door, on Beverly. Keene, who changed toques a month ago, was previously at Wilshire, in Santa Monica, where she started Ice Cream Shoppe Night. The Culver City-born, Sherman Oaks-bred chef says she wanted more menu flexibility — but that what she really wants is, unsurprisingly, an ice cream shop of her own. All in good time. Meanwhile, Keene, whose resume includes Water Grill, Campanile, AOC and Blair's, is busy making exquisite macarons (yesterday's included blueberry, raspberry, lavender and coconut-caramel), fig and hazelnut poundcake, strawberry-hazelnut Linzer cookies — and pistachio-lemon semifreddo, since the restaurant doesn't have an ice cream machine. Yet. When Nicolas Peter, chef at both the Little Door and Little Next Door, got back in town after a week on the East Coast, Keene said she greeted him warmly: "How was your vacation? When are we getting the ice cream maker?"
The Little Door, 8164 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles. (323) 951-1210; Little Next Door, 8142 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles. (323) 951-1010.
— Amy Scattergood
Photo by Amy Scattergood
 Last fall I blogged about the acorn-finished pigs that La Quercia, the Iowa prosciutto makers, and organic pig farmer Jude Becker were raising and selling to chefs and restaurants across the country. While the prosciutto from last year's pigs won't be ready until next summer, La Quercia's Herb Eckhouse has already gotten glowing reports on the first deliveries — sausage, guanciale, coppa, pancetta and other items that require less curing time than the prosciutto. Eckhouse recently emailed that last year's project has been so successful that they're planning a second.
Acorn Edition II is now underway, with orders being taken for about 100 more Berkshire pigs — up from 50 in last year's inaugural group. The pigs go for $3,000 if you're a return customer, $3,200 if you're new to the pig subscription program. (Yup, that's really what it's called.) But they're going fast — Charlie Trotter just bought two, as did Nate Appleman of San Francisco's A16.
And for those mindful of this spring's catastrophic weather in the upper Midwest, Eckhouse says that they were lucky: The flooding only slowed down construction on La Quercia's expansion and soaked their basement. Becker said by phone that his farm was fortunate too; their corn crop was ruined, but "all the rain is creating a bumper crop of acorns." Becker reports that he's also enlisted his local Boy Scout troop, which turns a profit by harvesting the nuts and selling them to Becker. So not only will La Quercia's next round of charcuterie be made from Berkshire pigs finished on acorns — but acorns gathered by Iowa Boy Scouts. Wow. I hope they get a special badge for that, like in Italian.
La Quercia, 400 Hakes Drive, Norwalk, Iowa. (515) 981-1625. www.laquercia.us. Those interested in the Acorn Edition program can also contact Jennifer Snierson at The Chefs Warehouse, (310) 909-3316.
— Amy Scattergood
Photo courtesy of Herb Eckhouse
 Hollywood neighborhood spot Ammo has a new chef, Julia Wolfson, who previously worked at Le Bernardin and Blue Hill in Manhattan and Applewood in Brooklyn. Ammo started out as a takeout counter and caterer to the local film production crowd, underwent a remodel in 2004 and now owner Amy Sweeney is living in Ojai. On Wolfson's new menu: grilled baby octopus with summer bean salad; ricotta and mint ravioli with braised lamb ragout; and pan-seared Tasmanian sea trout with roasted cipollinis, sautéed pea shoots and bacon vinaigrette. There are still those thin, crisp-edged pizzas that are baked in the restaurant's wood-burning oven. And they're holding fast to the turkey meat loaf too.
1155 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 871-2666.
— Betty Hallock
Photo by Richard Hartog
 And not one of those dainty culinary brûlée torches, either, but a Bernzomatic propane torch. I got mine at Home Depot a few years ago, and it cost a whole lot less than the ones you can find in cooking stores — which are tiny and, in my mind, far too tame. Blowtorches are great for making crème brûlée, of course. You can also caramelize sugar on top of pies, cakes and plenty else. In last night's episode of "Iron Chef," won by Providence chef Michael Cimarusti, Providence pastry chef Adrian Vasquez took a torch to some red bell peppers — much more fun to do on television than simply parking them over a boring stove-top flame or under a broiler. You can also provide some last-minute color to a roast or gratin, quickly heat the bottom of a metal bowl to keep a frosting or meringue from breaking, or warm a chilled springform pan for quick release. (I got this trick from Spago pastry chef Sherry Yard, who does this for cheesecakes.)
But what I use my blowtorch for the most is an amazing raspberry brûlée recipe I found in the July 2006 issue of Saveur. It's insanely easy to make, a fantastic way to use seasonal berries (I've also used blackberries, strawberries, even peaches), and the only requirements are blowtorch, fruit, cream and sugar. All you do is fold fresh berries into Chantilly cream, sprinkle with sugar and torch the top. The sugar caramelizes into rivulets and, after a quick set-up in the refrigerator, forms a crunchy sugar top. It's amazing — and a very impressive party trick at twilight grilling dinners. Just be sure to get a fire extinguisher at the hardware store too!
