★ Culinary Tidbits . . . “Sam Sifton writes that he ingested two slabs of breaded chicken, which KFC call the “Double Down”, he described it as a “slimy and unnatural moist thing”, “that the company” (KFC), “asks customers to eat with their hands”. “The chicken is watery within its soft casing of breaded “crust”, “the cheese would be familiar to anyone who has eaten food prepared by the United States government”, “the bacon chemical gives it smokiness”, “the mayonnaise sauce tangy, salty, and sweet, all at once”, “a disgusting meal”, “a must-to-avoid”.

Obikà Mozzarella Bar has opened a sleek, ultra-modern designed space at the Westfield Mall in Century City. It has other locations throughout Italy and one in New York, and this LA outpost totals the 14th location with one more planned for the Beverly Center. At Obikà, the main event is the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP which proprietor Silvio Ursini flies in three times a week from Italy’s Paestum and Agro Pontino regions. Of course, with a name like Obikà Mozzarella Bar, patrons can expect a lengthy mozzarella menu, but Obikà also serves salads, pasta dishes, and other entrees, so not every dish comes with a scoop of mozzarella. And because the menu offers both small plates and entree-sized portions, this could be a lunch, dinner, or  join them for Italian happy hour “aperitivo hour” and order a glass of wine plus bites off the mozzarella bar menu.

I first sampled Charlie Palmer’s cooking at the River Cafe in New York at some point during the mid-eighties and thought it was very good.

After Palmer served some time at Georges Blanc in France where he was impressed and inspired by the small artisan producers that brought their home-grown or produced goods to the kitchen door of the restaurant. It so happens, that I have spent a few nights dining at Georges Blanc and spent the night in the well-run hotel on the premise in Vonnas, and previous to that I dined at his mother’s famous restaurant in the same location called La Mere Blanc, one of the great gastronomical shrines, at the time, of France.

In 1988 Charlie Palmer opened Aureole in New York and a collection of other restaurants followed across America.
He firmly believes in using produce from small farms and is inspiring farmers, cheese producers and others in food production to keep quantities small and quality high.

This reiteration of Charlie Palmer has just recently opened at the South Coast Plaza and I trust that the tradition will live on in Orange County and I will keep tabs and report on the results.