Santa Monica, known for its eco-friendly initiatives, is launching a new effort to collect cooking grease and turn the waste into biofuel.
Photo credit: Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times
Last-minute bakery (for candied yams too): Kiss My Bundt will
be open Thanksgiving Day so you can pick up side dishes such as candied
yams, sweet potato souffle, sweet or savory cornbread and strawberry
butter, and Big Ol' Bundts and mini and baby bundts for desserts. For
pickup on Thanksgiving, the order deadline for side dishes and Big Ol'
Bundts is Wednesday at 1 p.m. (Delivery also available). 8104 W. 3rd
St., Los Angeles; (323) 655-0559; www.kissmybundt.net.
Thanksgiving at Fraiche: Fraiche will be serving family-style Thanksgiving with wood-fired mushroom salad or chestnut soup to start, followed by roasted turkey (or chicken), seared duck breast or flat-iron steak, served with mashed potatoes, stuffing, mac 'n' cheese, creamed spinach, green beans, glazed carrots and cranberry sauce. Pumpkin or apple pie for dessert. $35 per person. Noon to 8 p.m. 312 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 451-7482; www.fraicherestaurantla.com. (The Culver City location is closed Thanksgiving.)
Thanksgiving at Vermont: Order Thanksgiving a la carta at Vermont; choose from starters such as butternut squash soup, crab cakes or apple endive salad and mains such as organic roasted turkey, filet mignon, halibut or goat cheese and truffle ravioli. Pumpkin pie and apple tart are on the dessert menu. 1714 N. Vermont, Los Angeles; (323) 661-6163; www.vermontrestaurantonline.com.
It's a Turkey Plate: The Oaks Gourmet is offering a Thanksgiving Turkey Plate for $19, for take-out or dine-in: roasted turkey with foie gras gravy; sage and chestnut dressing; roasted brown butter yams; grilled Brussels sprouts with pancetta and shallots; truffle mashed potatoes; and a slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Wine pairings and a beer selection available. Pre-order or same-day service. 1915 N. Bronson Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 871-8894; www.theoaksgourmet.com.
Turkey teriyaki rolls!?! Agura is offering a
"Japanese-inspired" Thanksgiving feast. For $12, you can get roasted
turkey breast with grilled vegetables and ginger-flavored Madeira wine
sauce. The restaurant also has created a special teriyaki turkey roll (only in L.A. ... ) for $8. 514 N. La Cienega Blvd., Hollywood; (310) 289-1940; www.aguradining.com.
-- Betty Hallock
For a complete list of Thanksgiving to-go and dine-in options, click here.
Photo: Kiss My Bundt
-- Elina Shatkin• Main Street merchants want a crack at the Santa Monica Farmers Market. Santa Monica Daily Press
• Soda Pop's sandwich shop to open this Wednesday on La Cienega at Beverly. La Brea Dining Japanese restaurant to open at Crescent Heights and West 3rd Street. Blackburn and Sweetzer
• While the rest of the world tries to reduce its plastic use, Aussie winemaker Peter Yealands switches to plastic wine bottles. Stuff
• Playboy names Original Pantry Cafe as a Top 10 Late-Night Diner
• TripOut names the Abbey as Best Gay Bar in the World. Brand X
• Nov. 23 is the New Yorker's food issue with John Colapinto on the secrets of the Michelin guide, Calvin Trillin on poutine, Adam Gopnik on cookbooks, Mimi Sheraton on spit cakes; Evan Osnos on Beijing's love of wine, Raffi Khatchadourian on the Givaudan flavor factory and more.
• Jones makes tofurkey and gravy soda (read: carbonated vomit). Chicago Sun Times
• Wine Spectator will announce its Top 100 Wines of 2009 on Wednesday. Members get a sneak peek today.
• Prospectors set to drill for Shackleton's booze in Antarctica. Metro
• Meat manicure: bacon nail tips. Jezebel
• All About Beer celebrates 30th anniversary edition: "Revolution!" versus "What Revolution?"
