Duff Goldman to open Cakemix on Melrose

Duff’s Cakemix is about to open on Melrose Avenue this week, a decorate-your-own cake shop from celeb baker Duff Goldman. (Think Color Me Mine or Build-A-Bear, but with cakes.) 

It's next door to Charm City Cakes West -- the L.A. outpost of the Baltimore bakery featured in the Food Network's reality-gateau show “Ace of Cakes” -- which isn't open to the public. 

Cakemix, on the other hand, is for anyone off the street who wants to go crazy with a pastry bag of buttercream. The shop also will sell whole already-decorated cakes, cakes by the slice and coffee. 

Would-be decorators get a baked cake with their choice of cake and frosting flavors. (It costs $36 for a 6-inch cake or $52 for a 9-incher; cupcakes are available, too.) Then have at it with buttercream, fondant, food coloring and sprinkles. Airbrush it in the "airbrush shower," even. 

“It’s for people who’ve never decorated a cake before and want to get creative,” Goldman says.

Click here to read more about Duff's Cakemix.  

Duff’s Cakemix, 8302 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 650-5555. 

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-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Duff Goldman cuts fondant to decorate a cake. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

5 Questions for Mark Gold [updated]

Mark Gold is chef-owner of Eva restaurant on Beverly Boulevard and recently was consulting chef at the new Sadie LA in Hollywood. At Eva he's known for his refined, Southern California market-fresh approach. Sadie LA's menu might be described as Los Angeles comfort food -- salads and roasted vegetables, mezze and fried chicken. Gold also has installed a new chef de cuisine at Eva who has just wrapped up a stint at Noma in Copenhagen; expect some surprises. 

What’s coming up next on your menu? Well, we just hired a new chef de cuisine at Sadie LA, Jacob Takehiro Kear, who had spent some time at Noma, so I have a feeling a lot of foraged items. And I love geoduck! More Japanese wild fish.

Latest ingredient obsession? My latest obsession is shiro dashi. We use it to season our fish, cook our vegetables and to finish certain soups or sauces. It is our secret ingredient that gives the food that umami finish.

What restaurant do you find yourself going to again and again? With two kids and not a lot of time, we tend to go to more casual places. We like Osteria Mamma and Mozza, of course! For breakfast we love Amelia's on Main Street in Santa Monica.

The one piece of kitchen equipment you can’t live without, other than your knives? My Japanese ceramic shoyu sashi [vessels for soy sauce]. I have two of them -- one (brown) for my soy sauce and one (white) for my shiro dashi.

The last cookbook you read –- and what inspired you to pick it up? "Anton Le Pre Catalan" by Frederic Anton. Michael Cimarusti had told me about it and it is very inspiring. Beautiful food.

Eva, 7458 Beverly Blvd., (323) 634-0700, Los Angeles, www.evarestaurantla.com. Sadie LA, 1638 N. La Palmas Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 467-0200, www.sadiela.com.

[Updated Monday at 10:30 a.m.: An earlier version of this post stated that Gold was currently consulting chef at Sadie LA; he is not. To clarify, Kear is chef de cuisine at Eva restaurant.]

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-- Betty Hallock

Photo credit: Beth Herzhaft Photography

5 Questions for Bernhard Mairinger

Bernhard Mairinger is the executive chef of Bierbeisl in Beverly Hills. Working from a tiny kitchen, the 6'7" chef from a town near Salzburg turns out contemporary versions of Austrian classics. Crisp fried pork schnitzel, heady veal gulash and juicy sausages along with dishes such as venison loin with braised red cabbage and desserts such as kaiserschmarrn, a warm souffle-like pancake served with fresh fruit compote. Oh, and he says anyone taller than he is (you must be measured at the restaurant) gets one free meal during the month of July. Seriously.

What’s coming up next on your menu? New twists of our classic desserts –- sachertorte and kaiserschmarrn. Also an additional fruit strudel with cherries from Washington state. 

Latest ingredient obsession? Meyer lemons. After I discovered this incredible produce from Limoneira Ranch, I started playing with them for new dishes. Love 'em!

What restaurant do you find yourself going to again and again? Robata Jinya [on 3rd Street at Crescent Heights]. Simply the best ramen in town.

