Meryl Streep cast as Julia Child!

...or how to blog your way to a movie deal. Variety reports that Meryl Streep will play Julia Child and Amy Adams will play Julie the blogger in "Julie & Julia," with Nora Ephron directing. Is this the first blog-to-feature project? Despite my snarky comments about various Ephrons just one post below, I love the Streep-starring movie "Heartburn," which Mike Nichols directed and Ephron wrote, including many cooking references, and I wish her well with this project. I just wish Julia Child was still alive to see the stunning Streep portray her charming, gawky self. Filming will start next year.

Food blogging: Anyone can do it!

In the L.A. Times food section, Regina Schrambling helpfully explains how easy it is to start a food blog, I think. I couldn't actually finish the story since as soon as my eyes fell on the phrase "I am one of probably the last six people in America still using film," I realized this woman probably shouldn't be telling people how to blog. Oops, reading it more closely, I see she mentions EatingLA -- sorry Regina! My feeling, though, is if you haven't already figured out how to do it, blogging probably isn't for you, but YMMV.

So I'll leave off ragging on Regina and move on to one of my betes noires -- the Huffington Post Living Now section in general, but specifically, the new "online food magazine" they've begun linking to, One for the Table (icky subtitle: Food, politics and love). It's put together by Amy Ephron and Laraine Newman, among others, who undoubtedly paid a bad designer to put together the unattractive thing that is neither blog nor magazine. The latest post by Newman (great comedienne, middling food writer), starts off promisingly about treasuring her mother's tattered Joy of Cooking which includes instructions on how to butcher a squirrel. Unfortunately, it ends up extolling the wonders of her savvy black nanny who cooked up a storm while her mother was recovering from a face lift -- the whole thing left the taste of poorly-butchered squirrel in my mouth. The most irritating thing -- there's no place to comment or interact with the famous food-writing ladies.

But unlike the dying job of being a film critic (what are all those film criticism majors going to do when they graduate, anyway?), food writing seems to be in a boom period. Patric Kuh of Los Angeles magazine is teaching a food writing class at UCLA extension and has graciously asked me to talk about EatingLA, so that more fledgling foodies can be unleashed upon the world. It is funny that I don't think blogs were even mentioned when I took Mediabistro's Food Writing class four years ago.

Soy Cafe expands to Atwater

Soy Cafe's lemongrass chicken bahn mi

We stopped in at Soy Cafe today to find out about the tiny Vietnamese spot's expansion into Atwater. While keeping the spot on Hyperion (maybe with even more bahn mi!), Soy Cafe is opening a larger cafe near Starbucks -- basically across the street from Indochine. Soy Cafe's owner Viet says that unlike his sister-in-law's Pho Cafe on Sunset, he specializes in a more North Vietnamese style. The new shop will concentrate on noodles, particularly bun and northern style pho -- which apparently has flat noodles, no basil, and will come in chicken and vegetarian varieties. Viet plans a grand opening after Thanksgiving.

Monday morsels

Mike from Franklin Ave. made it to KP's one last time...alas, EatingLA wasn't able to say goodbye.

Mike also let us now that the long-rumored wine bar or wine shop w/tastings or what-have-you is nearly ready to open next to the new Starbucks in Atwater. Here's more from Franklin Ave.

A Chowhounder reports the addition to La Buca on Melrose is up and running...also very long in the making.

perfect baby purees from Pommebebe

And this is out of the hood, but I can't resist the baby foodie stories....Pommebebe is opening in Newport Beach offering "fresh, organic baby food" with a "seasonal menu" from a "five-star chef" -- I know there's already a kidfood takeout operation in New York, but this is the first one I've heard of in Southern California. I remember back in the day when we used to throw some random steamed carrots in food processor and pop it in the ice cube trays...and how exciting it was when Earth's Best babyfood first went on sale.

