The pizza at Santa Monica’s Stella Rossa gets plenty of praise on Chowhound, and now Chef Jeff Mahin has opened a sister location in Hollywood dubbed Stella Barra Pizzeria. As at the original site, Mahin’s red- and white-sauce pies topped with farm-fresh toppings and quality meats hold the spotlight, but his signature starters and salads are worth a look, too. A colorful and lightly dressed spinach and kale salad with radish, pecorino, and dates (pictured) is a great way to begin a meal in lil mikey’s opinion. The porchetta and fennel pizza is equally good, with its bubbly, addictive crust demanding bite after bite; a touch of heat from Calabrian chiles is a nice addition to the flavor mix. READ MORE
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on Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
Chowhounds fell hard for Xi'an Famous Foods well before it was famous, and they've since cheered its swift expansion from a basement food court in Queens to busy stores in Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan. Now Midtown's getting a taste of cumin lamb burgers (pictured), spicy and tingly hand-ripped noodles, and other central Chinese street eats. READ MORE
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on Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
Mad. Sq. Eats is back, and the twice-a-year outdoor feed has sprung a springtime surprise. The cultishly craved Christmas stollen from Momofuku Milk Bar, sold only at the year-end Union Square Holiday Market, has been reformulated with cherry, peach, and cantaloupe in place of the winter fruits used in the original cake. Sweet, dense, and redolent of almond, it's "just as delicious as the holiday version," loratliff says on Chowhound. READ MORE
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on Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
Local, seasonal cooking amid haute housewares proved a winning formula for Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's ABC Kitchen, which opened three years ago inside ABC Carpet & Home. Two-week-old ABC Cocina, which occupies the neighboring space that once housed Pipa, takes a similar approach with Latin flavors and is already a tough table. READ MORE
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on Monday, May 13th, 2013
CatHead's BBQ, which took over the Big Nate's spot in San Francisco's South of Market district early last year, serves solid, affordable barbecue prepared by co-chefs Richard Park and Pamela Schafer. The brisket and sides especially hit the spot with Chowhound user rccola, who says CatHead's is among the best barbecue in the Bay Area right now. READ MORE
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on Sunday, May 12th, 2013
Fans of Korean-style bean curd stews lost one of their few go-to spots in Manhattan when BCD Tofu House closed in 2011, a victim of Koreatown's ceaseless real estate churn. Happily it's back in business, having resurfaced a few weeks ago just a few doors from its old digs. READ MORE
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on Saturday, May 11th, 2013
Breaking news in SF's coffee wars: Philz Coffee, started in 2003 by Phil Jaber, recently raised in the neighborhood of $15 million in venture capital to expand the business. If the aesthetic at Blue Bottle, San Francisco's other recent breakout java star, leans toward the spare and elegant, Philz is sunny and baroque, with individual drips and a much-loved Mocha Tesora blend. And if you've ordered a cup of joe on a Virgin America flight lately, you've already had a taste of Philz, which is the on-board drip. READ MORE
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on Saturday, May 11th, 2013
Black and white peppercorns are both the fruit of the pepper plant, but they are processed differently. Black peppercorns are picked when almost ripe and sun-dried, turning the outer layer black. To produce white peppercorns, this outer layer is removed before or after drying, leaving only the inner seed. READ MORE
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on Saturday, May 11th, 2013
Both shark fin and foie gras have been banned in California, and since the regulations went into effect you'll find neither fin nor foie on restaurant menus here. But Chowhound user Dustin_E was wondering if it's also illegal to bring these items into the state? READ MORE
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on Friday, May 10th, 2013
Great fried chicken is properly cooked so that it's crisp but greaseless outside and moist and juicy inside, with lots of flavor. Newly minted fried chicken cook lsmutko has the texture down, but appealed to Chowhounds for help in pumping up the flavor.
Most recipes call for seasoning the flour used to coat the chicken with dried spices like garlic powder and cayenne, as well as salt and pepper. However, wyogal thinks it's more important to heavily season the chicken itself, or its marinade if you use one. READ MORE
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on Friday, May 10th, 2013
