The best Thai food market in L.A. has reopenedLos Angeles Times Food2026-09-21 | The best Thai food market in L.A. has reopenedEasy to make Thai Mama Noodle Salad With Lime and Fish Sauce Caramel | Chef That!Los Angeles Times Food2025-09-17 | Deau Arpapornnopparat, chef-owner of Holy Basil Thai restaurants, makes his favorite snack: a salad of instant ramen-style noodles, ground pork (you can also use chicken), cabbage, herbs, onion, shallot and a tangy dressing of fish sauce caramel, lime juice and the seasoning packet from the noodles. He uses Thai brand Mama, but you can use any instant ramen noodles in your favorite flavor. The fish sauce caramel is made with equal parts palm sugar (which come in 2-ounce tablets) and fish sauce, both available at Thai markets; you also can substitute brown sugar. The caramel can be made in advance, stores for months in your fridge, and you can use it in curries, stir-fries and dressings. It’s key to the big flavor in this salad, along with the bright burst of lime juice; adjust the balance of flavors to your preference for sweet, salty and tart-tangy.
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Connect with us: instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodChef That! How to shuck an oyster with Ari KolenderLos Angeles Times Food2025-09-10 | As we were opening my restaurant Found Oyster, our general manager, Joe Laraja, was adamant that we use his mom JoAnne’s recipe for mignonette, because it was the most delicious one he’d ever had and the only thing JoAnne liked with oysters. We later came to find that JoAnne got the recipe from Island Creek Oyster Bar in Duxbury, Mass., where the original recipe is heavy on the alcohol. This version pays respect to Island Creek, and JoAnne, while taking its own path with lots of crunch and texture, thanks to the cilantro stems. If you’re not a fan of cilantro, any mixture of soft herb leaves and stems will work well.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodChef That! Sweet Potato and Chocolate Chili with Martin DraluckLos Angeles Times Food2025-08-27 | This vegetarian chili comes together in under an hour and can be adapted with ingredients that you have on hand. Martin Draluck — the culinary force behind the Black Pot Supper Club series that highlights Black food history in multi-course feasts held at some of L.A.'s best Black-owned restaurants — added a tab of Abuelita chocolate on a whim, which gives the chili a mole-reminiscent richness.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodChef That! Fried Plantains with Adrian ForteLos Angeles Times Food2025-08-20 | This simple starter of fried plantains quickly became the star of the menu at Adrian Forte’s modern Caribbean restaurant Lucia, which opened on Fairfax Avenue in the spring. The caramelized, crispy plantains are heightened with a pickled Scotch bonnet aioli that’s based on a recipe from Forte’s “Yawd” cookbook and served on the side.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodFried Plantains you can make at home right nowLos Angeles Times Food2025-08-20 | This simple starter of fried plantains quickly became the star of the menu at Adrian Forte’s modern Caribbean restaurant Lucia, which opened on Fairfax Avenue in the spring. The caramelized, crispy plantains are heightened with a pickled Scotch bonnet aioli that’s based on a recipe from Forte’s “Yawd” cookbook and served on the side.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodWhen cooks lose their dream kitchensLos Angeles Times Food2025-07-28 | Their custom-built homes, each with kitchens tailored for their specific cooking needs, burned in the Eaton Fire. But through the loss, cookbook author Molly Baz and novelist/food writer Michelle Huneven have found renewed appreciation for friends and family.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodTasting the best Trompe-lœil fruit desserts in L.A.Los Angeles Times Food2025-06-30 | Trompe-l'œil desserts, the fruit desserts often molded and decorated to mimic mango, pistachio and an array of other produce and nuts, look like works of art. French pastry chef Cédric Grolet is credited with starting the trend, and the desserts are gaining in popularity in Los Angeles, with a handful of shops offering their take on the beautiful confections. We taste tested more than a dozen. Here are our favorites.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodLooking for your new favorite burger? Head to this tiny snack shack in ComptonLos Angeles Times Food2025-06-17 | Addy Pool, aka Mama, runs Mama's Snack Shack in Compton. It's a tiny walk-up window where the burgers are larger than life and so is Mama's passion for food and her community. Everything in her kitchen is homemade, including her secret seasoning blend, chili and the restaurant's signature hot pepper relish.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodCan Thrifty ice cream from the carton match Thrifty from the scoop stand?Los Angeles Times Food2025-05-26 | With Rite Aid declaring bankruptcy and closing stores, that means consumers are also losing the in-store Thrifty Ice Cream counters, Now, like all of Rite Aid's assets, Thrifty will likely be sold, so there is still the possibility for a Thrifty scoop counter somewhere in the future. But no one knows. It could all be gone soon. Food columnist and Thrifty ice cream lover, Jenn Harris, wants to know if the store bought ice cream tastes the same as the in-store scoops and went to great lengths to find out.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodRanking the best new foods at Dodger stadium, including the $40 hot dogLos Angeles Times Food2025-04-07 | Dodger Stadium has a lot of new food this year and to help you decide what to get, and where to get it, our columnist, Jenn Harris, tried some of the best items and ranked them for you.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodThe only party guacamole you needLos Angeles Times Food2025-02-05 | This guacamole will look deceptively like simple smashed avocado in a bowl, but after one bite, the heat and acid of lime juice and chiles might make you never again return to tricolor guacamole (or any of the infuriatingly ridiculous interpretations from social media).
