Small Bites: 9021Pho opens in Beverly Hills, Alcove to get a bar, Lazy Dog Cafe opens in Valencia

Pho in Beverly Hills: As its name implies, 9021Pho serves pho (four types, to be exact) in the 90210 ZIP Code. The restaurant, which opens today, is overseen by chef Kimmy Tang, who emphasizes market-fresh produce and a health-conscious menu of stir-fry dishes, bento boxes and other Vietnamese eats. 490 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, CA.

Alcohol at the Alcove: The upscale market inside the Alcove Cafe and Bakery will reopen as a bar in early 2010. More details to come. 1929 Hillhurst Ave., L.A. (323) 644-0100.

Lazy Dog gets its day: On Monday, the latest outpost of expanding pan-ethnic chain the Lazy Dog Cafe opens inside the Valencia Town Center. (Soft opening this Thursday.) The brainchild of father/son duo Thomas and Chris Simms (dad is the founder of the vaguely New Orleans-y Mimi's Cafe chain), Lazy Dog's menu is a magpie collection of the most accessible dishes from around the world: pizza, pasta, hummus, burgers, wok-fried dishes, tacos, fish and chips, ribs, pot pies, salads and more. Plus, it has a full bar. 24201 Valencia Blvd., Valencia. (661) 253-9996, www.lazydogcafe.com.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Salon's "sexiest man living," Jon Hamm, 38, of "Mad Men" relaxes at the Alcove in Los Feliz. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times.

Thanksgiving countdown: Kabocha squash soup with pomegranate seeds

There is a soup for every Thanksgiving -- creamy, light, sweet or spicy. Admire the bright, splashy yellows and reds in this Kabocha squash soup topped with crisp pomegranate seeds and candied pecans, and then enjoy it before your main course on Thanksgiving (or the day after with your turkey sandwich). Browse through other Thanksgiving recipes or, if you just want to drool over more beautiful food, click through our photo gallery.

-- Kelsey Ramos

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Photo credit: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

Capri restaurant holds 'Love Soup' dinner [Updated]

Capri Restaurant, on Abbot Kinney in Venice, is holding a special dinner Sunday. Alona Cooke's menu will feature recipes from Anna Thomas' new book, "Love Soup."

From 3 to 5 p.m., Thomas will give a short talk, sign copies of her book and offer a tasting of food from it. Then, at 5:30, Capri will offer a three-course menu highlighting some of Thomas' recipes, including fig and lemon peel tapenade  and kabocha squash soup. 

Capri's owner, Alona Hamilton Cooke, says she'll also serve polenta with roasted vegetables and some surprises. Dinner is $38 for food only; call (310) 392-8777. [Updated at 9 a.m. Friday: An earlier version of this post gave an incorrect phone number.]

-- Mary MacVean

Photo: Anna Thomas, right, cooks for friends at her Ojai home. From left, Lisa Robertson, Bruce Botnick and Marie Botnick. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Today's vegan offering: Roasted vegetable soup

This recipe for roasted vegetable soup with a homemade stock takes about three hours to make.

But don't let that scare you off.

Much of that time is hands-off cooking -- roasting, simmering and what not. You'll be left with a rich soup that would be perfect for dinner on a chilly fall night, or a tummy-warming something to bring to work. (Speaking of lunch -- click here for more lunch ideas, but note that not all of them make the cut in this vegan challenge.)

And, please don't tell L.A.Times test kitchen manager Noelle Carter that I told you this, but if you want to short cut the three-hour investment needed to make this soup, you can probably get away with store-bought vegetable stock. (It won't be the same as the real deal, of course.......)

-- Rene Lynch

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Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

An old favorite from 'The Vegetarian Epicure'

A reader who says "The Vegetarian Epicure" recipe for herb-onion bread remains a favorite asks if Anna Thomas plans any Bay Area signings for her new book, called "Love Soup."

She does. She'll be at Mrs. Dalloway's, 2904 College Ave., Berkeley, at 4 p.m. on Oct. 11.

