Did the food trucks kill O to Go and Toshi's on Wilshire?

photo from LAist.com

Some of the crappy chain places along Wilshire's Miracle Mile put up a big stink when the new wave of food trucks started parking around the 5700 to 5900 blocks. Toshi's, the bastard stepson of Samurai Sam's, was the most upset. Now Chowhound's Mr. Taster reports that both Toshi's and O to Go have closed up shop. I don't wish for anyone to lose their livelihood in this difficult economy, but he is dead right -- if these places had served anything remotely worth eating, I would have likely spent more than $5000 there over the course of working on Wilshire for more than 14 years.
Instead, I'm a dedicated brown bagger, happy to sporadically check out the Grilled Cheese Truck, Kogi or the Nomnom truck. I can't get too excited about a Coffee Bean possibly taking one of the spaces, either. Can we please get some better food along Wilshire? I did see a new sushi place going in the 5600 block, so maybe there will be more changes in the neighborhood.

Lazy Ox Canteen: Downtown gastropub first impressions

Where does Josef Centeno's new Little Tokyo spot The Lazy Ox fall on the gastropub scale? It probably skews a little more gastro than pub, with ambitious entrees in the mid-$20s and an intriguing little wine list. But there's also a "5 for $5" happy hour menu, a roster of serious beers and a list of small plates that can either tide over bar drinkers or kick off a full dinner. Centeno seems to have found a much more convivial spot than either the cavernous, overly formal Opus or the fraught-with-drama Lot 1. Restaurants in brand-new buildings could use a little time to get comfy and frayed around the edges, though the weathered brick wall and funky light bulbs try their best to make the space homey. Come summer, outdoor dining on the patio should liven up San Pedro Ave. Our selection of dishes probably wasn't quite balanced -- from the $5 happy hour menu, whipped ricotta and olive oil was nice on housemade bread, while three small bites of beef skewers were uninspired. Somehow we landed in the meaty camp again with rich and earthy cavatelli with braised oxtail and rutabaga. We finished with a tangerine flan in a cup that was more like a soft pudding, with a the citrusy/creamy flavor was a nice Creamsicle inspiration. I don't think I'd order any of those dishes again, but I'll certainly go back anyway to try the Kennebec fries and roasted mussels with chile, sample some beers (West Coast IPA always pleases) and chat with Doug, formerly of Sgt. Recruiter, certainly one of the more pleasant bartenders around. Plus, taking the Gold Line to the new Little Tokyo station was a breeze -- and I didn't have to worry about how many IPAs I had.

Jay Weston is all atwitter

Thanks to Jay Weston, one of the city's first citizen restaurant critics, for the nice story on Eat: Los Angeles in the latest edition of his newsletter. Jay tweaks me a little bit about a blog post on his longtime newsletter I did a while ago, but almost any publicity is good publicity, so thank you, Jay, and sorry if the earlier post seemed harsh. The newsletter doesn't have a website, but the former film producer is tweeting aplenty about his restaurant and movie experiences: @jaywestonsbcglo.

New Year's eve: a selective list, both formal and informal

Is anyone going out on New Year's eve? I know, amateur night, but some people do like to get out of the house once in a while. Here's a few that sound intriguing -- cotton candy syrup!:

Bistro LQ
5:30-6:30 $55 four courses, $90 six courses
Smoked salmon, red beet flan, celery root remoulade, American sevruga
Oatmeal infused with black truffles and roasted Maine lobster
Black scabbard in caul with celery root, wood ear mushrooms, pomegranate nage
Sauteed foie gras French toast style, apple chanterelles with cotton candy syrup
Lamb loin stuffed with dry cherries, pistachios in a light coriander jus or duck magret with confit leg stuffed cabbage rolls, pumpkin pie coulis, Tonka jus

Barbrix
Hooray, no prix fixe! Reservations are recommended for table service, though. Specials include: Pappardelle with Dungeness crab, garlic chives, red chilis, Meyer lemon and grilled New Zealand lamb chops, spanikopita, cumin yogurt, mint oil