What’s your favorite breakfast? Leberkässemmel -- a roll with a baked veal loaf inside, a little bit of mustard spread on top ... perfect breakfast.

The last cookbook you read –- and what inspired you to pick it up? "Viennese Cooking," one of the oldest and best Austrian cookbooks. I love to play with these classic recipes!

9669 Little Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 271-7274, www.bierbeisl-la.com.

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-- Betty Hallock

Photo credit: Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times

The apéritif hour: Chopped chicken livers on toast

When I got hold of April Bloomfield’s new book “A Girl and Her Pig,” I zeroed right in on the Brit chef’s recipe for chopped chicken liver on toast. Just looking at the picture, I could tell this would be a definitive recipe. And it is. I expected no less from the chef and co-owner of the New York City gastropub Spotted Pig.

I made the recipe, which calls for 1/2 pound of chicken livers, which is just enough to spread on four toasts yesterday. And I have to confess, as soon as I was done snapping the photo, I gobbled up two of them with a glass of white Rioja. The flavors are so pure, with just a backbeat of sweetness from the port and a bit of nuttiness from the Madeira. I can see these toasts with a glass of Madeira, too. A great way to stave off hunger if dinner is a ways off.

I’ll let Bloomfield explain the recipe: “A staple at the Spotted Pig, this creamy, still slightly chunky mash of lovely, iron-y livers on toast makes a fine snack, but it’s substantial enough to hold you over while you wait for a friend or a table. Just the thing too, with a glass of wine. The liver mixture is a touch sweet from the Port and the browned garlic and shallots, with a whisper of acidity from the Madeira. Best of all, it takes just a moment to make. Be sure you get a nice color on the livers when you cook them. (I like them slightly pink on the inside for this dish). Be sure to take in the aroma as they cook -- toasty browning liver is one of my favorite smells.”

“I’m not much for pomp on the plate, for presentation that says, 'Look how pretty!' ... I like food to look as if the arrangement were almost accidental, as if it all dropped from above and happened to pile elegantly on the plate.”

That said, it’s hard to make chopped chicken liver look like a beauty queen. It is what it is -- earthy and primal. And Bloomfield’s version is one of the best I’ve tried, right up there with AOC’s Tuscan-style chicken liver crostini. You might want to try both side by side to see which your guests like best.

2012 San Sebastian Gastronomika kicks off Oct. 7

Start planning now! The 2012 San Sebastian Gastronomika kicks off Oct. 7. And this time the French are coming as the Spanish Basque gastronomy conference pays tribute to “the country that brought us Carême (a.k.a. 'the king of chefs and the chef of kings'), Escoffier and Nouvelle Cuisine.” 

Who’s crossing the border for the 13th annual event? So far super-chefs Alain Senderens, Pierre Gagnaire, Michel Bras and Alain Passard. Representing the great legendary restaurants, Anne-Sophie Pic (the only woman in France to have obtained three Michelin stars) and Michel Troisgros and for the new wave bistros, Iñaki Aizpitarte of Le Chateaubriand and Yves Camdeborde of Le Comptoir. Many more chefs, both young and in mid-career are promised, including a strong contingent of pâtissiers from France. Could that mean macaron king Pierre Hermé?

And those stellar names are just the guests of honor. With Spanish Basque chefs so much in the news and on the check lists of gastronomes around the world, the San Sebastian food event draws top chefs from all over the globe to participate, hobnob with friends, and fan out to eat in San Sebastian’s best restaurants. For participants, there will be workshops, classes and lectures, plus bartenders competing in the 2nd International Gin and Tonic Contest. 

With five months left to go, the program is still in the planning stages. One piece of advice: If you think you might like to attend, make a hotel reservation now. You can always cancel. The site has a list of hotels and bed and breakfasts starting at 80 euros (about $98).

For more information on the Oct. 7 to 10 conference, go to www.sansebastiangastronomika.com.

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Photos: 2011 San Sebastian Gastronomika. Credit: San Sebastian Gastronomika

5 Questions for Candace Nelson

Candace Nelson is a pastry chef and founder of the Sprinkles Cupcakes bakeries, the first of which she opened on Little Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills. There are now 10 Sprinkles in the U.S., with more opening overseas. Nelson last week opened the first Sprinkles Ice Cream shop two doors down from the Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills (in between is the Sprinkles cupcake ATM, which dispenses cupcakes to go). The ice cream shop serves ice cream by the cone (including red velvet cones), pints, sundaes and ice cream sandwiches made with cookies or cupcake tops.  