• Elizabeth Hurley's diet tips: vodka and one meal a day. Daily Mail
• Yes, people do win McDonald's Monopoly game. (Daily Finance) In other news, McDonald's will open 1,000 new restaurants in 2010. CNNMoney.com
Dear SOS: Could you please get us the recipe for the delicious, mouth-watering Honey Shrimp with Walnuts at Typhoon restaurant at Santa Monica Airport? It's to die for.
Luckily, Typhoon was happy to share the recipe with Test Kitchen Manager Noelle Carter, who adapted it for the home cook -- and found out that there isn't actually any honey in this dish.
Do you have a Culinary SOS request? You can write to Noelle at noelle.carter@latimes.com and she'll do her best to get the recipe.
In the meantime, here's a look at several recent requests we've been able to answer.
-- Rene Lynch
RECENT & RELATED
PHOTO GALLERY: Thanksgiving Day recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen
Apres Gourmet: Food magazines find their niches
Photo credit: Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times
OK, so L.A. has its Issan Thai restaurants, Sichuan and Shanghai style places, Tuscan trattorie and Provençal bistros, Yucatan and Oaxacan joints. Why not an East Coast clam shack? Well, now we have one, fetchingly called Blue Plate Oysterette.
I'm surprised no one has tried it before. There was the short-lived Menemsha, but it was a much more ambitious East Coast seafood place. That this one is small and cozy with a studied casual air and a great front of the house -- not to mention it's just across from Palisades Park and the Pacific -- gives this place a fighting chance.
Owner Jenny Morton, who also owns Blue Plate on Montana Avenue, went for a neighborhood kind of place rather than something glitzy. The menu is smart too. Pretty much everything that people love about East Coast seafood -- oysters, clams, mussels, lobster rolls, fish 'n' chips, steamers -- is listed on the one-page menu. But if you're looking for grilled or steamed Maine lobster, you're out of luck. No clam bakes either.
But then you can't have everything, can you? What's best here is the raw seafood -- oysters, clams, ceviche and some, but not all, of the cooked dishes. New York's Pearl Oyster Bar, this is not. But the service from waiters in blue-and-white gingham or striped shirts is eager and willing and the front of the house bends over backward to accommodate everyone.
To read the rest of S. Irene Virbila's review, click here.
Photo: A dozen oysters on the half shell are served with homemade cocktail sauce and Moscatel and tarragon mignonette. Credit: Christina House / For The Times
-- Mignon, from the owners of Bacaro LA Wine Bar, is set to open this winter next to Cole's/Varnish. Eater LA
-- Santa Monica resists nouveau food trucks. California Taco Trucks
--Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour makes its Orange County return on Wednesday, opening a new location in Mission Viejo. Fast Food Maven
-- The New Yorker profiles Jonathan Gold (and mentions local food blogger Teenage Glutster!).
-- With the demise of Gourmet magazine, Jane and Michael Stern will now be e-mailing their Roadfood newsletter once a week. Eating LA
-- Mattatouille has some lovely pictures from his recent foodventures in Japan, Indonesia and Korea.
-- New York firm recalls ground beef due to possible E. coli contamination. Safe Tables
-- Challenge Butter recently launched its "Taste of the West" contest. Prizes include a seven-day / six-night trip to Montana and an $850 kitchen package from Spice Islands and OXO.
-- Check out this infomercial, supposedly the first one ever, made in 1949. It's from Vita-Mix and features founder William G. “Papa” Barnard and a blender. Make your own absurd video and you could win Vita-Mix's Pitch Me! contest.
-- Marly Billings of Newport Beach, Shelly Mayo of Brentwood and David Walter of Los Angeles won Wahoo's Fish Tacos' recent naming contest with the three following dishes: Power Chopper Salad, Wafu Bowl and Baja-ladas Platter.
-- Alton Brown says he doesn't see "Good Eats" lasting much beyond next year. Show Tracker
-- Chef Michael Mina’s vegan tasting menu at XIV. To Live and Eat in L.A.
-- Fat as the new normal: Saying no to diets, fat acceptance and questions about whether extra pounds really equal extra risk. Los Angeles Times
-- If you like art with your food, don't miss Wayne Thiebaud's iconic cupcakes on display in a retrospective at the Pasadena Museum of California Art until Jan. 31. Eating L.A.