Ammo
$60 for four courses ($30 for wine pairing):
Warm salad of bitter greens with pancetta, walnuts & mustard vinaigrette
Sweet potato gnocchi with brown butter & sage

Cioppino with crab, mussels, clams, shrimp, squid, & rockfish with garlic toast or
Grilled Sonoma lamb loin and rib chop with couscous, dates and fried chickpeas
Baked Alaska

Palate
Afternoon pre-party 2-8 with seafood raw bar. Dinner seatings start at 5:30 pm, with a 6 course menu at 9 pm for $100 a person with champagne toast, and entertainment featuring DJ Jun.
Here's Palate's prix fixe menu, featuring cardoon tarte and venison osso buco.

Bottle Rock Downtown and Culver City:
Not just regular menus, but also prix fixe menus and starting at 9:30, raffle ticket giveaways every 30 minutes. Party down!

STREET
$5 courses for $55, with dim sum on carts and lots of choices among courses including India three ways, South America three ways and Asia three ways.

Jonathan Gold on the year in food -- please explain!

Jonathan Gold hopped back to the L.A. Times today to wrap up The Year in Food: Changing Tastes. I love how he managed to work in Bazaar to Breed St. and everything in-between, although his unswerving allegiance to Kogi and disdain of other trucks is starting to look a little odd. Anyway, it was a fascinating read, right up to the last paragraph, which left me confused.

"I could happily go the rest of my life without hearing about another celebrity potato farmer or rock-star butcher, about 15-year-old cheddar or 150-year-old Madeira. And I am not alone." - Jonathan Gold, L.A. Times

Can someone please explain -- is it that butchering classes are good, because they're rock 'n roll, but 15 year old cheddar is bad, because it's pretentious? I don't disagree, but it's a little hard to parse.

Restaurant suggestions from KPCC listeners - any good?

One thing people love even more than reading about restaurants is giving their own opinions about their favorite spots. The phone lines were buzzing several callers deep this morning when I went on KPCC's Airtalk with Eat: Los Angeles writers Colleen Dunn Bates and Miles Clements to talk about L.A. restaurants. We had all kinds of talking points prepared about the Downtown renaissance, food trucks, burgers and beer and Pasadena restaurants, just to name a few. But most of the show was devoted to taking listener's recommendations, some of which are listed in the comments to the stream of the show which is available online. Any opinions on these places?
Here's a few that sounded worthy of checking out:
The Firehouse in Reseda, also Falafel Palace.
Kotohira for udon in Gardena
Qusco Peruvian Bistro on Santa Monica Blvd.
Tokyo 7-7 Coffee Shop, Culver City
Cafe Panini in Beverly Hills for Persian food

D.J. Waldie on the food of his suburban L.A. childhood

Hody's Lakewood Blvd., from gogonotes.blogspot.com

Don't miss D. J. Waldie's lovely essay in today's L.A. Times food section on his mother's cooking in the suburban Lakewood neighborhood of L.A. in the early 1950s. While the era of TV dinners and canned-everything was dawning, Waldie's mother eschewed convenience and managed to turn out sustaining, satisfying meals with much more taste than the neighbors' meals. When they weren't eating at home, they were chowing down at architectural landmarks like Hody's and Clifton's.
Also don't miss Patrick Comiskey's extensive look at seasonal ales. Speaking of holiday ales, check out Trader Joe's Vintage Ale 2009 -- as in 2008, it's made by Unibroue and a great value at $4.99 a large bottle.

Even if you're home for Christmas, take advantage of a little help

EatingLA is taking it slowish this week, concentrating on making sure Santa has plenty of Chocolate chip and peppermint crackles and Triple-chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies to send him on his way.
In the meantime, here's a few things to make your holidays easier:

La Guera Tamalera delivers organic, non-GMO tamales free including on Christmas Day and Christmas eve. Varieties include free-range chicken and family-farmed pork, and gift certificates are also available.

