“Violet Los Angeles, newly opened, is a vibrant Cali-French bistro, full bar, cooking school and shop located in the heart of Westwood Village. In the spirit of European cafés and cookery schools, Violet aims to bring together the community over memorable meals and culinary adventures.” Featuring a romantic courtyard in a historic 1930’s brick building, Violet Bistro is a charming eatery currently serving Dinner and cocktails Tuesday through Sunday from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Seating is within the picturesque courtyard and reservations are needed to properly adhere to all the current outdoor dining and safety regulations. Proprietress Dana Slatkin introduces us to Violet Bistro.
Veteran Restaurateur Michael Cardenas is one of the Founding Partners of Innovative Dining Group. Among their many successful concepts are the BOA Steakhouses and Katana on the Sunset Strip. Separately Michael just launched TacosWays in Tokyo, serving authentic down-home Mexican fare with Modelo Micheladas leading the beverage side. Next up is his Mexican sushi concept in Oxnard, SUSHIWAY, set to debut next month. We’ll talk dining shop and the state of the global restaurant business with Michael Cardenas.
Chef John Park’s Toast Kitchen + Bakery, now celebrating its 2nd Anniversary, is a welcome addition to the moderately priced dining scene in Costa Mesa. They serve Breakfast & Brunch daily (closed on Monday.) Dinner (early) is Tuesday through Friday and Happy Hour (with food & libation specials) is on Weekdays from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Some salivating new menu items have just been introduced including creative libations and both savory & sweet creations. Chef John Park, the Chef of the Year at the 2019 Golden Foodie Awards, joins us.
“Papapietro Perry Winery is a boutique, family-owned winery located in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley, which has specialized in making remarkable, classic Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, as well as a small selection of other varietals from Sonoma such as Zinfandel, Chardonnay and Rosé. Committed to quality for more than twenty years, Ben and Yolanda Papapietro and Bruce and Renae Perry, two couples who began making wine as a hobby in a San Francisco basement in 1980, have consistently produced small lots of award-winning and critically-acclaimed wines, handmade from harvest to punch down.” Winemaker and Founder Ben Papapietro pulls the cork on Papapietro Perry for us.
“Coming together for the very first time to celebrate restaurants all throughout Southern California, Los Angeles and Orange County unite to introduce Burger Week, which will be held from Sunday, July 12th, 2020 through Sunday, July 18th, 2020. Burger Week, produced by the Orange County Restaurant Association, will be a first-time event in Los Angeles and second annual event in Orange County. Burger Week was created to encourage diners all throughout the Southland (Orange County, Los Angeles County, Long Beach, and Pasadena) to celebrate and support SoCal restaurants while enjoying America’s favorite food – the almighty Burger!” Executive Chef Lene Houck of Open Face Food Shop in Los Angeles (on West Adams Blvd.) is one of the participating chefs and restaurants in Burger Week. Open Face Food Shop is offering four special burger creations (with a choice of side.)
Executive Chef / Proprietor Lene Houck and Proprietor Mark Houck temp us with all the juicy burger deliciousness.
Our own Chef Andrew Gruel of the Slapfish Restaurant Group provides another timely and informative “Ask the Chef” segment where Chef Andrew responds to listeners thoughtful inquiries. Chef Andrew is regularly updating us on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis in the hospitality field and what we, as diners, can do to support the very survival of restaurants. Dine-in is slowly, with multiple hiccups, starting to come back but with a lot of new rules that restrict guest counts. Alternately Take-Out / Delivery when you can surely helps… It’s another week in California of changing rules including the new ban on dining inside. We’ll hear from Chef Andrew with his assessment of the rapidly evolving situation. We’ll, of course, “Ask the Chef.”
All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness (with proper Social Distancing) on this week’s not-to-miss show!
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