All posts tagged: restaurants

Best restaurants serving tavern and bar pies in Los Angeles

Best restaurants serving tavern and bar pies in Los Angeles

Published by Sam Flores

Growing up in suburban Detroit, there was deep-dish square pizza and there was round pizza. The round style was the kind of pizza you’d find at your local bowling alley, roller rink, arcade or neighborhood sports bar. It was thin, super crispy and you could pick it up and eat it with just a napkin. I wasn’t aware that any of my hometown pizzas were considered trendy until 2016 when Detroit-style pies exploded in NYC and then, during the pandemic, in Los Angeles. But much like the square pizza, the thin, crispy, round pies have an identity as well: Tavern-style pizza has many names (party cut, bar pie, etc.) but it’s the slightly lesser known, thin-crust style of pizza born in the Midwest. And lately, it’s been having a moment in Los Angeles. “It was the kind of pizza they served you at whatever bar you were at,” says fellow Michigan native Aaron Lindell of Echo Park’s Quarter Sheets. “I wasn’t aware then that it was its own style,” he says. What makes it a …

How much? The hidden costs of restaurant dishes | Restaurants

How much? The hidden costs of restaurant dishes | Restaurants

Published by Sam Flores

Asparagus, smoked emulsion, watercress, sourdough (starter, above) at Apricity, London W1 You pay: £21Restaurant profit: £1.65 “It’s easy to assume vegetable dishes should be cheaper than meat,” says chef-patron Chantelle Nicholson. “Vegetables usually are, but vegetable dishes are more labour-intensive. It’s simple to slap a steak on the grill, but you can’t just plate up a carrot. “This dish is interesting, because asparagus can actually be more expensive than some proteins. It costs between £15 and £20 a kilo (it was £9/kg not so long ago), mainly because it’s harvested by hand and the cost of labour has risen. It’s expensive even before you start the prep, then we clean them and chop off their woody ends to lacto-ferment, so we can use them elsewhere. We blanch and quickly cool the stalks, then make the smoked emulsion, fried breadcrumbs (using the sourdough we bake inhouse) and watercress puree. The emulsion is made from the aquafaba left over from pressure cooking chickpeas, and is blended with smoked rapeseed oil from Duchy farm. The cost of rapeseed …

Best Paris restaurants, bistros, bakeries and wine bars to visit

Best Paris restaurants, bistros, bakeries and wine bars to visit

Published by Sam Flores

The debate goes back more than 100 years: Café de Flore or Les Deux Magots? For me, the answer is Brasserie Lipp. Hemingway ate — and drank — at all three of the literary gathering spots that form a triangle of nostalgia on the Boulevard Saint-Germain. But he probably ate best at the Lipp, where a beautifully crisp-edged breaded and stuffed pig‘s trotter — pied de porc farci, grillé — is served with a potato puree so smooth with butter it goes far beyond mashed potatoes. Waiters in classic black tuxedo jackets, bow ties and long, starched white aprons navigate the tightly spaced dining room, delivering plates of escargots, herring and choucroute garnie to locals and tourists with efficiency and good humor. The gorgeous, banquette-lined main dining room, all mirrors, brass fixtures and Art Nouveau ceramic tile, is a wonderful place to sit with a dozen oysters and people watch. And though the brasserie is associated with long-gone figures (Cocteau, Camus, Proust, Joyce, Sartre, de Beauvoir), its cultural history is still being written, with Jean …

Best restaurants, coffee shops and bars in Melbourne, Australia

Best restaurants, coffee shops and bars in Melbourne, Australia

Published by Sam Flores

Among coffee geeks, “pilgrimage” isn’t too strong a word to describe visiting the Collingwood neighborhood cafe owned by barista/roaster/industry visionary Nolan Hirte and his wife, Shari. Nolan was one of the leaders who built on Melbourne’s early coffee culture, established by Italian immigrants and their daily espresso habits in the mid-20th century. After Nolan took a tour of America’s burgeoning third-wave coffee shops in the mid-2000s, he returned to Melbourne determined to push the expressive possibilities of filter coffee even further. At the cafe, the drink menu — whether drip, espresso drinks or pour-overs — includes flavor descriptions that can resemble wine-tasting notes, but there’s nothing fussy about the experience, or the easygoing breakfast and lunch options. Pour-over freaks looking for the highbrow deep dive should walk two blocks to Aunty Peg’s, the Hirtes’ laboratory/counter/roasting facility, for two or three rounds of Panamanian geishas. Proud Mary —172 Oxford St., CollingwoodAunty Peg’s — 200 Wellington St., Collingwood Source link

