Jessica Koslow

When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, Heather Wong was celebrating the one-month anniversary of the million-dollar bakery in Sherman Oaks that she had just helped to open. A year and a half worth of work, and Wong now found herself without a job. She launched her own brand, Flouring LA, baking and selling out of a ghost kitchen in Chinatown.

“I started the brand in July 2020 because I needed to do something for my sanity and for money,” Wong stated.

Within a year of starting her own business, she was approached by the great-granddaughter of the founder of New Chinatown, who offered her a space in the last building that the family owned — the historic SooHoo Leung Building on Hill Street, alongside Pearl River Deli, Thank You Coffee, Paper Plant Co., and Sesame LA. . . .

Read the full article at LA Downtown News.

Café Gratitude challenges the stereotype that plant-based cuisine is limited or boring. Its locations in Venice and Larchmont Village now offer a Radhi Devlukia Collab Menu, a Medical Medium Collab Menu, a new fall menu, and a reimagined happy hour.

“Fall is my favorite season as a chef and menu creator,” said executive chef Seizan Dreux Ellis sitting in his test kitchen in Larchmont Village. “I am a November baby.”

Ellis explained that now is the moment for mushrooms, butternut squash, pomegranate, persimmon, kale, and radicchio, and cranberries are about to come into season just in time for the holidays. . . .

Read the full article at The Argonaut.

Max Olper, head of U.S. operations for Bacio di Latte, described a true gelateria experience as a “place where gelato is handmade in-house using quality ingredients.” 

Bacio di Latte, located between Warby Parker and Kreation Organic at Waterside in Marina del Rey, has built its reputation on offering a true gelateria experience. This is the brand’s sixth Southern California location, joining the others in Century City, Newport Beach, Brentwood and Larchmont Village, and Rancho Cucamonga.

The brand’s original storefront on Sāo Paulo’s Rua Oscar Friere opened in 2011. Since then, it has become the world’s largest artisanal gelato chain, with more than 190 locations across Brazil. According to a statement, that’s due to its commitment to fresh products, creative flavors, and first-rate ingredients.  . . .

Read the full article at The Argonaut.

“Top Chef” winner Brooke Williamson thinks about produce first when crafting a recipe or meal. 

As she described one afternoon at the tail end of summer, she considers the season and what vegetables look good. Her culinary perspective was shaped by growing up in Los Angeles, going to farmers markets and tending a garden in her backyard.

When Williamson decided to craft her first cookbook, produce felt like the most organic thing to write about. . . .

Read the full article at The Argonaut.

Ettore Vino e Cucina, now the largest sit-down restaurant at LA’s Original Farmers Market, is open for business. The Italian wine and culinary destination is a collaboration between Osteria Mamma, the cherished family-owned Italian restaurant in Hancock Park, and Ettore, a boutique organic winery in Mendocino owned by Ettore Biraghi that uses the scientific Purovino method to eliminate sulfites from its wine.

Filippo Cortivo, the co-owner of Osteria Mamma, explained that his partnership with Fabrizio de Falco, Ettore’s managing director, is a natural extension of their shared philosophies about ingredients, production and lifestyle. Both businessmen are passionate about handmade food, hand-harvested grapes and the use of sustainable practices to deliver authentic products. Chef Mònica Angelats Coll was brought on board because she, too, is cut from the same cloth.

“When Filippo came to us with an idea for the farmers market, we thought it was a perfect place for us,” stated Falco. “We are proud to be part of this family.” . . .

Read the full article at LA Downtown News.

A new executive chef is feeding Downtown.

After a little more than two years, asterid — the restaurant at the base of the Walt Disney Concert Hall — has brought on chef Mazen Mustafa to continue the culinary legacy of Ray Garcia, who will remain as chef partner. Mustafa, who has worked around the world, will manage the kitchen and spearhead menu development.

“Walt Disney Concert Hall is a legendary space in LA,” Mustafa said. “To be able to work in that space and help create a new identity and new legacy is humbling, rewarding and exciting.

“I look at it as an extension or continuation of what Ray was already doing. The restaurant was designed to be a celebration of Los Angeles, and I’m trying to take that a step further.” . . .

Read the full article at LA Downtown News.

In honor of its 25th anniversary at its second-story location and October’s National Seafood Month, The Lobster offers a special $25 anniversary menu with four of its signature dishes for $25 each. 

Located at the top of the Santa Monica Pier, The Lobster has been open for 25 years under its current ownership, but some incarnation, beginning with the Seafood Shack, has been in operation in its current location since 1923. . . .

Read the full article in The Argonaut.