Los Angeles Restaurants

Food GPS - Food. Drinks. People. Gabe Gordon has been at the leading edge of the Los Angeles craft beer movement since his days at Royal Clayton’s, when the downtown Arts District was still in its infancy. The Santa Rosa native and longtime chef relocated to Seal Beach and created what’s become a craft beer beacon, Beachwood BBQ. In 2011, he and wife Lena Perelman opened Beachwood BBQ & Brewing with brewmaster and business partner Julian Shrago, expanding on the exacting Beachwood vision. On May 12, I interviewed Gordon over lunch in Long Beach, and he shared insights into why he’s become an industry leader. Is it possible to have a friend who’s not into food? No. I have not a single acquaintance that is not super into food, beer, wine, spirits, something. I eat my meals, and while I’m eating, I think about where to eat next. That’s how my family always was. When we’d go on vacation, we would think long and hard about going to a place that doesn’t have cuisine. Did you get into food or beer first? Food first. I really decided I wanted to be a chef at 16. Beer came slowly from 16 on. You can only get so much from 16 to 18. Where did you first start working in restaurants? My very first professional kitchen job was at Santa Barbara Brewing Company when I was 18, in college. Foreshadowing. Yeah. Kind of weird, ironic, right? The beer was terrible when I worked there. Is it still around? Yeah. And actually, the brewmaster there now, I believe is the only grand master BJCP judges on the West Coast. Or he holds some title that almost no one has. He’s a really, really knowledgeable, great brewer, who is brewing in the heart of college party central, and I think doesn’t necessarily get enough love because people our age don’t necessarily want to go drink with 18-year-olds. It makes it really hard to get the recognition when the bulk of people coming through your doors are tourists and college students. That’s not the easiest thing to do. If I’m going out for the night and want to drink great beer, I don’t know that I want to go where they’re blaring whatever the latest music is, so I think he’s got his work cut out for him as far as recognition. I don’t think he necessarily cares though. He makes really good beer. How important are titles to you, like beer judge, Cicerone, things like that? I’m really glad if you have them, and I think it’s amazing that you were able to sit and focus and study. My hat’s off to you. It’s great, but I don’t find it to be a necessity where we’re at I don’t feel like I need to go through that. It’s great if you have it. We’ll support any way we can. The offer stands. Any Cicerone, any sommelier, any of those programs that you want to do, you pay for them, you pass them, I’ll reimburse you. I completely support it. I love beer and I love wine and drink, but ultimately my focus falls on, I like learning hands on and not sitting, reading a book. It’s really cool. I just don’t have the focus to do it. My mind’s in too many places. School was never my strong point. I was a Philosophy major. I would have been really hard pressed to be an Engineering major, where things are expected of you at certain times. Other people structure for me. I have a hard time with it. That first level Cicerone thing, the server one. We require everyone to take it here, mostly as a way to kind of let people know who are new hires that we are serious about it. Their interpretation of it is that it’s a very serious thing. Secondly, it determines whether a day-to-day employee will want to continue their education. Thirdly, I want to support the Cicerone program. What better way to do it than continue to give it money? It’s good for the industry, and it’s the only thing we have, that’s standardized… To gauge that knowledge or commitment? Totally. Especially on that second level. If you’re a second level Cicerone, you studied. You worked hard for that. That means that you give a shit enough about this industry to want t

Memorial Day marks the beginning of the summer season, which means sunsets at 8 p.m. (or later), outdoor concerts around the city, and plenty of opportunities to party poolside from this weeken...

Greek yogurt is one of the biggest food fads of the last few years. People love the stuff, and it's grown rapidly to a billion-dollar business. But could all that Greek yogurt be dangerous for ...

Signature wedding cocktails are so last year. Now that craft beer is becoming more and more ubiquitous -- and beer lovers are meeting and marrying over pints -- it's about time a wedding packag...

The Los Angeles Times has released Jonathan Gold's 101 Best Restaurants today (subscription required). It's the first time the Times critic (and former LA Weekly critic) has put out a dining gu...

