Beverly Hills (California)

This Week In Food: Pocket Burger, Making It Mexican, and Taco Maria's Last Run

Yaaaay! It's Friday! Let's take a look at this week in food before the weekend begins... Edwin reviewed Pocket Burger Shack in Sunset Beach, and then he named the Crazy Rock at TruSushi the drink of the week. He also gave us a list of the 10 best pork dishes in Orange County. Get on it! Gustavo we ... More >>

Fountain Bowl Rolls with Lebowski Fest

After wading through a nearly full parking lot of cars, some--according to their plate frames--from as far away Valencia, Riverside and, yes, Kentucky, which is where Lebowski Fest started 12 years ago (Louisville, to be exact), your intrepid reporter tonight ran into Barry Asher, the "master bo ... More >>

The Dude Will Abide in Fountain Bowl: Lebowski Fest LA Coming to Fountain Valley

The bowling side of the March 22-23 Lebowski Fest will be staged at Fountain Bowl. The Lebowski Fest LA Bowling Party will be held at the Fountain Valley alley on the second day. Lebowski Fest LA opens March 22 with a Movie Party at Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. Dude's movin' up.

William Scott Spalding, Gemologist-Movie Producer, Gets 10 Years for $280k Gold Scam

William Scott Spalding, the 47-year-old Irvine "gemologist" and "movie producer" who conned a single Huntington Beach mom out of $280,000 in a fake gold investment scam, pleaded guilty to a laundry list of charges today and was promptly sentenced to 10 years in state prison.He was also ordered to pa ... More >>

LA Food and Wine Festival This Weekend

We're got our food festivals here, sure, and they're usually pretty cool events. I spent last Sunday afternoon very happily and gluttonously stuffing my face with pork and craft cocktails, and there's always the Taste of OC and the various city tasting events. There's Patchwork and Secret Fork, wher ... More >>

Tomorrow: Rob Floyd, Lead Bartender at The Bazaar, To Mix Vintage Cocktails At South Coast Plaza (Plus: A Special Recipe!)

Devout cocktail enthusiasts not only know how to mix vintage libations, but can tell you the stories behind them. For instance, the Sidecar was first created during World War I in Paris when an American soldier ordered the drink and it was served aboard the sidecar of his motorcycle. The Singapore S ... More >>

Greenleaf Gourmet Chop Shop Opens in Costa Mesa With A Promo

Are you ready for another salad restaurant? After Freshii, Saladworks and Tossed, now comes Greenleaf Gourmet Chop Shop in Costa Mesa. This one actually has been in the works for a while. You may remember that I wrote about the Beverly Hills-based concept about this time last year while they were st ... More >>

Beverly Hills Macaron Maker To Open In Fashion Island

​I think it was about 2005 that the Chowhound boards went mad for macarons, those colorful, chewy, crispy, filled cookies of Parisian persuasion. I remember it well because there was a particularly lively debate over whose macarons were better, Boule's or Jin Patisserie. Boule's long gone now, but ... More >>

Macarons and Cooking Classes Highlight New Rocq Cafe in Lake Forest

​For some reason, the rest of Orange County thinks South County is a culinary black hole. As someone who lives south of the Spectrum I take offense to that. First, haters, let's not forget that we have Break of Dawn. But we're also home to the boss burgers at Riders Club in San Clemente, the impre ... More >>

On the Line: 'Sushi Dave' Fernandez, of Sushi At the Venetian Gentlemen's Club, Part One

​Sitting down for lunch at Twisted Vine in downtown Fullerton, Dave Fernandez and I talked about family, restaurant reviews and great wines. It wasn't quite a business meeting, more like two friends sharing a bite to eat. Of course, he periodically checked his iPhone for incoming reservations, men ... More >>

Octomom Nadya Suleman Loses License: Report

​Spottily employed single mother of 14 Nadya Suleman of La Habra has lost her California drivers license, according to a published report.That's not lost as in misplaced but lost as in having the privilege to drive taken away from her.Too bad it wasn't a license to breed . . . taken away years ago ... More >>

[UPDATED With Cause of Death:] Whitney Houston Dead at 48

​UPDATE: Feb. 13, 12:27 p.m.: TMZ says the L.A. County Coroner told Whitney Houston's family that the singer d"id not die from drowning, but rather from what appears to be a combination of Xanax and other prescription drugs mixed with alcohol."Sources also told TMZ that the family was told there ... More >>

[UPDATED with Firing Confirmed:] Jeffrey Hubbard, Newport-Mesa Schools Chief, Guilty of Misappropriating Funds

