LA Weekly; Producer of Smarth Mouth
Food Editor at LA Weekly. Producer of Smart Mouth. Former food editor at KCET.
PROFILE
Katherine Spiers
Guest
FROM Katherine Spiers
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Eats along the LA River bike path There are plans for new bike paths, green spaces, and pedestrian bridges to connect dozens of the neighborhoods around LA. Accommodating more people on bikes and foot means there will be new restaurants and coffee shops.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Beverly Center is being remodeled into a food mecca The Beverly Center is in the middle of a $500 million renovation. The upscale shopping mall has undergone a lot of changes and upgrades since it opened more than 30 years ago. This latest iteration promises a major shift in the restaurant scene.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
How to pair wine with Asian food The freewheeling downtown Indian gastropub Badmaash recently started a new wine program. Maybe you think foods heavy on cumin and curry powder wouldn’t pair well with some of Europe’s world-famous grapes. But it’s just a matter of knowing which wines you should reach for.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
How to cool off with something better than ice cream The sugar and dairy of ice cream leaves you feeling lethargic, bloated, and probably not better much than before you indulged in all that creamy deliciousness. Instead, you could satisfy your summer sugar cravings with paletas, raspados and coconadas. These are Central American-style frozen fruit treats th at don’t involve any dairy, and LA has no shortage of places to find them.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Chengdu Impression: Bringing pricey Sichuan to the San Gabriel Valley Arcadia is not lacking in restaurants that serve up delicious regional Chinese food. But earlier this year the San Gabriel Valley city scored a major culinary get with the opening of Chengdu Impression. The restaurant is the first U.S. location of a chain based in Chengdu, China, that boasts around 30 restaurants.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Heritage grains make a comeback in California Heritage grains are the ancient, unadulterated varieties of crops like wheat, barley and rice. More farms are growing them now because they have stronger flavors and they’re drought tolerant. Many LA restaurants have been eager to incorporate them into some of their dishes.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Music festivals become can't-miss events for foodies Angelenos will be flocking to Coachella this weekend and next. The Arroyo Seco festival isn’t far behind in June, and FYF Fest is in July. While all three festivals boast big names in their music lineups, their food lineups are equally packed with celebrity chefs.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
LA has a new Jewish deli, even as old ones die off “Fleishik’s Sandwiches, Nosh and Whiskey” opened this month in the Fairfax neighborhood to long lines. It has most of the staples you’d expect at a standard kosher deli: pastrami, smoked salmon, brisket. But there’s no rye bread -- a move chef Eric Greenspan says is intentional.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Where to find traditional Chinese New Year dishes in LA The year of the rooster begins on Saturday. We look at the meaning behind the rooster in the Chinese zodiac, as well as traditional new year dishes like long noodles, mandarin oranges and spring rolls. L.A. Weekly food editor and host of the podcast "Smart Mouth" Katherine Spiers ran down a list of where to find some traditional Chinese New Year foods in LA right now. Here are her suggestions: Mama Lu 's in Monterey Park for stir-fried dumplings Luscious for pot sticker style dumplings Five Star Seafood Restaurant for steamed rock cod Wang Jia in San Gabriel for sweet rice balls; they serve them stuffed with sesame paste and topped with bits of Osmanthus flower. Class 302 for miswa, a dish made with long noodles Sea Harbour for spring rolls Sam Woo Barbecue for pre-roasted whole poultry Lunasia in Alhambra for turnip cakes or for a one-stop shop for a full, traditional Chinese New Year meal.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
It's cold outside, eat ramen Los Angeles has some amazing ramen spots. Here’s a guide to the top places to warm up with a hot bowl of noodles.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Spending Christmas at LA’s Chinese restaurants What will you be eating on Christmas? Gingerbread? Mashed potatoes? Or, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, how about sesame noodles and orange chicken? The idea of Jews eating Chinese food on December 25 is so ingrained that it’s become a punchline. But is it a provable phenomenon, and if so, how did the trend start?
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The Business
Doc director Matthew Heineman on his first narrative film, 'A Private War' In his career as a documentary filmmaker, Matthew Heineman has criss-crossed the country, followed Syrian activists in exile and embedded with vigilantes fighting Mexican drug cartels. His newest film, ‘A Private War’ is an adventure of a different kind--a narrative feature about war correspondent Marie Colvin. He tells us about using techniques he learned doing documentaries to make his first narrative film.
Hollywood Breakdown
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Second Opinion
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LA Observed
Where the fire started, a checkered past The Woolsey Fire continues to rage at a little more than a third containment today. Areas in, and north and west of, Malibu are feeling the brunt of the impact. But across the Ventura County Line, headed past Point Mugu, and toward Oxnard, is a plot of land that has a lot of history. And controversy. With fires burning inside the grounds of the former Rocketdyne Field Lab, some folks who live nearby are worried.