Much like he used to pen for The Weekly, today LA Times Restaurant Critic Jonathan Gold publishes his essential dining guide to Los Angeles' 101 best restaurants from high to low, Santa Monica to The SGV. Gold revealed 23 of his favorite on Tuesday at Bite Nite, but here now the rest. Gold's top 20 read as follows: 1. Providence 2. Urasawa 3. Spago 4. Mozza, etc. 5. Kogi 6. Lucques 7. Animal 8. Cut 9. Jitlada 10. Shunji 11. Rivera 12. Spice Table 13. Ink 14. Baco Mercat 15. Tasting Kitchen 16. Sea Harbour 17. Night + Market 18. Bestia 19. Hinoki and the Bird 20. Melisse ·Jonathan Gold's 101 Best Restaurants [LAT]

Food GPS - Food. Drinks. People. Last Sunday marked the first ever Beercentricity event at Barbara’s at the Brewery. The sold-out event strove to “connect” beer to the people by giving the backstory on four separate beers and making them more than just names on a beer menu. Four Southland brewers, including one from San Diego, talked about the how and why and other fun facts behind the beer that they brought. After a opening act of the traditional Anchor Steam, Jeremy Raub from Eagle Rock Brewery ascended the podium first to talk about how many times he revised the recipe for Solidarity from its first incarnation as a beer made in two weeks for a friend’s chili party. The answer: 13 times to get to the beer that we know and love today. Mark Jilg from Craftsman briefly talked about his use of barrels in his Ursa Minor sour before yielding the floor to recent L.A. transplant and new brewer at Kinetic Brewing, Alex Nowell, who provided the history behind her Pink Boots Scholarship Saison.  Pink Boots Society being the organization for women in the brewing industry to learn and grow in what is a male dominated business. Nowell brewed her saison at Drake’s before she headed south to raise money for a scholarship for the next generation of women brewing beer. Last up was Lee Chase from Automatic Brewing.  An icon in the San Diego brewing scene who is best known for his time at Stone Brewing but who has struck out on his own with his Tiger! Tiger! bar and Blind Lady Alehouse. He made Primo IPA with tangerines to match up with the Citra hops that was the main hop.  Chase also spoke about his “$500″ set-up on a flatbed trailer that was cobbled together and how that is not the way to go about things. For a first-time event, it was well run with a nice selection of beers and personalities.  I hope to see more of these events so that I can learn the history behind more of the beers we see on tap in L.A. I wonder what the brewer would say about my Beer of the Week, which is brewed with blackberries. Brouwerij West [pronounced Brewery West]. The Dog Ate My Homework pours a bright red with a pretty pink head of foam. The blackberry is present but not in a cloying sweet way but more of an acidic wine tannin flavor profile. Plus the label art will draw you in. Your Homework this week is to read the riveting history of the craft beer revolution in Tom Acitelli’s book, The Audacity of Hops. You will be amazed at how many times the Los Angeles area is mentioned considering that we are currently behind the beer curve in relation to our neighboring metropolises to the north and south. How we got to where we are today is important to how we view the scene today. It made me especially grateful to the pioneers who fought to bring craft beer back from the precipice of extinction. Find more of Sean Inman’s writing on his blog, Beer Search Party. Beercentricity, The Dog Ate My Homework + Audacity of Hops

At Twist Eatery, the new bakery café that opened on La Brea Boulevard this past Monday, the menu covers Morocco, California and the Mediterranean, in the form of sandwiches, bowls and salads. T...

This weekend marks the official start of summer but who says you have to wait until Saturday to get the party started! On Thursday, May 23, Barsha Wine & Spirits is kicking off the Memorial Day weekend with a special BBQ menu. Merguez hotdog with pickled fennel, homemade mustard and pomegranate ketchup Tunisian spiced chicken wings with yogurt feta dressing Prosecco float with cassis liqueur Along with wine and spirits, the BBQ menu is specilly selected for this Memorial Day Weekend kickoff. Call or stop by for details! Memorial Day Kick off at Barsha Wine & Spirits http://www.barshawinesandspirits.com/ 917 N Sepulveda Blvd, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266; (310) 318-9080

With summer weather on the way, grocery freezer cases have some new dessert choices to help us chill. In April, Haagen-Dazs began marketing a line of gelato. And Ben & Jerry's just added three ...