Giada De Laurentiis

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 >>

On the Line: Gloria Mogollon of Franco's Pasta Cucina, Part One

Photo by Meranda Carter​It will be soon be October, and while researching subjects, I was introduced to a sudden influx of female chefs. So we're unofficially dedicating this month to the ladies. And to kick it off, we seek the impossible: tasty Italian in a food court. Gloria Mogollon of Franco's ... More >>

This Week in Food

Flickr user daves cupboardMmm.​Yeah, that's right. You're looking at a hot mess of cheese, bacon and some sort of sauce sandwiched between two batter-fried chicken fillets. Find out how this went down with Dave and catch up on more of this week's food news after the jump!

Giada De Laurentiis To Be At SCP April 29

​Giada De Laurentiis, she of the enormous head and ample cleavage (for further reading on the subject see Bourdain's blog on Ruhlman), will be having a book signing Thursday, April 29th at the Williams-Sonoma South Coast Plaza.

Dee Nguyen of Break of Dawn, Part 1

Photo by Kimberly Valenzuela​Food critics don't always agree on things, but ask any of your Stick a Fork In It bloggers where the best breakfast in OC is, and you'll get the same answer from all of us: Break of Dawn, a stunning hidden gem in a freeway-adjacent plaza next to the Laguna Hills Mall.C ... More >>

Tanya Petrovna of Native Foods, Part I

​Tanya Petrovna is the chef and owner of Native Foods. Her ever expanding vegan eatery started out in Palms Springs in 1994, but we in OC know her best from her restaurant at The Camp, which is housed inside a yurt. She has two other restaurants in OC, not all of them in yurts, but serving the ... More >>

On the Line: Mark McDonald of Old Vine Cafe

​The McDonald brothers, Mark and Brandon, run Old Vine Cafe in Costa Mesa in a Manichean fashion: be nice, they treat you like gods. Be mean, they'll let the mick in them take over. I like them--otherwise, we wouldn't have named them the best restaurant in OC for 2009. And I'm glad to say they're ... More >>

Maria Sanchez of Los Chilangos

Dave LiebermanElena and Maria Sanchez​ You think you know Mexican food? Go into Los Chilangos on Anaheim's Lincoln Avenue, the sister to Santa Ana's venerable El Rincón Chilango, and read the menu. Tlacoyos? Pambazos? Huitlacoche? This ain't El Torito, amigo. This is real Mexican food from the ca ... More >>

Ehrline Karnaga of Valhalla Table

​Ehrline Karnaga and her sister Liz have built a successful bakery at Irvine's Layer Cake. Now they've ventured into making homemade sausages and serving them with beer at Valhalla Table. Here are her answers to our silly survey. 1. Dish you cook that most represents you. Balinese wild boar s ... More >>

On the Line: Bobby Bognar of History Channel's "Food Tech"

Courtesy of Bobby Bognar​It's ironic that the latest food show to hit the airwaves isn't on the Food Network (they're much too busy showing pointless, boring challenge shows) but on the History Channel.Though the format is a lot like "Unwrapped" and "Follow That Food", the last time Marc Summers i ... More >>

On the Line: Shewaye Zeleke of Tana Ethiopian

Dave Lieberman​That Tana Ethiopian Restaurant is on a fairly short list of places I visit frequently is due to a serendipitous trip to Portillo's in Buena Park a few years ago. I saw a sign and pulled a quick U-turn in the road, earning me the ire of a bus driver and the first of many happy dining ... More >>

On The Line: Craig Strong of Studio at The Montage

​Top Chef fans may already know that recent winner Michael Voltaggio now cooks at The Langham in Pasadena.  Well, Voltaggio's getting Craig Strong's sloppy seconds.  Strong was the Chef de Cuisine there -- earning both himself and the restaurant accolades from Michelin, Gourmet Magazine, ... More >>

[Year In Review] Of Taco Trucks and Votes That Suck: 2009 On Our Stick a Fork In It Food Blog

On The Line: Hiro Ohiwa of Cafe Hiro

Photo by Edwin Goei​ Cafe Hiro is a favorite of mine. It's no accident that since I've been here at The Weekly, it's received with two accolades on two Best Of Issues (Best Japanese Restaurant 2009 and Best Fusion Restaurant of 2007). Psst, I didn't want to push for three wins, or else someo ... More >>

