Episodes

  • The Bear Season 3 Recap - Part 2. Plus, service fees here to stay, street vendors win big, and Gorilla Pies needs our help.
    Jul 5 2024

    Part 2 of our The Bear Season 3 recap. Father Sal is with us to break down episodes 6-10. If you listened to Part 1 on Monday, you'll know that we weren't too sweet on episodes 1-5. Did the second half of the season change our opinion? Not exactly, but keep listening to find out where exactly we feel the show got lost in the sauce, and most importantly, Father Sal's killer conspiracy theories about why.


    But first, a couple of things that caught my eye this week. There's an end finally to the service fee saga, a massive win for street vendors, and some really insightful reporting on just how hard it is to score a liquor license in LA, courtesy of Emily Wilson at The Angel.


    Helpful links:

    LA Foodstack, our free newsletter where we curate all the week's most essential food news https://open.substack.com/pub/thelacountdown/p/the-epic-service-fee-saga-comes-to?r=31nins&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web


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    Get 10% off at House of Macadamias with code "LAFOOD" https://www.houseofmacadamias.com/pages/la-foods

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    Get 10% off your first order of wagyu products at First Light Farms with code "LAFOOD10" https://www.firstlight.farm/us/


    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thelafoodpodcast/support
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • The Bear Season 3 Recap - Part 1: Does it still have the special sauce?
    Jul 1 2024
    Father Sal and I recap episodes 1-5 of The Bear Season 3, which is now streaming on Hulu. Helpful links: The Bear https://www.hulu.com/series/the-bear-05eb6a8e-90ed-4947-8c0b-e6536cbddd5f -- Get 10% off when you use code "LAFOOD" on House of Macadamias https://www.houseofmacadamias.com/pages/la-foods --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thelafoodpodcast/support
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Live from Holbox: Lunch with Santiago Lastra, chef of London's Michelin-starred KOL
    Jun 28 2024

    Santiago Lastra is the chef of Michelin-starred restaurant KOL in London. He visited in LA on the heels of the World’s 50 Best ceremony in Las Vegas, where KOL was named the number 17 best restaurant in the world. He stopped by the City of Angels for a special collab dinner with Vespertine’s Jordan Kahn, and I’m really honored he made time to grab lunch with me at Gilberto Cetina’s Holbox, the 2023 LA Times Restaurant of the Year, located at Mercado La Paloma. This is truly a one-of-a-kind episode, dear listener. Chef Lastra tells us his frankly wild story, from growing up in Cuernavaca, Mexico to becoming known globally as a nomadic chef hosting pop-ups all over the world. He tells us about working with Rene Redzepi on Noma’s famed pop-up in Tulum, how he developed his style as a chef who blends Mexican techniques and traditions with hyper-local ingredients, and he walks us through what a meal at KOL actually looks like. Personally, I was deeply moved by Santiago’s passion and philosophy around food and hospitality. Oh, and did I mention that Chef Gilberto Cetina was serving us lunch while we spoke? Chef Gilberto makes multiple cameos in the episode to chat with Santiago and to explain the incredible dishes he’s bringing to the table. It was an outstanding meal as meals at Holbox always are, and it was really cool for me to see these two powerhouse chefs exchange thoughts and ideas. I think you’ll enjoy it too. Finally, no news on this podcast - but subscribe to LA FOODSTACK, our brand new Substack newsletter for our curation of the week's headlines. Helpful links: Chef Santiago Lastra on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/santiagolas/?hl=en KOL Restaurant https://kolrestaurant.com/ Holbox https://www.holboxla.com/#/ LA FOODSTACK, the LA Food Pod newsletter https://thelacountdown.substack.com/p/the-bear-season-3-drops-as-la-pizza?r=31nins -- Get 10% off when you use code "LAFOOD" at House of Macadamias https://www.houseofmacadamias.com/pages/la-foods


