Wine Spectator and more food and wine mags now on Zinio

Wine buffs can now get Wine Spectator on Zinio, the digital newsstand, for $49.95 per 15 issues. Not to worry, the print magazine isn’t going anywhere, at least not yet. Those who like to show off their interest in wine by displaying copies of the large format mag on a coffee table will still be able to do it. But Zinio makes it possible to carry the latest issue(s) around with you to read whenever a few spare moments show up in your day.

It turns out Wine Spectator is not the only such publication going digital. It joins more than 50 wine and spirits titles already available on the service. Fifty? These include “Wine Enthusiast” (13 issues, $12.99) and the British wine magazine “Decanter” (12 issues, $51.35). French speakers can subscribe to “Cuisine et Vins de France” (6 issues, $13.30). Spanish speakers can get “El Gourmet from Argentina” (11 issues, $69.99). There’s a handful of Japanese wine mags, too.

The site is stuffed with food magazines, some 15 pages of them, many of limited interest. But the real finds here are “Donna Hay” magazine  from Australia (3 for $13.41), “Cucina Italiana US” (7 for $14.95), and “Cuisine & Wine Asia” (6 for $13.99). A digital subscription to "Saveur" doesn't offer much savings: it's $19.99 for 9 issues.  I think I’ll have to skip “Yummy 100 Everyday Recipes” ($3.99) among the stand-alones.

Missing in action: "Gault-Millau" mag from France. But I did find in the travel section, “Travel + Leisure India & South Asia” at the bargain price of $5.31 for 12 digital issues. The regular mag costs more, 12 issues for $29.99. I was actually hoping to find Australia’s excellent “Gourmet Traveler,” but no dice. 

I expect more titles will be added in the future. I'm wondering, though, just how many subscribers could  “Private Islands” possibly have? 

 To register for Zinio, the iOS or Android app can be downloaded at iTunes.

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-- S. Irene Virbila
Twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Cover of Wine Spectator, courtesy of M. Shanken Communications

 

Loam Baby, a new wine journal

A couple of weeks ago, I checked my mailbox at The Times and found a new wine journal lurking therein. It's called Loam Baby, a Wine Culture Journal, written and published by an anonymous author under the pseudonym R. H. Drexel. 

Given the bare-bones layout and paper quality, I don't think you’d have any problem identifying the 66-page booklet as self-published. The name intrigued me, though, and I opened up the inaugural Santa Barbara County issue to find an interview with winemaker Greg Brewer (Diatom, Brewer-Clifton, Melville) illustrated with a low-tech photo of the lauded winemaker showing off the intricate octopus tattoo that covers his shoulder and arm, more photos of his various tattoos, even one with the winemaker taking a shower (discreetly cropped). Enough to make you feel like a Peeping Tom.

Silly or what? 

But I started reading and liked the meandering nature of the conversation: It seemed real and not much edited, and I got a sense of Brewer that I hadn't gotten from other interviews or profiles I'd read. 

This first journal also includes an interview with Mike Bonaccorsi's widow, Jenne, who has been running Bonaccorsi Wine Company since his death in 2004. The article, though, is mostly about her Labrador retriever, Masseto (with adorable pictures). It seems both woman and dog completely charmed the author.

There’s more: an article on outspoken winemaker Deborah Hall of Gypsy Canyon Winery, who, it turns out, is also a fledgling beekeeper. A story on "Things we love about Santa Barbara," plus a quirky suggested playlist from Rick Longoria of Longoria Winery. Mad for music, he's strung tunes together to play for a trip through the Santa Maria Valley ("Goblin' Girl" from Frank Zappa, "Sittin’ on a Fence" from the Rolling Stones, "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds" from Sons of the Pioneers, to name a few). He got so carried away, he created playlists for the Santa Ynez Valley, the Santa Rita hills and Happy Canyon too.

My favorite story? The tale of Chad Melville's candy apple red 1972 Volkswagen Transporter.