​UPDATE, JAN. 24, 5:26 P.M.: The support Newport-Mesa Unified School District Superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard enjoyed from his Board of Education disappeared into the paneling separating trustees from the public barred from a secret meeting this afternoon.In other words, the board voted unanimously ... More >>

Richard Newton Film Shorts

McCormick Screening Room, UC Irvine, 1311 Humanities Gateway

Karen Anne Christiansen, Newport-Mesa Schools Chief Jeffrey Hubbard's Co-Defendant, Convicted of Conflict-of-Interest

​The former Beverly Hills School District official who, according to prosecutors, received racy emails and secret bonuses from future Newport-Mesa Unified School District Superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard has been convicted of conflict of interest charges.Karen Anne Christiansen, who was the Los An ... More >>

Fur Free Friday Covers South Coast Plaza

​Animal rights activists plan to spend their Black Friday not in lines in front of cash registers but in front of the malls themselves. That's because it's also Fur Free Friday, "the most widely attended annual demonstration in the history of the animal protection movement," according to an email ... More >>

Tina Fey Jabs at OC Housewives, Saying They 'Look Like a Fire at a Wax Museum'

​Reason #798453 Tiny Fey is awesome: She makes fun of OC Housewives. The 30 Rock star welcomed new baby Penelope Athena this summer, and talked about her maternity leave on Rock Center With Brian Williams. While nursing, she watched all sorts of shows, including Extreme Couponing, C ... More >>

Jeffrey Hubbard, Newport-Mesa Schools Chief, Indicted on 3rd Misappropriation of Funds Count

​Fortunately for Newport-Mesa Unified School District chief Jeffrey Hubbard, his school board has stood by him amid charges and embarrassing evidence (love pledges and oral-sex references exchanged with and racy photos of a fellow administrator he allegedly gave secret financial bonuses to) relate ... More >>

Beverly Hills Salad Restaurant Picks Out Its Costa Mesa Location

A few months ago, I wrote up a post announcing that Greenleaf Gourmet ChopShop, a Beverly Hills restaurant that focuses on salads made by a duo of ex-Patina Group restaurant chefs, had its eye on Costa Mesa for their third store (their first in OC). After it published, the PR people for the restau ... More >>

A Few Top Chef Masters to Gather in Laguna Beach's Montage Resort for Charity Dinner

Share Our Strength​Psst, got a spare $150 to blow? On May 22nd, 2011, Montage Laguna Beach will host Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation®, the charity that hopes to eliminate childhood hunger in our country. And for the price, you will get to eat cuisine prepared by some heavy hitters, two o ... More >>

Michael Jordan Signs On as Sommelier at the Ranch

​Michael Jordan, member of the Court of Master Sommeliers, former president of the Beachcomber restaurant in Crystal Cove and the former wine director at Napa Rose at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, has signed on as the sommelier at the Ranch, a steakhouse and live country music venue opening th ... More >>

World's Most Expensive Bowl of Pho Goes for $5,000

Edwin Goei/OC WeeklyAnQi's basic $9 pho. Pretty good, but will $4,991 in gourmet ingredients (and some cash for charity) make it better? We would hope. ​The pho experience is anything but fancy, and that's just fine for all of us at SAFII. Tarnished napkin holders, murky ice water, tattered booths ... More >>

Beverly Hills Salad Restaurant To Open in Costa Mesa

Eater LA got the tip off that Greenleaf Gourmet ChopShop has plans to open its third salad-centric restaurant in Costa Mesa. Started by a couple of chef entrepreneurs who cut their teeth in the Patina Group restaurant empire (and who themselves struggled with previous weight issues), the focus is o ... More >>

The State of the Art House

When it comes to hip indie film theaters, OC is no LA—but LA is no NYC. Why not?

Jeffrey Hubbard, Newport-Mesa Schools Chief, Denies Affair, Claims Trustees Approved $20,000 Stipend

​Despite the sexy-time chatter--pet names, love pledges and oral-sex references--e-mailed between Newport-Mesa Unified School District's superintendent and a subordinate from his days leading the school system in Beverly Hills, Jeffrey Hubbard maintains he did not have a relationship outside work ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Jeffrey Hubbard, Newport-Mesa Schools Chief, Subject of Closed Session Over Beverly Hills Criminal Charges

​Update, December 14, 11:26 a.m.: The Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education emerged from closed session last night and did . . . drum roll, please . . . nothing!Board president Karen Yelsey said "no reportable action" was taken. So, behind closed doors, only non-reportable actio ... More >>

The Orange County Interwebs Horror Show E! News Daily Insider Extra Entertainment Tonight Edition

​Went to write this week's collection of things written about and/or from Orange County on the Interwebs, and an episode of Entertainment Tonight broke out. The following batch includes celebrities and TV characters crossing our real estate before ending with La Habra's very own tabloid queen.