Tired of turkey? Wat Dong Moon Lek now delivers creative, modern-style Thai food within three miles of its Fountain Ave. location.

The Deli at Little Dom's has all kinds of holiday goodies available for pickup, some with 48 hour notice required. (There's still time!) They're cooking lasagna, chocolate roulade, gingerbread cupcakes and more. 323-661-0088

Auntie Em's will deliver a complete Christmas feast to your door, or stop by to pick up a pie or some soup. Again, better get your order in today.

Of course, it's not all over at Christmas...if you're tired of cooking after Christmas, order in some help from these places on New Year's eve or day, too.

Tar Pit Bar tarts up La Brea

Cucumber-mint Creole cocktail: gin, aquavit, sherry, muddled cucumbers, muddled mint, fresh lemon juice

La Brea, of course, means the tar, and so people who say The La Brea Tar Pits are really saying The the tar tar pits. Tar Pit Bar is a cute name for the new cocktail bar collaboration between Campanile's Mark Peel and Audrey Saunders of New York's Pegu Club. Last night food writers from just about every publication in town stopped by to see how many cocktails from their imaginative menu it was possible to sample in one evening. Most everyone was expecting some sort of casual neighborhood watering hole but with great cocktails; instead the room (formerly the Pearl) is an elegant art deco space with chandeliers, white leather banquettes, snazzy marble bathrooms and cocktail waitresses in impeccable black sheaths. This is all a bit more high-style than La Brea is used to, and guests wearing tattered flannel shirts and frayed jeans certainly didn't harmonize with the glossy decor, so ladies, try to find a dress to wear, and guys, ditch the flannel.
The cocktails were of course fabulous, and reasonably-priced for the quality at $11. My favorite was the well-balanced Jamaican Firefly: dark rum, housemade ginger beer, fresh lime juice and simple syrup, with candied ginger garnish (at left).
Also delicious, and potent, was Lil Gig: Silver tequila, yellow chartreuse, Thai basil and simple syrup, which starts off sweet and ends with a bracing herbal kick (at right).
The Cucumber Mint Creole, pictured at top, was refreshing and compulsively drinkable. The only one that didn't work for me was the Trident, a mix of aquavit, fino sherry, Cynar aperitif, peach and orange bitters and lemon essence -- reminiscent of a Manhattan made with artichokes steeped in biodiesel fuel. We sampled pickled deviled eggs, duck rillettes and fried artichoke hearts and fried oysters off the bar menu, where prices range from $6-12. There's also a full wine list and dinner menu, which picks up the vintage theme with nearly-forgotten dishes like Steak Diane, Shrimp Louis, Lobster & scallop Newburg and Coq au vin (entrees around $13-17). Also on the menu are a few intriguing modern dishes that bear investigating, like braised pork cheeks & ears with orrechiette pasta, salsa verdi, braised beet greens and dandelion greens or gnocchi with escargots.
That area was ready for some new bar blood, so it's a welcome addition, especially with a full menu and decent prices. And as at the Varnish, the Association and other nouveau cocktail hot spots: try to have an open mind and order something other than a margarita or a gin and tonic. Really, it's worth it.
The Tar Pit Bar (open every night from 5 pm-2 am)
609 La Brea Ave.
323-965-1300

Allston Yacht Club's smoky bacon 'n egg martini

Yes, I had to try it. Happened to be at the AYC for Wendy's birthday, so I horrified her friends by ordering the bacon-infused vodka martini garnished with a pickled quail egg. The vodka didn't taste particularly bacony, just very smoky like Lapsang Souchong tea or liquid smoke flavoring. I liked the tangy quail egg, it made a perfectly good olive substitute.
The verdict? Not disgusting, just very smoky-tasting. B- for overall taste, A for novelty value.