What’s coming up next on your menu? Ice cream, cookies, brownies!

Latest ingredient obsession? Chocolate. Is it ever not? I'm especially excited about American craft chocolate Tcho, which we are incorporating into many of our Sprinkles ice cream menu items. The flavor profiles of their chocolate run from fruity and nutty to "chocolatey" and caramelly, solely from the beans and roasting process not from any added ingredients.

The last cookbook you read -– and what inspired you to pick it up? "Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies" by Alice Medrich -- for inspiration. I used to take classes with Alice Medrich in San Francisco. She studies ingredients and reinvents technique for the simplest of baked goods. Her classes were always illuminating and her cookbooks are a revelation.

What’s the last non-food-related book you read? "The Year of Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion. It's a reminder to appreciate your loved ones everyday, in even the most mundane moments.

What chef has influenced you most? Janet Rikala Dalton. She was my pastry chef instructor at Tante Marie's Cooking School in San Francisco and has been a friend and mentor ever since. She was Wolfgang Puck's pastry chef at Postrio for many years. Since then she has created the dessert menus at many of the most esteemed San Francisco restaurants. She is a fantastic pastry chef and a geniune and generous person.

Sprinkles, 9635 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-8765, www.sprinklescupcakes.com. Sprinkles Ice Cream, 9631 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-7890, www.sprinklesicecream.com.  

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Here's what's rotting at David Chang's Momofuku lab

Object of Desire: Beef noodle stew

-- Betty Hallock

Photo credit: Sprinkles Cupcakes

Here's what's rotting at David Chang's Momofuku kitchen lab

"Microbes equal flavor." Words to live by, especially if your life is David Chang's. The Momofuku/Ssäm Bar/Ko/Má Pêche chef a couple of years ago turned a 200-square-foot room into a culinary lab where he's currently exploring "microbial terroir" by pickling, curing and fermenting whatever he can get his hands on. "We've just been letting stuff rot," says Chang, who, along with collaborator Dan Felder, led a lecture on Thursday at UCLA, part of its Food and Science series. "We're the kings of rotten stuff."  

So here are some things rotting in the Momofuku kitchen lab: 

Pork: Butabushi -- it's the pork version of katsuobushi, the Japanese dried, smoked, fermented bonito ("a genius ingredient right up there with puff pastry," says Chang). Pork loin is steamed, smoked and "left to rot." The first time he made it, it was "a technicolor weird thing" covered with mold. "I wondered, am I dying as I'm breathing this in?'" But when cut into, it was the same amber as katsuobushi, and just as delicious, according to Chang. The hard part has been replicating it. 

Rabbit: Seven- to 21-day dry-aged rabbit. "It's got a really strange funk to it. It smells gnarly."  

Chicken: Chickenbushi. Look for the -bushi trend. Chang says Sean Brock at Husk in Charleston, S.C., is making scallopbushi.

Fish: Fish sauce. "The lab -- it smells really funny in there." Salt is added to chopped fish (including the guts) and, again, left to rot. For five months. "The smell is extraordinary." 

Legumes and grains: Chang and his team are cultivating koji on grains such as barley and basmati rice by steaming, inoculating and incubating it. The ensuing mold is used to make miso, traditionally made with soybeans. Chang et al. are experimenting with chickpea miso and even pistachio and pine nut miso. "Chickpea miso tastes like parmesan." With the help of a high-speed centrifuge belonging to New York University microbiologists, they can get pistachio, pine nut and chickpea tamari, too.

Fruit: Vinegars. "Balsamic vinegar is crazy to me. Anybody who's been to Modena knows what I'm talking about. I want to make the good stuff, the rotten stuff." So Chang has set out to to make his own vinegars with New York apples (again, it's all about microbes and terroir). "Rotting fruits. I really wish we could capture the smell of this place for you." 

Lardo: A side project is sprinkling barley koji powder and salt on lardo to cure it and give it "a funky dry-aged flavor."

