Anne Marie Panoringan is Culture OC’s well-informed food columnist. She reports industry news, current events and trends. Anne Marie also contributes regularly to Eater Los Angeles, LAist, TASTE and a host of other well-respected publications. Anne Marie joins us in-studio to discuss her writings as Food Columnist for Culture OC and discuss her current columns.
Along the way Anne Marie will highlight her recent visit to Chicago to attend the James Beard Foundation Awards and also support the Nomination for Outstanding Wine & Other Beverages Program for Strong Water in Anaheim. Some Chicago dining was on the menu. She will also chat about experiencing Chef – Partner Riley Huddleston’s new menu at the Mayor’s Table at Lido House, an Autograph Collection resort, in Newport Beach.
Hi, I'm Sherry Yard, the Los Angeles Advisory Board for Career through Coler New York's program. When I want the absolute best in Food 411, I listen to the SoCal Restaurant Show right here on AM830KLAA. And welcome back. It is the pre-fourth of July holiday version of the SoCal Restaurant Show, and we're here with you every Saturday morning from 10 AM until 12 noon, right here on AM830KLAA, the home of Angels Baseball 2024, and the Hables have a five-game winning streak going. That's pretty exciting. I'm Andy Harris, the executive producer and co-host of the show. Thanks for sharing part of your pre-holiday weekend with us, we do appreciate it, and we're enthusiastically presented each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Proters and West Coast Prime Meats. It is always a pleasure to have Anne-Marie Paneringan in the studio with us. Of course, you know her as the food columnist, the food journalist for cultureOC.org, but since her last visit with us, Anne-Marie's had a pretty busy time, and just a few weeks ago was in Chicago, of course, doing a little dining, but the main reason to be in Chicago was attending the James Beard Foundation Awards, this part of the awards ceremony being for restaurants and chefs, and she was also supporting the only Orange County nominee for a James Beard Foundation award this year, an establishment that we both enjoy, but I will let Anne-Marie talk about that. And with all of that is background, as always, it is a pleasure to welcome in studio Anne-Marie Paneringan. Anne-Marie, good morning, and of course, welcome to your side of the console. Good morning, Andy, it's still morning, right? - It is, it is, at least for 40 more minutes as far as I know. - Excellent. - Anne-Marie, now, I think you can also mention this, but what you can't talk about, don't talk about, but one of the honors that you have had with the James Beard Foundation for the last couple of years is you are an awards judge. Can you mention what category you judge? - Technically, no, to tell you the truth. I mean, I can tell you, what I can tell you is I did attend the restaurant and chef awards, and then in previous years, just not this year, 'cause I was really busy trying to do other things while I was out in Chicago. I normally, this past year, or I should just say this month, I would have normally have attended the media awards on top of that, but I had to make a choice, but I will say I did judge for both awards. - Fair enough, now, you mentioned that there is a split between the media and cookbook awards and the chef and restaurant awards, because they're just too many. So the restaurant and chef awards were Monday night, the journalism awards was-- - Saturday night, Saturday night, yeah. But again, all in Chicago, which in terms of kind of being the geographic center of the country, and also is a lot of our listeners know that have spent any time in Chicago, it is a great food town and a lot more than wonderful stakes, even though the Midwestern beef is pretty gush darn fantastic. Now, Anne-Marie, let's kind of clue our listeners in. We have talked about strong water on the show together. I've also interviewed the principals separately. Wonderful people, wonderful establishment. What were they nominated for and what was the result? - They were, they threw their hat in for the, it's a very specific category, it's not just a great bar, but it had to do with the program in front of me and I can't find it. It has to do with other types of beverages, basically. So, you know, there could have been a coffee shop they were up against, but because their nature is more tiki than anything else, they didn't think they were, you know, the typical best bar. And in the result of that category, which was, you know, outstanding wine and other beverages, ultimately, how did they fare? - They made it all the way to the finals and, you know, we were all very hopeful, but this, you know, it was their first year to apply. And I think, you know, that there's always next year, that was cliché, it's so bad Andy, sorry. - Well, you know, as we say it, it went another direction, but you were with the owners, spent some time with them in Chicago