You can read it online at http://loambaby.com/ or buy a hard copy on the site for $11, including shipping.

Questions? Currently, Loam Baby does not tweet, tumble or Facebook, according to the website. But you can contact the author at RH@loambaby.com or by snail mail at 4225 Solano Ave., No. 643, Napa, Calif. 94558, which Google says is a UPS store. But having the address means that if you really, really want to know who's behind this new wine journal, you can hang out in front and make like Raymond Chandler, waiting for someone to pick up the mail from Box 643.

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-- S. Irene Virbila
twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Photo: Loam Baby cover. Credit: R. H. Drexel

 

L.A. has a winner among Food & Wine's Best New Chefs

This evening Food & Wine magazine will toast the winners of their 24th(!) annual Best New Chefs award. Every year the editors, along with food writers and restaurant critics, pick 10 promising young chefs from across the country. 

This year Southern California has one winner: Bryant Ng of the Spice Table in Little Tokyo, cited for marrying Southeast Asian street food to California cuisine. He will join Corey Lee of Benu in San Francisco; Danny Grant of RIA in Chicago; Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi of Torrisi Italian Specialties; Dan Kluger of ABC Kitchen in New York; and Blaine Wetzel of The Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Wash. With Ng, that makes six, plus another duo, Erik Anderson and Josh Habiger of (love the name!) the Catbird Seat in Nashville; Karen Nicolas of Equinox in Washington, D.C.; Jenn Louis of Lincoln Restaurant in Portland, Ore; and Cormac Mahoney of Madison Park Conservatory in Seattle.

This year’s winners will be wined and dined Tuesday night by past winners including Daniel Boulud of Daniel, Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, Shea Gallante of Ciano and George Mendes of Aldea, all in New York City. 

Since no L.A. chef under 30 made it from semi-finalist to finalist for the James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef of the Year, this recognition is especially sweet.

Go Spice Table! And enjoy yourself tonight, Chef Ng. Well deserved.

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 -- S. Irene Virbila
Twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Photo: Bryant Ng at the grill at the Spice Table. Credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

 

A sneak peek at the new Bon Appetit

Look for Bon Appetit to get a hefty dose of "buzziness." That's the overall impression new editor Adam Rapoport gives in an interview with Women's Wear Daily. “We need to tap into popular culture and have a buzziness,” he tells Amy Wicks, but continues: “I don’t want to get away from the foundation of it all — time-tested cooking advice — but we need to have a relevance for right now.”

Rapoport, the former style editor of GQ, was brought in by parent company Conde Nast to remake Bon Appetit, including moving it physically from its longtime Wilshire Boulevard headquarters in Los Angeles to Manhattan.

The first full issue under his watch will be in May and will focus on Italian cooking. A photo of the cover shows headlines such as: "Pizza! Pasta! Gelato!: C'mon, how could your kids not love Rome?" and "Cucina Confidential: The food world's breakout star on the meal she can't resist."

Reportedly, the following cover will feature Gwyneth Paltrow. Other upcoming features, Rapoport says, will include an excerpt from Gabrielle Hamilton's edgy memoir "Blood, Bones & Butter" and a feature on "the real baconator," about bacon cheeseburgers.

What do you think? What are you looking for these days in a food magazine?

--Russ Parsons

(Photo of magazine cover from WWD website)

 

O celebrates 10 years with Top 10 recipe lists

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that O Magazine is celebrating its 10th anniversary. That means Top 10 lists abound, including Top 10 Best Recipes Ever published in the magazine. Among them: Maya Angelou's banana pudding.

The magazine also asked celebrity chefs to create 10 luscious cakes for O's 10th birthday.

Here's to 10 more years.

--Rene Lynch
On Twitter @renelynch

Food & Wine announces 'best new chefs'; Kogi's Roy Choi (big surprise) gets award

Anyone following Food & Wine editor in chief Dana Cowin on Twitter might have already guessed that L.A.'s Roy Choi of Kogi BBQ has been named one of the magazine's "best new chefs" this year.

