This is the dish that got me to call my grandmother and ask her to help me figure out the recipe. It was probably my favorite as a kid because it serves as a...

The line snaked down the parking lot toward the busy traffic of York Boulevard and around the corner, curving around the patio of a neighboring seafood restaurant. Guests began queuing for Fondry, Eagle Rock’s...

Food recalls across the U.S. last year continued to rise following a drop during the pandemic, with nearly half due to undeclared allergens, according to a report released Thursday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture...

My mom can be at home alone and randomly get the urge to make sopa de res. By the time it’s done, without her saying a word to anyone else, the whole extended family...

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large stockpot over medium low. Add onion and ½ teaspoon salt; cook until softened, stirring often so onion doesn’t brown, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant...

On Earth Day chef Mollie Engelhart took to social media with an announcement that rocked L.A.’s vegan community: Her pillar of plant-based dining, Sage Vegan Bistro, would become Sage Regenerative Kitchen & Brewery and...

Meatballs don’t always have to be meat. Along the Mexican coast, you can find brighter variations of meatballs made with ground fish and shrimp that shatter your expectations of what albóndigas can be. In...

At the L.A. Times Food x Now Serving Booth L.A.’s world-famous cookbook store Now Serving is joining with L.A. Times Food for meetups and signings with chefs and authors of recent and forthcoming cookbooks....

There seem to be endless variations on hommus these days, from what gets pureed to what goes on top. I love this version, a take on a classic Lebanese dish of pumpkin with tahini....

Yogurt, in all its forms, is an essential element of Eastern Mediterranean cuisine. Soups made of yogurt are a particular comfort food in Turkey, served hot in the winter months and cold in the...

José Andrés spends much of his time contemplating the unifying nature of food, both in and out of the world’s most dangerous conflict and disaster zones. Days before an Israeli airstrike killed seven members...

Season the shrimp with salt and add them to the pan in one layer. Increase the heat to medium and sauté until the shrimp begin to color, about 1 minute. Flip the shrimp over,...

Many years ago, in Jerusalem, I was given a recipe for an almond-lemon torte. I loved the tartness of the lemon but wanted it even more lemony. I was reminded of my love for...

Sticky pecan rolls, sliced in concentric circles and toasted on a griddle with butter, were the irresistible draw to Ann Arbor’s now-closed Drake’s Sandwich Shop when I was a student at the University of...

Ellie You spent years dreaming up the Harucake universe, down to the color of the walls — the same soft faint yellow as butter that has been creamed for hours. The bakery walls were...

There are a lot of reasons to want to make a bacon weave. You can lay it in the center of a BLT to make the ultimate version of that holy creation; you can...

The tinted glass entrance to Budonoki, which faces the intersection of Melrose and Virgil avenues, doesn’t so much mirror its surroundings as stare back blankly. Only blurred streaks of neon seep from inside through...

L.A. hip-hop artist Blxst performed on Coachella’s Outdoor Stage on Saturday, in an early evening set that overlapped with Sublime. But you’d never know it by looking at the crowd that swelled around the...

If it’s true that you are what you eat, then most beef-eating Americans consist of a smattering of poultry feathers, urine, feces, wood chips and chicken saliva, among other food items. As epidemiologists scramble...

A food truck builder who had become a symbol of the perils of working in the mobile food industry was arrested Tuesday in Modesto by the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department on suspicion of theft...

This recipe is special. And not in the way that a mother says, “Oh, ALL my children are special!” You’re lying, Susan. You bought Rebecca a car for her 16th birthday, and you bought...

The universal advice for all things Coachella is simple: Arrive early. All three days, I made my way to the festival shortly after gates opened at 1 p.m. Yes, this is the hottest part...

Danbi A new restaurant from the hospitality group behind Liu’s Cafe is riffing on the classic Koreatown dining experience with galbi-inspired zabuton steak, seafood pancakes littered with bay scallops, and bibimbap packed with uni,...

The checkout lines stretched far into the aisles of the 99 Cents Only store in Beverly Grove on Monday afternoon. Red and black signs that read “Store Closing Sale” greeted shoppers at the entrance....

No Kawhi Leonard. No Paul George. No James Harden. No way of helping or hurting their playoff status. Already locked into the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the Clippers gave their...

Earlier this month Josh Scherer cooked a corned beef sandwich and a few gelatin-encased shrimp in a nod to foods that have been to space. Earlier this year he served Gordon Ramsay a beef...