Taste test: Vietnam House

cha gio -- fried egg rolls with vegetables

Vietnam House is a bit of an enigma -- it has the same owners as Golden Deli but with a larger menu, as well as beer and wine -- yet Golden Deli seems to be busier. And although it's at one of those amazing minimall Asian food epicenters, home to Newport Seafood and Luscious Dumplings, several other interesting Chinese restaurants and Golden Deli itself, it's sort of hidden in a corner of the minimall and not easy to spot. Not only does it have a shorter wait at peak hours, Vietnam House serves 7 Courses of Beef, for $12.95, as well as baked whole catfish and sizzling barbecue plates.

banh hoi nem nuong -- sausagy meatballish things with noodle pancakes

There's no mystery, though, about the massive quantities of well-prepared, homey Vietnamese dishes at bargain prices available at either one. It was entertaining watching all 12 courses of beef arrive at the table next to us, but we wanted to try a wider range of dishes. We started with the famous cha gio, egg rolls with vegetables, perfectly-fried fat rolls which gained a whole new dimension when rolled up with lettuce, cilantro and basil. We then had a little bit of everything -- wonderfully fragrant beef pho soup, banh hoi nem nuong, which is kind of a pork sausage on top of vermicelli pancakes topped with peanuts; a bahn mi sandwich, and broken rice topped with shredded pork, more egg rolls and shrimp paste (unless you're a huge shrimp paste fan, spring for the grilled shrimp instead). Although these places are brightly lit and bustling, the homestyle cooking tastes like what your grandmother would make you on a blustery night, if she was Vietnamese. And you'd be lucky to have a grandmother like that. There's beer if you want it, and a rainbow of drinks including pickle lemonade, cherimoya smoothie and kickass iced coffee. Just be careful when you go: Vietnam House is inexplicably closed on Tuesdays, while its sibling Golden Deli rests randomly on Wednesday.

Vietnam House, 710 W. Las Tunas Dr., San Gabriel, (626) 282-6327

No, not KP's...we need our bahn mi!

Yes, apparently KP's Deli is closing...their lease was not renewed. Very sad news since the people there were so nice, and it's not easy to find a decent bahn mi in this neck of the woods.
Matt was already worried when they discontinued the beef jerky bahn mi, but this is really too bad.
After Thursday, you can try Soy Cafe, a bit further down Hyperion. They have lemongrass chicken and tofu bahn mi for around $5 -- not completely traditional, but pretty good.

Gingergrass also has bahn mi -- anyone tried them?

Or, you could be pioneering, and open a franchise of the yummy Baguette Express...please!

New menu for the Edendale Grill

Happy fifth birthday to the Edendale!
Eating L.A. stopped by the Edendale Grill's Fifth anniversary party last night, which featured roving musicians, fire jugglers and stilt-walkers. Now that owner Melanie Tusquellas has bought out partner and original chef Patti Peck, Tusquellas is changing up the menu a bit. She's refocusing the main menu as more of a straight steakhouse menu with changeable sides in the vein of BLD and Craft, and lowering the prices -- now that's a refreshing change. And since the bar menu is what people seem most interested in at Edendale, she's expanding the bar and small plates menu for a more informal approach overall, as well as adding new cocktails with flavors like litchi and elderberry. The new menu debuts Nov. 1.
Over at Tusquella's other Silver Lake restaurant, El Chavo, work is going on to renovate the former private banquet room and make the restaurant and bar more spacious, with a facelift for the rather drab Sunset Blvd. exterior coming soon.

San Francisco as ranked by Michelin

The French Laundry again topped the listings of the Bay Area and Wine Country Michelin Guide, as announced in the San Francisco Chronicle. Two-stars include Cyrus, Manresa, Aqua and Michael Mina, with Chez TJ in Mountain View and Meadowwood in Napa joining the two star club.
Ratings for L.A.'s first edition will be announced Nov. 12 -- so will we have any three stars? Urusawa? Spago? Providence? Bastide? Are any of them on the same level as the French Laundry?

Asian flavas in the news

Reuters, which goes out all over the world, interviewed me and Rosie for this piece pegged to Pinkberry's recent investment influx. I wonder what kind of international expansion Pinkberry has in mind...

Why are Libertarians writing about sushi? Find out in this article in Reason magazine, The Day of the Flying Fish, about traditional sushi and the global sushi economy. Then read why Chowhound Silverjay begs to differ.

And the L.A. Times looks at upscale Vietnamese restaurants in Little Saigon. Note to reporters: it looks like Chowhound deletes requests to talk to reporters that are tacked onto posts, so be forewarned. There must be better ways of doing research.