The Pup Cafe in Venice

The Pup Cafe in Venice, originally uploaded by Gerard Van der Leun.

They just don't make them like this anymore. I'd eat a lot more hot dogs if they came from a place like the Pup Cafe on Washington Blvd. in Venice (or was it Culver City?) By the time I was born, there was only Tail 'O the Pup, and the Dog House in Santa Monica.
This photo was shot by Ansel Adams in 1940 and unearthed by Gerard Van der Leun.

Top Chef tanking in the Valley?

Skip the tiramisu, take the cannoli, recommends S. Irene in the L.A. Times.

It's rare that S. Irene is at all snarky or gives a restaurant zero stars. But then the L.A. Times critic probably would never have gotten around to trying the Valley's Firenze Osteria if Top Chef contender Fabio Viviani hadn't taken it over. Italian restaurants with the exact same halfway decent cooking and somewhat overpriced food litter every neighborhood in L.A., and it's rare to find one that stands out.
Meanwhile, I had forgotten that Viviani was a local when I gave away DVDs of last season's Top Chef last week. Congrats to Tovantran and Michael Tu who both knew I was thinking of Top Chef contestant Stefan Richter from L.A. Farm, who was born in Tampere, Finland.

Eagle Rock Brewery now taking tasting reservations

Eagle Rock Brewery's Ting and Jeremy talk to Felix of Taco Chop at the tasting room's marble counter.

I have to thank the folks at Eagle Rock Brewery for doing such a great job hosting my birthday party/5th blogiversary on Sunday. My pictures aren't the best -- a little too much Solidarity perhaps? But they were so helpful and everyone loved getting a tour of the brewery and tasting the Solidarity and an early preview of Manifesto witbier.
Eagle Rock Brewery isn't yet open to drop-in visits, so for now they're taking reservations for tastings. Call 323-257-7866 for a reservation. Times are roughly Friday 12/18 from 4-10 pm, and 12-10 pm on Saturday 12/19, as well as Saturday and Sunday 12/26 and 12/27 and Jan. 2 & 3.

Bouchon Beverly Hills hits the bistro benchmarks

To really get the benefit of the pretty, faithfully French bistro Bouchon, try to arrange for a new lover to have recently entered your life. Preferably, he's adept at ordering wine in French and knows the difference between an Umami and a Kumamoto oyster. If he's a little late, go ahead and order a flute of champagne and sit at the bar flashing a bit of leg and leafing through Le Figaro. Flirt with the bartender until he arrives and the waiter leads the two of you to a secluded table, where you'll share tastes of shellfish, charcuterie and bites of steak and frites before ending with a sensuously oozing cheese plate, and maybe hopping over to the Montage Hotel for the rest of the afternoon. OK, now that I've got that over with, here's what my meal was actually like. I was looking forward to a birthday lunch at Bouchon, especially after I was lucky enough to be invited to the lavish opening party where I sampled oysters and foie gras, hung out in the kitchen with the head pastry chef and baked my own baguette. Of course, it's a whole different kettle of mussels when it's on your own dime (or even your friends' dime.) Kathy took some time to look over the brief wine list, and we chose a French rose for a rare boozy lunch. It was rainy and I was threatening to come down with a cold, so we started with carrot ginger soup. The thick soup was perfectly smooth and buttery, but lacked any discernable ginger taste and could have maybe used an acidic note to elevate it beyond haute baby food. A simple salad with warm goat cheese was correct, as they say in France, with fresh, flavorful lettuce and a perfectly salted viniagrette. Usually we tend to order fish to share, but trout with almonds sounded too old-school, tuna nicoise sounded too cold on a damp day and Kathy had eaten salmon the night before, so we ended up choosing poulet a la grand-mere. Half of a good quality, teen-ager sized chicken was plenty to share, with purple potatoes and lardons upping the ante in the savory jus that was just a touch undersalted (other bloggers have called it totally oversalted -- guess they're working to get it just right). My favorite part of the meal was actually a side dish of Brussels sprouts with bacon and salted capers, which packed a great contrast of lightly bitter roasted sprouts with salty bacon and capers, all happily swimming in a small pool of beurre noisette. Actually, I'd like a small pool of beurre noisette to swim in instead of a jacuzzi, if that could be arranged.
This was a pretty modest lunch, but still ran to $100. Service was extremely attentive and professional, which is really refreshing. The bistro cooking at Bouchon is competent and satisfying, but the menu isn't all that exciting. It's a lovely, airy fin de siecle room, but with paper tablecloths, bread placed right on the table, brown paper menus and chunky carafes of wine, it's not a fine dining place, despite the prices.
None of this will be news to people who have eaten at Thomas Keller's other Bouchons, and the ladies of Beverly Hills can always use a new lunch spot. It's a pleasant spot if you've got the blé...now if they'd only finalize plans for the bakery. In the meantime, the downstairs bar should be open very soon if you just want to pop in for that flute of champagne and a few nibbles.