— Amy Scattergood
Photo courtesy of Bernzomatic
 Gordon Ramsay bestowed his presence at the opening party for his restaurant Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood last night. Also in attendance: David Beckham. As well as Sona chef David Myers, Campanile's Mark Peel and chef de cuisine Matt Accarrino, pastry chef Catherine Schimenti and general manager Adam Rosenbaum from Craft. Jared Heber, formerly Mozza's wine director, is now pouring (last night it was champagne) at Gordon Ramsay. But after rubbing shoulders (literally) with Beckham and receiving a kiss-kiss from Ramsay, I was left hungry. Sure, there were canapés -- lobster consommé gelée and a tray or two of sushi -- and macarons, panna cotta and tartlets. But too little of it all. (Even when one stood shamelessly by the kitchen door waiting for servers to come out with the trays.) I stopped at Echo Park taco truck Taco Zone on Alvarado and had six tacos: two carne asada, two carnitas, a chorizo and pastor.
Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood, 1020 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 358-7788. Taco Zone, on Alvarado between Sunset and Glendale boulevards, near Vons, Los Angeles.
-- Betty Hallock
Photo credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
 At 7:30 this morning, Alain Giraud's new brasserie Anisette officially opened its doors. The former Bastide chef was right there, looking dapper in his chef's whites; in fact, he opened the doors himself ("Now is showtime," he said). The brasserie, in Santa Monica's Clocktower building, is drop-dead gorgeous: two stories, open staircase, tiled floors, wooden tables, mirrors and slowly spinning ceiling fans and a long bar of French hand-poured pewter. 
Upstairs there are more tables and an open kitchen, where you can see rows of hanging copper pots and the marble counters of the patisserie station. The breakfast menu (lunch and dinner begin next week) is classic French fare: Viennoiserie by pastry chef Mehdi Boudiab (formerly of Breadbar); crepes (pictured at right); omelets; a smoked salmon plate with Michel Blanchet salmon and brioche; eggs Benedict; Belgian waffles with dulce de leche and Nutella; and so on.
"You know, exactly four years ago I left Bastide," said Giraud, who noted that yesterday was his birthday. Well, happy birthday, chef. Welcome back.
Anisette Brasserie, 225 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica. (310) 395-3200. Breakfast, 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Monday to Friday; brunch this weekend and lunch and dinner to follow next week.
-- Amy Scattergood
Photos by Amy Scattergood
 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
 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
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 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
 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
 This morning at the Santa Monica farmers market, I bumped into newly appointed Rustic Canyon chef Evan Funke (pictured) at Windrose Farm's stall -- along with the restaurant's entire crew (owner Josh Loeb, pastry chef Zoe Nathan, departing chef Samir Mohajer), who seemed to be having an ad hoc meeting next to the tomato plants and baskets of lettuces. Funke, a local boy from Pacific Palisades, rolls out his new menu tomorrow night. He says he'll be emphasizing pasta (zucchini agnolotti with basil sauce, black olive pappardelle with rabbit ragu) since he just got back from Italy, where he spent three months cooking pasta with pasta maker Alessandra Spisni in Bologna. Prior to that, Funke spent 6 1/2 years with the Wolfgang Puck organization, starting out in catering and moving up to sous chef at Spago, followed by a stint as chef de cuisine at the Avalon Hotel.
As Funke moved off to talk to Windrose Farm's Barbara Spenser about lamb, Mohajer confirmed that he and Paul Shoemaker (formerly chef de cuisine at Providence) have a restaurant in the works: "That's the plan." It turns out that Mojaher and Shoemaker went to culinary school together -- Pasadena's CSCA -- from which Funke also graduated. Maybe it was a secret alumni meeting....
Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen, 1119 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 393-7050. Lunch, 11:30-2:30 p.m. Tues.- Fri.; dinner, 5:30-10:00 p.m. daily (closing hours may vary).
-- Amy Scattergood
Photo by Amy Scattergood
 When it's as hot as it's been for the last few days, cooking over a hot stove -- or cooking at all -- isn't so appealing. Which makes crudo, the Italian take on sashimi that's so popular these days, that much more appetizing. It's surprisingly easy to make yourself (thinly slice sashimi-quality raw fish on a diagonal, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, a sprinkle of sea salt), and with a salad of interesting greens, you have dinner. Or head over to Il Grano on any given Tuesday evening and sample chef-owner Salvatore Marino's full menu of the stuff. (This is his wild bluefin tuna crudo, with arugula and a fine dice of artichokes, tomatoes, carrots and onions.)
Marino, who likes to point out that he's been serving crudo since 1997 (the menu for last week's Crudo Tuesday, the first, marked each of the 12 raw dishes with their inaugural year, as if they were wine vintages; above is 1997) takes his fish very seriously. He says he decided on Tuesdays because that's when the freshest fish are flown into the downtown Los Angeles fish markets from Tokyo's Tskiji fish market, the most famous of them all.