and they took it in good spirit and I think they still enjoyed the journey and it's pretty exciting to be a nominee at the James Beard Foundation Awards because particularly on the culinary and chef side of things, anybody who is anybody is there. So when you're out at any of the better restaurants in Chicago within a few days of the James Beard Foundation Awards, and if you know some of the, probably know the names, but if you know some of the faces of the prominent chefs in the United States, they're there, I mean, everybody is there and it's a very relaxed atmosphere because at that point in terms of who the recipients are, you know, it's out of everybody's hands. So it's kind of like leading up to the Academy Awards, you know, you kind of enjoy the ride once you've been nominated. - Exactly, I mean, it's, there's a lot of education and all they offer a lot of panels and a lot of activities, but a lot of it is socializing, networking, having a good time, you know, it's always about the time when it transitions from spring to summer and, you know, everyone just starts to sweat more and so it's, can be rough trying to get to an award ceremony when you're just hot. - Now Anne-Marie, for you, what were either some of the dining or libation high points during your time in Chicago? - Okay, I only drank when I was at a restaurant. I didn't want to go specifically to a bar 'cause I was traveling with someone else. And so in the evenings, we had two excellent dinners. What I remember was Saturday evening, we had our meal at a place called Swift and Sons. And Sunday evening, we had a meal, it was a one star and one star was called CPA. Like when you think about a black and white photo, but more the brown layers. Those were probably some of the better meals I had. I went out on my own in the daytime for breakfast and lunch. I did meet up with Ying and Robert for some coffee, the same day as the org show. And it's, it was just really, every time I go to Chicago, I can't wait, you know, to go back, you know, not necessarily under James Beard, but just to go and, you know, I don't know if I told you this, Andy also went to a baseball game. - Wow. The Cubs are the Sox. - The Sox. - All right. - I just want to check out. - South side of Chicago, I'm liking that. - It was great. Just, you know, a beautiful stadium and it's just nice to enjoy, you know, the shade. - Well, Annemarie Chicago is a great sports town and they're crazy about baseball. So, you know, yeah. You know, the Cubs are not having a great year so far, but that can always change. But, you know, again, baseball is in the DNA of that city. So, I'm glad you got to experience a game. Sorry you didn't get to see them playing the Angels, but, you know, that's always a possibility along the way. - There you go. - Now, tell me at Swift and Sons because you kind of got my attention. What is the style of cuisine there and, you know, was there a standout dish? - It's more of a modern steakhouse. So, I mean, I was trying not to overeat. Like you just going out, especially when you're staying in a hotel and all you do is go out to eat. And I would just share everything. Just the steaks in general were excellent. Like I tried not to over order. I didn't want to over order Andy, but if I was going to go there for one thing, it would be, you know, just most of their steaks were great. Like we actually had a couple that we split, so. - Big beef Annemarie, yes. - Big beef, yes. I get it. So, we kind of have a snapshot of Swift and Sons. Tell us about sepia. What are they special for? - So, sepia is trying to think of the best way to describe it. How can I tell you this? It's such a beautiful space, but what I was surprised by, it's a price fix, but they do a lot of vegetable courses. If you want it, you can pick and choose exactly, you know, I want to say there might have been three or four options for the four course. And I remember it being a very reasonable price 'cause when I looked up at my friend and I'm like, did you see the price? They're like, yeah. And I was like, this is great. We can go out to drink after. - Wow, that's, you know, definitely good to know as far as that's concerned. And maybe before we take our first break here and pick up the conversation on the other side, the one thing we have not discussed is, where do our listeners find you for Culture OC and generally how often and what day of the week does a new column drop? - CultureOC.org, you would click from the main page and look for the food and drinks column. Normally, when I write something, it is every other week, typically Wednesday. Good enough. We are speaking with Culture OC's food columnist, Anne Marie Paneringen. This is our every couple of month catch up. When we return, we're gonna be discussing some Newsy restaurant items from Orange County. You are listening to the SoCal restaurant show. We're proudly presented by Melissa's World Variety Proters and West Coast Prime Eats. Don't wander far.