This okra gumbo puts a vegetable-forward spin on the classic Southern dish. With the addition of matzoh balls (see Matzoh Balls recipe), it makes a perfect plate for Passover Seders. Food historian Marcie Cohen...

Bring an 8- to 10-quart pot of salted water to a boil. Wet your hands with warm water and form the mixture into balls the size of walnuts. Drop into the boiling water, cover,...

When I first moved to Nice, France, I lived upstairs from the now-defunct bakery Espuno, which had been run by the same family for generations. This bakery had none of the elaborate pastries I...

There’s a certain reverse snobbery that some travelers may feel when they first arrive in Nice. So sleek. So sunny. So touristy. I admit that after a dinner of indifferently prepared Niçoise specialties in...

Benny Blanco is attempting to paint a picture of the many dinner parties he throws at his Los Angeles home. “My mom will walk in with like a shirt with rhinestones on it that...

With a rainbow knitted kippah affixed to the crown of his head, Michael Twitty is paced and intentional as he moves through the test kitchen at the L.A. Times. He’s here to make one...

The Dodgers are getting another City Connect outfit on June 17, and we have an idea. The team had not even reported to spring training when Mookie Betts said every game against the Dodgers...

The morning after Joan Nathan’s 80th birthday party last year — a long-table Palm Springs gathering on the grounds of a hacienda-style compound where Samuel Goldwyn, Lucille Ball and Judy Garland are said to...

New cookbooks crop up like superblooms in spring, when the vitality of the season propels us to get into the kitchen. In the same way that each spring feels like life anew, every book...

Food never happened in a vacuum for Karla Tatiana Vasquez. Stories always followed. Whenever her grandmother or mother cooked, Vasquez knew something special was coming. Their food unlocked memories, especially about El Salvador —...

A downtown Los Angeles restaurant is adding a “security charge” to diners’ bills, representing the latest in a wave of surcharges catching customers by surprise. Perch, a rooftop bar and restaurant near Pershing Square,...

Bagels are under siege, and if you need proof, I offer a single word: Airy. Bagels, which have always been synonymous with chewy, have recently been described — approvingly — as airy on both...

I am a serious newspaper food columnist. I am not tempted by the next viral pastry trend. I will not spend money on something simply because it is larger or smaller than it should...

WASCO, Calif. —  The revelation that United Farm Workers would be representing workers at a Kern County company owned by the state’s wealthiest farming family should have been a triumphant moment for the storied union...

“I’m going to tell you how to eat it.” The woman behind the counter at Sobar, a narrow restaurant on the congested corner of Washington Boulevard and Centinela Avenue in Culver City, is serious....

In January, 18 of L.A.’s most beloved pop-ups, restaurants, bakers, rising-star talents and established names earned nods as semifinalists for the 2024 James Beard Foundation Awards. This morning, only two have been chosen as...

Every year L.A. empties out for two back-to-back weekends when more than 100,000 festival-goers head to the low desert for Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. While last year’s lineup was an unapologetic celebration...

AQABA, Jordan —  It was the middle of the night at chef José Andrés’ field headquarters on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus when word came in. The early details were frightening enough, but very quickly...

Cook the beans. Add 3 tablespoons of oil to a medium pot over high heat. When the oil starts to ripple, add the rempah paste. It should bubble immediately. Fry the paste on high...

Multiple members of the international nonprofit World Central Kitchen were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Monday during efforts to feed thousands facing starvation, according to chef José Andrés, founder of...

Snails are popular Vietnamese street fare and in no place is that more apparent than on Vinh Khanh Street in Saigon’s District 4. Affectionately dubbed “Snail Street” for its dense concentration of stalls and...

It’s a kinda-sorta memory. About the char of a cheeseburger from my childhood. I can almost taste it. It came to mind during a terrible stretch for the Los Angeles restaurant industry. More than...

Ash reshteh, named for the square-edged, linguini-like noodle called reshteh, is one of those soups that seems to have as many variations as home cooks who make it. Some recipes call for only chickpeas,...

With orange carrots and kabocha squash, green zucchini and chayote, yellow baby corn, fat white shrimp and handfuls of spinach and lemon basil, this is an eye-catching, colorful, leafy soup. It’s so nourishing that...

This soup was inspired by ceci or chickpea soup that I first ate in Rome in a busy café on Via del Gesù. It was redolent of garlic and rosemary, brothy and flecked with...

McDonald’s. Yoshinoya. El Pollo Loco. Little Caesars. Panda Express. Taco Bell. And not a supermarket in sight. On a six-lane stretch of Crenshaw Boulevard that thrums with traffic, the dining options within view highlighted...