Taste test: Shakas Hawaiian Flavors

omg, bacon-fried rice, enough for about six people

For some reason, when I heard about Shakas, with its bacon-fried rice and shave ice, I imagined something funky, a little grimy, with some giant tattooed bruthas hanging out in front -- like the places we visited last year on the North Shore. But the Alhambra Shakas isn't like that at all -- it's clean and slick, like a sports bar or California Pizza Kitchen, with modern touches like square black ceramic plates and Kona Hawaiian beer on tap. No matter -- they've got huge plates of Hawaiian grinds, happy hour specials, fruity soju drinks and reasonable prices -- what's not to like? My son, the macaroni salad connoisseur, ate both our portions. He pronounced the kalua pig and cabbage "too smoky," but I thought it was pretty good. Now, that's a fancy plate lunch -- Mochiku chicken, cabbage, macaroni salad

The bacon fried rice, with fish cake strips, bacon and Portuguese sausage, is an awesomely-sized mound that should probably be taken home and consumed very hung over the next day with a fried egg on top and a generous squirt of Sriracha. Other Hawaiian specialties include loco moco, saimin, spam and eggs served all day and spam musubi as well as some slightly healthier dishes like shoyu salmon, Asian peso mahi mahi and Chinese chicken salad. Next time, we'll try the shave ice for sure.
Shakas Hawaiian Flavors (also in Monterey Park)
101 W. Main St.
Alhambra
(626) 293-5520

How to eat locally in L.A.

If you haven't checked it out yet, don't miss In the Land of Good and Plenty in the recent Los Angeles magazine, which tells exactly where to get a variety of fruits and vegetables as well as chicken, cheese, eggs, milk and more produced relatively close to L.A. Of course, we live in a desert, so some producers are as far away as Atascadero, but it's a very useful guide. You'll have to read it in print, though -- online only covers beans and broccoli. I really want to try the local albacore, mussels, sand dabs and aged Gouda.

L.A. Times' The Guide: We think we like it

Is the L.A. Times getting some fresher blood or is it my imagination? So far, I think I like the redesigned Guide section which relegates boring celebrity interviews back to the movie ad-friendly Calendar section. The design is pretty clean, although the fonts seem kind of tiny. The cover feature on Secret L.A. was well done -- not that any of those places are secret to Eating LA, but still. There's several My Favorite Weekends that seem less inane than usual, and can it be true? Have they actually retired the lame Drive-by Dining in favor of the more tolerable non-bylined feature The Glutton? In general, there seems to be more restaurant coverage, which is always a good thing. My favorite tidbit? The Silversun Pickups love the taco truck on Alvarado as much as we do.
The main quibble: All this good stuff is absolutely impossible to find on the byzantine, useless CalendarLive website. Just pick up the print version and enjoy the redesign. You can run down to the corner and pick one up in less time than it would take to find The Glutton online.

Taste test: The Point, and why is the Eastside missing out?

Plenty of outdoor tables in a modern setting

It doesn't seem quite fair that Culver City gets not just Surfas Cafe and Tender Greens but now The Point as well. Where are all the places for Eastsiders to get a nice fresh salad, or some soup or pudding to go? The Point opened recently on National in one of those highly groovy ultramodern office parks they have over in Culver City. "Fresh food for people on the go" is their slogan, as opposed to most of the cafes of Los Feliz, Silver Lake and Echo Park that share the same slogan -- "Slow service for Silver Lake slackers." Owned by the folks from Beacon, The Point has a simple menu of salads, paninis, wraps and soup, as well as take-home prepared meals of mac n' cheese, meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes ($9.50), chicken enchiladas and spinach and cheese stuffed chicken breast. You can also make your own salad or choose a bento box of four mini-salads. There's a few tables inside and several more outside, but it can also function as a place to pick up a quick dinner on the way home. Chicken caesar: yummy dressing, actual anchovies!
The difference between the Point and places like O to Go is that all the ingredients are fresh and carefully chosen, combined so they actually taste good. My caesar salad ($9.50) had a delicious dressing with just the right amount of garlic -- too thick to actually pour, but a hit nonetheless. Some people might be scared of anchovies, but the fat little fellows perched on top of the incredibly crisp romaine were a brave and tasty touch. Croutons were soggy, but these are the perils of prepackaged food. Squash soup ($3.50) was comforting on a foggy day, while butterscotch pudding was no budino, but a fun finish to the lunch. There's also breakfast in the morning, and giant peanut butter cookie sandwiches. It all sounds simple enough, so why do places like this only exist west of La Cienega?
The Point
8522 National Blvd.
Culver City
(310)836-8400

J. Gold and Eating L.A. agree to disagree on Larkin's

now that's a lotta blue cheese dressing...