UFO Makes Knott's a Real Scary Farm

​Disneyland may get the bigger crowds when it comes to earthlings, but Knott's Berry Farm may hold the distinction of being more popular among aliens.That's the take away from the iPhone photo of a UFO snapped just before 10 p.m. Tuesday by Ryan Boone, who was waiting in line to ride the Xcelerato ... More >>

Feds Bust Massive OC-Related Ecstasy Pill Ring

DEA agents now have lots of party favors​The price to party without inhibitions in Southern California likely just went up.Federal law enforcement officials announced this afternoon that a grand jury has indicted 15 individuals in Los Angeles and Orange County for conspiracy to possess and distrib ... More >>

Con Man Targets Vietnamese Seniors

Vietnamese Gardener II by Myra Evans​A conman is scamming Vietnamese seniors in Westminster.

Red Velvet: A Cupcake Postmortem

Trends is dining have an amazing ability to take a long-standing food item and, through a series of twists and maybe a bit of recontextualizing, make it ubiquitous and, eventually, tiresome. Not matter how delicious a food might be, if it gets caught up in the zeitgeist, the over-saturation point is ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Trabuco Canyon's Lila Rizk Guilty in Massive Real Estate Fraud

UPDATE: At her sentencing in a Los Angeles federal court today, Trabuco Canyon's Lila Rizk received a three-year prison term for her role in a massive mortgage fraud scheme that caused tens of millions of dollars in losses to federally insured banks.​A federal jury on Aug. ... More >>

Don't Let Crustacean's Glitzy Reputation Scare You Away From AnQi

AnQi at South Coast Plaza Schedule To Open December 10th

Edwin Goei​AnQi, the restaurant by the family behind Crustacean of Beverly Hills is scheduled to open next week, December 10th, next to Charlie Palmers at Bloomingdales South Coast Plaza. But there was something going on there tonight and as I type this. I happened to be at the mall at aro ... More >>

Carrie Brownstein Calls Weezer the 'Ultimate Novelty Band'

Former Sleater-Kinney singer/guitarist Carrie Brownstein has a blog on NPR called Monitor Mix (stick with me), and yesterday she called out Weezer for being "the ultimate novelty band." Specifically, she targeted two of their new songs, "I'm Your Daddy" and "The Girl Got Hot," which the band debuted ... More >>

Incoming: Camera Obscura, Ben Lee, More, Coming to The Glass House

Shows, shows, showy show show shows. So many concert announcements lately! And a bunch of neat stuff, like Camera Obscura (pictured), is coming to the Glass House in Pomona, making that long, lonely drive worthwhile.

Update: Tokyo Table Opens Wed. Sept. 17 (and Special Offer)

Tokyo Table, the first restaurant of many at the new Diamond Jamboree in Irvine, will have its grand opening tomorrow, Wednesday, September 17, at 5 P.M. The restaurant's already got two outlets in L.A. County (Beverly Hills and Arcadia). Other than the usual roster of rolls, teriyaki and tempura, ... More >>

Historic $618,000 Settlement Was Money Well-Spent for Owners of Low-Income Stanton Apartment Complex

Benley is Vietnamese food with an asterisk

First things first: if you are Vietnamese or otherwise familiar with the culinary terrain and back alleyways of Little Saigon, stop reading right now. If you do not heed this warning, I will not be responsible for the damage your spit-take will do to your computer screens. The restaurant I'm about ... More >>

Because You're Ugly: WESC Warehouse Sale

Tuesday's Headlines & Surprises

Top U.S. Secrets to Crooks, Idiots and Dopers: The Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C., reports this morning that the Pentagon, the guys running the Iraq War, now want Congress to allow national security clearances for government employees who are “ex-convicts, drug addicts and mentally incompeten ... More >>

17th Time ain't a charm

This morning, we noted that the man known as the "Irreconcilable Differences" bandit robbed his 16th bank out in Newport Beach. Now, CBS reports that a guy who matched his description was arrested in Glendale shortly after robbing a Wells Fargo. They got him in the parking lot of the local McDonald ... More >>

Diary of a Mad County

July 5 - July 11

Steak Out!

Meating the masses at Orange County’s outsider steak chains

Calling All Billy Kids!

Fine dining arrives in Stanton thanks to Park Ave.

Wherever We Make Our Home

When the partys over, turn out the lights

Each year, its a little less wonderful

David Weddles Newport Beach

You Think This Is a Game?!

High M. Hefner? Sushi Boutique? John Bon Cougar Van MellenJovi? This is work, people!

Balboa Trailer Park Weekend Manager

Monster In a Box

New evidence that school really can make you sick