From the outside, the Source OC looks like a typical outdoor mall in Southern California with concrete and glass architecture and neon lights. But the entertainment and dining destination offers a unique window into...

(Illustration by Karan Singh / For The Times) Koreatown is a neighborhood of extremes. At any time of day, its streets surge with traffic, car horns blaring as they dart through traffic lights. Nondescript...

NEW YORK —  Near the end of a week spent delving into Manhattan’s upwelling of modern Korean fine dining restaurants last fall, I watched a server at Oiji Mi light a blowtorch tableside and turn...

If you try a soup-for-dinner diet to cut back on calories or just to simplify your life, amp up the umami and other flavor notes with these unexpected flavor spikes when your soup needs...

Late last year, my husband and I returned from a vacation in France some pounds heavier than we wanted to be. “That’s it,” I said. “From now on, it’s soup for dinner.” Soup is...

Maíz in Mexican pastry is not an entirely new concept. Think of coricos, a northeastern cookie originating with the Cáhita peoples, made using nixtamal or masa harina and vegetable shortening to get its golden...

Azizam In a small alcove along Sunset Boulevard, plates are newly piled with turmeric pilaf, braised chicken legs and pickles. Celery stews and barley-and-bean soups simmer, and saffron milk bread, or shirmal, comes served...

When Daniele Uditi was 9 years old, he remembers hearing voices at 4 a.m. He was in his childhood home in Caserta, Italy, and had just woken up to get a glass of water....

Kristen Kish was going through airport security in Dubai when the call came in that provoked the sort of clock-ticking, accelerated-heart-rate feeling the former “Top Chef” winner was familiar with during all those Quickfire...

The cost to drink a milk-based Starbucks Frappuccino goes beyond the $5-plus price tag for California residents Maria Bolliger, Dawn Miller and Shunda Smith. All three are either lactose intolerant or have a milk...

Pepper-smeared strips of beef jerky fueled countless late-night study sessions in my college dorm room. I enjoyed the leathery, stringy belts I ate on road trips as a kid to Las Vegas, Palm Desert...

A line snaked out the door all Saturday morning, with guests peering in the front windows at trays of guava pastelitos cooling on racks. Families, dates, babies and the occasional puppy filtered through the...

St. Helena, Calif. —  Highway 29 winds along the floor of the Napa Valley through Yountville and St. Helena and up into Calistoga, passing by vineyards that produce some of the most celebrated and expensive...

I like to make up fantastical stories for people I see at dive bars. I can entertain myself for hours, subsisting on nothing more than sips from a sweating glass of vodka soda and...

With apologies to Allen Ginsberg: I am seeing the best minds of our middle-school generation destroyed by Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and iPhones, Teenagers on the cusp of young adulthood dragging themselves out of bed...

If you were looking for an excuse or occasion to make pie, mathematicians have got one for you. On March 14, math aficionados like myself celebrate Pi Day — the number that represents the...

Last week Roy Choi was looking for the telltale signs: a lot of cursing, a lot of eyes rolling back with every bite. He was secretly launching a new taco stand — his first...

Neighborhood residents snapped pictures of their guava cheese pastelitos and greeted old friends inside Café Tropical in Silver Lake on Thursday. It was a sweet reunion for the cafe’s patrons who have missed the...

A beleaguered union effort among show performers and stable hands at Medieval Times’ Buena Park castle has met its end. The American Guild of Variety Artists, the union backing workers who organized in Buena...

Red ripe tomatoes, juicy pineapple and tongue-scorching peppers — the produce aisle at the grocery store is full of possibilities for cooking a great meal, but it can also be a great starting point...

NEW YORK —  When I’m in New York, the thing I love to do more than anything is eat. Slabs of roast pork, skin as brittle and sweet as toffee and bathed in vinegar garlic...

Ongoing Series Columnist Jenn Harris joins your favorite celebrities to explore their go-to cuisines and restaurants in Los Angeles. Jidori Chicken, if you’re reading this, Justin Chien is a fan. A big one. Chien,...

The days of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in California schools may be numbered. A new bill aims to ban from public schools food products that contain artificial dyes, including the ingredient that makes Cheetos pop...

California diners are awaiting the release of Michelin’s full 2024 guide, but today the global restaurant compendium released another preview of its top restaurants in the state. Out of 10 restaurants newly added to...

