It's time for lunch -- school lunch, that is

Thirty million children eat school lunch every day. A pretty big captive audience, and plenty of healthy-food advocates want to see some changes in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.

So what do food people do when they want to make a statement? They do it with food, naturally. Slow Food USA has organized "Time for Lunch," a campaign to draw attention to school food. Around the country, almost 270 pot luck "eat-ins" are planned on Sept. 7, in schools, community gardens, parks, homes and other spots. One goal is to get 20,000 people to sign a petition to the federal government asking for changes in the school food programs.

“We want to tell the story of America coming together to demand food that’s good for their kids,” said Slow Food’s president, Josh Viertel.

For Viertel and others, that means more fresh fruits and vegetables and more federal money for schools to buy food -- many child nutrition advocates would like to see $1 a day per child more -- reimbursements are now less than $3 for each free lunch a cafeteria serves.

One of the Los Angeles events will be at 4 p.m. at Fancifull Fine Food and Baskets, on Melrose Avenue near Larchmont. Computers will be available for people to sign the Slow Food petition, and there will be cooking demonstrations for children by Homegirl Cafe. People are asked to bring a dish to share.

Other eat-ins are planned in Elysian Park, Culver City, Highland Park and elsewhere around L.A.

Many educators now see the cafeteria as a part of a child’s learning, and food services officials are listening to students’ opinions about food they’re served, said Matt Sharp of California Food Policy Advocates. And decision-makers are tying what kids eat at school to their long-term health and to the costs of treating conditions associated with obesity, including high blood pressure and diabetes.

Julia Child has a bestseller, but her recipes may be tweaked by a health-conscious populace

The New York Times ran an interesting story Sunday that is still topping its most e-mailed list. It's titled, "After 48 Years, Julia Child Has a Big Best Seller, Butter and All." It explores the Julia mania that has struck the country since the release of the film "Julie & Julia." Apparently, hordes of people are leaving theaters and running to bookstores to buy copies of Child's 48-year-old cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

The book will debut at No. 1 on the New York Times' Aug. 30 bestseller list in the advice and how-to category:

Amazing not just because the book is almost half a century old, costs $40 and contains 752 pages of labor-intensive and time-consuming recipes — the art of French cooking is indeed hard to master — but also for what those recipes contain.

In a decade when cookbooks promise 20-minute dinners that are light on calories, Ms. Child’s recipes feature instructions like “thin out with more spoonfuls of cream” (Veau Prince Orloff, or veal with onions and mushrooms, pages 355-7) or “sauté the bacon in the butter for several minutes” (Navets à la Champenoise, or turnip casserole, pages 488-9). And for a generation raised to believe that Jell-O should have marshmallows in it, there is plenty of aspic — the kind made with meat.

The story contains a particularly humorous anecdote from a shocked reader, Melissah Bruce-Weiner, who simply couldn't bring herself to make Child's boeuf bourguignon recipe as it was written. Instead of using pork fat, she used a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of French onion soup and a can of red wine and called her creation “beef fauxguignon.”

“Yes, Julia Child rolled over in her grave when I opened the cream of mushroom soup, I’m pretty sure of that. But you know what? That’s our world," said Bruce-Weiner.

Maybe some saucy young writer will now come along and blog about modifying every single recipe in Child's seminal book. That might make for a good sequel -- even if for some Child fans it would seem more like a horror film.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: Associated Press / Knopf

All'Angelo on Melrose has closed

All'Angelo, the Italian restaurant on Melrose Avenue owned by Stefano Ongaro, has closed its doors. Ongaro opened the restaurant in January 2007 but today announced by e-mail that "All'Angelo is no longer in business."

"Like many other restaurants here in this city and across the country we have become a victim of this unpredictable economy, and despite all of our efforts we are no longer able to keep our doors open," Ongaro wrote.

Earlier this year Ongaro had transformed All'Angelo, well-received by critics, from a higher-end ristorante into a lower-priced trattoria, cut staff, started delivery service and assumed many of the tasks of running the restaurant himself. But apparently it wasn't enough to buoy business.

"I was looking at the situation last week," Ongaro said when reached by phone. "I needed an injection of capital, but it was impossible in this economy. There's nothing really we can do. There just wasn't enough business to sustain the day-to-day operation. That's the bottom line." 

Ongaro said that he would like to thank his customers. From his e-mail: "All' Angelo was my dream, and I took great joy in sharing this dream and the tastes of my native Venice with all of you. Hopefully our paths will cross again soon, in better times."