    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thelafoodpodcast/support
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    1 hr and 40 mins
  • Top Chef Season 21 Recap. Plus, service fees live to fight another day, reservation resale platforms get the axe, and Luca gives vegans free political advice.
    Jun 21 2024
    Top Chef Season 21 is in the books. A champion has been crowned, both for Top Chef and our LA Food Pod Fantasy Top Chef. Father Sal and I are joined by Jessie Evans also known as Jessie Eats, and Daniel Wargo AKA Forking Around to recap the finale and the season as a whole. But first, a few things that caught my eye this week. An iconic LA fast food restaurant has closed forever, there’s yet another twist in the restaurant service fee saga, and, remember those pesky reservation resale platforms? Well, their days may be numbered. Finally, there’s free political advice for vegans, and a brand new LA Countdown website? Omg.com, dear listener. Helpful links: Jessie Eats https://www.instagram.com/jessie_eats/?hl=en Forking Around https://www.instagram.com/forkingaround.tv/?hl=en The LA Countdown website https://www.thelacountdown.com/ Arby's closes https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2024-06-18/arbys-hollywood-closure-family-minimum-wage-law-fast-food Service fees live on https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/06/california-restaurants-hidden-fees-law/ Grub Street on James Kent https://www.grubstreet.com/article/chef-james-kent-rip.html -- Get 10% off on House of Macadamias products using code "LAFOOD" https://www.houseofmacadamias.com/pages/la-foods -- Get 10% off on your first order of First Light Farms wagyu beef using code "LAFOOD10" https://www.firstlight.farm/us/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thelafoodpodcast/support
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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • What the James Beard Awards and World's 50 Best tell us about dining in 2024. Plus, is Little Tokyo "endangered?" And what the heck is up with Joey Chestnut?
    Jun 14 2024
    Kuya Lord’s Chef Lord Maynard Llera took home this James Beard Award this week for Best Chef California, and we’d like to extend him and his whole staff a heartfelt LA Food Pod congratulations. Today’s episode is all about awards. I’m joined by Father Sal to discuss LA’ showing at the Beards, as well as some of the most interesting takeaways from the World’s 50 Best, which was also announced since our last episode. We talk about what these awards tell us about the state of dining in 2024, whether we’d rather win a Beard Award or be named on the World’s 50 Best and why, and which award recipients caught our eye and may warrant an LA Food Pod excursion in the future. We also discuss a fascinating Karen Palmer article in SF Gate on why Little Tokyo as we know it may be endangered, and finally, the earth-shaking news that competitive eating GOAT Joey Chestnut has been banned from the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. Stick around to the end if you want to hear a true story about the time that I, your friendly neighborhood podcast host, won an eating competition of my own. It’s a tale that’s frankly not for the faint of heart. Helpful Links: James Beard Award 2024 Winners https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/the-2024-james-beard-award-winners World's 50 Best https://www.theworlds50best.com/ Overheard at the World's 50 Best https://vegas.eater.com/2024/6/6/24173200/worlds-50-best-restaurants-awards-overheard-gossip-las-vegas-strip-winners SF Gate on Little Tokyo https://www.sfgate.com/la/article/little-tokyo-los-angeles-endangered-restaurants-19463905.php Joey Chestnut-gate https://www.npr.org/2024/06/12/nx-s1-5003036/joey-chestnut-banned-nathans-hot-dog-eating-competition John Mulaney's Everybody's in LA https://www.netflix.com/title/81742123 Gordon Ramsey's Food Stars https://www.fox.com/gordon-ramsays-food-stars/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thelafoodpodcast/support
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • From Boulder to Bourdain, the many lives of Checker Hall's Gabe Kennedy. Plus, Infatuation pans Vespertine, the problem with "shoppy shops," and The Best Restaurant in Town.
    Jun 7 2024

    Gabe Kennedy is the all-star chef behind Highland Park’s Checker Hall. He joins us today to tell us his high-octane journey, which includes winning Anthony Bourdain’s competition show “The Taste,” co-founding one of the hottest plant-based supplement companies on the market, and uprooting his life in New York to relocate to LA and grace our city with one of the most fun dining experiences I’ve had in a long time in Highland Park’s Checker Hall.


    One conversation with Gabe and you’re immediately hooked. You can just really tell how much this guy cares, not just about making delicious food, but about doing things that have real meaning and thought behind them. Personally I’m stoked to have Checker Hall in my backyard, but they’ve got a chicken schnitzel that is 100% worth driving across town for. Not to mention the historic building, the fantastic cocktails, the music venue next door. It’s one of the most fun evenings you can have in our fair city, and I think you’ll be makin’ a rez right after you hear Gabe talk about it.


    But first, Father Sal and I break down the things that caught my eye this week. There’s the Infatuation’s lackluster review of Vespertine, an intriguing albeit quite cringey Taste article on The Best Restaurant in Town, and a discussion on whether shoppy shops are good, bad or somewhere in between for neighborhoods.