Just in case: Hot Knives' All-natural Nyquil

The other night when I was feeling chilly, I concocted a hot toddy of tangerine juice, brandy, honey, ginger and cayenne pepper. It was pretty good, but if you're really under the weather, we highly recommend taking it a step farther with Hot Knives' All Natural NyQuil recipe, featuring mint, pastis, green chile and more. I might just have to drink this every day from now on.

In the news: Michael Connelly's L.A., Centeno returns, Voltaggio's plans

L.A. Times' My Favorite Weekend talks to mystery maestro Michael Connelly, who has been living in Florida for so long he sounds a tad out of touch with L.A. Joe's Main St. Diner? Whatever. At least I still have the special Michael Connelly Zagat Guide they passed out at the Book Expo a few years ago, with all the places his characters ate.
***
Josef Centeno (formerly of Lot 1, Opus and Meson G) latest venture The Lazy Ox Canteen opens Thursday in Little Tokyo. Featuring small plates and craft beers, the menu looks good -- hope this one goes better than his experience at Lot 1 in Echo Park. Marrow butter on toast, anyone?
***
Top Chef season 6 winner Michael Voltaggio talks to GrubstreetLA about the Langham's upcoming renovation and his plans to stay in L.A. Reading between the lines of various interviews, it sounds like down the line, he'd like to lure brother Bryan here to start a restaurant together. But would they be at each other's throats?
***
Oh yeah, and EatingLA got the Meet Your Food Blogger treatment in the L.A. Weekly's Squid Ink. I'm so pleased to get this attention the week the new Eat: Los Angeles is released, plus, it's my birthday in a few days.

Top Chef Finale: Hail the hometown hero!

