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Los Angeles Times
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
What chefs bring to a no-cook potluck party. Easy takeout ideas you can duplicate
More than 20 easy takeout ideas from chefs and food pros for your next potluck. Plus, Curtis Stone grows a lifestyle empire in Malibu wine country, the return of Miya Thai, making chicken in a rice cooker. I'm Laurie Ochoa, general manager of L.A. Times Food, with this week's Tasting Notes. The invitation via text message was brief: 'Having a 'potluck' at my house next Sunday. Bring your favorite takeout food.' I looked at the sender's name: Nancy Silverton. I've been to Nancy Silverton's house for parties many times. I co-wrote her bread book and first got to know her while writing a story for this paper on the making of Campanile, the restaurant she and her late ex-husband Mark Peel opened in the complex that is now Walter and Margarita Manzke's Republique. So the idea of Silverton throwing a party with only takeout food — nothing cooked by her or any of her chef or food-obsessed friends — was surprising. It's not that Silverton favors complex dishes. One of her lesser-known cookbooks is 'A Twist of the Wrist,' with simple recipes made from jarred, tinned or boxed ingredients. And she sometimes augments her party menus with food from some of her favorite takeout spots like Burritos La Palma. But Silverton is obsessed with details, even at a burger party where the patties are hand-shaped with a custom-blend of meat (20% to 28% fat, as writer Emily Green once described in a story on the chef's hamburger process), and she only entrusts grill duties to trusted cooks (frequently Elizabeth Hong, culinary director of Silverton's many Mozza restaurants, or Jar restaurant owner-chef Suzanne Tract). Even the burger toppings and condiments are precisely arranged. Her avocados, for instance, are almost always halved, loosened from the skin, which remains to protect the fruit, then sliced, drizzled with lemon or lime juice and seasoned with salt, pepper and often chopped chives. I wondered how Silverton would react to the chaos that can ensue at potluck gatherings. What if everyone showed up with Burritos La Palma? (Well, maybe that wouldn't be so bad.) Of course, Silverton and her partner, former Times reporter Michael Krikorian, eliminated some of the event's wildcard nature by making gentle inquiries over text to find out what people were bringing. It was clear from the start that one of my favorite foods to bring to a party would not be an option: the football-shaped Armenian flatbread from Glendale's Zhengyalov Hatz — filled with more than a dozen different herbs, as writer Jessie Schiewe described in our recent guide to '15 L.A. restaurants where ordering the house specialty is a must.' Krikorian was already bringing some. He was also getting brisket from Andrew and Michelle Muñoz's Moo's Craft Barbecue, which is one of critic Bill Addison's favorite L.A. barbecue spots; 'kuku sandeviches,' or house-leavened flatbread filled with herb-and-leek frittata, yogurt, cucumber, tomato and radish from Azizam, which Addison called 'L.A.'s best new Persian restaurant'; fried chicken and fish sandos from Mei Lin's Daybird, the shop that attracted columnist Jenn Harris' admiration soon after its 2021 opening and before Lin's most recent restaurant, 88 Club in Beverly Hills, previewed recently by Food's reporter Stephanie Breijo; and fantastic basturma brisket sandwiches from III Mas Bakery & Deli (pronounce it 'Yerord Mas') run out of a Glendale ghost kitchen by husband-and-wife team Arthur Grigoryan (who used to work at Mozza) and Takouhi Petrosyan. Oh, and Silverton also arranged for Frutas Marquez (phone: 909-636-1650) to set up an umbrella-shaded cocos frios and cut fruit stand. So before the first guest turned up, there was enough food for a hungry crowd. Then the chefs and other food pros started to arrive with food from all over city. Chef Chris Feldmeier of the sorely missed Bar Moruno in Silver Lake and now back in the kitchen at Love & Salt in Manhattan Beach gave Silverton's guests a chance to try some of the Southland's greatest Indian cooking from Quality of Bombay in Lawndale. He brought goat biryani, butter chicken and palak paneer, with large pieces of curd cheese mixed into the gently seasoned spinach. People were raving over the butter chicken and I was so taken with the goat biryani that I stopped into the unassuming storefront this week and picked up some lamb biryani as well as two of the restaurant's naans, one flavored with green chile and one, Peshawari naan, baked with ground nuts and raisins. Feldmeier also brought crispy rice salad with Thai sausage from North Hollywood's Sri Siam, a place I recently rediscovered. Feldmeier's former Bar Moruno partner (and contributor to our wine coverage), David Rosoff, brought a sampling from Armen Martirosyan's Mini Kabob spinoff MidEast Tacos in Silver Lake. Many guests had heard about the Armenian-Mexican tacos and were happy to have a chance to try them. Another hit from the party came from Jar's Suzanne Tract, who brought spicy shrimp dumplings and kimchi dumplings from Pao Jao Dumpling House started by Eunice Lee and Seong Cho in the food court of the Koreatown Plaza on Western Ave. In the dumpling season of Jenn Harris' video series 'The Bucket List,' she finds out that Cho developed the recipe for the spicy shrimp dumpling and isn't sharing the secret to its deliciousness — which will make you all the more popular when you show up with a batch at your next potluck. Photographer Anne Fishbein brought many delicious things from chef Sang Yoon's Helms Bakery, including