Take all the fresh and lively flavors of your favorite Vietnamese banh mi sandwich and transform it into a burger instead.
That’s just what “Chicken Banh Mi Burgers” is all about.
Easy enough to whip on a weeknight, this delectable recipe is from “Delicious Gatherings” (Shadow Mountain), of which I received a review copy.
The book is by Tara Bench, the founder of the perfectly named blog, TaraTeaspoon, as well as the former food editor at Martha Stewart Living and former food director at Ladies’ Home Journal.
With that kind of background, she definitely knows what home-cooks want — fuss-free recipes for everyday eating or holiday entertaining that deliver. This book delivers just that, with more than 120 recipes, most of which span only one page.
You can tell the impact a chef has made when even after departing Northern California years ago to decamp to Los Angeles, Bay Area diners still rhapsodize about the unforgettable meals they enjoyed at his hands.
Such is the case with Jeremy Fox, former chef de cuisine at Manresa in Los Gatos, who went on to head the groundbreaking Ubuntu, the Napa restaurant that became the world’s only Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurant.
Because the moment I posted a photo of a dish I relished recently at his Birdie G’s restaurant in Santa Monica, the comments started flooding in from folks about how much they miss and respected his cooking in the Bay Area.
Despite the torrent of praise for Ubuntu, diners didn’t consistently flock to this unique combination yoga studio/fine-dining restaurant at at time when the term “plant-based” had hardly become fashionable yet. That never-ending stress took its toll on Fox, who suffered through ADHD and depression. Finally, it became too much, and he left.
The plentiful outdoor seating at Birdie G’s.
He eventually made his way to Southern California, to become chef of Rustic Canyon in 2012, leading to acclaim again, plus a fresh start in life. In 2019, he added to that, opening Birdie G’s, also for the Rustic Canyon Family group of restaurants.
Named for his young daughter, Birdie, and for his grandmother Gladys, it couldn’t be a more of a personal project. As Fox describes, the casual, fun restaurant embodies exactly who he is: An Eastern-European Jew who grew up in the Midwest and the Deep South, and then settled in Southern California.”
The “Salame” New York-style slice at Pizzeria Bianco.
It says it all that during our two days in Los Angeles recently, we high-tailed it to the new Pizzeria Bianco not once, but twice.
Arguably, Chris Bianco has been deemed the country’s best pizza maker, with devotees waiting as long as three hours at his original Phoenix restaurant just to get their fix.
Since opening in Los Angeles in June, this place has been mobbed. And since Los Angeles is a more convenient destination for yours truly, you know that my husband and I put Pizzeria Bianco on our must-stop list no matter what when we traveled to Southern California earlier this month.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to twiddle our thumbs for hours on end when we got to the Row DTLA, the massive 30-acre urban commercial district that was the former site of the American Apparel manufacturing facility, and that’s now home to not only Pizzeria Bianco, but a host of restaurants, boutiques, and offices.
Get ready to get in line here.
Instead at 12:30 p.m. on a Saturday, we did have to wait in line for about 30 minutes before we made our way to the walk-up pizza window to place our orders.
I don’t even have to tell you whose saying this is, do I?
For original (yours truly) and newbie fans of the hilarious ensemble sitcom, “Friends,” you’ll be happy to know you can now experience a taste of everyone’s favorite Central Perk, the hangout coffee shop of Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Joey, and Chandler.
Central Perk Coffee Company has debuted with three different artisanal coffee varieties, available ground or in whole beans or in single-serve pods.
None other than acclaimed chef-restaurateur and “Top Chef” head judge, Tom Colicchio, is one of the industry experts behind this new line.
The coffee varieties take their names from iconic “Friends” sayings that have been ingrained into the lexicon: “Pivot Blend” (medium/dark roast), “We Were On A Coffee Break” (dark roast), and “How You Doin’?” (medium roast).
When asked which of the three I most wanted to sample, you know I had to have the “How You Doin’?,” coined from the immortal Joey Tribbiani pick-up line.
Chewy, sweet, and loaded with dried fruit, there’s a wonderful old-fashioned quality about these tasty bars.
There’s a lovely wholesome taste to these chewy-soft fruit bars, which is not surprising, given that the recipe hails from a baker who got his start selling farmhouse-baked treats out of an old red truck.
In his previous career as the art director at the Washington Post and Smithsonian magazines, he would spend his free time baking pies and breads at his Virginia Piedmont farmhouse, which he sold from that vintage red truck that he bought from none other than designer Tommy Hilfiger.
Noyes now operates two Red Truck bakeries, both in historic buildings, and has fans in Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.