crispy quail with pistachio cassoulet

I would give a tooth to eat at Cyrus restaurant in Healdsburg, where the Top Chef season 6 finale elimination meal was held. Oh wait, I did give a tooth today, and now I'm sipping red pepper soup while the finale goes down. Surprise! First, the other contestants return to help out as sous-chefs. Thank goodness, because I was worried I would never lay eyes on Ashley again. High-strung Michael immediately panics, proclaiming "I'd slit my throat" if he got someone he didn't like. But no one draws Robin, and by now we barely remember Preeti and Jesse, "a real workhorse."
For the first course, each chef must use the same rather incongruous ingredients in the mystery box: dungeness crab, rockfish, Kabocha squash, hyssop and matsutake mushrooms? Squash and seafood seems especially odd, I'm not even comfortable serving yams with salmon. Kevin is spending way too much time obsessing over Preeti not helping him enough.
The next morning, Kevin's mom and Mrs. Voltaggio show up to lend a little support, telling the brothers, "No matter what happens, you're still brothers," in case they were likely to forget and start throwing punches at the end of the show.
The next course is inspired by a childhood dish: Southern fried chicken skin with liquid squash casserole and tomato for Kevin, whose mom likes to eat crunchy chicken skin by itself (just like me!)
Bryan cleverly riffs on his mom's tuna casserole with sardine, German butterball potato, heirloom tomato and bread crumbs.
The big surprise is that Michael was a super-picky eater as a kid who didn't like anything, especially broccoli. So he challenges himself with a dish of dehydrated broccoli, fried broccoli and spot prawn, but the judges find the shrimp less than riveting.
The moms nervously judge the first course, along with a crew of restaurant notables including Sam Nazarian and Drew Nieporent. Mrs. Voltaggio bravely admits she's never tasted a sardine, and then the moms are dismissed for the rest of the judging.
Judgingthe Mystery box course, Bryan's fish with squash curry had a happy sunny look, but the judges liked Michael's sweet and sour crab salad with squash and Meyer lemon tasted better.
The Chef's choice dish was their chance to spread their chefly wings and each dude chose something fairly representative of his personality:
Southern-fried Kevin shows he's most comfortable in the rooting around in kingdom of pig, though his pork belly dish falls a snout short.
Cocky Bryan tries to show his trendy, macho side, explaining that he hunts to "get more in tune with his ingredients," so he chooses venison with sunchokes.
Michael has been a bit of a sissy all the way through, despite his superior attitude, so it's no surprise he chooses a foofy dish like squab breast with pistachio cassoulet.
(Trying to find out how pistachios can make a cassoulet, I stumbled across this chef's blog Ping Island Strike, with some great molecular experiments.)
And now it's time for something sweet, after all those nasty glares the last few weeks.
Kevin returns to bacon perhaps too compulsively, offering chocolate bacon mousse with roasted banana and bacon brittle. Not all the judges are fans of porcine puddings, so bummer for Kevin.
I'd eat that: Bryan's sheep's milk dulce de leche cheesecake with fig sorbet is "subtle and sophisticated," say the judges, and I would agree that it looks best to me.Michael pairs butternut squash ice cream with molten chocolate caramel cake (above), which sounds like a mistake already, but when he overcooks the cake, that seals it.
It doesn't really matter though, since I've said since the beginning, this whole season seemed to be leading up to a brother vs. brother battle.
The chefs are asked to explain why they should be chosen as Top Chef, and Michael admits, "I just don't want Brian to be Top Chef."
After Kevin is eliminated, Michael says "We both cooked our hearts out." Well, it's better than cooking your ass off, I guess.
And just like that, the moms are back on stage, tears flowing, and Michael Voltaggio is Top Chef, season 6.
He'll be cooking at the Dining Room at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena at least through April...though the Dining Room closes in the spring for some freshening up.
And here's the Voltaggio brothers' new website, if you want to leave a congratulatory comment.

Top Chef finale tonight -- Plus, win last season's DVD

Ready for tonight's Top Chef finale? I know I am, because now I can go out on Wednesday nights again! In the meantime, here's a video from Top Chef's Eat Tastefully website, hosted by cheftestant Brian Malarkey. (Now if only they'd give Ashley Merriman her own show!)

Plus, if you'd like to win a DVD of Season 5, email me at pattyberlin@yahoo.com with the answer to this question: One of the cheftestants from last season has his own L.A.-area restaurant now. What is his name AND where was he born?

Butcher coming to Los Feliz

Hillhurst Ave. is getting an upscale butcher shop, featuring artisanal sausages, Kurobata pork, local poultry and dry-aged beef and fresh fish and shellfish. McCall's Meat and Fish plans to open in mid-January, run by Nathan McCall and Karen Yoo, who had been planning to open L'Ami restaurant in Los Feliz but re-concepted due to the economy. Is high-end meat a better bet?
via EaterLA and FoodGPS

What else is happening on Hillhurst lately? Has anyone been to Tangier Korean BBQ?