On the Line: Ray White of the Veggie Grill

Courtesy of Veggie Grill​The first time I heard tell of a group of people who eschewed not only meat but all animal products, I was stunned. I put down the fork and steak knife and said, "Exactly what do these people eat anyway?"As I started dating a woman whose father and sister are strict vegeta ... More >>

On the Line: Wanida Sreewarom of Thai Nakorn

​When Thai Nakorn burned down in January 2007, lovers of Thai food the county over were cast adrift. The family opened a branch in Stanton to feed the demand for their amazing food, and finally, after months of delays and haggling with the city, Thai Nakorn returned to Garden Grove this August. If ... More >>

On The Line: Daniel Stevens of Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill

Courtesy of Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill​When not in the kitchen, Daniel Stevens, executive chef of Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill at South Coast Plaza, can be found surfing the waves in Huntington Beach. This Connecticut native graduated from culinary school in 1996 and has been leading the Costa Mesa ... More >>

On the Line: Santiago Vallejo of Mariscos Puerto Esperanza

Courtesy of Mariscos Puerto Esperanza​Santiago Vallejo has an impressive résumé: formerly at the Ritz, he left to open his own restaurant, Mariscos Puerto Esperanza, in a tiny shopping center in Orange. It caused an immediate sensation on the food boards (Chowhound, Yelp, etc.) and Edwin himself ... More >>

On The Line: James Sar of Cambinos Asian BBQ

​ Of all the chefs and restauranteurs we've profiled on this blog feature, I can't say that I've met any of them in person. But I can say that I have had the pleasure of meeting James Sar of Cambinos Asian BBQ . If you eat at there, you will too. James will be the one taking your order and serv ... More >>

On the Line: Mark Cleveland of Avanti Cafe

Cleveland: Ex-cellent!​I'm still mad at Avanti Cafe for stopping their International Tuesdays, so that just means I now try to visit once a week instead of every other day. I usually visit in the evening, when Mark Cleveland relieves his co-owner Tanya Fuqua in a transition as seamless as a Jamaic ... More >>

On The Line: Yves Fournier of Andrei's Conscious Cuisine

Photo Courtesy of Andrei's​Yves Fournier was born in Paris and has worked just about everywhere in the world, including France, England, New York, and, of course, Irvine, where he was Chef de Cuisine for 6ix Park Grill at the Hyatt Regency.  Now he is the Executive Chef of Andrei's, which c ... More >>

On The Line: John McLaughlin of At Last Café

Photo By Russ Roca​Every city should have a chef like John McLaughlin, who at his At Last Café cooks gourmet food but charges diner prices.  Long Beach, you're lucky to have him.  And we are lucky that he agreed to answer our silly survey.1. Dish that you cook that most represents you. ... More >>

On the Line: Aron Habiger of The Crosby

John Gilhooley​Aron Habiger is the wunderkind chef behind the scenes at the so-hip-it-hurts hangout The Crosby in Santa Ana. Here are his answers to our survey. 1. Dish that you cook that most represents you. Jerk torta. 2. What was the last meal you had at home? Peanut butter and jelly ... More >>

On the Line: Jason Kordas of Jason's Downtown

Photo Courtesy of Jason's Catering​Jason Kordas has catered for Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Pete Wilson. And for the past two years, his Santa Ana restaurant Jason's Downtown has been a fixture of the downtown dining and music scene.Kordas also still offers his catering services if you have people a ... More >>

On The Line: Rachel Klemek of Blackmarket Bakery

Tim MelideoRachel Klemek is the owner/chef/instructor of Blackmarket Bakery, her made-from-scratch bakery in Irvine.You'll also see Blackmarket weekly at farmers' markets around O.C., but most especially at the Saturday Irvine Farmers' Market across from UCI. Here are her answers to our survey. 1 ... More >>

On the Line: Walter Rowin of The Slidebar

​For the rock groupie The Slidebar is Jeremy Popoff's restaurant/club/local worship temple for Fullerton's home-grown rock group, Lit.  For the foodie, the place is all about Walter Rowin and his cooking.  He's the man behind the bar's uncommonly good food; mac and cheese better than mom's, stea ... More >>

On the Line: Chef Florent Marneau of Marche Moderne

Courtesy of Marche ModerneHe is Florent Marneau, chef and proprietor of Marche Moderne, one of the best French restaurants in the county.  We are food bloggers with a few dumb questions that we've always wanted to know but were afraid to ask.  What do you get when you mix?  You get wh ... More >>