There’s no substitute for the low tables and frenetic energy of Thai restaurant Holy Basil, but it’s possible to re-create some of chef Wedchayan “Deau” Arpapornnopparat’s culinary magic at home. At his downtown and...

Jonathan Santana opened the sole bricks-and-mortar Dominican restaurant in the Los Angeles area last summer. He was a teenager in the 2000s, though, when he first considered that his family’s recipes might be the...

Last Friday, after having been shut for nearly six years, one of L.A.’s most scenic farmers markets reopened to so much excitement that nearly every food vendor sold out of their goods. The Santa...

Two days after the food hospitality operator at a fashionable downtown hotel shuttered its restaurants and laid off its food and beverage employees, a new third-party management company moved in and hired a whole...

On a busy section of La Cienega Boulevard at the edge of Culver City, bordering Pico-Robertson and Mid-City, Mandrake can be easy to miss. The bar is tucked between nondescript art galleries and auto...

SEOUL —  In February 2014, a British YouTuber known as the “Korean Englishman” uploaded a video that would change the fate of an instant noodle company halfway across the world. The video features his friends...

On your next Trader Joe’s run, you can skip the steamed chicken soup dumplings. More than 61,000 pounds of the grocer’s frozen Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings have been recalled this week because of a...

Sweet Lady Jane When Julie Ngu woke up to the news in December that the beloved bakery chain Sweet Lady Jane had abruptly closed all six of its locations, she turned to her partner...

Los Angeles is home to a bevy of coffee shops, but only one is owned by Quentin Tarantino. The director’s highly anticipated cafe recently opened adjacent to the newly relaunched Vista Theater, purchased by...

Running along the trails that whipsaw through the oak forests of the Palo Alto hills , I was hit with a musky, skunky smell that made the hair on my neck stand up. I...

“Menudo is always good. There is good menudo and there is better menudo.” This statement was from Arnold Jimenez, Coachella chief of police and a judge in the 1982 California State Championship Menudo Cookoff...

It was a typical Sunday at El Zarape. Families enjoyed Mexican food and good vibes at the East Hollywood restaurant inside a strip mall on Melrose Avenue as CicLAvia shut the street down to...

In 2018, the popular Northgate González supermarket chain announced plans to shutter its downtown Santa Ana store to make way for a development project of apartments and retail space. It wasn’t the most earth-shattering...

Jered Standing, a popular L.A. butcher and a champion of ethical and sustainable meat sourcing, has died at 44. According to a report from the Los Angeles County medical examiner-coroner, he was found dead...

One day when she was 12 years old, Barbara “Sky” Burrell, owner of Sky’s Gourmet Tacos on Pico Boulevard, saw a neon, taco-shaped sign in the window of a local restaurant in the town...

“Sacred” wouldn’t be too strong a word to describe the stature of one-pot rice dishes among the culinary traditions of the coastal American South. Their names — red rice, dirty rice, bog, jambalaya, hoppin’...

For many, the attractiveness of turkey in place of other meats is its lower fat content and mild flavor — which makes it adaptable to a variety of seasonings and extends its compatibility with...

Holy Basil Atwater Village The fragrance of Thai chiles, fish sauce, from-scratch curry paste and wok-fried meat and seafood wafts from a small alcove in an Atwater Village shopping center, drawing throngs of customers....

Turkey is considered an excellent choice for fat-watchers, provided that some caution is exercised. Registered dietitian Evelyn Tribole says it’s important to read labels and compare products for fat and cholesterol, instead of choosing...

An easy, flavorful and low-fat lunch or dinner salad recipe that uses honey-roasted turkey breast: Island Turkey-Rice Salad...

Guitars flutter, an accordion wheezes and a singer unwinds the triumphant tale of Fernando Ochoa Jauregui, a Modesto-area builder of food trucks and trailers. “He still parties just because he feels like it,” the...

The price of the turkey on rye half-sandwich from Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant in Los Angeles, purchased through the delivery app Grubhub, starts around $17. But at checkout, the costs mount. With additional fees and sales...

There are already a few cars idling when I pull into the parking lot at Worldwide Tacos. It’s midafternoon and the leaning palm trees behind the sloped, burnished-cherry building cast long shadows in the...

I am the last person you should talk to for romance advice. Notoriously single and allergic to commitment, I’m not sure that I’m qualified to even categorize a restaurant as particularly romantic. But if...

Three women who ran a Lancaster-based beverage company were ordered to pay more than $14 million in combined penalties for allegedly defrauding and misleading investors over a three-year period, according to the Securities and...