Eat: Los Angeles new 2010 edition now in stores

I finally got to try the Grilled Cheese Truck at last night's launch party for the new edition of Eat: Los Angeles, to which I contributed. We also sampled hot dogs from Let's Be Frank, empanadas from Lily's, terrific satay from Heidy. Silver Lake Wine and Eastside Brewers, a homebrew club, provided drinks, while Coolhaus served up ice cream sandwiches despite the chilly evening with really cool Eat: Los Angeles-printed edible wrappers.
Sure, you can get your copy of Eat: Los Angeles 2010 from Amazon, but even better, hop over and pick one up at a local bookstore like Skylight Books, Vroman's, Book Soup or the Traveler's Bookcase, which hosted the launch party.
Thanks to wonderful publisher/editor Colleen Dunn Bates for updating Eat: Los Angeles in print as well as adding more useful and complete functions to the website in the coming weeks.

Top Chef #13: Choo choo, quack quack

Kevin's colorful salad of roasted beets and carrots with honey vinaigrette, carrot top puree, and San Andreas cheese

It's down to just four contestants now, and for the first part of the finale, the chefs must cook on the Napa Valley Wine Train which one of them says "is known for great food" -- I'm not so sure about that, but cooking in a dining car kitchen is definitely a challenge. The Quickfire prize is worth it -- it's a brand new Prius, which Jennifer could really use to replace her aged vehicle. She almost looks happy thinking about getting a shiny new car, but not quite.
The winner: All the chefs must incorporate grapes in their dishes, but creative Michael has the brainstorm to include a grape leaf stuffed with couscous and ras el hanout in his dish, which elevates the whole concept. He thinks he's so hot, just because he throws ras el hanout into pretty much everything. He wins the challenge, to which spiteful Jennifer says, "Screw him!"
For the elimination round, Jennifer tries to summon some enthusiasm, proclaiming that she wants to "cook her ass off!" but I'm not sure her skinny butt has enough to spare.
At the Rutherford Winery elimination challenge, they have to cater a crush party for 150 people, cooking only with local ingredients. The chefs gather armfuls of farm fresh eggs, Sonoma duck, grass fed shortribs and brisket and beautiful produce. But just how much does 150 portions of foie gras actually cost?
Bryan tries to stir up a little trouble, charging that Michael probably hasn't put much thought into cooking with local products -- it's true that his approach seems more elaborate than rustic.
The winner: Michael's dish looks amazing with a cylinder of foie gras, purple turnip, turnip green soup and pear. Kevin wins some acclaim for his pumpkin polenta. But they like Bryan's goat cheese ravioli the best, although I didn't get the impression they were that excited about his fig-glazed shortribs.
The loser: Jennifer's doesn't look that bad, but someone has to go, and finally they can't look at her sour face anymore. She makes her worst grimace ever at the news, and then starts to cry. "Love you guys," she says unconvincingly on her way out the door. Now it's just the boys -- no more playing nice for the ladies!
Did you think it was finally time for Jennifer to pack her bags?

Foodie vocab:
Ruby quinoa -- Quinoa is a cereal-like grain that's high in protein. The ruby variety is a prettier color with a nutty taste.
Pea tendrils -- long popular in Asian cooking, chefs are discovering uses for snow pea tendrils to add greenery and freshness to other dishes.

Baking goes bacon at Eat My Blog Saturday

Bacon apple pie before top crust is applied

Sorry for the vacation lull and the delayed "Top Chef" report -- it's rough re-entering after vacation...
Meanwhile, I'm gearing up to recruit my kids to help bake for the Eat My Blog bakesale Saturday from 10-4 in front of Zeke's Smokehouse at Santa Monica and La Brea. We're contributing bacon apple pie and dark chocolate walnut cookies. Here's a few other bacony delights in store (there will also be plenty of vegan and regular non-bacon baked goods):
Bacon-covered pretzels
Bacon-walnut maple fudge
Bacon brownies with bourbon caramel sauce
Bacon-wrapped breadsticks