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Stefano Ongaro at All'Angelo. Credit: Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times

Does the Whole Foods boycott stand a chance?

Poor old Whole Foods Market. As if that "Whole Paycheck" joke wasn't mean enough, now there are lots of shoppers who say they won't go there to buy things anymore.

To recap: On Aug. 11,  the Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece by the company's chief executive, John Mackey, in which he spoke against deeper government involvement in the nation's healthcare. mericans, he said, should be responsible for their own health. Like, for example, by eating healthy food (of the kind Whole Foods sells). 

"While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment," Mackey wrote.

That editorial led to a call for a Whole Foods boycott by a group called (aptly enough) Boycott Whole Foods. It says its membership now stands at more than 20,000. Read more here.

Small Bites: Foxtail closes, Capitol City Sports Grill opening soon, Pig 'n Whistle coming downtown

Eater L.A. reports that SBE's much-hyped Foxtail has closed for what reps dub a "fabulous remodel" and will "reopen soon under a new name." Foxtail debuted in March of last year (so it didn't take long for it to lose its sizzle). At first it was a French bistro downstairs with "Top Chef" contestant Antonia Lofaso at the stove, and an elite upstairs lounge with a back entrance. The restaurant never really caught on, so management shut the kitchen down. Interestingly, and perhaps against the odds, the club (which, as I wrote last year, "was a joint venture between Sam Nazarian and Brent Bolthouse, along with four of their most powerful friends: director Brett Ratner, NBC Entertainment co-Chairman Ben Silverman, producer Scott Stuber and super agent Patrick Whitesell") never did become what its founders envisioned: an intimate den where Hollywood's elite power players could unwind. Maybe its next incarnation will be.

After almost a monthlong delay, Capitol City Sports Grill expects to officially open its doors on or around Labor Day weekend. Walk-throughs are being offered and the menu of upscale bar food, written by chef Shad Davis (Belmont, Stone Fire Pizza) is close to being released. The space, which was formerly Goa, features huge sliding glass doors that will create an indoor-outdoor effect. It also boasts an astounding 40 plasma TV screens, all of which are over 60 inches. The largest HD screen is in the main bar -- it's 14 by 8 feet. Apparently this won't add up to sonic chaos because the place features five "studio zones" where you will hear only your game. If that's not enough, you can request wireless speakers to use at your table. Completing the ultimate sports fanatic scene: 30 beers on tap and an additional 30 to 40 in bottles. Touchdown! Capitol City Sports Grill, 1615 N. Cahuenga Blvd., L.A. 

Finally, Blogdowntown reports that Pig 'n Whistle owner Chris Breed is close to finalizing a deal to return the Pig 'n Whistle to the location it occupied between 1926 and 1952 in downtown's Fine Arts building on 7th Street. "Inside, Breed plans to focus restoration efforts on the space's historic ceiling. He envisions an 'old world feel' with dark wood and historically-authentic tiles, similar to the Hollywood decor," the post says. But it also says the realization of this plan hinges on the acquisition of a conditional-use permit from the Zoning Administration. And that, most restaurateurs know, can certainly push your plans back a bit more than you'd like.

-- Jessica Gelt

Artist rendering: Capitol City Grill

Small Bites: DineLA's fall Restaurant Week, Bruni-o-rama, weekends at the Palihouse

Here we go again: DineLA will launch its first fall Restaurant Week in October, and if you've been following @dine_LA on Twitter, you may have noticed the list of participating restaurants getting longer and longer (see the current list below). The latest participants include Akasha, Spago Beverly Hills, the Foundry on Melrose and Campanile. It's no wonder that restaurants are jumping on the bandwagon when this year's earlier Restaurant Week was a hit with anyone (everyone) whose dining-out habits were squeezed by the recession. Participating restaurants offer special deals on three-course meals. "We’re thrilled with the response to the first-ever fall dineLA Restaurant Week," says Carrie Kommers, director of dineLA. "Obviously, there is still a demand from the restaurant community for a program that drives increased traffic to them and creates awareness of LA’s incredible dining scene. Doing this twice a year was an easy decision.”

All Bruni, all the time: (Former) New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni will appear on ABC's "Good Morning America" this morning at 7 a.m., following this week's interview on Nightline, in which he reviewed the Choco Taco. Bruni's been busy on the interview circuit, also discussing his book "Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater" with the New Yorker and Time Out. 