    Helpful links:

    Checker Hall https://www.checkerhall.com/

    Gabe Kennedy https://www.instagram.com/gabe_kennedy/?hl=en

    Plant People https://www.plantpeople.co/

    Vespertine review from The Infatuation https://www.theinfatuation.com/los-angeles/reviews/vespertine?ifsb=yes

    The Best Restaurant in Town by Priyanka Mattoo https://tastecooking.com/the-best-restaurant-in-town/

    LA Grocery opens up on Melrose Hill https://la.eater.com/2024/6/3/24167496/la-grocery-and-cafe-melrose-hill-los-angeles-produce-market

    Noise in restaurants https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/interactive/2024/loud-restaurant-noise-health-effects/

    Kevin D'Andrea show https://austinfoodmagazine.com/austin-chef-kevin-dandrea-to-host-new-nbcuniversal-series-breaking-baguettes/

    EEEEEATSCON https://www.eeeeeatscon.com/los-angeles/lineup

    ---

    Get 10% off on all House of Macadamia products using code LAFOOD houseofmacadamias.com/discount/LAFOOD

    ---

    Get 10% off on your first purchase at First Light Farms using code LAFOOD10 https://www.firstlight.farm/us/



    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thelafoodpodcast/support
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    2 hrs and 2 mins
  • Lunch with the Infatuation's Brant Cox at Mae Malai (P.S. EEEEEATSCON is upon us). Plus, The Bear Season 3 trailer, mental health and burnout in the industry, and R.I.P. Always Pan.
    May 31 2024

    We’re joined on today’s episode by the Infatuation’s Brant Cox for the first-ever in person podcast in LA Food Pod history. Brant and I met up for lunch at Mae Malai in Thai Town for some wonderful boat noodles (and much more). We caught up about what it’s like to be BFFs with Chris Pine, where he’s been eating lately, and oh yeah, a little thing called EEEEATSCON.

    That’s right - EEEEATSCON is back at The Barker Hanger in Santa Monica next weekend June 8 and 9. Brant’s here to spill all the delicious details, and let me tell you, this is one of those food festivals you absolutely cannot miss if you call yourself an LA food lover.

    But first, Father Sal is with us to round up the week’s news, including the trailer to Season 3 of The Bear, a Cathy Chaplin Eater story on mental health and burnout in the service industry, a new food media company coming to LA courtesy of The Hundreds, and widespread fatigue with Instagram-famous cookware. Helpful links: EEEEEATSCON 2024 https://www.eeeeeatscon.com/los-angeles?utm_source=google&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=conversion_la_ec_smart&utm_term=eeeeeatscon&utm_audience=la&utm_matchtype=p&utm_id=21258913198&utm_adgroup_id=165813394207&utm_ad_id=700539019081&gclid=CjwKCAjwx-CyBhAqEiwAeOcTdW3ubiuxq2xEpWI0ivw3wj1FTUOiZE_Q9doEL8vGKKiOXUkADzuR0hoCki0QAvD_BwE

    Brant Cox on IG https://www.instagram.com/brantcox/

    Season 3 Trailer of The Bear https://youtu.be/UHiwdDFPsZY

    Eater’s Cathy Chaplin mental health interview with Michael Scribner https://la.eater.com/2024/5/29/24166535/sommelier-michael-scribner-los-angeles-hospitality-career-work-life-balance-mental-health

    Family Style food publication https://la.eater.com/2024/5/30/24167704/family-style-festival-the-hundreds-food-publication-complex-new-ownership

    NYT on Instagram cookware https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/24/dining/instagram-cookware.html

    --

    Get 10% off at houseofmacadamias.com with the code "LAFOOD"

    --

    Get 10% off your first order at First Light Farms (https://www.firstlight.farm/us/) using code "LAFOOD10"


    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thelafoodpodcast/support
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    1 hr and 54 mins
  • Fast Eddie: Can Eddie Navarrette save California restaurants? Plus, Something About Her blues.
    May 24 2024
    Eddie Navarrette is the Executive Director of the Independent Hospitality Coalition in addition to being one of LA’s foremost consultants in helping restaurants navigate the debilitatingly confusing process of opening their doors. He’s been at the center of advocating for restaurants for several years now, helping shape much needed policies for boosting our restaurants during these unprecedented difficult times. We walk through his circuitous career journey, which includes playing in punk rock bands and joining the circus. And we also discuss many of the issues plaguing restaurants today and what IHC is looking to do about them. Plus, Something About Her sandwiches, World's 50 Best talk and the LA Times continues to cover struggling restaurants. Helpful links: Independent Hospitality Coalition https://www.ihcla.org/ FE Design & Consulting https://fedesignandconsulting.com/ Something About Her https://www.instagram.com/somethingabouther/?hl=en World's 50 Best 51-100 https://www.theworlds50best.com/stories/News/the-worlds-50-best-restaurants-2024-51-100-list.html LA Times on life after restaurants https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2024-05-21/life-after-restaurants-former-restaurant-owners-chefs-why-they-left --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thelafoodpodcast/support
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    1 hr and 12 mins