Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Potpourri

05 Feb 2019

Tết 2019: Not Your Grandma’s Bánh Chưng (Come One, Come All Edition)

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My lovely friend Diep Tran has gathered a group to make banh chung for the past six years—check out previous festivities from 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2018. The annual event always puts me in the Tet spirit and I love that I get to share this tradition with June.

This year’s gathering, which was held at Alma Backyard Farms in East Compton, was open to the public for the first time. See below for a few highlights from the 7th annual convening of the Banh Chung Collective.

First comes the banana leaves, then comes the glutinous rice, shallots, mung beans, and pork.

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Now Closed

28 Jan 2019

Nightshade – Los Angeles (Downtown)

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Not last Saturday but the one before that, The Astronomer and I checked out Nightshade for dinner followed by the RNBRewind. The combination of fantastic food and 90s nostalgia made for the best time.

Everyone’s buzzing about Chef Mei Lin’s newly opened Arts District spot, and for good reason—the food is delightfully different while the room feels cool yet comfortable.

First up were drinks all around. While The Astronomer selected a sour beer to start, I chose the No. 888 ($16) with bourbon, falernum, toasted coconut-makrut, sherry, lime, and bitters. I liked how the rich coconut smoothed out the bourbon’s hard edge.

Nightshade’s menu is chock full of unexpected Asian American mashups. One of our favorites of the evening was the Tom Yum Onion ($15). Here, Outback Steakhouse’s iconic appetizer received the Top Chef treatment—expertly fried, Thai-spiced, and served with an airy coconut dip. It was hard not to feel giddy unfurling the onion’s copious layers.

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Restaurant Review

17 Jan 2019

Smosh Town – Pasadena

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When the sun sets over Gabriel’s Automotive on Pasadena’s north Hill Street, the folks at Smosh Town pop up and pop out smashed burgers. I caught wind of this illicit burger stand on Eater, and fortunately both The Astronomer and June were game for a late-night street-side burger run.

Smosh Town is open Tuesday through Saturday from 7 PM until sellout. There are only two burgers on the menu: the Smosh Town Classic with raw onions, cheese, pickles, mustard, and ketchup, and The O’s Way with grilled onions and all the fixings. Both are priced at $7 and are made with Wagyu beef. We ordered two of the latter and waited a solid 30 minutes for our food.

Peering into the open “kitchen” provided a fine diversion. So, that’s how smashed burgers are made…

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