 Last year, while working on a crudo story, I had the sleep-deprived pleasure of meeting Marino early one morning (by early, he meant 4 a.m.) at International Marine, the downtown Los Angeles fish wholesaler where many of the city's most fish-centric chefs can often be found trolling for amberjack and toro, wild snapper and cuttlefish. (As I slid across the wet concrete, FDA-approved hairnet in place, I could see the boxes marked in felt pen: Matsuhisa, Providence ... ) Here's the handsome yellowtail I brought back that day to the Test Kitchen; it later became crudo, accompanied simply with a little lemon vinaigrette and a few heirloom cherry tomatoes. OK, not as crazy inventive as Marino's mackerel with mint, fava puree and whole-grain mustard (that one's a 2008), but pretty tasty. No stove required.
Il Grano, 11359 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 477-7886. Though crudo is also served at lunch, the full crudo menu is served at dinner. Lunch 11:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.; dinner 5:30 - 10:30 p.m.
-- Amy Scattergood
Photos by Amy Scattergood
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 Hervé This, the French physical chemist (at Paris' Institute National de la Récherche Agronomique) and co-founder of Molecular Gastronomy, is in town promoting his latest book, "Kitchen Mysteries." Earlier this week, This held court at the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, where enthralled students watched This play with eggs. (Molecular gastronomists love eggs.) Here he is making a foam, from an egg white, sugar and orange juice, which he later put into a microwave and fed to a student in the front row.
In heavily accented English, This gave a PowerPoint demonstration (lively, endearing, often difficult to understand) that included a diagram of Homer's Odyssey, slides showing shallot cells, pictures of Grant Achatz's food, and a formula for Faraday of Lobster -- ((G + S1 + O)/W)/S2, in which S2 equals foam, or at least I think it does. This told his audience that he hates whipping eggs, that people should never play with liquid nitrogen without wearing safety "spectacles" (a drop will blind you), and that he does not "collaborate" with Michelin-3-star French chef Pierre Gagnaire. "We go to the bar, we discuss," said This. "If Pierre does not cook, he is sad." This also urged students to go to Gagnaire's website, to which This posts a "new idea" monthly. (FYI: Both site and ideas are in French.) This ended his presentation with a rousing, if slightly impenetrable, explanation of Culinary Constructivism, the successor movement to Molecular Gastronomy. "I long for the lab!" he concluded. Maybe so, but he looked like he was having quite a bit of fun in CSCA's Lab 3 too.
"Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking" (2007), Columbia University Press.
-- Amy Scattergood
Photo by Amy Scattergood
 At the Wednesday Santa Monica farmers market last week, under a low marine layer that made everyone clutch their coffee cups that much tighter, James Birch of Florabella Farms had an overflowing crate of gorgeous greens sitting out on his table. The greens were next to a small mountain of breakfast and plum radishes and a thatch of rapini -- the stinging nettles had been snapped up by chefs earlier -- and were, at least to me, quite unidentifiable. They looked like a particularly verdant and fleshy kind of nasturtium.
"It's miner's lettuce," explained Birch. The plant, which is in the purslane family, was named for the Sierra Nevada gold miners who used to eat it in the early spring, when it finally appeared after the difficult winters, to prevent scurvy.
It's gorgeous stuff, but what to do with it? A few stalls down, Campanile chef Mark Peel -- who had just picked some up from Birch -- supplied the answer. A salad, said Peel, of miner's lettuce, toasted and crushed walnuts, crumbled Stilton cheese, a simple lemon-honey-mustard vinaigrette and some snipped chives. "Five ingredients, 10 minutes," pronounced Peel. Well, five unless you count the vinaigrette ingredients, he allowed, but still, that's pretty simple. It was. Utterly delicious and very pretty too (see the picture at left).  Birch has been bringing miner's lettuce to the Wednesday and Saturday Santa Monica markets every spring for years. "As long as we keep getting some rain, it'll keep going for the next month or so," said Birch. "This is the kind of weather it likes a lot."
Miner's lettuce, $5 per lb. from Florabella Farms.
-- Amy Scattergood
Photos by Amy Scattergood
 Joe Miller's Spanish tapas bar, Bar Pintxo, opened yesterday at noon, providing respite from the light rain for the holiday shoppers at the nearby Santa Monica farmers market. With high ceilings, high wooden tables and bar stools, walls lined with wines, chalkboard menus and a sushi-style case displaying the tapas, it's a very welcoming little (30-seat capacity) spot. And if Miller has his way, it'll be a respite not only for shoppers but for the farmers too -- at least on market days, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Miller was just in from shopping himself, grabbing a few tapas on his way back to the market, and said he wanted to encourage the farmers to stop by after they're done packing up. "I'd love to have them all come down for a glass of sangria," said Miller. (It makes sense: Miller's 16-year-old Venice restaurant, Joe's, has always had a menu largely reliant on local produce.)
 If not sangria, maybe slices of baguette topped with foie gras mousse, caramelized onions and pomegranate seeds; or cherry tomatoes stuffed with marinated tuna, garlic and parsley; or endive with Roquefort cream, anchovies and walnuts. There were 15 tapas on the printed menu this afternoon, but Miller says that's just the beginning.
Bar Pintxo, 109 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 458-2012. Open noon to midnight, every day. (Website still under construction.)
