AngiePangie's Profile
DO WE HAVE ANY LOCAL CHICKEN GROWERS?
KenDor Farms is their name. I believe they're all natural chickens. Their ranch is near Lake Balboa. Good chickens and eggs, too. They're also at the Sherman Oaks Farmer's Market (in the mall parking lot) on Tuesday nights.
Good spot for working dinner in Sherman Oaks
Il Tiramisu has some nice tables that might give you room. Mistral is a bit more tightly packed, but might work if it's not too crowded. Friday night is a tough time, like Brussels Sprout said. Oliva could definitely work. Panzanella is pricey, but the atmosphere is right. Spazio has live jazz but it doesn't start until 8 p.m. I think. You could do Solley's Deli, but it just doesn't taste that good. El Torito Grill in the mall has some big tables but I don't know how loud it gets on Friday night.
Asking restaurants about sourcing?
I've asked chefs in person and over the phone. Usually they're very happy to tell me where they get their ingredients. I'm a big fan of grass-fed beef and I like to know what my meat ate. Some chefs don't know, but the ones at high-end restaurants know their purveyors intimately. I live in southern CA so a lot of chefs have relationships with local farmers and are happy to talk about that, too. Out here many restaurants will credit farmers on their menus. It's not unusual to see "baby greens salad with McGrath Farms mache" or "Shelton Farms roasted chicken with spring carrots" on menus.
What foods do you HAVE to mail order?
Great thread--I'm loving this one! I order dried pasta from Pappardelle's. Their pesto mix is perfection: four flavors, four different shapes tossed together in perfect harmony. It's got sundried tomato, black pepper, basil, and garlic parsley. I also love the lemon-parsley malfadine.
http://www.pappardellesonline.com/servlet/StoreFront
The other item I can't find in L.A. is speculatious spice mix from Germany. They use it to make speculoos cookies (Biscoff is a version of these). It's only available there during the holidays so my peeps stock up on it and send me enough to last the whole year. Basically it's cinnamon, dried lemon peel, nutmeg, anise, allspice, and some other wonderful spices blended together. I put it in my coffee every morning and I use it as a pumpkin-pie and pumpkin-cheesecake spice. Love it.
Do You Hang on to Expired Food?
Morganna,
I find that organic milk lasts much longer than it's non-organic counterpart, no matter what brand or dairy. I'm not sure why. I would have assumed the opposite was true.
Best instant hot chocolate (just add water)?
I gotta go with dolores on this one. Ghiradelli wins every time. But if you have any access to half & half, try spiking any mediocre hot cocoa pack with that. It gives a great mouthfeel and nice body to any wimpy mix. Nutmeg on top helps, too.
