...Is Avanti Cafe, the Costa Mesa Slow Food laboratory of everything great and healthy. They serve food at the Great Park's Hangar Cafe for the massive thing's free Friday and Saturday concerts. The menu is limited--veggie burgers, three-way hummus (as delicious as it sound randy), salads, and a massive choco-chip cream cheese banana sandwich that's worth its pricey $8 price is about it. But in honor of the Great Park's multi-culti offerings, Avanti also prepares special menus themed with every
I can't say I'm surprised. Besides, list like these are subjective, as all lists are. But this one, is especially so. A panel of four, consisting of "Food & Wine Restaurant Editor Kate Krader; Anya Fernald, executive director of Slow Food Nation; and Erik Wolf, president of the International Culinary and Tourism Association", did the picking.
But I can't say that I wasn't slightly disappointed that O.C. didn't even get a mention for all the wonderful ethnic foods we have. Doesn't Little Sai
Don't get me wrong--I like Mother's Market, our homegrown Whole Foods. I make it a point to support businesses that subscribe to the principles of the Slow Food movement--we all are sinners (except for the do-gooders at Avanti Cafe), so I understand slip-ups or exceptions occur from time to time. But I was still surprised when I saw Cacique cheese on the shelves of Mother's location in SanTana amongst organic, fair-trade offerings. I'm very familiar with the brand, having eaten the queso fresco
I'd usually laugh at the idea of people paying money to learn how to make tamales (no need for moolah, people--just hang out with Mexican women come Christmas Eve), but the event that Slow Food OC is hosting is worth it and muy cheap. From their recent newsletter:Learn
how to make your own tamales in this informal and delicious
presentation. Ms. Lilly Garo will show us step-by-step how to make
sweet and savory tamales, a seasonal treat from our latino heritage in
Southern California. We will be
I've written before about the Slow Food movement, an effort by foodies to buy local, organic produce and food products in order to support our regional farmers and culinary traditions. Now, this mostly-lefty, mostly-wealthy philosophy seems to have found a new acolyte: California Coalition for Immigration Reform Barbara Coe.Last week, Coe forwarded an email to her supporters that urged a boycott of Chinese-made products. That prompted a response from Haydee Pavia, a Latina Know Nothing who seems
The Denver-cased "Mexican" chain, which has a growing presence in SoCal, has announced plans to strengthen its commitment to buying locally grown produce, promising that by this summer it will be "purchasing at least 35 percent of at least one bulk produce item in all of its restaurants from local farmers when it is seasonally available". This represents a 10 per cent increase over Chipotle's 2008 program. Chipotle (motto: "Food with Integrity") is already known for its commitment to sustai
