Archive: Apr 2013

Pasta Pizza?  Yes, pasta on pizza.  Rigatoni Bolognese and smoked mozzarella on pizza, to be exact.  Where did I find this unusual but not so surprising combination?  At my favorite neighborhood pizza parlor in Playa del Rey, the Good Pizza.  Nando, the charming owner, explained to me that in Italy, the locals eat basically two…

Recently, burgers have been stuffing my email inbox.   Eater LA declared LA Burger Week.  Discover Los Angeles published a list of the Top 10 Must-Try Burgers in Los Angeles.  After looking at all the pictures and reading the juicy descriptions, I have naturally been craving hamburgers.  I try to keep my burger intake to a…

I love the Thanksgiving holiday and all the food that comes with it.  Every time I get a chance to enjoy turkey and mashed potatoes I take it, even during the warmer months.  Last week I was invited to a screening of a popular TV show at Warner Bros. Studios and I did a little research…

Leading food tours in Hollywood means I get exposed to LOTS of restaurants along our tour route.   There’s one Italian restaurant on Melrose in West Hollywood that I’ve been wanting to visit since we started this business two and a half years ago.  That’s Ago, co-owned by Robert Di Niro, and named for Agostino Sciandri,…

Almost a year ago a quaint new bakery opened on Washington Blvd in Culver City.  Not your usual bakery with cupcakes and brownies and the like.  This is Copenhagen Pastry, serving traditional Danish pastries as you would find in Denmark.   The first thing I noticed upon walking in the door were the friendly bakers, who…

Grilled Cheese is good year round, not just in the colder months when we crave warm comfort foods.  As evidenced by the fact that April is Grilled Cheese Month. I am going to make it a goal to have 4 grilled cheese sandwiches this month, one per week.  My first one came from The Melt…

One of my favorite places to enjoy afternoon tea in Los Angeles was found behind a bright orange door on Abbot Kinney.  Jin Patisserie offered only outdoor seating in a lovely little garden patio and served the most beautiful and tasty sandwiches, scones and pastries for a nice little price.  In business for ten years,…

As someone who spends most of his week interviewing people as a journalist, it was a surreal experience for me recently to be the one answering rather than asking the questions. But I found I had plenty to talk about because leading LA TV news station KTLA and their ace reporter Lu Parker came aboard…

Every Tuesday morning a crowd gathers for breakfast at Cecconi’s restaurant in West Hollywood.  This group happens to be with a warm and welcoming group of expats, known as Brits in LA.  You don’t have to be British to be part of this group, you just have to like Brits.  Which sums me up perfectly. …