After federal inspectors found potentially deadly bacteria in samples of its products, Modesto-based Rizo Lopez Foods Inc. recalled all of its packaged goods this month, including various types of cotija cheese, yogurt and sour...

It’s a Sunday afternoon at the San Francisco Coffee Festival at Fort Mason, and Jay Ruskey, founder of Frinj Coffee, is standing at his booth in front of a row of lush green plants...

Coming this summer is a new state law that bans unadvertised service fees, surcharges and other additional costs that are added to the end of a bill for meals or delivery service. On July...

I do not understand more than a few words in Mandarin or Cantonese, though my grandmother can read, write and speak both languages. Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, she only ever spoke...

At first glance, the scene unfolding on a leafy, half-crowded patio in West Hollywood looks like any other gastropub on a Sunday afternoon. In one corner, a table of nine celebrates a milestone birthday...

Jonathan Whitener, a chef-partner of Los Angeles restaurants Here’s Looking at You and All Day Baby, died at his home Wednesday night, according to a report from the Los Angeles County medical examiner-coroner. He...

These days, Snoop Dogg has his mind on his cereal money. The hip-hop star, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, and fellow rapper and label head Master P, whose real name is Percy Miller,...

No matter the culture, whatever the era, primal human wiring governs a truism: When a chef trundles a cart into a dark dining room and sets food theatrically ablaze, heads will turn from every...

PAPANTLA, Mexico —  In this Mexican city, some girls dream about a crown made of vanilla. Papantla adorns its Corpus Christi festival reinas, or queens, with the vanilla orchid’s thick brown stems woven, twisted and...

I’m not going to name the sandwich shop I’m referencing in this article, because I don’t believe in throwing shade that eclipses the sun. But the locations in Italy are world-famous, and the restaurant...

Six days after restaurant workers at a hip downtown hotel filed cards to organize a union, the hotel’s food operator declared it would shutter the dining establishments that employed them, the latest in a...

Manzke and Bicyclette, a duo of restaurants from two of L.A.’s most celebrated chefs, are set to close March 2. It’s the latest in a handful of notable early-2024 closures — and follows roughly...

PAPANTLA, Mexico —  Long gone are the days when heaps of green vanilla pods were drawn into town by mules and laid out on woven mats to dry in the sun, perfuming the streets before...

Vanilla is much more than a dessert ingredient in Papantla, a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz once famous for producing the spice. Local artisans braid vanilla’s dark stems, and several restaurants offer...

TIJUANA —  The wood-paneled cart arrives at the table with an air of ceremony, pushed by a server, usually a gentleman in a white shirt, black vest and tie. On it sit all the elements...

Imagine a California where you can buy a beer at your favorite bar or restaurant, take it outside and drink it on the street with a friend. That could soon be a reality, if...

Working as a server at the Warner Bros. commissary in the 1960s, Antonio Gutierrez routinely waited on the tables of Hollywood heavyweights. Frank Sinatra. Jane Fonda. Francis Ford Coppola. Barbra Streisand. And Jack Warner,...

LONDON —  Over the bar of a 200-year-old pub in southeast London hangs a sign: “For the people of East Greenwich, by the people of East Greenwich.” What might sound like a pithy slogan is...

Mid East Tacos A popular pop-up from one of L.A.’s most notable Middle Eastern chef-restaurateurs returns this week as a permanent restaurant in Silver Lake — with new items and ambition for even more...

FONTANA, Calif. — At meeting after meeting, activists, social justice groups and residents took their turn at the lectern in the Fontana City Council chambers in the fall to sound off against Mayor Acquanetta...

Imagine a convention center the size of about 10 football fields filled with endless rows of specialty food products. One booth is hawking Wagyu beef jerky, another wants to introduce you to gochujang cheese....

Song-tae Kim and 17 of his friends from church chattered boisterously, some fueled by soju, with the remnants of their dinner — black bean noodles and spicy seafood noodle soup — spread out in...

Rob Gentile is just about to open West Hollywood’s “most exciting” new Italian restaurant. Construction is nearly finished. The menu is being created. In the space that used to house old-school Italian joint Madeo,...

The mezze platters at Ladyhawk in West Hollywood are an armful for staff, an eyeful for customers and the swiftest, most celebratory introduction to the restaurant’s elegant Lebanese cooking. Servers hoist table-size black-lacquered trays...

GUATEMALA CITY —  One of Debora Fadul’s earliest childhood memories is traveling in the backseat of her family’s sedan as her father negotiated long, windy roads to far-flung and verdant villages in Guatemala’s interior. In...