Best restaurants to try in Mexico City, according to an expert

Best restaurants to try in Mexico City, according to an expert

Published by Sam Flores

Yes, you should visit Mexico City. Don’t overthink it and don’t delay. Despite excessive tourism and rising gentrification fears, the seething capital of Mexico — 25 million souls strong — remains a top-tier international destination for any committed food lover. And the intensity of its dining scene seems to be only growing. Sure, a wave of privileged remote workers oozing dollars and euros may have dampened the vibe for Mexico City natives, leading to protests. The post-pandemic issues of housing displacement and rising costs for locals are serious challenges that political leaders must address. Yet time and again, on every visit, the resiliency and passion that original defeños have for their gastronomical paradise proves to be boundless. Use these handy dining guides for all of your summer travel, near and far. I have traveled to Mexico City regularly since 2002 and lived there for nearly a decade. I won’t feel slighted if you prefer the dining advice of current residents, or from any of the numerous local dining guides online. But one thing about me, …

Famous chef’s skyline restaurant closes for good after 15 years | UK | News

Famous chef’s skyline restaurant closes for good after 15 years | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

A celebrity chef’s rooftop steakhouse and a popular hotel in Birmingham city centre have closed their doors with immediate effect. In a notice to customers, operators confirmed that both The Cube Hotel and the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse have ceased trading and will not be reopening. A notice displayed outside the hotel and rooftop restaurant, both of which had operated from The Cube for the past 15 years, appeared to confirm the abrupt closure of the two venues. It read: “We regret to inform you that, with immediate effect, The Cube Hotel and Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill Birmingham have ceased trading and are now closed. “We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience and disappointment this may cause.” The notice added: “The affairs, business and property of MSHA Global Investments Limited (trading as The Cube Hotel) are managed by the joint administrators who act as agents of the company and contract without personal liability.” The British steakhouse operated under the Marco Pierre White name under a licensing deal with the celebrity chef, and was …

Restaurant opened just three months ago asks customers to please stop | UK | News

Restaurant opened just three months ago asks customers to please stop | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

A newly-opened restaurant is grappling with diners who fail to turn up for their reservations. Waterloo’s Vine & Fire has appealed to customers to notify the establishment of any alterations after 31 people did not show up for their tables in just one day. Vine & Fire launched in Liverpool on March 7 under owner and chef Josh Stanton. Josh has over 10 years of experience working in kitchens throughout the area, climbing the ladder to establish himself as something of a gastronomic expert who can “do it all”. Despite his sector expertise, Josh lacked formal business training and embarked on launching his establishment from scratch, discovering at every stage what it took to run a business. Vine & Fire experienced a bustling opening spell with Josh previously telling the Liverpool Echo the reaction was “fantastic”. But in a recent social media post, the business revealed how it bore the brunt of 31 vacant tables in one day alone, reports the Liverpool Echo. A message on Instagram urged patrons to alert the restaurant should they …

Best new rooftop bars and restaurants in Los Angeles to visit this summer

Best new rooftop bars and restaurants in Los Angeles to visit this summer

Published by Sam Flores

When it’s sunny outside, there’s nothing better than relaxing on a spacious rooftop overlooking the downtown skyline, Hollywood Hills or the Pacific Coast. Recently, a spate of alfresco terraces have opened across Los Angeles, giving us new views of neighborhoods we rarely glimpse from on high, like Old Pasadena and the San Gabriel Mountains, Beverly Hills mansions and the Long Beach harbor with the historic Queen Mary glinting under the sun. With globe-trotting menus, nightly DJs and sippable cocktails that beg one more round, these seven new L.A. rooftops are all vying for a spot in your summer rotation. Source link

GB News star reveals Britain’s biggest scandal Labour wants to hide | Politics | News

GB News star reveals Britain’s biggest scandal Labour wants to hide | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

Labour is hiding a “massive scandal”, GB News presenter Alex Armstrong has alleged. During an appearance on the Daily Expresso podcast with JJ Anisiobi, Mr Armstrong slammed the Home Office for handing out skilled visas to kebab shop workers. Under current rules, overseas migrants can secure a £41,000 yearly salary in these local eateries that dominate high streets. Declaring his scepticism, Mr Armstrong said: “You might not need a highly skilled person from abroad to come and work in a kebab shop, particularly with earning £41,000. “Over 150 of these companies in the UK can sponsor visas. It begs the question, how on earth are you all open? How are there so many of you when the economics doesn’t work?” The GB News host described an incident where he visited a kebab shop that hired seven migrants on the visas. He asked them what skills were needed to work there and whether anyone in Britain could do it, but the workers shrugged in response. “It is a backdoor route into Britain. It’s perfectly legal, but …