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Anthony Bourdain—’As Honest and Fearless in His Words as He Was in His Travels’

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By Jake Johnson / Common Dreams

Celebrated chef, television host, and writer Anthony Bourdain—whose global travels brought an American audience perspectives on the food and political climates of Laos, Africa, the occupied Gaza Strip, and other distant cultures that are rarely depicted on major television networks—has died of apparent suicide at the age of 61.

“It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain,” CNN, which has aired Bourdain’s show “Parts Unknown” since 2013, said in a statement Friday morning. “His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink, and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much.”

While Bourdain’s shows and writings were ostensibly centered on his experience of strange, exotic, and extraordinary food across the globe, he frequently offered incisive and deeply humane political commentary that laid waste to conventional narratives and held the powerful to account for their crimes.   [Read more…]

Feeding Kids in San Diego – 1 In 6 Children In San Diego County Are At Risk Of Hunger | Video Worth Watching

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The Times of San Diego reports that the local non-profit Feeding San Diego (a member of the national Feeding America organization) released a study revealing thet nearly 380,000 people in San Diego county (11.7% of the total population) are food insecure. That includes 127,280 children under the age of eighteen, or roughly one out of six children in San Diego County. The study uses data from a number of sources, including the Department of Agriculture and the Census Bureau.   [Read more…]

What to Do About All the Good Food Getting Trashed

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By Walter Einenkel / Daily Kos

Back in summer 2015, France’s Parliament voted to end food waste at grocery stores. After a judicial decision concerning the constitutionality of such a law, it went into effect at the beginning of 2016. 

The law banned groceries from throwing away edible food—a practice the entire developed world partakes in. Under the law, not donating edible foods you are getting rid of can result in a $4,500 fine—every time.

As NPR reports, after more than a year in practice, the French law has not turned France into some totalitarian dystopia.

  [Read more…]

Oaxaca Post Card: Chocolate and Chapulines

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While Mexico is world famous for its cuisine, many Mexicans look to the state of Oaxaca as having the best food in the republic. Oaxacans do it all, from tejate “the drink of the gods” to mole, and from toasted chapulines (grasshoppers) a very BC (Before Conquest) dish, to amazing hot chocolate. All these specialties have Amerindian culinary and linguistic roots, but Oaxacans also have a way of adding cinnamon, among other ingredients, to make their chocolate drink second to none.   [Read more…]

Rediscovering Japan: the Tsukiji Fish Market

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By Yuko Kurahashi

In early June 2017, I visited my family and friends in Tokyo, Japan. An additional purpose of this trip was to present a paper on theatre education in the United States at the Japanese Society for Theatre Research Conference held on the campus of Keio University located in Hiyoshi, Yokohama, about 12 miles west of the central Tokyo, my alma mater. During my stay, I also visited the Tsukiji Fish Market, one of the most famous fish markets in the world. This essay is about the Tsukiji Fish Market.

On June 9, 2017, I visited the Tsukiji Fish Market, Japan’s most famous wholesale fish market located on the east side of Tokyo. My mother said she and her mother-in-law used to go there to buy fresh fish in preparation for New Year’s celebration.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review: Pepe’s in Ocean Beach

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It’s been many years since I ate at “Pepe’s.” I do not even think that I was doing restaurant reviews at that time, and I have been doing reviews for almost 8 years. When Irene called and suggested that we get together for lunch I knew just where to go. And I am certainly glad that we went there.

We were early; just a little bit past 11:00am, and there was one other diner in the restaurant. We were greeted by “Ed/Pepe” with a smile and exuberance that had us feeling good before we ever sat down. He quickly explained the “special lunch menu” to us; told us we could sit where we wanted to sit, and he would make us some garlic bread. Irene asked if it was possible to have just plain bread without the garlic and he said it was not a problem. True to his word, when he came back with the bread one half of the basket had garlic bread; the other was plain.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review: Ajisen Ramen on Clairemont Mesa

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The chain now has over 700 restaurants, but this is the only one in San Diego. The manager is from Hong Kong, and Hitomi does not think that many of the workers were from Japan, but she said the physical appearance is identical to the one in her hometown. And, surprisingly, the menu is the same also!