--New food blog, Eating Valley Blvd, devoted solely to 8 miles of Asian eateries on Valley Boulevard between the 710 and 605 freeways, goes live.
-- Congressman Ben Chandler urges his fellow Kentuckians to protect the state's signature bourbon and horse industries. Lexington Herald-Leader
-- Gourmet Pigs declares Spago one of dineLA's best deals.
-- What to eat at Tanzore's Diwali party in Beverly Hills this week. Grub Street LA
-- Ma'Kai (Santa Monica) may close and be replaced by a Red Onion. Eater LA
-- Elina Shatkin
Photo: Wayne Thiebaud's "Four Sandwiches" (1965) puts its own spin on the theme of uniformity. Credit: Hackett-Freedman Gallery
[Update 3:01 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly listed Thyme's phone number. The correct phone number is (310) 399-8808.]
On Tuesday, Maire Byrne takes the paper off the windows and officially steps up from caterer to restaurateur with the opening of Thyme Cafe & Market in Santa Monica. Inspired by Clementine in Century City and New York's Dean & DeLuca, Byrne, who has done stints at Aqua in San Francisco and Chez Panisse in Berkeley, says she wanted to create a casual, seasonally focused (though not strictly organic) eatery.
Housed in the former Talking Stick location on Ocean Park, Thyme's menu includes a Provençal tomato tart, salmon salad, potatoes au gratin with fennel, chocolate croissants, meatloaf sandwich and desserts such as cupcakes, cookies, bars, scones and more. The breakfast fare includes homemade granola and yogurt, a BLT egg sandwich and challah French toast. Almost everything on the menu is less than $9.
For the first two to three weeks, Thyme will be open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. After that, they'll gear up for their full hours, open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thyme Cafe & Market: 1630 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 399-8808, www.thymecafeandmarket.com.
[Pictures after the jump]
Even if people know why they should eat fresh fruits and vegetables, they may not know how to buy and cook them, says dietitian Suzanne Bogert. So she is offering classes on Saturday mornings at the Santa Monica Farmers Market in Virginia Park.
The classes are focused on the low-income residents who live around the market, says Bogert, and they use in-season, low-cost ingredients.
"And at the end of our hard work, we eat," Bogert says.
The Network for a Healthy California, a federally funded program that encourages healthful eating and physical activity among low-income communities, is a sponsor of the classes, along with the Santa Monica Farmers' Market.
The class being held on Halloween morning is already full and no wonder. Josie Le Balch, chef owner of the restaurant Josie in Santa Monica, will be the guest chef. Le Balch was at the Wednesday Santa Monica market this week buying produce, and says she might cook short ribs for the class, using beef from a market vendor.
On Nov. 21, the class will be "Sunday Dinner Makeovers." And on Dec. 19, the theme is "Gifts From the Kitchen," including trail mix, breads and vinegars. Bogert says she hopes to start a new series in January.
The classes are free, but limited to 20 people and pre-registration is required. For information, call (310) 458-8712, Ext. 2.
-- Mary MacVean
Photo: Josie Le Balch in her restaurant. Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times
There's New York pizza. And there's Chicago pizza. Leave it to four guys who own a Southern-themed sports bar in Santa Monica to come up with the idea of opening a pizza joint wholly devoted to both. That idea comes to fruition this week when N.Y. & C. Pizza celebrates its grand opening on Thursday.
The left side of the restaurant is representative of New York, decorated with Big Apple memorabilia, and the right side is dedicated to Chicago. The same kitchen makes both "authentic deep-dish Chicago-style pizza and thin-crust New York pizza," says partner Adam Milstein. (He and his partners, Philip Boyd, Robyn Landrum and Chris Shanley, also own and operate South, the Westside bar that serves Hurricanes and 'gator wings.) Says Milstein: "We thought, why not do both?"
Why not, indeed.
1120 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, www.nyandcpizza.com. Beer and wine. Open till 4 a.m.
-- Betty Hallock
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