-- Amy Scattergood
Photos by Amy Scattergood
 If you were wondering what Joachim Splichal's Patina Restaurant Group had in store for the former Maple Drive space in Beverly Hills, they've just announced plans to open seafood-themed Paperfish next month. And taking the helm is executive chef Yianni Koufodontis (pictured), who was executive chef of Greek restaurant Petros in Manhattan Beach.
Paperfish is the name of a small rare tropical fish; it seems unlikely that it will be on the menu -- but there will be fish baked en papillote (in paper) and served tableside. The menu features starters separated into "raw," "warm" and "chilled" and entrees separated into "shell fish," "round fish," "flat fish" (and then there's "weird fish," "funny fish" ... just kidding) and "from the farm" (farmed fish?). Starters include oysters on the half shell with pomegranate-ginger granita, and entrees include steamed turbot with dried fruit couscous and eggplant-oxtail tagine and sautéed skatewing with sunchoke purée, white wine, golden raisins, pine nuts and preserved lemon.
The restaurant will be open for lunch and private parties only until early January, when dinner service is scheduled to begin.
Paperfish, 345 N. Maple Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 858-6030.
-- Betty Hallock
Photo by Ken Hively
 Stopped by the 20th annual Great Tastes in Brentwood festival yesterday. Lots of fun, lots of folks, lots of food. The Pecorino guys were there with porchetta, long-roasted pork that chef Raffaele Sabatini carved on the spot. (His twin brother, Mario, is center in the photo, and the third owner, Giorgio Pierangeli, is on the left.) They also had tiella di riso, a sloppy and delicious rice, potato and mussel dish from Puglia; and crisp fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta, basil and pecorino. Literati II was there with grilled corn on the cob with truffle butter, grilled hanger steaks and late-summer-fruit sundaes; Takao, the San Vicente Boulevard sushi bar, had some nice sushi.
 Bakeries made a good showing too: Susie Cakes brought red velvet cupcakes, and La Provence Patisserie & Cafe had this gorgeous array of pastries and macarons. Proceeds are to benefit Brentwood's public schools.
Pecorino, 11604 San Vicente Blvd.; (310) 571-3800; Literati II, 12081 Wilshire Blvd.; (310) 479-3400; Takao, 11656 San Vicente Blvd.; (310) 207-8636; Susie Cakes, 11708 San Vicente Blvd.; (310) 442-2253; La Provence Patisserie & Cafe, 8950 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 888-8833.
-- Leslie Brenner
Photos by Leslie Brenner
 The 8,000 chefs represented in France's Guide Michelin voted Anne-Sophie Pic chef of the year on Monday. In February, Pic was the first woman to earn three stars in the guide, for her restaurant Maison Pic in Valence. The restaurant was founded by Pic's great-grandmother, Sophie, in 1891, and the kitchen has always been headed up by a Pic. The prize, created by the trade magazine Le Chef, is meant to recognize the chef in France who best represents the profession.
So what's her menu like? Right now, if you were ordering off the menu posted on the restaurant's website, you might start with le lapin "Rex du Poitu" -- choice morsels of rabbit cooked with sage, served with crudités and saffron vinaigrette. Follow that with le homard bleu ("blue lobster") roasted in a cocotte, flambéed with gentian eau de vie, pressed with young vegetables, and buttered with young peas with Gascon lard. (This one may have lost something in my poor translation.) Next, le cochon de Bigorre -- a chop of famous pork from Bigorre in a salt-and-green-pepper crust, with Nourmoutier potatoes, rhubarb confite and green pepper juice. Since we're at a three-star restaurant, you'd be silly not to follow that with a selection of cheeses, then a hot Grand Marnier soufflé with a fresh mint liquid center.
It all begs two questions: Can 8,000 French be wrong? And when's the next flight to Valence?
-- Leslie Brenner
Photo by Dorie Greenspan
 I was intrigued as soon as I opened "Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking" to the contents page, where there's a picture of author and Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's ponytail and the back of his neck. (Weird.) I turned to the introduction and took note of his chevron-striped geta socks -- you know, the kind with the cleft between the big and second toes. (Cool.) Page 11 shows a series of photos that demonstrate how Morimoto ties his kimono in the traditional samurai style. (Gratuitous, though it looks good.)
And the recipes? There's tuna pizza with anchovy aioli, sushi rice risotto, snapper chips, oyster foie gras, rice-stuffed baby chickens, chocolate-coated sweetfish liver. (Chef-y and mostly weird.) But there are some traditional Japanese recipes, one of which is nikujaga, a Japanese beef stew. The name comes from niku, or meat, and jagaimo, or potatoes. It's one of my favorite Japanese dishes, partly because the first time my mom -- who's Japanese -- made it for me, I thought she was saying Miku Jaga, the Japanese transliteration for Mick Jagger.
The Times Test Kitchen tested the recipe for frozen lettuce, Morimoto's version of a Caesar. You quarter a head of lettuce and freeze it for one to two hours. It gets topped with a dressing of garlic, mayo, rice vinegar, Worcestershire, miso, grated onion, Parmesan, anchovy paste, mustard, lemon zest and crumbled goat cheese. Then you sprinkle on whole annatto seeds and small croutons. Annatto seeds are really hard and not all that fun to bite into, but the lettuce was actually really crisp, and the dressing was tasty. Still, next time I'm going to try the Mick Jagger recipe.