There are 116 items on the menu (!) plus a lunch special menu of ten items; a dessert menu featuring 14 items; the appetizer menu has 22 items, beginning at $2.25 and going up to $8.50. Hitomi and I elected to try their Gyoza – 8 pieces – for $4.50. In addition to the Ramen, which is what we went in for, they also serve Udon, Yakisoba, Tempura, Tsukemen, Rice with Curry, Chicken and/or Beef.   [Read more…]

Oceana Restaurant at Catamaran Hotel in Mission Beach

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By Judi Curry / OB Rag

We were seated inside the restaurant – there was outside seating also but it was a cold afternoon – and in the center of the restaurant is a beautiful pseudo aquarium that has jelly fish swimming around in it. It is lighted, and I would imagine at night it is spectacular.

The menu was served to us on heavy boards, with the drink menu on one side and the food menu on the other. It was interesting in that printed on the back of each menu was the other side of the menu. The heavy board was not needed and the menu kept slipping out of the rubber band holding it in place.   [Read more…]

Readers Write: No! to Minimum Wage Surcharge on Restaurant Bills

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By John Loughlin

Restaurateurs make a political statement by adding a surcharge to ‘cover’ the cost of paying the poorest workers a higher wage.

The Union-Tribune article helpfully provides a list of restaurants to boycott as well as some to support.

Back in May 2016, David Cohn speaking at a CREW event “It is so easy to vote for that [minimum wage] increase, but it is going to really raise your cost of entertainment and spark a new round of inflation that we haven’t seen since the 1970s.” He was reported as predicting that the results could lead to menu prices increasing a minimum of 30% over the next few years. From Jan 1, 2017 the Cohn Restaurant Group is adding a 3% surcharge to cover ‘mandated’ cost increases.   [Read more…]

Review: Kona Kai Resort & Spa – Vessel Restaurant

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Deb had read about the calamari and how tasty it was, but it was not on the menu. We asked Francisco if it as available and he answered in the affirmative. After a long discussion, we decided to order it and share it also. We had no idea how it would be served nor did we ask the price. (It turned out to be $14.)

When the lobster mac ‘n’ cheese was served, hot and with evidence of large pieces of lobster on the top, Deb looked around for salt and pepper. There was none – on any of the tables. ( Francisco later told us, jokingly, that “it’s better for you without it.” ) The macaroni was cooked well; the sauce was not a cheesy sauce; very light and tasty. I wish that bread had been served with it to sop up the remaining sauce, but it was not a part of the order. It was a nice order to share.

The calamari was excellent. Although fried in strips, it was not greasy; it was hot; not chewy as so many are. I suspect it was dipped in Panko crumbs, but am not sure. The accompanying sauce was also very tasty.   [Read more…]

Center Cut Steakhouse: Chef Ramon takes Surf & Turf to Chula Vista

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You’ll love their plush booths that throw you back to the days when cuddling up and having a private conversation with your significant other was the best kind of evening. For the socially rambunctious who miss the days when dives were “the thing,” they also have a bar open from 6pm to 1:30pm.

The bar is what kept the establishment afloat until Chef Ramon Gomez came onto the scene. Center Cut Steakhouse is actually 25 years old. However, six years ago the original owner passed away. The restaurant then went through a series of owners.   [Read more…]

Buona Forchetta: 32 Kinds of Pizza and Wine in a Regular Glass

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We were greeted by a decidedly Italian waitress – Valentina – who hails from Lake Como in Italy. She has lived in the U.S. for about a year-and-a-half and will be returning to Italy in a year or so. She presented us with a huge menu, including 32 different kinds of pizza’s as well as antipasto, salads, desserts, pastas as well as wines and beers.

The specials of the day change from day to day, but the categories remain the same. For example, the restaurant had a veal dish, filet mignon, seafood, pizza, risotto, ravioli, fettuccine, gnocchi, and chicken, just cooked differently on different days.   [Read more…]

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