We love Jonathan Gold, his writing is irreverent and evocative and he has helped us all discover many many places we wouldn't have ferreted out ourselves. Our only quibble is that when you carefully read his reviews, it is sometimes very hard to tell which dishes are actually good at the restaurant. Take Larkin's: He was eating there the same night we were, so I imagine our experiences were fairly consistent. Reading his review this week, there's very few things that are actually recommended, although he does a great job of describing the ambiance. And perhaps our tastes differ, because I really didn't like those collard greens.
Anyway, here's my review from the Los Feliz Ledger, which is not available online.
Taste test: Larkin's
After several months of preview dinners, Larkin’s has finally settled comfortably into a craftsman bungalow at the outer edge of Eagle Rock. First time restaurateur Larkin Mackey has poured his soul into giving Northeast L.A. some down-home cooking, and Larkin’s has fast become a comfy hangout for the neighborhood, with lunch, dinner and brunch on weekends.
Sit outside on the pleasant wraparound porch of the 1920s cottage, or inside where the house’s former living room is warm with vintage paneling, framed photos and tables made from recycled painted doors. The quaint touches are charming, if not always successful. Mason jar glasses might work better as flower vases than as drinking vessels, and the glass-topped tables are slippery, with no placemats to keep giant plates of ribs from gliding precariously towards the edge.
The concept is contemporary soul food, and while it’s certainly understandable that a culinary school graduate with vegetarian leanings like Mackey would want to lighten and update the soul food canon, whether it’s what people really want to eat is harder to say.
The food is competent, but some dishes fall short of the flavor and comfort that define Southern cooking. Certainly no Southern grandma would serve a salad garnished with candied walnuts, goat cheese and pomegranate vinaigrette, but it might be a better choice than the iceberg lettuce wedge with a gluey blue cheese dressing that could use more tang.
Diners get a small bowl of “Southern caviar” made with black-eyed peas to nibble on while waiting, and main dishes are served with a basket of mini corn muffins. The pork ribs smell enticing as the sweet smoke drifts over the front porch, even though they’re just warmed up on a gas barbecue. At $20, it’s a big and meaty portion that could use some slow smoking so that the meat separates more easily from the bone. Fortunately the kitchen has a light hand with the barbecue sauce, and garlic mashed potatoes make a hearty side.
Catfish ($15) is perfectly fried with a crunchy cornmeal crust, but the tomatoes and peppers mixed into the accompanying greens have a spicy kick that doesn’t really mesh with the pungent collards. Other main dish choices include fried chicken, jambalaya and smothered pork chops.
Desserts, which include sweet potato pie and banana pudding, tend to be on the sweet side. Red velvet strawberry shortcake ($8) is an interesting idea, but doesn’t work when the red velvet cake is hard and dry. Blackberry/blueberry cobbler ($7) is served in a cup, with no evident crust, just something soggy and cakey at the bottom.
With a cozy setting and friendly service, Larkin’s is a welcome addition to the fast-growing Eagle Rock dining scene. Many locals, however, would embrace even more soul in the cooking – and maybe even some lard in the collard greens.

Casa Bianca Pizza owner dies

Services for Casa Bianca Pizza owner Sam Martorana will be held Saturday Oct. 13 at 11 a.m. at Eagle Rock Baptist Church, corner of Colorado and Hartwick. Our condolences to the family of Martorana, who died Sunday at 83. The L.A. Times obituary tells of how Casa Bianca's popularity exploded after a glowing 1991 review by Jonathan Gold.

Picky Eaters: Do they really get it from you?

...and why Jerry Seinfeld's wife sounds like a real dweeb, is the subject of the New York Times article Picky Eaters: They Get it from You, today's most emailed post. Except that reading the article, you find out that even though some researcher says it could be genetic, there's plenty of people who will eat anything who end up with picky children anyway. Take Hugh Garvey, a Bon Appetit editor and blogger at Gastrokid (Note to L.A. Times: the blog is actually linked to the story, in an amazing feat of modern technology.) See, even food writers have picky kids. Not that I'm sensitive about that or anything.
So back to Jessica Seinfeld, who if you believe that she actually cooks for her kids, apparently hides beet puree in pancakes and spinach in brownies, as detailed in her new book Deceptively Delicious. Yuck. If you have to resort to that, just give the little buggers a vitamin or something and call it a day.

Katsuya Hollywood opens; no fish left in ocean?

A dining nook with Starck's photo mural

Last night's opening of the new Katsuya Hollywood at the iconic corner of Hollywood and Vine was as big a sushi blowout as I'll likely ever see, and Philippe Starck's glammy design was pretty impressive too. Years after the Cafe Costes in Paris, the guy's still got the talent, and not just with Target toasters.So much sashimi they had to hang it on a clothesline...