-- Betty Hallock
Photo by Leslie Brenner
 "Roast Chicken and Other Stories," the 1994 cookbook by Simon Hopkinson, founding chef of London's Bibendum restaurant, has long been known in foodie circles as a great cookbook, but when the British magazine Waitrose Food Illustrated named it "the most useful cookbook of all time" in 2005, it really took off.
Now there's an American edition (Hyperion, $24.95). When a copy landed on my desk on Friday, I picked it up ... and had a hard time putting it down all weekend. The book is organized by Hopkinson's favorite ingredients (Anchovy, Brains ... Eggplant, Lamb, Parmesan), and the writing is wonderful. For instance, Hopkinson writes that he loves Welsh lamb, adding: "I love mint sauce, too. And red currant jelly. And crisp fat from a shoulder (the best-tasting roast meat I can think of, save beef) that has been cooked for several hours, until the meat is of such melting texture that it can virtually be eaten with a spoon. Further pleasures from roasts such as this include squashing second helpings of roast potatoes into that half-congealing mixture of lamb fat, gravy, and mint sauce . . . don't try and tell me you don't know what I"m talking about."
How can you not trust someone who can write that? Not to give away the ending, but in the veal chapter, Hopkinson writes, in a headnote to a recipe for roast shin (stinco in Italian) that the shin (shank to us Americans) is his favorite cut of veal "by far." Did I have to run out and buy one? Uh, yeah. I had the butcher prepare it the way Hopkinson suggests -- cutting through the anklebone, releasing the tendons and allowing the meat to shrink down the bone while roasting and " 'collect' at one end." Then I followed his fabulous recipe for roast shin of veal, which you'll find by clicking below on "Read more."
-- Leslie Brenner
Photos by Leslie Brenner
Read on »
 Joe's in Venice celebrates its 16th birthday today -- quite an accomplishment in this town! To commemorate the happy event, for lunch and dinner today, chef-owner Joe Miller is featuring dishes from his original menu -- and at their 1991 prices too. At lunch, you can get penne with eggplant, tomatoes and mozzarella, complete with salad and soup, for $6. A pretty sweet deal, especially if you consider how swank Abbot Kinney has become in the last decade and a half. So relive the glory days of 1991, when the Bulls were en route to their first championship, the Soviet Union was collapsing, Nirvana was topping the charts -- and Joe first served his roast pork with wild mushrooms and garlic.
Joe's, 1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice; (310) 399-5811. Lunch items (including salad and soup) $6 to $12; two prix fixe dinner menus, $28-$35. Open for lunch from noon to 2:30 p.m. and for dinner from 6 to 10 p.m.
-- Amy Scattergood
Photo by Anacleto Rapping
 Ludovic Lefebvre, the chef last seen at Bastide's last (pre-Walter Manzke) incarnation, is back on the L.A. scene with a series of dinners at Bread Bar beginning Wednesday.
So what is an "eclectic culinary journey"? The way Lefebvre explains it, he fell in love with the bread at Breadbar, so he said to Ali Chalabi, Breadbar's co-owner (with Eric Kayser), "You're not open at night, but why not do something at night? But not a sandwich. You know the concept of sushi, but doing that with bread." For example? "I love guacamole," says Lefebvre. "I'm going to do a broccoli guacamole. And I found these beautiful multicolored carrots, and I do a simple carrot rapé." (That's grated carrot salad.)
 A tapas-type menu is the way Kristine Lefebvre, Ludo's wife and manager (and attorney by day) puts it. "But it's unlike your typical tapas menu," she says. "Every dish is designed to inspire the artist in all of us, so you create your own meal. Ludo will provide suggestions about what to put together. Finding the best products is something Ludo's always been known for. All of the products are going to be attached to a certain farmer or a certain producer. The menu will change almost daily, based on whichever farmer he's working with that week."
The evenings will be co-sponsored by the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. Lefebvre says he'll be there (at the West 3rd Street location) for every dinner, and that Cheese Store owner Norbert Wabnig will be there for many evenings too.
And Lefebvre has a restaurant in the works. "I'm coming back slowly," he says. He's got his eye on a location; he and Kristine are in the process of negotiating a deal for it. "It'll be the beginning of next year," says Kristine.
And the concept? "I want to do a bistro," says Lefebvre, "but around the world, not just French food. I want to do a pot au feu, but with a Thai flavor. Or a miso soup with foie gras. I've cooked in very expensive restaurants, but now I want to cook for everybody, and I want it to be accessible. I'm going to be on my own for the first time in my life. It's going to be the real Ludo."
Ludo Bites, Breadbar, 8718 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles; (310) 205-0124.
-- Leslie Brenner
Photograph by Gary Friedman
 At the Santa Monica farmers market this morning, Donato Poto, co-owner and maitre d' of Providence, stopped to give an update on the downtown brasserie he and chef Michael Cimarusti have had in the works for some months now. After scouting out and, they thought, finding a few spots that would work, they are again in limbo. According to Poto, they have a handpicked staff and are ready to go, but "until we find the right location, we're not going to do it." Poto cited parking issues, but both he and Cimarusti (formerly chef at downtown's Water Grill) are savvy enough to wait for the perfect locale.
