Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Restaurant Review

28 Jun 2013

Five Star Seafood Restaurant – San Gabriel

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For three years running, The Astronomer and I have returned to the site of our wedding banquet to celebrate our anniversary. These happily ever after years are flying by so darn quickly, so it’s always nice to sit back, relax, feast, and reminisce.

This year, we were a bit nervous about returning to the fourth floor of the Focus Jewelry Center because our beloved restaurant had undergone a name change—New Capital Seafood now goes by Five Star Seafood Restaurant.

We were relieved to find things virtually unchanged since our last visit. The menu still offered our old standbys, the staff still had difficulty understanding us, and the decor still struck a gaudy note.

Even the ridiculously priced lobster special, 99 cents per pound with every $30 purchase, was still intact. All was right with the world.

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{swoon}

25 Jun 2013

{swoon} Weekend Carnitas at Central & Slauson

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Even though I downed a dozen plus tacos this past Sunday at Tacolandia, most of which can be traced back to La Guerrerense‘s booth, I’m still swooning over the carnitas that Bill Esparza introduced me to a few weekends back.

Unlike the gal who I overheard saying towards the tail end of the event, “I’ll never eat another taco again!” I could most definitely go for a few more tacos this minute, preferably ones from the weekends-only carnitas stand on a dusty stretch of Florence-Firestone.

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Restaurant Review

21 Jun 2013

Earl’s Donuts – Los Angeles (Chatsworth)

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The April issue of Saveur magazine named Earl’s Donuts in Chatsworth one of America’s 50 Best Donuts. Even though I was generally wary of the roundup due to the authors’ omission of Dough in Brooklyn and Frost in Washington state, two of my all-time favorite deep-fried dough purveyors, I had to make my way to Earl’s to ~~see~~ taste for myself. Fellow local honorees included Stan’s Doughnuts in Westwood Village, The Donut Man in Glendora, and Doughnut Hut in Burbank.

Following lunch at The Munch Box, The Astronomer and I made the short drive to Earl’s for dessert. The shop was plainer than I had imagined, with a smattering of tables and not too much else. Two helpful teen boys worked behind the counter.

According to Saveur, “the devil’s food old-fashioned from this unlikely strip-mall source is gnarled and knobby, all the better to hold the spill of frosting.” To supplement the recommended devil’s food old fashioned, The Astronomer picked out an equally gnarled and knobby apple fritter.

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