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Dinner For the Newly Engaged

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For those that have been through a wedding, not as a guest, but as a bride or groom, you probably remember how difficult it was to devote more than a handshake/hug and 30-second chit chat. You have anywhere from fifty to five hundred fifty people to say hello to and the clock is ticking. At our reception, we seriously had no longer than 15-20 seconds to greet our friends and family. And we felt horrible. We loved everything about our wedding . From having the private ceremony in Las Vegas to the chill, taco-catered reception in a quaint art gallery in Filipino Town. We wanted to be with our loved ones more than anything and it was simply impossible to hangout with our guests without disrespecting someone else. It's the one thing we regret the most but we decided that could at least make an attempt to hang out with our friends before their lives changed for the better as a married couple. We would simply invite them over for dinner and drill them with our wedding questions lik...

The Cocktail Revival. A Photographic Essay on the Talented Bartenders of Los Angeles.

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About a year and a half ago, J and I fell in love with the cocktail scene in Los Angeles and Portland. We loved it so much we built our own bar. We removed dozens of books from the shelves and made room for spirits. How many bottles? At least 50, plus your smaller bottles of aromatic bitters. To most people out there, it's hard to get past the visual of a blue, artificial-sugar liquid topped with a pineapple and cherry. To some people, cocktails are typically for women and not "manly" as say a glass of fine Scotch. I guarantee you that if you paid a visit to any one of Los Angeles cocktail bars such as The Varnish, La Descarga or Rivera, your perception of a cocktail will dissipate the second you take a sip. Bartenders right now, for the last few years, have started up a revival and it is a very fashionable and exciting time in the restaurant industry. One night as we were at one of the bars, I watched a bartender meticulously construct a drink like a chef working o...

The Sriracha Cookbook

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Thoughts on the new Sriracha cookbook? To be honest, it's like selling a book called "Food You Can Add Hot Sauce To". I don't really know many things that would taste worse with the addition of Sriracha. But the truth is, Sriracha is a universal and magnificent sauce and I love the story of the Tran family. In some restaurants, you'll find this on the table instead of ketchup. It's THAT mainstream. Even Latino restaurants use this as a "quickie" salsa. Growing up in college, I added Sriracha to my beef franks and called them "chili dogs". To really make your "Italian" food taste better, a few shots of Sriracha really boosts up your tomato/pasta sauce. And my favorite, Sriracha and Maggi sauce on fried eggs - amazing. That'll be the day when I publish a book on Maggi sauce.

Tokyo 7-7 Coffee Shop, Culver City - Thank You for the 30 Years

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When I was working in Culver City, there was a place that kept me alive and kicking for almost nothing. I wasn't making much and over the 3 years, I frequented a place called Tokyo 7-7, a tiny, divey coffee shop run by a few Japanese ladies. Since 1980, they served breakfast plates as low as $2.50 and was consistently filled with loyal customers wearing suits, service uniforms and baggy jeans. It was a real mix of people that would otherwise never be found in the same building unless it was the DMV. At that time, Downtown Culver City was developing into a "foodie" district and was sarcastically dubbed as “CuCi” for its semi-pricey lunch and dinner spots. Amidst the transformation, this tiny alleyway gem continued to keep things real. Real cheap. Sadly, on December 18, those that frequented Tokyo 7-7 would remember this quaint business as real soul food. The food is nothing to write about, but sometimes it doesn't have to be good to have an impact on you. Everyone...

2010 Fuji Rock Festival Food Stalls

Here's 5:50 mins of pure food. The food alone at the Fuji Rock Festival is worth the trip. Simply press mute when the high-pitched, nasal-voiced people get on your nerves. Enjoy .

WonderTune Paris - Finally Going to Europe

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After years of traveling all over Latin America and Asia, we are finally heading to Europe for our first time – and we're super stoked. Would love to hear your eating/drinking suggestions for Paris. And here's the WonderTune Paris mix. Featuring chill/laidback songs from: AIR Arcade Fire Beck Bent Blur Bon Iver Coldplay Daft Punk Jazzanova Massive Attack Nightmares On Wax Nouvelle Vague Peter Bjorn & John Phoenix The Radio Dept. Radiohead The Shins Yo La Tengo Download WonderTune Paris . Enjoy. Thanks for reading.

Ngu Binh, Little Saigon Westminster - Bun Bo Hue the Lonely, Distant Red-headed Relative of Pho

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When it comes to Vietnamese food, you can bet the first thing people will talk about is pho , a delicate soup noodle dish made from long hours of boiling beef bones, browned onions, fish sauce and various spices. Do not pronounce it like "foe" – all of your wrongdoings in life will be spilled over WikiLeaks and you'll be left to eat Costco samples for the rest of your life. I love pho as much as everyone does and enjoy eating it in whatever mood I'm in, but let's be honest, it's time it got off the stage like Leno. Of the hundreds of Vietnamese soup noodle dishes, it doesn't do much to the senses. There's definitely aroma, flavor and heat, but it is also one big bowl of boring. Zzzzz. Believe it or not, pho will never go away. It's impossible. It's provided sustenance for Vietnamese people for decades and it fuels poor, starving college kids all over the U.S. It will not suddenly disappear off the face of this planet. As a suggestion...