 And while they're waiting ("it's on the front burner"), Poto, Cimarusti & Co. are busy working on the food (breakfast-lunch-dinner menu by Cimarusti, desserts and chocolates by Providence pastry chef Adrian Vasquez) for LA MILL's upcoming coffee boutique in Silverlake, set to have a soft opening in mid-October. All of the burners seem to be cranking just fine.
Providence, 5955 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles; (323) 460-4170.
-- Amy Scattergood
Photos (Cimarusti, left, and Poto, right) by Connie Aramaki
 Rumors have been aswirl lately about chef Govind Armstrong considering selling Table 8 because of slowing business. "It's definitely not true," Armstrong said on the phone last week from Nevis in the Caribbean. "It's unfortunate, but you know how bloggers are. They think they're in the know. It's the most annoying thing in the world."
Armstrong says that Table 8 is "so far from closing." The recent "Top Chef" judge says he's been spending three weeks out of the month in Los Angeles and one week in Miami or elsewhere. "L.A.'s home for me, and any time I'm in L.A., I'm at the restaurant."
On Friday night, not a lot of others were there -- the restaurant was less than half full at 9:30, but it was Labor Day weekend, and I'm blogging, so what do I know?
 Meanwhile, Sona chef David Myers says Comme Ça is set to open the last week of September or the first week of October. He says he's still tweaking the menu of "bistro classics -- steak frites, frisée lardon salad, onion soup." And yes, there's a cedilla under the "C" in Ça, so anyone who's been pronouncing it "Kum Ka" -- er, stop it.
-- Betty Hallock
Photos by Stefano Paltera (Govind Armstrong, above) and Christine Cotter (David Myers, below)
Table 8, 7661 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 782-8258; Comme Ça, 8479 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles.
 Of all the high-profile upcoming openings around town, Alain Giraud's Santa Monica brasserie, to open in the Clocktower building in Santa Monica, is one of the most exciting. When Giraud's deal with the owners of Falcon was announced back in January, Giraud hoped to open late summer, and he planned to serve lunch and dinner.
Just returned from vacation in France, Giraud filled us in on the brasserie's progress. The look, he says, will be classic brasserie, "brass, with wood, copper, banquettes, mirrors on the columns, et cetera. The restuarant will have to look as good at lunchtime as at dinnertime." It'll need to look good early in the morning too -- Giraud plans to open at 7 a.m. for breakfast.
As for the menu, "I'm still working on it," he says. "I want to base part of the menu with everything from the farmers market, to follow the seasons. I expect it to be a little bit traditional, plat du jour, appetizer, easy to understand." Dishes like steak tartare and poulet de la rôtisserie come to mind, he says, for the traditional offerings. "A brasserie menu never changes," he says, "and to add seasonal dishes has to be done very carefully." He'd like people to try things, though -- "sweetbreads, kidney. But I have to see how many we'll be selling."
While in Lyon lately, Giraud says, he was impressed by a couple of brasseries. He loved the vegetables at the one at Hotel Centrale. "All the vegetables were perfectly cooked, amazing." Did he glean any ideas he might use? "The steak tartare at Brasserie Georges," he says. "They make it tableside, but because it's so crowded, they do it right on the table, which was nice."
Late-summer opening plans turned to mid-October. But now it seems the Clocktower won't be turned over to the team until mid-November. "What it means is we have Thanksgiving, then after that December. The problem will be the staff. If they work in a nice place, you don't leave a place during the holidays. So that means January." Giraud plans to be at the restaurant "six months, eight months, all the time." After that he plans to open his own signature restaurant.
And finally: What will be the brasserie's name? "Ahem, ahem! Deadline for the name is soon!" says Giraud. "I think we give a different name to the restaurant each week. It's an embarrassing question. We have maybe 200 names. I like 'Brasserie du Marché,' but the accent on the E is a problem. I love 'the Clocktower,' but nobody likes it. 'Clocktower Brasserie!' 'Brasserie Brasserie!' If you think of a good name, call me!"
-- Leslie Brenner
Photo by Brian Vander Brug
 The last day of a vacation during which I didn't want to set foot outside Southern California. What more fitting finale than a relaxed late-morning visit to the Santa Monica farmers market? The chanterelles at David West's mushroom stand were gorgeous, so I bought a bunch of tiny ones. Josiah Citrin was there, too, buying some for his restaurant, Mélisse (that's him shown in the photo). What was he planning to do with them? "Dover sole," he said, with corn, almonds, the chanterelles and brown butter. Sounds fantastic. "I do it every year," he pointed out. 
As for me, I'll just sauté them with some shallots in a little butter, maybe swirl in a touch of crème fraîche, and toss it with fresh egg pasta. Or maybe fold them into an omelet.