And at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 13, she will be in San Francisco at Books Inc., 2251 Chestnut St.

-- Mary MacVean

Photo: Cookbook writer Anna Thomas (right) preparing hors d'oeuvres for dinner guests (left to right) Bruce and Marie Botnick before dinner at her home in Ojai. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Author Anna Thomas makes soup, signs books

 
Anna Thomas, whose book "The Vegetarian Epicure" introduced many cooks to interesting vegetarian dishes more than three decades ago, has a new book out focusing on soups. She'll be signing books and offering a tasting of food from "Love Soup" at a few spots in the area.

On Saturday at 2 p.m., she will appear at Treasure Beach and Cafe in Ojai, where she lives -- and where one of her sons is cooking. Treasure Beach is at 928 E. Ojai Ave.

On Sunday, readers can meet Thomas at 3 p.m. at Diesel Books in the Brentwood Country Mart on 26th Street in Santa Monica.
 
And on Tuesday at 7 p.m., she will be at Chaucer's Bookstore, 3321 State St. in Santa Barbara.

-- Mary MacVean

Photo: Anna Thomas cooks in her Ojai kitchen. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

 

Culinary SOS: Apples, brie meet in a bowl

 

This letter recently arrived in The Times' test kitchen:

Dear Culinary SOS: As an occasional special of the day, Bistro du Soleil in Playa del Rey serves an especially tasty apple-brie soup. In fact, a friend sent an e-mail to the restaurant saying that she was coming to the restaurant to celebrate her birthday with friends, and would they prepare the soup for that evening. The restaurant obliged, and I had a serving of the most delicious soup. Do you think the restaurant would further oblige and provide the recipe for their apple-brie soup? -- Leslie Mitchner, Mar Vista

Here you go, Leslie. We hope you, and your friend, enjoy it. Thanks to Bistro du Soleil for helping Times test kitchen manager Noelle Carter adapt the recipe for the home cook.

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Photo: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

 

The Glutton: Dipping into the Chowder Barge

Everything near this stretch of industrial Wilmington looks like it's been abandoned or is about to be -- especially on a Saturday afternoon when the hum of the shipping industry has faded. It's easy to overlook the turnoff for the Chowder Barge; blink and you'll miss the fading "Barge Diner" sign. (Hit the railroad tracks and you've gone too far.)

Tucked away on an actual barge in Berth #200 is a floating oasis of chowder. Let's be clear: When I say chowder I don’t mean the gelatinous white paste that oozes out of a can, I mean the calorie-laden concoction that can come only from hours of preparation and plenty of butter, cream, potatoes and bacon. Oh, and clams. Lots and lots of clams. There's nothing perfunctory about the Barge's chowder. It's made fresh daily from locally caught seafood. Simple and hearty but redolent with the brine of fresh clams, it puts to shame most chowders dished out at much fancier, more expensive seafood restaurants. Order the classic deal, the Captain's Burger, and your cup of chowder comes with a hamburger and a side of beer-battered onion rings  -- for only $7.50. (The menu also features American standards like sandwiches, eggs and bacon, chicken dinners and, predictably, plenty of deep-fried seafood.)

Compared with somewhere like the Redwood, a hipsterish nautical-themed bar that's working hard to look low-rent, the Chowder Barge (which I first heard about from Sergeant Chris Cognac, a.k.a. the Food Network's Hungry Detective) is a bona fide dive. This is the kind of moldering hole-in-the-wall where locals spend their afternoons -- and mornings and evenings -- lingering over Heinekens and smoking on the porch as it lists gently from side to side. Irony and asymmetrical haircuts haven't made it to the Wilmington docks. Both the food and the ambiance make it well worth stepping aboard.

The Chowder Barge: 611 N. Henry Ford Ave., Wilmington. (310) 830-7937

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Four views of the Chowder Barge in Wilmington. Credit: Elina Shatkin / Los Angeles Times.