Chrissy Teigen and David Chang weren’t supposed to make “Chrissy & Dave Dine Out.” Not exactly. The pair had briefly teamed up for an episode of the 2019 Netflix docuseries “Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner,”...

Some of the top chefs in Los Angeles are in the running for some of the country’s most prestigious culinary honors. Each year the James Beard Foundation Awards recognize a bevy of chefs, restaurateurs,...

There are no hamburgers at Ace Burger, a tiny restaurant on Valley Boulevard, on the same block as Pepe’s Finest Mexican Food. But there’s a short menu offering chicken burgers and New Orleans-style chicken...

New Smorgasburg Vendors One of the region’s top food festivals and culinary incubators just returned from its annual winter break with nearly 60 food vendors — and 10 of them are new. With the...

If I had to choose one word to encapsulate the creative surge that propelled L.A.’s food culture forward last decade — a momentum that confirmed the city’s status as a global culinary destination, a...

After dozens of reports of illnesses potentially linked to raw oysters, public health officials across Southern California are warning consumers to ask where the shellfish at their favorite seafood joint comes from. The Los...

Ongoing Series Columnist Jenn Harris joins your favorite celebrities to explore their go-to cuisines and restaurants in Los Angeles. Michael Chow likes to name-drop. “I did a movie called ‘55 Days at Peking,’” he...

My first introduction to brunost, a brown cheese popular in Norway, was through my good friend Jo Stougaard in summer 2019. She had recently returned from a Viking Ocean cruise around Northern Europe. And...

Sweet Lady Jane, a bakery beloved by Angelenos and a celebrity clientele, unexpectedly shuttered six locations on New Year’s Day, citing a lack of sales that prevented it from paying its “treasured employees.” But...

Last weekend, when my family was shopping at Costco, one of the free sample lines caused a shopping cart traffic jam. It was the new Bibigo Korean-style crunchy chicken with sweet & spicy sauce,...

Pumpkin spice gets a Sichuan twist. In addition to nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger, this pumpkin pie’s filling features Chinese five-spice and Sichuan pepper. It’s a combination that works so well at least partly because...

When ready to cook, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wide skillet over high heat. Add half the beans, half the ginger and half the garlic, and cook, stirring and tossing constantly,...

These candied sweet potatoes, a mix of sliced Asian sweet potatoes and orange yams, get a buttery glaze before baking and then are brushed with zhong sauce. Zhong sauce is a mix of soy...

One of California’s most iconic roadside destinations closed suddenly this week, though guests hunting for a bowl of split pea soup might find it in Buellton again someday. The century-old Pea Soup Andersen’s restaurant...

Nearly a decade after emigrating from Mexico, Ruben Ramirez Sr. and his wife, Alicia, had opened the business that would provide for their family for years to come. It was the ’70s, and they...

People often ask me where to find the best Peking duck. It’s a question that comes up year-round, but more frequently during the holidays. And especially around now, with Lunar New Year celebrations on...

The ubiquity of the espresso martini can’t be understated. Especially within the last five years, the cocktail has become a staple on bar menus across Los Angeles and beyond. In Highland Park, a new...

In her family’s Granada Hills kitchen, Kristine Jingozian, one of the founders of Rose & Rye bakery, takes a tray of fresh nazook out of the oven — the flaky, rolled, traditional Armenian pastries...

After 2½ years, L.A.’s most celebrated Ethiopian restaurant is ready to reopen its dining room. And Genet Agonafer, its semi-retired chef and owner, is ready for a return to the flurry of excitement, the...

The distinct flavor of Calpico, the Japanese cultured milk drink, and fresh mandarin juice combine to fruity-citrusy, tangy effect. The original Garibaldi cocktail features two ingredients: Campari and orange juice (proportion is everything). The...

Peer behind the bar of your favorite L.A. restaurant or watering hole these days and you’ll spy bottles of nonalcoholic spirit replacements sharing space with your usual rum, whiskey, tequila and vodka labels. You’ll...

When I was a tender adolescent, maybe 11 years old, I was at my friend Jane’s house for a sleepover. Jane’s older brother Mark had friends over too. One boy we deemed especially cute,...

If you’ve spent time in major metropolitan areas that are not Los Angeles, you know, at least anecdotally, one thing to be true: We’re not much of a drinking town. Maybe it’s for health...

For the past three decades, it seemed there was only one cake worth having at your graduation, birthday, bridal shower or wedding. The cake sitting on top of the pedestal in the middle of...

