Los Angeles Restaurants

Food GPS - Food. Drinks. People. Kelly Liken is a Pittsburgh native who graduated at the top her class at the Culinary Institute of America and eventually moved west to Vail, opening Restaurant Kelly Liken in 2004. She and husband Rick Colowitz, who runs front of house and directs the wine program, have found considerable success with their Rocky Mountain-focused, regional American restaurant. I met Liken on April 6 at the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Lexus Grand Tasting, and the potential astrophysicist shared several culinary insights. Was it a given that you would become a chef, or did you consider other careers? No, I actually studied Astrophysics at the University of Colorado. It was not a given, but when I was in school I cooked to make money, because I was a terrible waitress, and I fell in love with it. From the moment I was in a professional kitchen, at the age of 19, I knew that’s what I wanted to do for a living. Growing up, I wanted to be more on the science end. Astrophysics, how does that help you cook? Math is very helpful. People think that’s a crazy answer, but we do so much math in the kitchen and being able to calculate things really quickly in my head helps. Other than that, it doesn’t really help. What was that very first night like in a kitchen when you were 19? I tell people this and they don’t believe me. Honestly, from the moment I put that knife in my hand, and I was just making green salads, my hands knew what to do. It’s like I was born to be in the kitchen. It was really an epiphany. What was the restaurant? It was the Monterey Bay Fish Grotto, which is a little seafood restaurant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I’ve heard good things about Pittsburgh, I’ve just never been. It’s a great city. People are always surprised by it. What does a dish have to be to go on your menu at Restaurant Kelly Liken? INTERVIEW CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE Interview: chef Kelly Liken (Restaurant Kelly Liken)

Fresh juice spots are having a boom in L.A. right now, and the latest juice bar to hit the scene is The Juice in Atwater Village, which opened its doors last week. Owned by Elizabeth Halpern ...

A scathing report on Celestial Seasonings tea found that 91% of samples contained pesticide levels that exceed U.S. federal limits, Examiner.com reports. Sleeptime Kids Goodnight Grape was one...

Forget the bulgogi and galbi. Instead, chill out in Koreatown with the coolest noodles around. You probably already know naengmyeon, the buckwheat noodles that come either in chilled broth or d...

Food GPS - Food. Drinks. People. Here are links to some interesting posts from L.A. food writers over the last week: Eater LA On June 14, Eater LA contributor Matthew Kang reported, Welcome Flores, an Ambitious New Sawtelle Restaurant from owner Amal Flores and GM Dagny Mendelsohn in the old Sawtelle Kitchen space. On June 12, Eater LA editor Kat Odell reported, Laurent Quenioux Behind Menu at Etchea, Coming to Two Downtown Spaces This Summer. The Huffington Post On June 14, The Huffington Post associate editor Anna Almendrala shared, Dad’s Favorite Things: Coffee, Beer & Brunch in preparation for Father’s Day and the CollaBREWtive Brunch. LA Times Food On June 13, LA Times Food deputy editor Betty Hallock reported, For hardcore uni lovers, it’s Maruhide Uni Club in Torrance. Anybody up for an “all-night uni cram session?” LA Weekly Squid Ink On June 14, LA Weekly dining editor Amy Scattergood reported, Le Ka Update: David Feau Named Chef, Remi Lauvand Working on a New Project, which may be a sports bar. OC Weekly On June 10, OC Weekly contributor Dave Lieberman reported, Tacolandia to Display LA, OC, Baja’s Best Tacos on June 23. Zagat LA On June 10, Zagat LA editor Lesley Balla revealed, Gourmet Snacks: 10 Must-Try Bites Around LA, including cheesy churros at Petty Cash and chicken waffles at Sixth Street Tavern. Favorite Posts from L.A. Food Writers: June 10 – 16, 2013

As cocktail books go, The Savoy Cocktail Book is neither precise -- it contains numerous forgotten ingredients (you mean an Aviation uses Crème de Violette?!) and botched measurements -- nor o...

Since he took over the kitchen at Mohawk Bend last December, Erick Simmons has thrown out a few tools from his traditional chef's tool box. "I have no butter in my inventory. I haven't used it ...

It's important to remember that strip malls can happen any time, anywhere. Sure, you might be used to catching miles and miles of them as you reach towards the suburbs, but sometimes there's a ...

He says the Fat Cow has changed. Current and former front-of-house employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the British chef's restaurant at the Grove in Los Angeles last week. Fat Cow workers say they were subject to tip-skimming, allege they were denied overtime, and also claim they were made to work through designated break periods. Though Ramsay is no stranger to a broad spectrum of legal action and this is the second time this year his gastropub-ish restaurant has been sued, a representative for the chef's restaurant group asserts this one is different. “We are aware there was a problem with previous management which has since been changed," the spokesperson tells Radar, "but this is totally unacceptable if any truth to it.” [Radar, Earlier, Related] Read more posts by Hugh MerwinFiled Under: lawsuits, class action lawsuits, fat cow, gordon ramsay, los angeles, los angeles restaurants

Food GPS - Food. Drinks. People. I’m no stranger to beer floats, but they’re far from an everyday thing, so when the magic words “Naughty Sauce” and “McConnell’s” rampaged my in box, it was inevitable I’d end up at The Surly Goat on June 13. Ryan Sweeney, Gus Da Goat and the rest of the Surly crew invited McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams to come scoop. Third generation ice cream man Michael Palmer, who reclaimed the family business in 2011 with chef-wife Eva Ein, Kira Fay, and Barry Fay, was in the house. McConnell’s plans to open a flagship store on Santa Barbara’s State Street this summer, and expand to Los Angeles by 2014. In the meantime, they’re promoting the company’s high quality product at West Coast events like this, where McConnell’s contributed ice cream to four floats, including Naughty or Nice ($5). A young woman who works for McConnell’s scooped silky vanilla ice cream into a glass and a Surly Goat bartender added Noble Ale Works Naughty Sauce, a Golden Milk Stout infused with Portola coffee that impressed me at TAPS Craft Brew Festival. The result was like a frothy coffee creamsicle that I finished with swift swipes of my spoon and a few quick sips through a straw. Hopefully the float collaboration continues in the future. Drink of the Week: Naughty or Nice Beer Float