-- Leslie Brenner
Photos by Leslie Brenner
 Everyone is talking about ratatouille — if not the dish, then the movie. Or maybe the dish in the movie, as it is reinvented (spoiler alert!) by one super-taster rodent. He wins over the creepy restaurant critic by slicing squash, eggplant and tomatoes very thin, layering them over a creamy compote of cooked onions and peppers, and then baking it. "Wait a minute!" shouted you Food section readers with unusually long memories. "That sounds familiar." And so it does. "Little Chef’s" creation comes courtesy of French Laundry chef and former Los Angeles Times columnist Thomas Keller, who was a consultant on the movie.
It’s the byaldi from his first cookbook, a home cook’s version of which appeared in his column in 2001. For those of you with poorly organized scrapbooks, here it is again, after the jump.
-- Russ Parsons
Photo by Robert Gauthier
Read on »
So, both Craft and Osteria Mozza opened on Friday night, and where did Craft chef Tom Colicchio eat late-night after manning the stoves and making the rounds at tables? He headed over to Osteria Mozza, of course.
While chef Nancy Silverton worked the mozzarella bar, Mario Batali sat down to dinner with family on Saturday night. The roast pork arista he was eating looked fantastic -- a thick slice of tender roast pork loin with a succulent edge of fat.
 Guess he needed his shoe back though, because it was gone from the case next to the door. Actually, they'll be posting the menu there now.
Craft Los Angeles, 10100 Constellation Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 279-4180. Osteria Mozza, 6602 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 297-0100.
-- Betty Hallock
Photo by Betty Hallock
 Last Saturday -- 7/7/07 -- must be a lucky day not just for brides and grooms, but for restaurateurs too: That's when Bar Hayama opened on Sawtelle Boulevard in the space formerly occupied by Sushi Sasabune. Apparently things are going swimmingly there so far -- if the mood at the sushi bar last night was any indication. The fish were just about jumping, and the place was hopping.
Anyone who's read Trevor Corson's recent book "The Zen of Fish" might fall off their chair when they get a load of the chefs behind the sushi bar. The head chef and owner -- center sushi bar -- is Toshi Sugiura, whose day job is president and CEO of the California Sushi Academy on Centinela. On the left is Zoran Lekic -- the school's fearsome head instructor. We sat on the right, with Suryo Husodo cutting tuna and squishing rice for us. Husodo graduated from the academy last fall. Out in front, around a square bar with a fire pit in the center, a bunch of students from the school were merrily downing sakes and popping dried gourd rolls.
The tone at the bar couldn't be more different than Sasabune. Sugiura-san plays the scary-fierce sushi chef, yelling "No soy sauce!" at blood-curdling levels. But he's a sweetheart, happy to mug for a snapshot, help out his former student with an order of iwashi (sardine) sushi or recommend a sake. Kanpai!
Bar Hayama, 1803 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 235-2000.
-- Leslie Brenner
Photos by Leslie Brenner
 I'd been meaning to check out the Santa Barbara branch of The Hungry Cat ever since it opened, about three months ago, if only to get off my well-beaten track from downtown to Sunset & Vine. And lo, chef-owner David Lentz was standing by the door when my friend and I walked in -- as were about six other people who had been loitering around the front, waiting for the place to open. Lentz seemed to be loitering himself, rather than cooking -- just chatting with guests and occasionally polishing the plates as they went out from the kitchen. But maybe he needed the break: With two restaurants and two new babies, he's got his hands full these days.
So what's on the menu? Boquerones on house-made flatbread (grilled on the wood-burning grill in the tiny open kitchen) with caramelized onions, arugula, fennel and olives. Grilled scallops with braised oxtail and curried cauliflower. Oysters on the half-shell and peel 'n' eat shrimp, of course. And an amazing bowl of braised clams and chorizo, also house-made, with grilled bread topped with a dab of aioli. It turns out that both Hungry Cats make their own chorizo, using a different recipe at each restaurant. Lentz said he gives the chefs at both places "the freedom to play with it." He also said they make their own bacon at the Hollywood branch. "The reason we're doing it all ourselves is quality -- and also it's fun." It's pretty fun to eat too.
The Hungry Cat, 1134 Chapala St., Santa Barbara; (805) 884-4701; 1535 N. Vine St., Los Angeles; (323) 462-2155.
-- Amy Scattergood
Photo by Amy Scattergood
 At L'Explorateur, a chic little restaurant in Indianapolis, I was amazed to find "crispy sweetbreads with bone marrow ice cream and herb purée" on the menu last weekend. Had to order it. Yup. It was bone marrow ice cream, all right. My son's appetizer of Hawaiian poke of seared tuna and octopus showed up with some intriguing powders to drag the tuna and octopus through -- coconut powder, soy sauce powder and smoked salt.
For my main course, I ordered omakase -- chef's choice. (That's right: In Indy, you can get it for just one course.) What was it? Surf n' turf! A huge (16 ounce?) bison rib-eye steak, with a salmon filet plunked right on top. Now that's molecular gastronomy!
-- Leslie Brenner
Photo by Leslie Brenner
I watched the season opener of "Top Chef 3: Miami" last night, vaguely hoping that it would be more fun than watching "Hell's Kitchen." (There is no joy in watching Gordon Ramsay's over-scripted brutalization of a bunch of inept child-chefs.) It was fun, and not just because it has far better production values. Because it has something else, something that has been terribly missing from this new breed of reality-competition television shows: irony.