doughnuts and gorgeous breads with different schmears and butters, including the sweet black garlic butter that Harris included in her story about the Helms' foods that got her attention when the marketplace opened in Culver City late last year. Times contributor Margy Rochlin arrived with swaths of the pebbly Persian flatbread sangak, so fresh from the oven at West L.A.'s Naan Hut the sheets of sesame-seeded bread burned her arm when she picked up her order. (Read Rochlin's 2015 story for Food for more on how sangak is baked on hot stones.) She then went to Super Sun Market in Westwood for French feta cheese, fresh herbs and the shallot yogurt dip mast-o musir, arranging everything on a wood board. Silverton's daughter, Vanessa Silverton-Peel set out an impressive array of flaky borekas from the always-busy Borekas Sephardic Pastries in Van Nuys with various fillings. These included cultured cheese and za'atar; potato and brown butter; mushroom, caramelized onion and truffle; spinach and cheese, plus carrots and hot honey, which is an occasional special. With them, came pickles, tomato sauce and jammy eggs. And because she is everywhere, Harris has written about her love for this place too. Taylor Parsons, once declared L.A.'s best sommelier when he was at Republique by former L.A. Weekly restaurant critic Besha Rodell, and Briana Valdez, founder of the growing Home State mini-chain of Texas-style breakfast tacos and more, brought cheesy Frito pies and tacos from Valdez's restaurant. And Pasquale Chiarappa, a.k.a. the sometime actor Pat Asanti, a.k.a. Patsy to his pals, brought his own Della Corte Kitchen focaccia, which he supplies to Pasadena's Roma Deli among other places. Pizza and cake from another Addison favorite, Aaron Lindell and Hannah Ziskin's Quarter Sheets in Echo Park went fast, though I'm not sure who brought them since at this point it was getting hard to keep track of all the incoming food. The same goes for the bucket of Tokyo Fried Chicken that was quickly gobbled up. Jazz musician and composer Anthony Wilson had the good taste to bring a whole duck from Roasted Duck by Pa Ord, which I wrote about in this newsletter recently because I think it might be the best duck in Thai Town. Claudio Blotta, founder of All'Acqua in Atwater Village and Silver Lake's Barbrix, which is undergoing rennovations at the moment, tapped his Argentine roots by bringing empanadas. I missed the name of the place he bought them, but a good bet if you're looking for some to bring to a party is Mercado Buenos Aires in Van Nuys. Erik Black, founder of the recently revived Ugly Drum pastrami, broke the rules a bit by actually cooking something — spiced caramel corn from recipe in 'Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book.' And Mozza's Raul Ramirez Valdivia made tortilla chips, guacamole and wonderful salsa verde. Of course, Burritos La Palma showed up thanks to Mozza's Juliet Kapanjie. I ended up bringing a tray of fresh Vietnamese spring rolls, a party offering that has never failed me, from Golden Deli in San Gabriel. There were three kinds: shrimp and pork, beef and tofu for vegetarians. And just when it seemed that the party could not take one more food offering, in walked former L.A. Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila and photographer, wine aficionado and cook Fred Seidman with a box of burgers from In-N-Out. Because no matter how full you are, there's always room for In-N-Out. Food reporter Stephanie Breijo got a look at the inner workings of Curtis Stone's Four Stones Farm in the Santa Monica Mountains, where the Australian chef of Hollywood's Gwen and the Pie Room in Beverly Hills has established a base for his burgeoning lifestyle empire. This includes TV-ready testing and production kitchens for taping live HSN cooking demos promoting his cookware, plus a winery that uses grapes grown on the property's vineyards and a set up for events, including the upcoming Great Australian Bite in collaboration with the L.A. Times and Tourism Australia. On May 31, Stone and visiting chef Clare Falzon of Staġuni in South Australia's Barossa Valley are teaming up to prepare a multicourse meal in the area becoming known as Malibu wine country. Tickets cost $289 and are on sale now. Regular readers of this newsletter know that I have been keeping watch in my Altadena neighborhood for signs of recovery following the firestorm that destroyed so much of the area. I'm thrilled to report that Miya — David Tewasart and Clarissa Chin's Thai restaurant, which survived in the section of Lake Ave. that saw major destruction — has quietly reopened and is happily busy. We ran into friends from the neighborhood and sat with them at a table to catch up. It felt like home. And the fried chicken with hand-pounded papaya salad? It's as good as ever. Have you seen that woman who cooks an entire chicken in a rice cooker?' style pro Joe Zee asked columnist Jenn Harris recently, as she wrote in our most recent Cooking newsletter. He was referring to the Instagram video made by London content creator Shu Lin, who showed her followers how to make Hakka-style salt-baked chicken with not much more than a seasoning packet sold in most Asian supermarkets and a rice cooker, plus ginger, green onions, shallots and oil. The technique isn't new, but Lin's recipe is very simple and inspired Harris to try it. Gefen Skolnick tells Food contributor Jean Trinh that she wanted a 'fun and funky' Gen Z-friendly space when she opened Couplet Coffee in Echo Park this year. That means 'limited-edition product drops, community-building, storytelling and social media.' As Skolnick put it to Trinh, 'There needs to be great coffee made more approachable.'
