Enjoying Scarpetta Classics at the Chefs Counter

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Scarpetta Spaghetti

If you ever needed a reason to dine at Scarpetta inside the Montage Beverly Hills, I’ve got a few reasons.

After the unexpected exit of Executive Chef Alex Stratta and the re-entry of Freddy Vargas, a Scarpetta veteran, they’ve started offering a rather reasonably priced prix fixe menu featuring the restaurant’s classic dishes in a four-course dinner featuring none other than their famously simple yet delicious spaghetti (that is, if you choose it over the agnolotti, which sounds pretty decadent itself). It costs just $45 per person; the wine pairing option is additional.

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Spring Cocktails in Full Bloom at Comme Ça

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Basil Blush – White rum, strawberry, basil, balsalmic, built over ice

While we’ve gone back and forth for awhile, the weather has gotten pretty warm and I’m sure that it’s here to stay. Well, besides June Gloom in a couple weeks, that is.

But it’s hard to argue that Los Angeles is the place to be in Spring, and Comme Ça, fresh off their remodel, is the perfect place to celebrate and clink glasses. They’ve got quite an impressive cocktail menu that has been out for a couple weeks. Looks are deceiving, because while the Basil Blush, for instance, looks like your typical strawberry-basil cooler, it actually packs quite a punch thanks to its freshly muddled ingredients and tasty, spicy white rum.

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Giveaway: Tickets to Screening of “Viva Mezcal” with Free-Flowing Mezcal and Oaxacan Antijitos

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Viva Mezcal Documentary

What’s better than a documentary about Mezcal accompanied by free-flowing Mezcal and Oaxacan antijitos (street food dishes, if you will)? Probably the setting – which will be the iconic La Guelaguetza in Koreatown.

Viva Mezcal, a film directed by Pedro Jiménez, addresses the current state of the Mezcal industry, complete with interviews from biologoists, agronomes, ‘maestros mezcaleros,” researchers, distributors, bartenders and experts. Following the film, tasty treats by Chef Rodolfo Castellanos will accompany a Mezcal tasting.

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Fritzi Dog by Neal Fraser Brings Top Dogs to The Original Farmer’s Market

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Memphis BBQ Dog – Porker Dog, grilled peppers, crushed paprika chips

What happens when you take an iconic, American food known for consisting of meat trimmings, fat and preservatives and reinvent it utilizing top notch ingredients and dress them up with imaginative combinations – before framing it all in a delicious bun?

You get Fritzi Dog, now at its first outpost in The Original Farmer’s Market at 3rd and Fairfax, serving up awesome dogs and sausages made with prime cuts sourced from veggie-fed, humanely treated animals. What you won’t find are snouts, tails, antibiotics, added nitrates nor mechanically separated meat. ”You’ll find the same quality of ingredients [at Fritzi Dog] as you’ve found at [my other restaurants] Grace or BLD,” Neal states. Continue reading →

The Bayou Boil Returns to Dominick’s

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Photo by VisitBatonRouge on Flickr

I’ll admit: I’ve always had a soft spot for crawfish. Once you get the hang of peeling and eating those little mudbugs (and believe me, getting proficient at it is like a rite of passage), it’s like a crafty, delicious feast doubling as entertainment.

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Test Drive a 2013 Lincoln MKZ, Get Treated to Dinner at Red Medicine

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RedMedicineLA.com

There are a lot of freebies and promotion deals to be had in our wonderful city, but I can’t say I’ve run across the offering of an entire dinner in exchange for the test drive of a car, before. And now, we have.

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Wilshire Restaurant: No-Nonsense, Bottomless Sunday Brunch For Your Buck

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Crab Benedict

The Wilshire Restaurant (Top Chef star Nyesha Arrington helms the kitchen) has recently launched a pretty spectacular Sunday weekly, and that happens to be a buffet-style brunch that is not to be missed. Since I normally relegate buffets (read: gorge parties) to Vegas, if even that, it’s really easy for me to dismiss these all-you-can eat, self-serve extravaganzas.

However, the Wilshire Restaurant’s Sunday deal has not only the brunch plate essentials, but bottomless Mimosas and Bloody Mary bar – plus a really neat patio ensconced in the cool, Santa Monica air – at the very reasonable price of $35 per person. It runs throughout the daytime for your leisure, so if you are into loitering, you could go from 11 AM until 5 PM if you really wanted to – but that would be pretty tacky.

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MyPermissions Breaks Down the Apps That Have Your Info

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Screenshot of my junk on MyPermissions.com

In the course of figuring out this blog’s and my social media presence around the internet, there is a lot of passing off of personal information between applications and services, whether I’ve realized it or not. Chances are, this is just as relevant to you. If you use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Foursquare, Flickr, Google+ or anything else that has asked permission to access your information elsewhere, it’s simply hard to keep track of what exactly you’ve allowed to do what with your personal information.

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BEP Kitchen Vietnamese Brunch Surfaces Every Other Sunday at Franco

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Chao Sang

These days, it’s not exactly hard to find a pop-up around town. So when on the look out for one, unique themes and meal times will catch my eye more than others. Good thing Chef Connie Tran is launching her centrally located Sunday Vietnamese brunch pop-up on Melrose.

It’s a refreshing survey of her style of Vietnamese dishes. Because sometimes, you just want to go beyond a bowl of pho, and for multiple courses. And the option to BYOB is always a great way to go.

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Giveaway: Two Tickets to Le Grand Fooding Pre-Event Dinner on April 25, 2013

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Wolvesmouth and Miles Thompson of Allumette at Le Grand Fooding Pre-Event Dinner (Credit: Wolvesmouth, Le Grand Fooding)

You have probably already heard about Le Grand Fooding: Crush, the posse’s upcoming inaugural event in Los Angeles on April 26-27. In fact, tickets went on sale a month ago, and a glance at the event website’s signage would indicate they’ve already sold out the duo of dates.

Therefore, it would be cruel of me to rehash that participants include Nancy Silverton (Mozza), Ludo Lefebvre (Trois Mec), Josef Centeno (Bäco Mercat, Bar Ama), Roy Choi (Kogi BBQ, Chego, A-Frame, Sunny Spot), Jordan Kahn (Red Medicine) and Carolynn Spence (Chateau Marmont) as well as Parisian chefs such as Inaki Aizpitarte (Le Chateaubriand), Gregory Marchand (Frenchie), Jean-François Piège (Restaurant Jean-François Piège) and for VIPs, Sven Chartier (Saturne). …And yet!

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