After a cacaphony of taiko drums, owner Sam Nazarian appeared to make a sake toast with mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, councilman Eric Garcetti, police chief Bill Bratton and that most important person for restaurateurs, the head of L.A.'s building and safety dept. Executive chef Katsuya Uechi stopped by to great our new friends and tablemates, Cha Cha and her friend, who own gentleman's club Tee Up at the Bonaventure and Club Cha Cha in Torrance.

Katsuya makes its own very tasty sake, which is displayed in large bottles around the massive square sushi bar. We also sampled cocktails including a martini infused with green pea vodka -- tastier than it sounds, if you don't mind vegetal notes in your liquor, and a tall gin with elderflower and kiwi.Cha Cha, right, and her friend

Starck's ultra-modern, colorful design includes giant photo blow-ups backgrounding comfy square booths in the sushi bar room and larger table nooks in the lounge area area. As for the food, the crispy rice topped with tuna was a perfect rendition of this often-ruined staple, and the scallop sashimi was particularly luscious. The intensely flavored green tea brulee was one of the best riffs on creme brulee I've had, as long as you love matcha as much as I do. This place is a showstopper, likely to be overrun quickly by the Hollywood club crowd -- I just hope they appreciate the wonderfully fresh fish and housemade sake while they're lounging around on Starck's banquettes. Katsuya's empire is expanding awfully quickly, with new restaurants coming to Miami, Downtown L.A. and Glendale...but I don't know if Glendale is quite ready for this much style!

Ludo gets cut: A chef responds

Kudos to Ludovic Lefebvre for promptly emailing a response to the Ludobites at Breadbar review below.

"I am sorry for the long wait for the first dishes, but I cut myself bad and it took about 20 minutes to stop the bleeding, so everything was behind," he writes.

I know all sorts of things can happen in kitchens, so I'm sorry for his mishap. Probably just one visit from a waiter during that time to smooth things over would have helped, too. Anyway, I do appreciate the personal response, and the chef promises many more delicious things we didn't have a chance to taste if we visit again.

Taste test: Ludobites at BreadBar

chicken liver mousse, green apple gelee

An impromptu dinner at Breadbar with six wine-loving peeps seemed like a good plan for a Friday night, at least until they lost our reservation. Fortunately there was one table left inside, since it was one of the first nights of the year when it was too nippy to eat on the patio. Chef Ludovic Lefebvre, formerly of Bastide, was doing Black and Yellow week, whatever that is -- we didn't try the main dishes, Black croque monsieur with foie gras and Yellow croque monsieur with matsutake because they just sounded too baroque and expensive ($24 each). We started with a bread basket with yummy Echire butter ("You have to know someone to get it," the server told us), a smoked salmon plate with tarama and lentils ($9) and a combo plate of brocamole (his take on guacamole with broccoli instead), hangar steak and Bayern blau cheese ($23). The first dishes took approximately three years to arrive -- at least we were enjoying the three wines we brought while we waited. lentils, tarama with trout roe, smoked salmon "McBain"
Eventually we flagged down a server and wangled a few more plates: Prawns from Santa Barbara with green tea salt -- nice, but not worth $18; a plate of blue cheeses with honeycomb and pink grapefruit confit; carrot sousouc, a clean-tasting "inversion of couscous" ($7); chicken liver mousse with green apple gelee; and foie gras terrine with lemon puree. Of these plates, the chicken liver mousse ($9) was the standout, with a melting texture and a delicately earthy flavor. Lefebvre spent a lot of timing blowing out birthday candles with the other party but never even glanced at us, although he's still looking hunky.
Verdict: Ludobites, offered on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights through December, could be a fun way to try some inventive small plates while enjoying your own wine with free corkage. But there's not very many dishes that actually spotlight Lefevbre's cooking -- you could assemble most of them yourself from the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. Perhaps since Breadbar doesn't usually serve dinner, the service leaves quite a bit to be desired. And watch those supplements -- they can add up fast.

Vote for your favorite restaurant design

If you've already voted for your favorite burrito (see below), the American Institute of Architects is inviting the public to vote for the Restaurant Design Awards. Among the contenders are Blue Velvet, Lou (at left), Pinkberry, the Edison and Intelligentsia. The juried awards are voted on by the likes of Nancy Silverton, but you can vote here for the People's Choice Award. I don't really get why one cupcake place is in San Francisco, but whatever.