Forbes
18-05-2025
- Climate
- Forbes
The Highs And Lows, The Booms And Busts, Of Storm Chasing
Rare anticyclonic cone tornado near Silverton, Texas, April 24, 2025. With all of the sophisticated cellphone weather apps available these days, storm chasing has become all the rage. Hundreds of hopefuls now hunt Tornado Alley in search of twisters during the peak season, from April through June. The tornadoes come in all sizes and shapes - and of different intensities, from EF-0 being the weakest, to deadly EF-5s. That said, it is more often than not that a tornado is not spotted, a fact storm chasers learn early on. Some get lucky, of course, encountering one in their first few chases. Others don't see anything during their first dozen chases. Mother Nature is unpredictable, fickle, random at best. My own experiences have been mixed. The first time I tried was in 2023 with Raychel Sanner of Tornado Titans. During our three days of chasing in four separate states we saw a number of stunning supercells, the monolithic structures that produce funnels, but no actual tornadoes. Last month, I retuned to try and seal the deal, and was lucky enough to encounter a weak rain-wrapped affair near Joplin, Missouri, with chaser Jeff Anderson, then three amazing photogenic twisters in west Texas with chaser Tom Bovasso. Mission accomplished. Well, sort of. Road construction delayed a Tornado Titans storm chase just outside of Dallas/Fort Worth, May 16, 2025. A colleague of mine, photojournalist Mike Killian, had been in contact with the Storm Of Passion chasing group. They are unique in that they own a Tornado Interceptor Vehicle, the TIV-2, capable of not only finding tornadoes, but getting incredibly close, in some cases actually penetrating the dangerous vortices. There are only two of these tank-like vehicles in existence. The other, called Dominator, is owned by the famous chaser Reed Timmer. Killian was nice enough to introduce me to Ryan Shepard, TIV-2 owner, via a recent conference call to hatch a plan where we would all meet up and chase tornadoes with the objective of potentially getting inside of one. Killian and I have worked on a number of extreme aviation stories together, so he knows my work and I know his. So back to tornado alley I travelled this past week. While waiting in Dallas, I had some free time, so I contacted Sanner who was in town for a documentary about her company being filmed by a crew from Ireland. She had an extra seat in her chase car, and allowed me to tag along on one of her documentary chase days. We met at 10:30 a.m. to set off for the day. The outskirts of DFW looked promising, so we stayed local. Right off, we encountered challenges. The freeways in and around DFW were chock full of unexpected traffic. Once we finally got out of the giant metroplex, more delays ensued, due to road construction. To circumvent the highway traffic, we trued the back roads. That was challenging, too, as they were pothole-strewn, narrow, and, as you might have already guessed, also riddled with construction. Our target supercell was projected to start to fire between 4 and 5 p.m. and we barely made it out to it. Sanner constantly studied her weather models to keep repositioning us in front of the supercell and away from the golf ball-sized hail already falling. Indeed, there were a few times under the wall cloud when enough rotation could have produced a tornado, but it was stubborn. Finally, we encountered so many road delays that the supercell got out ahead of us, and we called it a day. Passion of Storm chaser vehicle TIV-2 out in the field. Sanner, even though she has seen more than 300 tornadoes in her chasing career, was disappointed, mostly because the Irish filmmakers would return to their country without having seen a tornado themselves. They'll use tornado footage Sanner already has in their documentary, but still. My plan now is to meet up with Killian and the TIV-2 folks early this coming week, then head to where the most severe tornadic weather is expected. Hopefully, we will get close to, and perhaps inside of, a funnel on the ground. If we pull it off, what a story it will make. Fingers crossed.
Washington Post
06-05-2025
- Washington Post
Powered by potatoes: Endurance athletes are chasing speed with spuds
Professional ultramarathoner Tara Dower lived out of her Ford Transit van while training for last year's Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run. The ultramarathon includes 33,197 feet of elevation gain, reaching a high point of 14,048 feet at Handies Peak, outside Silverton, Colorado. It takes the average participant just over 39 hours to complete — a day and a half of running, climbing and trying to stuff one's body with enough food to make it possible.