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Mo-Chica to open May 30: Here's the menu

Ricardo Zarate says he's looking forward to grilling paiche, an Amazonian river fish that can weigh up to 500 pounds, in his new kitchen at downtown Mo-Chica, set to open May 30. The original Mo-Chica located in the Mercado de Paloma closed on Thursday, and its new incarnation on 7th Street is a more extensive vision of Zarate's take on traditional Peruvian dishes and ingredients.

"I want to cook with ingredients that are meaningful to me," he says. Expect alpaca stew and an alpaca-lamb burger, and sometime in the not-too-distant future, guinea pig. "Maybe with a peanut sauce." 

Pan con atun is a take on a traditional Peruvian breakfast dish -- grilled bread with tuna. "I remember eating it [as a kid] before going to school," Zarate says. "There are a lot of traditional dishes that I try to modernize just a little to introduce them to an American audience." So far, the new menu is twice as big as the original Mo-Chica menu (click on the jump for the full list.)

Meanwhile, Brian Summers and Deysi Alvarez have created a concise drinks list of cocktails with names that riff on pop songs: Papa Don't Peach with peach-infused Calvados, rum, lemon juice and peach syrup; Oaxacalifornia Love with mezcal, blanco tequila, Alvarez's house-made pineapple-rocoto gomme syrup and lime juice; and Tha Doggfather, their version of a Pisco sour. 

514 W. 7th St., Los Angeles, (213) 622-3744, www.mo-chica.com.

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Sang Yoon debuts Private Kitchen for Chris Cosentino cookbook

Sang Yoon is throwing a dinner party at his new Private Kitchen on May 31 in honor of chef Chris Cosentino's new cookbook. Cosentino, of Incanto and Boccalone Salumeria in San Francisco and Pigg in Los Angeles, has just published "Beginnings: My Way to Start a Meal" and will be there to sign books, which will be available for purchase.

A welcome reception will feature the Bloody Roman (Cosentino's take on a bloody mary with beer and an oyster) and passed salumi cones and lardo-wrapped fruit from Boccalone. The family-style dinner will feature several courses from the cookbook along with wine pairings: marinated sardine and nduja crostini; fava beans, strawberries and Pecorino salad; braised pork and clams; asparagus, spring potatoes, crème fraîche and caviar; warm cherries with saba zabaglione.

Held on the enclosed patio of Yoon's test kitchen at Helm's Bakery, the dinner kicks off an inaugural series of upcoming events. The dinner is $90 per person and takes place at 8:30 p.m. Limited seating; contact host@lukshon.com or (310) 202-6808 to purchase tickets. 

Sang Yoon's Private Kitchen Patio at Helm's Bakery, 8758 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles. 

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Photo: "Beginnings: My Way to Start a Meal." Credit: Olive Press.

5 Questions for Taylor Boudreaux

Taylor Boudreaux is the executive chef at Napa Valle Grille in Westwood. Boudreaux helped open several Los Angeles restaurants including Mastro's Steakhouse before being recruited to work as the corporate executive chef of Wolfgang Puck Worldwide. At Napa Valley Grille, Boudreaux emphasizes the importance of locally grown produce and "tries to keep up with Mother Nature and what's in season." 

What's coming up next on your menu? We will be featuring artichokes, fava beans, pea tendrils, asparagus, apricots and cherries. This is the time of year where it gets to be a lot of fun at the markets.

Latest ingredient obsession? Our house-made pasta. I love it. I love the texture, the flavor and how versatile it is. I'm working on a morel pasta dish that I think will be delicious.

What restaurant do you find yourself going to again and again? When I can sneak out of the restaurant, I go over to 800 Degrees and get the picante pizza.  

The last cookbook you read -- and what inspired you to pick it up? "The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market Cookbook." My mother gave it to me for Christmas. It's a great jumping off place for me. 

What chef has most influenced you? Charles Schwerd taught me how to run a kitchen. He had the mechanics down. Very methodical and very business-minded. I was then lucky that very late in my career I was hired by Wolfgang Puck to run his casual restaurants. As part of my training with him, I worked at Spago. It was an incredible experience. I learned an incredible amount from his chefs Sherry Yard, Matt Bencivenga and Tetsu Yahagi. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

1100 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, (310) 824-3322, www.napavalleygrille.com.

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Photo: Taylor Boudreaux. Credit: Napa Valley Grille.