Zucca Ristorante, a member of the Patina Group who operate numerous landmark restaurants on both East and West coasts in America, has closed their doors due to a problem with their lease. They were located in downtown Los Angeles and offered area residents good food in beautiful surroundings.
Archive for June, 2011
Zucca Ristorante Has Closed – Los Angeles
Saturday, June 25th, 2011Momofuku-ko Restaurant, New York City
Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
Logo and image are property of Momofuku-ko, New York City.
Momofuku-ko
163 1st Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(between 10th and 11th streets)
Lunch Fri – Sun
Dinner daily
They serve a lunch menu on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and it is currently priced at $175 – please allow at least three hours for consumption.
The dinner menu is served seven days a week and is currently $125 – please allow at least two hours for consumption.
Corkage charge is $45, although they do offer a large selection of wine, sake and beer as well as beverage pairings to accompany your meal. Serving superb International cooking (it is definitely not a Japanese sushi bar or karoke lounge as many are led to believe due to the name, which means “lucky peach”).
You are gladly welcome at Momofuku-ko, as long as you abide by a few stringent rules including: reservations can only be made by email after establishing an account and can only be made online through the reservation website; no photos are allowed; no cell phone conversations inside the restaurant are allowed; and few provisions for dietary-restrictions are provided. No Photos and yet, a picture tells a thousand words . . . isn’t this unfair? In spite of these obstacles, this still remains to be one of the hardest reservations to come by in NYC.
Other related ventures: momofuku noodle bar, momofuku ssäm bar, momofuku ko, má pêche, milk bar.
Vegan Fast Food? Plant Food For People – Los Angeles
Monday, June 20th, 2011
4933 York Blvd
, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Highland Park
Go for the jackfruit tacos!
MoMo Cafe, Marriot Executive Apartments, Sathorn Vista – Bangkok
Saturday, June 18th, 2011
Marriott Executive Apartments Tel. (66) (0) 2 343 6789, Sathorn Vista 1 Soi 3, South Sathorn Road, Thungmahamek, Sathorn, Bangkok, 10120
The MoMo Cafe is on the ground floor to the right of the main entrance to the lobby of the Marriot Executive Apartments. You may relax and have a leisurely meal while watching the hustle and bustle of activity on the circular driveway in front of the building. MoMo Cafe has a set menu and many dishes that looked fresh and very enticing as well. During the period that I visited, they were showcasing Mexican cuisine, and I had an opportunity to taste some of the selections. The dishes were certainly authentic renditions, and the chef did a good job not only on the taste side, but he managed to make them equally appealing to the eye.
Fritto Misto – Deep fried mixed seafood served with Harissa Mayonnaise (foreground), in the background is a classic Mexican burrito
Grilled spiced pork chop served with a chorizo gravy, accompanied by stewed black beans and jalapenos sour cream
Draconian Wine & Liquor Taxes; Avoid Bali Altogether – Indonesia
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
News from tourists who have recently visited Bali, Indonesia:
As of late, the costs of liquor and wine have greatly increased in Bali, to such an extent that it might deter diners who enjoy drinking wine with dinner or simply want to imbibe in any alcoholic beverages to change their travel plans and go somewhere else. With these Draconian laws in place, please do yourself and everyone else a favor, and avoid this island altogether. This is the only way these, either greedy or bigoted legislatures, will understand that they cannot get away with these practices. Previously there was a tax on alcoholic beverages of 20 -140%, depending on the beverage and its origin. Recently, the government removed that tax and imposed an excise tax of 150 – 600%. This has had a huge effect. The least expensive wine on certain wine lists, which you might pay $12 for in a location in the West can be listed at $70 on a restaurant menu, and most restaurants authenticate that most of the price of its wines are due to the new tax. No one knows yet, whether this boost in the tax is the result of religious opposition or just lining the coffers. In either case there is no justification for it.
Bali is a beautiful island, but to be fair, there are many other places to go on this planet! I for one, shall not visit the island until these unfair practices change, and I highly advise all others to protest as well.
Caution Advised: Some Chicken May Contain (small amounts) of Arsenic – International
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Culinary Tidbits . . . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says some chicken meat may contain small amounts of arsenic, though the agency is stressing that the amount is too tiny to be dangerous to people who eat it. The FDA said that a new study by the agency shows that an ingredient in chicken feed that contains arsenic, called Roxarsone, may make its way into parts of the bird that are eaten. It will be pulled off the market in the United States, but the company, Pfizer, also sold the ingredient in about another dozen countries. The FDA said it would be banned because it is a carcinogen. Many poultry producers have already stopped feeding their birds the ingredient, which was used to kill parasites and promote growth. The FDA said people do not need to stop eating chicken that may have been treated with the drug. Michael Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods, says the study raised “concerns of a very low but completely avoidable exposure to a carcinogen.” Pfizer said in a statement that its subsidiary, Alpharma, is suspending sales next month in response.
The National Chicken Council, which represents companies that produce and process chickens, said in a statement that the ingredient has been used to maintain good health in chickens for many years, and that it had been used in “many but not all” flocks.
“Chicken is safe to eat,” the group said.
NY’s Papaya King Opens in LA – Los Angeles
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
Where the hot dog is King!
Papaya King’s Director of Operations, Wayne Rosenbaum talked about the expansion. “Basically, we teamed up with some partners out in L.A., the SBE corporation, and Sam Nazarian,”. “He loved the product.”
That was it, deal done. About the sordid billboards that fits right in; don’t you think?
A Four-Million in One Chance to Catch a Blue Lobster, Prince Edward Island – Vancouver
Sunday, June 12th, 2011
photo credit: CBC
A one in four million chance of catching a “rare blue”. The first since 2009 caught off Prince Edward Island by fisherman Blair Doucette.
Asahi Ramen – West Los Angeles
Sunday, June 12th, 2011By Emi Kagawa
2027 Sawtelle Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 479-2231
The drawbacks are tight parking and cash only, aside from these inconveniences the ramen is quite good overall, although Ramenya still rates higher in my book.
Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt – USA
Saturday, June 11th, 2011
Pinkberry, was at the top of its game a couple of years ago although, it leaves me wondering why? It offers a few ordinary flavors, and not even the old standby vanilla, and the usual toppings that you would find in any frozen yogurt shop, and any topping that is a bit special has an extra charge. What the product claims to offer in terms of health benefits is lower fat. Who cares, it has very high sugar content instead! If you want to have a smooth frozen product result you either need to have fat or sugar.