"Roy Choi is on a mission, and it's a mission we completely and thoroughly support," Cowin says. "He wants to bring great food to the street, not just to Twittering foodies. His food is delicious [and] original.... 

"This is the first time truck food has been nominated for this award, and it represents a change in the way food is delivered and consumed around America today."   

Not everyone feels the same way about L.A.'s food trucks trend, per this Squid Ink post (there are some colorful comments, including a few from the "Kogi Familia").

Here's the full list of Food & Wine's 2010 best new chefs:

Roy Choi of Kogi BBQ truck, Los Angeles
Matt Lightner of Castagna, Portland, Ore.
Clayton Miller of Trummer's on Main, Clifton, Va.
Missy Robbins of A Voce, New York
Jonathon Sawyer of the Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland
Alex Seidel of Fruition, Denver
Mike Sheerin of Blackbird, Chicago
John Shields of Town House, Chilhowie, Va.
Jason Stratton of Spinasse, Seattle
James Syhabout of Commis, Oakland

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Roy Choi. Credit: Barbara Davidson/Los Angeles Times

A cereal bar, deviled eggs, look who's getting into Harvard, and more

--Cereal meets grilled cheese at the new Mix 'n Munch in South Pasadena, with 30 varieties of cereal plus mix-in and milk options, and pretty much every grilled cheese combo you can think of. EaterLA asks: "Why?" I ask, "Why not?" and "Can I show up in my pajamas?"

--The Washington Post reports that chefs Ferran Adrià and José Andrés will teach a first-of-its-kind course in culinary physics at Harvard University. The mind reels. The pressure of bringing snacks? (You know they are taking food breaks.) What would you have to do for extra credit? Is it safe to have liquid nitrogen knocking around in your backpack?

--Two weeks ago, Amy Scattergood wrote a glorious article for us about the joys of green garlic. Some of you asked, "Where can I buy it." There are many places, including farmers markets and well-stocked specialty stores. But this just in: Christopher Ranch -- "the largest domestic garlic grower" -- is bringing green garlic to market this spring. Here is the news release, which includes a recipe for green garlic puree with roasted garlic miso salmon.

--Blogspotting: Tired of the same 'ol deviled egg recipe that you serve each Easter? Lori Lange over at Recipe Girl is giving it a bacon-and-balsamic makeover. To which we say, Brava! Check out her blog, and consider this your Twip of the Day: Follow @recipegirl. But tread cautiously: It will make you want to cook.

--"Dancing With the Stars'" Brooke Burke claims she loves to eat. Here, she lists her favorite dining spots in and around L.A.

Kudos to L.A. Youth magazine -- written by teens, about teens, and not by a bunch of adults trying to be teens. They've tackled the thorny issue of healthy eating. Be sure to read student Ernesto Pineda's article about the challenges of fending off fast food when it's all around.

-- Rene Lynch
On Twitter @renelynch

The best pizzeria in the U.S.? It's not Mozza, according to 'Every Day with Rachael Ray'

Ed Levine and Adam Kuban of the pizza blog Slice crisscrossed the country to find the best pizza in the United States in the March issue of "Every Day with Rachael Ray," which hits newsstands this weekend. The article says Levine and Kuban "scouted 64 pizzerias in 25 U.S. cities before slicing down the competition to 16, then trekking a total of 11,000 miles to check them out." Pizzerias were judged on service, toppings and "the interplay of crust, sauce and cheese." The four finalists, announced last month, were Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles, Motorino in New York, Great Lake in Chicago and Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix. 

Of Pizzeria Mozza, this is what they had to say: 

Mozza chef partner Nancy Silverton was already legendary in L.A. for her work at La Brea Bakery. No wonder her crusts have all the chewiness and rich flavor of artisan bread. And when that base is topped with one of the inventive combinations of ingredients (the pizza with peppers, olives and oregano is especially good), you can't go wrong. Some pizza purists ding these pies for being too bready -- as if that's a bad thing. You won't leave a scrap behind.

