Category

Travel

  • A Return to Sitka & Spruce

    A Return to Sitka & Spruce

    The last time I wrote about Sitka & Spruce in Seattle, I praised the place but called the food “challenging.” That was in January. On this most recent trip to Seattle, we returned to Sitka and Spruce–this time for brunch–and the meal was so good, so beautiful, that “challenging” was suddenly the wrong word for…

  • The Oyster Bar (Bellingham, Washington)

    The Oyster Bar (Bellingham, Washington)

    For as long as I’ve been visiting Craig’s family in Bellingham, Washington, I’ve been hearing about the Oyster Bar. It’s where Craig went for his prom night dinner. It’s where Craig’s parents celebrated their most recent anniversary. It’s beautifully situated on Chuckanut Drive, the scenic route you take when getting off the I-5 from Seattle.…

  • The Northwest Washington Fair

    The Northwest Washington Fair

    In a town called Lynden, just a short drive from Bellingham, Washington, you’ll see lots of people sitting on their lawns offering you a parking spot for $5. That’s because, in the middle of August, it’s time for the Northwest Washington Fair, a celebration of community, agriculture, and rides that make you want to throw…

  • Surfacing on Eliza Island

    Surfacing on Eliza Island

    When Jesse Eisenberg “plugged in” as Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network,” headphones snug on his head, fingers fluttering away at his keyboard, I didn’t draw a line between what he was doing and what I do every day. He was in a world of numbers and codes, algorithms for Farmville animals and “poke” buttons…

  • Two Days in the San Gabriel Valley: Lunches at Tasty Noodle House

    Two Days in the San Gabriel Valley: Lunches at Tasty Noodle House

    In the latest issue of Lucky Peach, Jonathan Gold talks about a Taiwanese restaurant that he really didn’t like at first. “I went and I really hated it…[But] I could tell that it wasn’t a bad restaurant. People were really dressed up and obviously they were there on purpose.” Gold ended up going back 17…

  • A-Frame

    A-Frame

    The International House of Pancakes is not, by any standard, a hip place to eat. Leave it to Chef Roy Choi (a chef I cooked with for my cookbook, best known for starting the Kogi Truck) to turn an IHOP into a must-visit L.A. dining destination, one that effortlessly oozes panache and cool.

  • “The Finest Hot Pastrami Sandwich in the World” (Lunch at Langer’s)

    “The Finest Hot Pastrami Sandwich in the World” (Lunch at Langer’s)

    I remember reading the New Yorker in 2002 when Nora Ephron declared the pastrami sandwich at Langer’s in Los Angeles “the finest hot pastrami sandwich in the world.” As a New Yorker who grew up on the east coast (both in New York and Florida, major pastrami territories) I found this hard to believe. When…

  • Shaken Dosirak at Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong

    Shaken Dosirak at Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong

    Mad at myself, I flung open–as much as you can virtually fling something open–Jonathan Gold’s epic article “60 Korean Dishes Every Angeleno Should Know” and said to myself, “You big jerk! You’ve been in L.A. almost a year and you’ve barely scratched the surface of Koreatown. You’ve never eaten any of this food. Eat some…

  • The Marion Cunningham Tribute Dinner at Lucques

    The Marion Cunningham Tribute Dinner at Lucques

    “Who’s Marion Cunningham? Isn’t she the mom from ‘Happy Days’?” That’s what the guy next to us asked the server upon seeing the menu at last night’s Sunday Supper at Lucques. As Cunningham (who passed away last week) said herself in this 2001 article by Kim Severson, “I’m not trying to be modest, but it…

  • Blue Plate Oysterette

    Blue Plate Oysterette

    See the way the light is hitting the white wine in my glass? That’s a summer moment, a California moment; it’s a moment that transcends anything critical I might say about the restaurant where this moment took place. Not that I have anything critical to say. Blue Plate Oysterette is situated on Ocean Blvd. in…