My daughter's dream job: the Candy Lounge

If only my daughter were a little older, she'd be applying here in a second: Sweet Sugar, the Original Candy Lounge is seeking energetic and experienced individuals to be part of our team. Candidates should have some experience in a bakery/coffee house environment and be extremely personable. Location: 7714 Melrose Avenue.
Yikes, it's just a few blocks from Milk and several dozen Pinkberry-like frozen treat dispensaries...are they trying to give us all diabetes?

What's going on? Taix brothers, L.A. Home Grown, more

On Wednesday Oct. 10 the Echo Park Historical Society presents the history of Les Freres Taix. Learn all about the history of the 80-year old restaurant that started out Downtown.

On Sunday, Oct. 14, Los Angeles magazine celebrates its food issue with the Los Angeles Home Grown Food Event. Held at the Kitchen Academy in Hollywood, the event (tickets are $40) benefits the L.A. Mission and includes restaurant tastings, cooking demos, a celebrity chef cook-off and more.

Dora from Yuca's would like to encourage everyone to vote for their favorite burrito in FoxLA's poll -- actually, you can vote for whoever you want, but Dora would prefer you choose Yuca's!

New Angeles magazine, which clearly has a larger restaurant review budget than the Los Feliz Ledger, would like you to check out their review of Bastide. Might as well, since Eating L.A. probably won't be getting there anytime soon.

A preview of David Myers' Comme Ca

Last night's opening preview of Comme Ca revealed a lovely re-do of the Middle Eastern cafe Noura on Melrose. Unfortunately the patio and fire pit were gone, but the space has been beautifully revamped in a crisp black and white color scheme, with lots of shiny white subway tiles (even in the bathroom, pictured), blackboards on the walls and black bookshelves lining the bar area. There's a large front room and two smaller rooms in back, with a New York-style vibe reminiscent of Osteria Mozza more than of Paris. Comme Ca is still putting on the finishing touches and David Myers hopes to open for dinner by early November, with lunch and breakfast (!) to follow soon after.
The menu is bistro all the way, from Moules frites ($20) to specials of Choucroute Garni on Wednesdays ($26), Beef bourguignon ($24) and Coq au vin ($24).
Everyone was drinking one of the house cocktails ($13), such the Rumble with rum and crushed blackberries or the East Side Cocktail with gin and cucumber. We saw columnist Joel Stein, Sang Yoon from Father's Office and Joachim Splichal among others at the soiree among the guests. Tastings included buttery oysters, roasted bone marrow and oxtail jam on toast (in photo), brandade fritters, some wonderful cheeses and heavenly bites from Boule like a salted caramel eclair bite and bites of bittersweet chocolate tart. This place is sure to be a big hit with prices that are probably considered reasonable by the Beverly Hills/West Hollywood crowd, a pretty, lively design and French classics that aren't always easy to find in L.A.

Dangerous chili fumes: so far, not a problem at Jitlada

Thanks to BoingBoing for a link to a story out of England....apparently those pale, timed Englishmen were taken aback by the smell of nam prik being prepared by a London Thai restaurant and called out the bobbies, who thought it was some sort of bioterrorism...the recipe for the spicy dip calls for burning the peppers, which releases a sort of homemade tear gas. Actually this happened to me when I was trying to roast an incredibly hot habanero I grew on my patio, and I contaminated the entire kitchen. I like how the article helpfully includes the recipe, in case you want to prepare your own bioterror chile bomb.

A little Taste of Los Feliz news

Notes from yesterday's Taste of Los Feliz, which benefits Hope-Net, the charitable org that runs a network of food distribution pantries around the Hollywood, Los Feliz and Wilshire areas...
Little Dom's was there with some yummy arancini (pictured at left) bursting with mushrooms and cheese in a crispy rice coating...They hope to open the restaurant/deli in the former Belle Epoque space on Hillhurst in November.
Chi Dynasty was serving up orange chicken along with change of address cards...as we reported several months ago, they're moving to 1813 Hillhurst Ave. near Ye Rustic Inn.
The new owner of Figaro Bistro greeted us with new menus -- he says Figaro has a new chef, a new menu and "everything is new" -- meaning a return to French cafe classics like moules frites ($18), steak tartare ($13) and poulet roti ($23). The mussels with pesto on toast were one of my favorite dishes along with Aroma's tortellini and Delilah Bakery's whiskey bread pudding.