Tom Colicchio, unlike Ramsay, seems to be aware that he's in the middle of something inherently absurd. He lifts his eyebrows and smiles through it, as though permanently amused by the often ridiculous spectacle before him. New host Ted Allen has the tongue-in-cheek thing down too, of course, since irony was pretty much a prerequisite for "Queer Eye." And Padma -- well, Padma's street cred for me comes solely from her status as Mrs. Salman Rushdie. Some appreciation for the absurd just has to rub off over dinner at home with her husband, doesn't it? (Full disclosure: I watched "Top Chef" while scanning my tattered copy of "Midnight's Children" for pickle recipes.)
But the most fun last night came not from watching super-tall Venice boy C.J. literally tower over the other competitors, or Hung, who is a sous chef at Guy Savoy Las Vegas, tower over them figuratively (we'll see; he's my pick to win). Nor did it come from watching Howie neglect to plate his frog legs in time (gasp) or Clay's predictable exit from the show as the first chef told to pack his knives and go. It came, of course, from repeat guest-judge Tony Bourdain. Say what you will about Bourdain, he's the funniest novelist-cum-chef around. And his irony meter is so high as to be unreadable. Poor Clay bore the brunt of much of this ("home cooking, but a home I wouldn't want to live in"; food he might eat in "economy class, Air Cambodia"). Finally, a sense of humor is as much in evidence as all those relentlessly plugged Kenmore products. Now if Alton Brown would just explain irony to the rest of the folks at the Food Network.
-- Amy Scattergood
 I went to grab a bite at Mozza yesterday late in the afternoon, my favorite time to go: It's never crowded then so you don't need a reservation, and there's kind of a languid feel to the place. Or at least as languid as you're going to get, given the signature rock music of a Batali establishment.
And you tend to run into interesting folks: The last time I went, salumi master Paul Bertolli was sitting at a nearby table. (Note to David Geffen: Stop trying to get a reservation and just swing by in the afternoon.) The menu included some lovely new apps, grilled asparagus wrapped in La Quercia speck, and corn al forno with lovage butter.
But what I really wanted was the lardo pizza, which had been absent the last time I was there, about a month ago. Mozza used to get its lardo from Mario's dad, Armandino, but chef Matt Molina decided to experiment with making his own. So they went into a kind of lardo limbo. This had been explained to me last month, as I was staring dejectedly at the lardo-pizza-shaped hole in the middle of my menu.
But lo, yesterday I unfolded the menu and there it was. And fifteen minutes later, it was on my plate, pale and recumbent upon the rosemary-strewn crust. It was amazing, creamy in texture and subtle in flavor. Molina says the key to lardo is, unsurprisingly, using great fat (he was mum on where he gets his), and that although some people make theirs with a little bit of meat still on it, he prefers a "cleaner" lardo, pure white and buttery, not too salty. Molina was quick to point out that not only is the lardo now house-made, but so is the baccalao (salt cod), guanciale (cured pork jowl), pancetta and fennel sausage. That's all good, of course, but the lardo is something else.
Pizzeria Mozza, 641 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 297-0101
-- Amy Scattergood
Photo by Amy Scattergood
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Pastry chef Danielle Keene has left BLT Steak, Laurent Tourondel's Sunset Boulevard steakhouse, for the joint kitchens of the Little Door and Little Next Door, on Beverly. Keene, who changed toques a month ago, was previously at Wilshire, in Santa Monica, where she started Ice Cream Shoppe Night. The Culver City-born, Sherman Oaks-bred chef says she wanted more menu flexibility — but that what she really wants is, unsurprisingly, an ice cream shop of her own. All in good time. Meanwhile, Keene, whose resume includes Water Grill, Campanile, AOC and Blair's, is busy making exquisite macarons (yesterday's included blueberry, raspberry, lavender and coconut-caramel), fig and hazelnut poundcake, strawberry-hazelnut Linzer cookies — and pistachio-lemon semifreddo, since the restaurant doesn't have an ice cream machine. Yet. When Nicolas Peter, chef at both the Little Door and Little Next Door, got back in town after a week on the East Coast, Keene said she greeted him warmly: "How was your vacation? When are we getting the ice cream maker?" 
This morning at the Santa Monica farmers market, I bumped into newly appointed 
noelle.carter@latimes.com
Betty Hallock is assistant Food editor and joined the Times in 2002. She formerly worked at the Wall Street Journal in New York. betty.hallock@latimes.com
Susan LaTempa is the Times' acting Food editor. susan.latempa@latimes.com
Rene Lynch is a Times Web deputy and staff writer. rene.lynch@latimes.com
Russ Parsons writes "The California Cook" column for the Times' Food section. He is also the author of “How to Read a French Fry” and the newly published "How to Pick a Peach." russ.parsons@latimes.com
Amy Scattergood is a Times staff writer and “The Saucier” columnist. Scattergood grew up in Iowa, has degrees in theology, poetry and cooking, and, when she isn't writing about food, is trying to get her two young daughters to cook it themselves. amy.scattergood@latimes.com
S. Irene Virbila is the Times' Restaurant Critic. virbila@latimes.com