Weekends at Palihouse: Brendan Collins, chef at the Hall at Palihouse Holloway, rolls out Saturday brunch, served 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Omelets, filet mignon and eggs, smoked salmon terrine and moules frites are on the menu. Earlier this summer, he started Roast Sunday Lunch, featuring roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, toad in the hole, fish & chips, and wild mushroom and potato pie -- and sticky toffee pudding and Canterbury burnt cream for dessert. 8465 Holloway Drive, West Hollywood, (323) 656-4020, www.thehallbrasserie.com. 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo credit: Spago Beverly Hills

Virtual cooking is a hit on Facebook

Tom Byron's restaurant, Pink Castle, is shaped like a giant nouveau castle, painted cotton candy pink and topped with blue fairy-tale turrets. The inside resembles an old-fashioned diner with comfy booths, checkered floors, balloons, video games and festive salsa music on the jukebox. Its most famous dish is a Pink Burger.

Pink Castle has been such a success for Byron that he says he'd like to franchise it. On Facebook.

"I think we all have harbored ideas of starting our own restaurant because it seems easy. Until you talk to the relative who opened a restaurant and owned a restaurant and you realize: Keep it virtual," says Byron, devoted player of the 5-month-old Facebook gaming sensation Restaurant City.

Byron, 47, is one of more than 10 million monthly users of the game, and Pink Castle is one of 10 million virtual restaurants that have been opened since the game launched. Restaurant City was created by Playfish, a company that specializes in social games for platforms including Facebook, MySpace, Google and iPhone. The game is the second-most popular in Playfish's portfolio, and the fastest growing.

To read the rest of Jessica Gelt's story, click here.

Photo credit: Playfish

If you seek a Mountain Dew, L.A. County machines just won't do

Before the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to make the food in most of its vending machines more healthful, it heard from people who wanted to comment on the idea. Among them was the director of recreation and community services for the city of Baldwin Park, Manuel Carrillo.

Baldwin Park passed a similar motion in 2003, and it has since taken several other actions to improve the health of its residents. According to Marlen Garcia, a City Council member, the city has many young families that need education and assistance in finding ways to buy and eat nutritious food.

In L.A. County, 400 to 500 vending machines will be required to offer only choices that meet guidelines set by the state for machines and student stores in schools. The guidelines limit fat and sugar in foods, among other things.

When Baldwin Park switched vending machine choices from fried chips to baked, and from soda to water (sports drinks are still there  too), there was some griping from adults but not from young people, Carrillo said. Initially, there was a slight decline in revenue, “but it quickly returned to normal revenue,” he said after the vote.

“If someone is thirsty after they play in a basketball game, it really doesn’t matter,” he said, adding that they’ll take a sports drink or water if soda is not available.

And he should know: All that health information prompted him to cut down on sodas, change his eating habits and exercise more. He lost 30 pounds.

-- Mary MacVean

Photo: Maribel Carmona buys a drink at Santa Ana City Hall. Photo by Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times

Zester Daily now online

Former Los Angeles Times staff writer Corie Brown has launched food and wine website Zester Daily with the help of other contributors from L.A. and beyond. The website covers cooking, restaurants, wine and beer, gardening and farming, politics, health and the environment. Currently, look for stories about a lobster turf war in Maine, the quest for the Mexican herb epazote, and the struggles of Niki's in Portland, Ore., a Greek diner that has lost some of its cultural currency in "a town gone mad for hipster hangouts." Finally, news of something amiss in the Portland food scene.

-- Betty Hallock 

No tomato shortage here: tomato conserva revisited

I feel for Northeasterners who are suffering a tomato shortage and are having to resort to B.L.P.s (that would be bacon, lettuce and plum sandwiches). But I'm also grateful that we aren't enduring the same here in California. And so this year, I won't forget to make tomato conserva.

In an article from a few years back, Max Withers was inspired to preserve the essence of tomatoes by the late Patience Gray's "Honey From a Weed," in which she described Puglian salsa secca, the strained puree of tomatoes, left out to concentrate in the Mediterranean sun.

Armed with a Paul Bertolli recipe (see the jump), he turned 20 pounds of tomatoes into 4 to 5 pints of tomato conserva. (You can make the stuff with as little as 5 pounds of tomatoes.) The pureed tomatoes cook for several hours in the oven. During that time, you need to stir the tomatoes periodically, but like Withers says, "If you need a nap, just shut off the oven until you get up. After all, the plates of salsa secca that adorn Puglian rooftops have to rest when the sun goes down."

-- Betty Hallock