For many, the start of the new year calls for a list of resolutions. A fresh start and newfound inspiration for whatever it is you’d like to accomplish. I know myself and my limitations....

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil separated from the chili crisp. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. The mixture will look like very...

As the complete and utter trash fire that is 2023 comes to an end, I feel compelled to highlight the one-offs and trends in the food world that I hope to never see again....

To make toasted bread cubes: Spread the cubed fresh bread out on a baking sheet and bake in a low oven at 225 degrees until dry, about 30 to 40 minutes. Jing Gao uses...

Sichuan pepper is citrusy, floral and fragrant, distinct for its tingly, numbing effect. Not a peppercorn but the berry of a tree in the citrus family, Sichuan peppers are combined with salt here for...

By 10 a.m. on a recent sunny morning, the kitchen in Jing Gao’s Midcentury Modern house, set into a canyon-view Sherman Oaks hillside, is filled with the aroma of rosemary, sage, nutmeg, cloves, sesame...

The woman in the brightly colored shawl is beautiful. But she does not look happy. Or, at the very least, she wears a wry expression, one that suggests something in between boredom and belligerence....

Brothers Sushi Culver City Some of L.A.’s best sushi is headed to Culver City this month. The Brothers Sushi is expanding with its third Japanese restaurant specializing in dry-aged and fresh fish served in...

Uchi and Oheya A national sushi brand with a ravenous fandom just landed its first West Coast restaurant, launching in West Hollywood — with another L.A. sushi bar soon to follow. Uchi, founded in...

Living in L.A. does things to a person. You might get into better shape. You might get more sun, improving your mood, and spend more time in the car, which does the opposite. You...

If you would like to make a recipe for Sichuan pepper oil adapted from “The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp: Spicy Recipes and Stories From Fly by Jing’s Kitchen” (Ten Speed Press): Toast 2...

People are always asking me how I find the restaurants for this column. The answer is a combination of driving around, following trusted sources, social media and general online probing. It’s time-consuming stuff. If...

Do you like cod, shrimp, salmon, crab or pollock (also known as fish sticks)? Of course you do. Do you shop at Walmart, Costco, Kroger or Albertsons for fish? Who doesn’t? Do you eat...

The Abbey and the Chapel, longtime landmarks of West Hollywood’s gay nightlife scene, have been sold to a new owner, the business announced Wednesday. Patrons of the historic spots were assured the current management...

L.A. Times Food chooses the standout cookbooks of the year, from the best resources for baking, vegetarian cooking and pasta making to what to do with leftovers....

Up until last week, I had no Christmas tree in my house. The ancient shoeboxes holding decorations were still in the garage, no stockings hung on the fireplace. Gifts were still unwrapped. I take...

Certain pockets of downtown Los Angeles feel like a real, contained, thriving city. They are single city blocks dense with storefronts, restaurants, bars, apartments and foot traffic. The stretch of Broadway between 3rd and...

Café Telegrama and Ètra With fresh pastries, brown-butter pancakes and cheffy sandwiches and salads, sunny community-minded Café Telegrama is now open in Melrose Hill, the first of two restaurants from an experienced quartet of...

After two years, Michelin Guide recognition and a glowing review from the Los Angeles Times, modern Korean restaurant Kinn is set to close this week, with its chef-owner underscoring the importance of mental health...

Every morning, Julissa Corado rises with the sun to prepare her day’s worth of goods. By noon, she and her mom load their white van with soup-filled pots, orange Home Depot buckets and a...

Several years ago, Vahe Keushguerian, one of the pioneers of modern Armenian winemaking, had a daring idea — one that would involve smuggling native grapes from Iran, making wine in Armenia and presenting it...

There aren’t a ton of truly great soup dumpling places in this country, as it’s a dish generally best left to a handful of specialists. Soup dumplings are one of those particular foods, like...

In 1985 my mom received a phone call from a wrong number. When she picked up she had no idea that the man on the other end would end up being her husband and...

For these sweet, crunchy fritters, apple rings are lightly coated with a creamy batter, then fried until crisp and golden outside and tender within. My recipe was inspired by one found in Donatella Limentani...

One of my favorite early memories of Rome is of a food and wine festival thrown by the kosher catering company Le Bon Ton. Members of the city’s Jewish community showed up in spades,...

Dec. 19, 2023 2:51 PM PT Every year for a decade now, The Times has published its annual guide to 101 exceptional restaurants. Painting an intimate portrait of Los Angeles’ current dining scene, the...