They explored "dynasties" (DeLorenzo's in Trenton, N.J., and Sally's Apizza in New Haven, Conn.), underdogs (such as "Cindarella stories" in Portland, Ore., and composer Brandon Pettit's Delancey in Seattle), and "storied rivalries" (Sally's vs. Pepe's). (Totonno's in Brooklyn had burned down and wasn't included in their search, but it has since reopened.)

In the end, they deemed Chris Bianco's Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix as the best pizzeria in America, and maybe even the world. 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Nancy Silverton at Pizzeria Mozza. Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

What we're reading now: iron chefs, paint chips, edible mysteries and the New Yorker

 

Wake up sleepy heads! Here are your morning must-reads, should-reads and wanna-reads:

-- Is "Pirates Cove Peach" a Ben & Jerry's flavor? Or a Pottery Barn paint chip? The cool kids over at Mental Floss.com put together this quiz that will challenge you to tell the difference. (I barely passed. I am taking it as a sign that I need to buy more ice cream. You know, to study the flavors.) 

-- Why cast iron is a "green" choice for cookware. I was especially intrigued by the detailed seasoning tips. Now, where did I put that lard ...

-- It's only Tuesday, but I'm already calling this my food blog find of the week: Mystery Lovers' Kitchen. Come for the foodie-ness of it all, stay for the books. Who knew there were so many food-related mysteries? (A few that caught my eye include author Cleo Coyle's coffeehouse mystery series or the White House chef series by Julie Hyzy, which has such catchy titles as "Eggsecutive Orders," "State of the Onion" and ... wait for it...."Hail to the Chef.")

-- The New Yorker' has a colorful and intriguing profile of John Mackey, the co-founder and chief executive of Whole Foods Market who defied the critics who said he'd never make it selling "hippie food to hippies." Or, as the current issue of the magazine puts it:

The man who has perhaps done as much as anyone to bring the natural-foods movement from the crunchy fringe into the mainstream is also a vocal libertarian, an orthodox free-marketer, an admirer of Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan, and Ayn Rand. In the 2008 Presidential election, he voted for Bob Barr -- Ron Paul wasn’t on the ballot.

Save this one for breakfast. It will take you awhile -- but it's worth it.

-- Rene Lynch
On Twitter @renelynch

Illustration credit: Mental Floss.com

Sampler Platter: A rave review from Oprah, insane recipes from the Futurist Cookbook and cow brain curry

The most insane cookbook you will ever read, news about Doughboys and cow brains top today's food news roundup.

-- L.A.-based vegan chef Tal Ronnen, author of "The Conscious Cook," makes an appearance on "Oprah" today -- and The O calls him the best vegan chef in America.
-- Welcome to the Futurist Cookbook, featuring battered and deep-fried roses, a chicken stuffed with ball bearings, salami cooked in espresso and then flavored with eau de Cologne. And then it gets weird. “I’m dazzled! Your genius frightens me!” The Smart Set
-- Recipe: butterscotch cashew bars. Why? Because they sound amazing. James Beard Foundation
-- Cow brain curry at Raso Minang in West Covina. Why? Because it sounds amazing. Gourmet Pigs
-- The 99-Cent Chef visits the cornucopia of carts in MacArthur Park.
-- Is your seafood hurting the planet? Greenspace
-- Want to keep up with the latest food recalls? Sign up for Safe Tables' e-alerts.
-- Irvine local Hai Vo wins Brower Youth Award for his efforts to get the UC system to commit to 20% real food procurement by 2020.
-- Per property owner Charlie Jacob, Doughboys is shooting for a Dec. 1 opening. Blackburn + Sweetzer
-- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wades into the bagel wars. New York Daily News
-- Just in time for Halloween: Witches' Fingers -- sugar cookies with raspberry jam for cuticles and sliced almonds for fingernails -- from the recently opened Village Bakery and Cafe in Atwater Village.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo credit: Sue Sawyer