Independent reporter and producer
Award-winning reporter, producer and editor living in Los Angeles interested in how our food ends up the plate. Reach her at dearabbie@gmail.com.
Photo: Stan Lee
PROFILE
Abbie Fentress Swanson
Producer
FROM Abbie Fentress Swanson
Good Food
Staying afloat in L.A.'s restaurant biz Opening and running a restaurant is a never-ending hustle and an unpredictable enterprise. A decade ago, Ohio State University researchers found that 6 out of 10 restaurants fail in their first year. More recent findings reveal the median lifespan of a restaurant in the western part of the US to be just 4½ years. We asked five restaurateurs to share their stories of life in the business.
Good Food
Vinegar, 'Tasting Georgia,' and dinner and a movie, Bollywood-style Sri Rao pairs classic Indian dishes with Bollywood films, and Carla Capalbo fills us in on the ancient wine and food traditions of Georgia in the Caucasus region. Harry Rosenblum shares tips on how to make vinegar at home, then Michael Harlan Turkell takes us on a global acid trip. Plus: Jonathan Gold’s New Zealand food crawl and honeynut squash at the market.
Good Food on the Road
Jonathan Gold dines at Nothingness in San Gabriel Whether dining on the Thunderbolt frog or the Brainstorming, Jonathan Gold finds the name to evoke the location, but with a bit more spice. The Sichuan and Chongqing-style cuisine being served here is creative and spicy.
Good Food
Ottolenghi and Goh stay 'Sweet,' passion fruit, DJ Wolfgang Puck Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh get ‘Sweet’ in a new cookbook, Jonathan Gold tries Thunderbolt frog in the SGV and Linda Civitello sheds light on the revolutionary power of baking powder. Plus: Laura Avery shops for passion fruit at the market and Wolfgang Puck stops by the basement to share his favorite tunes.
Good Food
Besha's goodbye, foraging tips and a new Night + Market cookbook Besha Rodell files her last restaurant review for LA Weekly and Mia Wasilevich explains how to turn wild plants into great food. Jonathan Gold samples the Peruvian fare at Rosaliné and Gustavo Arellano talks up Burritos La Palma in the OC. Plus: A recipe from Kris Yenbamroong’s Night + Market cookbook, Korean-Mexican food in Seoul and apples at the market.
Good Food on the Road
Jonathan Gold dines at Rosaliné in West Hollywood A traditional Peruvian pisco sour, a plate of ceviche, servers who seem like they’re auditioning for a show on FXX. Jonathan says it’s hard to have a bad time here.
Good Food
The Silk Road show We devote the bulk of this week’s show to food eaten on the ancient Silk Road. Caroline Eden starts us off in Samarkand, then Naomi Duguid and Yasmin Khan take us to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kurdistan and Iran. Back on our side of the pond, Harvest Public Media’s Kristofor Husted reports on the herbicide dicamba, Jonathan Gold eats at Delicious Food Corner and we shop for fresh kale at the market.
Good Food
Food and race, the Bäco book and a farewell to summer herbs Jonathan Gold heads to Culver City to review the futuristic restaurant Vespertine. Josef Centeno talks about the hustle leading up to his first cookbook, “Bäco.” Chef and activist Tunde Wey gives us his take on whiteness in the restaurant industry. Plus: Laura Avery gets the secret ingredients behind Royce Burke’s Secret Lasagna at the farmers market.
Good Food on the Road
Jonathan Gold dines at Vespertine in Culver City If great restaurants have a sense of time and space, Vespertine is Jupiter.
Good Food
Making music with vegetables, and mastering Indian cooking technique Listen to the sweet sounds of the Long Island Vegetable Orchestra. Then find out how to cook Indian food with time-trusted techniques. Visit Vermont to hear about efforts to tackle pollution caused by ag runoff. Plus: Great broths and stocks, scarlet runner beans at the market and Jonathan Gold reviews Felix.
Good Food
Good Food's greatest hits! We dig through the archives to bring you a smorgasbord of stories, unique cocktails, Mormon food specialties and really good fried chicken. Plus: figs at the market!
Good Food on the Road
Jonathan Gold dines at Howlin' Rays in Chinatown Jonathan Gold weighs in on why this hot chicken joint is worth the wait.
Good Food
Extraordinary women and the food they eat A new book looks at the lives and diets of six famous women. There’s a whole galaxy of new restaurants in the United States. Eater’s restaurant critic shares his favorites. Making it into the top 50 world restaurant list is Brae, which sits on an organic farm in Australia. Plus: Jonathan Gold’s review of Dan Tana’s, what to do with Chinese eggplant, and some delicious spirits to try.
Recommended
Design and Architecture
Jim Carrey’s cartoons, real estate love letters Jim Carrey is known as an actor and comedian, but in the last couple years he’s taken up political cartooning. He tells DnA about expressing his anti-Trump feelings through art. And buying a house in LA can be a competition. Can a personal letter to the seller give you a leg-up? The editor of “Dear Seller” shares stories of what prospective buyers write to land their dream house.
The Business
The Document: ‘Free Solo’ This week, while Kim Masters is out of town, we’re sharing an episode of the KCRW podcast, The Document. Our colleague Matt Holzman talks to married filmmaking couple Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi about why and how they made their dizzying new film, ‘Free Solo.’