From crisp and velvety fried artichokes to honey-soaked matzo fritters studded with pine nuts and raisins, the Jews of Rome have a centuries-long passion for frying food. This obsession is evident year-round at the...

They covered themselves with hazmat suits, gloves and masks and put plastic bags over their boots. That’s how dangerous the substance was that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers were examining Wednesday morning. A...

When was the last time you were in Las Vegas? I visit about half a dozen times a year. When people learn this about me, they assume I like to gamble or go to...

Nesrin had been pounding garlic all morning, but the pestle’s blunt thwack grew louder when she started talking about Syria. From 2010 to 2014, she marched in the revolution there. “Everyone conspired to kill...

If you’re one of the millions around the world who experience headaches from drinking even a few sips of red wine, a new study could explain it — and maybe even help solve the...

Cognitive dissonance, SoCal style: The calendar says it’s November, but the sky swears it’s April, maybe even July. It’s Thanksgiving. And for a hundred years and more, pilgrims from the East and Midwest to...

Royal Lobster A restored 1940s Texaco gas station is serving plump Maine-caught lobster rolls and lobster salads in Koreatown. Royal Lobster, from husband-and-wife team Justin Sok and Ashley Cho, opened its first location in...

Charred red pepper and fresh strawberries make a delicious drink with an extra hit of smokiness from ancho simple syrup. Everyone will love this savory-ish alcohol-free cocktail. Just don’t call it a mocktail....

Pineapple juice, coconut milk, guava nectar, lime juice and a dash of Tabasco come together for a refreshing tropical booze-free beverage with just a hint of heat....

Federal labor regulators are looking to force Starbucks to reopen six Los Angeles-area Starbucks stores and 17 other locations that were closed across the country in 2022 in a move that was allegedly done...

“These are likely the last tamales I will ever make,” my aunt and godmother Vicky says as she hands me bags filled with four varieties. This may not be a heartfelt prediction: In fact,...

Making chocolate is a sacred process, particularly for descendants of the ancient Mesoamerica, and for those looking to reconnect with ancestral practices, like Stephanie Villegas of Xochitl Vegan, a concept and pop-up restaurant based...

Use caution when attempting to make the aptly named Red Alert nonalcoholic cocktail from Danny Trejo’s latest cookbook. The first step, alongside boiling ancho chile syrup, requires fire-roasting the pepper over an open flame...

Though the release of the 2024 Michelin Guide to restaurants across California is still months away, the world-famous guidebook just teased seven new additions, and three of them are in Los Angeles. The Michelin...

Last November, one of L.A.’s most eagerly anticipated pizzerias opened its doors on a prime patch of West Hollywood real estate. Throngs of customers lined up on Sunset Boulevard, snaking around multiple blocks and...

Café Tropical, which has been a staple in the Silver Lake community and served traditional Cuban cafecitos and pasteles for nearly 50 years, is closing. News of the closure was confirmed by a handwritten...

Is L.A. a biscuit town? We’re quickly becoming a pizza town. It’s definitely a bagels town, too. One could successfully argue that the collective appreciation for carbohydrates is on the upswing. There are some...

Anthony Bourdain didn’t mince words when it came to Henry Kissinger. “Henry Kissinger walks into a bar. Would it displease you if I walked over and punched Henry Kissinger in the face?” Bourdain once...

I’m standing in front of a Din Tai Fung located inside a shopping mall in Taipei watching a team of seven masked chefs in stiff white coats behind a glass window — kneading, filling,...

Quite possibly the MVP of the Italian bakery, pignoli are the nutty, soft, textured cookies found in any Italian cookie spread worth its salt. Named for their topping of a scattering of pine nuts,...

Cuccidati are classic Sicilian cookies that are like grown-up Fig Newtons and make an appearance around Christmastime. Flaky dough is filled with a fig or mixed-fruit jam. Enjoy as-is or top them with icing...

Thick, nostalgic and filling, this family recipe from Garibaldina member Amanda Lanza — who also is the chef-founder of the club’s popular Bar Bene series — is a riff on a classic Italian breakfast...

One of an Italian bakery’s most beloved creations, this tricolor treat stacks three layers of red, green and white (or pale yellow) cake to resemble the Italian flag, then smears the top with melted...

Sticky and chewy with crags of crispiness, these cookies are Christmastime must-haves across Puglia and beyond. Garibaldina member Michelangela “Lina” Pompilio, from Adelfia Canneto in Bari province, fondly remembers her mother and grandmother in...