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodBehind the scenes with Little Fish and Chainsaw cooking hundreds of fire-relief mealsLos Angeles Times Food2025-01-27 | Chefs Anna Sonenshein and Karla Subero Pittol are just two of a few local faces coordinating thousands of disaster-relief meals through new coalition Rogue Foods LA. From the Echo Park kitchens of Little Fish and Dada Market, they've made roughly 10,000 comforting, nutritious meals for first responders and evacuees in the wake of L.A.'s 2025 wildfires. The L.A. Times stopped by their kitchen on Jan. 17 for a behind-the-scenes tour of their efforts.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodAltadena restaurant deals with the loss of a communityLos Angeles Times Food2025-01-25 | Three days after the Eaton fire devoured his Altadena home, Leo Bulgarini traveled through his leveled neighborhood, past scorched houses and gutted businesses to check on his restaurant in a small concrete courtyard. As he approached the corner of Altadena Drive and Lake Avenue, about a half-mile from his incinerated home, he immediately noticed only rubble where the Bunny Museum and the Open Road Bicycle Shop once stood. It was only a few feet from his restaurant Bulgarini Vino Cucina.He expected it had met the same fate. Not so.
Tucked away in a shopping center courtyard, his restaurant was still standing.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodL.A.’s newly formed Pizza Alliance sends hundreds of free pizzas to those in needLos Angeles Times Food2025-01-16 | On Jan. 15 roughly two dozen pizzerias descended upon La Sorted’s pizza shop in Chinatown. The new Pizza Alliance, a group of small businesses and pizzaiolos cooking together, collaborated to send hundreds of free pizzas to first responders and anyone in need.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodThe very cheesy and green dip you need at your next partyLos Angeles Times Food2024-12-17 | Sarah Hymanson and Sara Krame like steak, but love the sides. And they made a side dip for steak, or, really, anything that you will want to try. Dip anything in it, you’ll love it. As long as you love cheese. Lots of it.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodNeed a boozy eggnog for your party? We got you coveredLos Angeles Times Food2024-12-03 | One of the bestselling seasonal drinks to ever hit the menu of world-famous cocktail bar Death & Co., the Vintage Eggnog made its debut around the holiday season in 2015 — and each year, the staff makes thousands of servings. Filled with premium spirits and fresh eggs, it’s a vast improvement on the ready-made varieties that crop up in supermarkets in November and December.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodCrenshaw and Echo Park farmers markets in need of revitalizationLos Angeles Times Food2024-11-15 | L.A.'s farmers markets are the envy of the country, but even given that, some are struggling. Food Access LA, a nonprofit that oversees eight markets in Los Angeles, announced it could close its Crenshaw and Echo Park farmers markets in the next two years — but a new fund drive could help keep them alive. In Crenshaw, where the market's sales have dropped 46% since 2022, L.A. Times caught up with vendors, farmers and shoppers to ask about the importance of the weekly event.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodBaroo, innovator of Korean dining, is The Times’ 2024 Restaurant of the YearLos Angeles Times Food2024-09-03 | Kwang Uh and Mina Park's reinvention of Baroo, one of L.A.'s defining restaurants last decade, builds on a legacy of creativity and Korean identity. Critic Bill Addison names it Restaurant of the Year.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodExclusive first look at Intuit Domes food, including Steph Currys favorite popcornLos Angeles Times Food2024-06-12 | Los Angeles Times Food Columnist, Jenn Harris, went for an exclusive taste of the new foods at the Intuit Dome, including Steph Curry's favorite popcorn, the perfect pretzel and more.
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The purple yam ubiquitous in Southeast Asia also has built a cult following across the Pacific among Angelenos — you can find about half a dozen ube-flavored items at your neighborhood Trader Joe’s.
For Jenn’s weekly column, she visited Pasadena to try two of her favorite ube desserts.
The first stop is Chaaste Family Market, where the Esteban family has mastered the ube-custard-filled turon. Next up is Wanderlust, an international ice cream shop, where Adrienne Borlongan has put a spin on an American classic with her ube malted crunch ice cream.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodLa Casita Mexicana serves up food with history and tradition | Hall of Fame RestaurantsLos Angeles Times Food2023-12-19 | Missing the traditional food they grew up with, Jaime Martín Del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu opened La Casita Mexicana Restaurant with a menu crafted partly as a tribute to their grandmothers. They gave us a sneak peek at how they assemble their mole, which has more than 40 ingredients.
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instagram.com/latimesfood facebook.com/latimesfood twitter.com/latimesfoodGrand Central Market and its bustling food community | Hall of Fame RestaurantsLos Angeles Times Food2023-12-12 | Visit the city’s most exciting food community at Grand Central Market, which has been around for more than 100 years, with classics such as Tacos Tumbras a Tomas, Roast to Go and China Cafe.
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