Scott Disick Plans to Punish L.A. With a Restaurant Project

By Hadley Tomicki

Save us!

Scott Disick, that American Psycho-lookalike from E!'s Kardashian sideshow, recently opened a new Japanese restaurant in New York City called Ryu, (and no, we actually wouldn't put it past him to name an Asian establishment after the hero of Street Fighter), where he's all about the "spicy tuna" and "shrimp chips" that he can probably find easily enough at Katsuya. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean we're rid of him in L.A., as the reality star tells US Weekly that he's possibly setting his sights on the West Coast to open another venture. Disick alerts the magazine, "I can see opening up an L.A. restaurant in about six to eight months." Wow, look out Morihiro Onodera!! Anyway, we're sorry to say there's really not much anybody can do about this, but can we at least agree to call the place "Lemon Basket 2" in a futile attempt to make the news go down a little easier?

Scott Disick's New NYC Japanese Restaurant RYU: All the Details [US Magazine]

Earlier: Fatty Crew Joining Forces With Kardashian Kast Member on Meatpacking Restaurant [GS]

Ludo Speaks on His Foie Gras Swan Song With Jon and Vinny at Son of a Gun

By Hadley Tomicki

Ludo's last stand?

Ludo Lefebvre continues his romance with Animal chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo with two final nights of foie-feasts at the chefs' Son of a Gun this Sunday, May 20 and Monday, May 21. Shook sets the table for what just might be a swan song in terms of the chefs cooking with foie together in L.A. for a while to come, telling Grub Street, "This my last foie dinner and we have saved the best for last: Seafood and foie!" Preparing for the $175 six-course feast, at which Ludo will cook three dishes, the Burgundy-bred chef expresses disbelief and frustration that one of his most cherished ingredients may soon be snatched away. "I am French. Foie gras is a God given right, so I will fight for my right to foie. I love partnering with Jon and Vinny on my last group foie fight as they have same beliefs as I do and they are just really great people." As you can imagine, the chef has completely different words for the protestors who continue to push buttons in their local fight to eliminate the delicacy.

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Jeff Goldblum Plays Lexington Social House Tonight

By Hadley Tomicki

Jeff Goldblum, everyone's favorite dusky Ichabod Crane-doppleganger from Jurassic Park and The Fly, also has his very own jazz band called "The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra." Who knew?! Starting tonight and scheduled for every Wednesday thereafter, Goldblum's group will take over the stage at Lexington Social House for two sets, featuring the thespian on ivory-tickling duties. Dinner will be served during the two shows, scheduled for 9:00 and 10:30 P.M., with the full menu visible here, and reservations will be taken at 323-461-1700. As a preview/warning, this just might be what you're in for more or less, and sorry, no refunds if he doesn't play "Transylvania 6-5000."

If Chefs Were Really Rock Stars, Who Would They Be?

By Hadley Tomicki
View Slideshow

The audible buzz these days is that food and music are one in the same. Today, the New York Times notes the evolution of the gourmet experience at U.S. music festivals; over in the U.K., Fergus Henderson plans to crash a music fest with his own side-tent feast; our own New York Magazine recently highlighted indie kids who spend more on menus than on rock shows; and on the West Coast, where former music critic Jonathan Gold recently compared Cochon to Lollapalooza, Food Is The New Rock is confirming many suspicions that celebrity chefs really just want to be rock stars. Which got Grub Street thinking: What if chefs really were rockers? Which ones would they be?

Cosentino Debuts "Pigg Penn" Family Dinner This Thursday at Umamicatessen

By Hadley Tomicki

Cosentino making a sandwich with his pork roastPhoto: Pigg

Chris Cosentino is offering a family-style dinner to tables of six or more with orders taken in advance at Pigg in Umamicatessen. The meal typically involves some of the chef's standards (pigs ear fries with brain-aise, "Around the World in 8 Hams"), with a pork roast centerpiece served in a Mauviel roasting pan, surrounded by additional dishes and sides. This Thursday night, Pigg is offering the dinner to any configuration of people who want to come in and try it, saving just 22 seats for guests paying $65 per-person to get their hands on the chef's varied spread of hams, pigs ear salad, and confit fried shoulder, with lard-fried pig-shaped doughnuts for dessert, and that pig tail Texas toast we told you about last week. Called the "Pigg Pen" dinner, reservations can still be made at 213-413-8626 and the full menu for Thursday's feast can be found below.

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Grey’s Anatomy Actor Jesse Williams Has a Great Caterer on the Set of His New Movie

By Lesley Balla

Jesse Williams digs inPhoto: Ken Goldstein

On Grey's Anatomy, which wraps its eighth season tomorrow, Jesse Williams's character is probably most famous for deflowering a virginal resident. In real life, though, Williams spends his time seeking out the most soulful food wherever he is, which means tacos on the streets of L.A., grilled oysters in Northern California, or pasta in Rome. The guy is so into it that he even posts photos about his finds online. "I have an iron stomach," the actor says. "I'm not sensationalist about it, but I eat what the people eat wherever I am ... You have to know the rules to break the rules." In between filming two movies around town — the drag racing biopic Snake & Mongoose, which he's also co-producing; and a Western, They Die by Dawn — Williams fuels up on his favorite carnitas, Chicago-style pizza, and pumpkin pie. We'll have what he's having in today's L.A. Diet.

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Fat Guy Upset That Restaurant Didn’t Keep Pandering to His Gluttony

By Alan Sytsma

Like this, but fatter and angrier.

Okay, real quick: Bill Wisth, a 6-foot, 6-inch man who weighs 350 pounds, went to an all-you-can-eat fish joint in Wisconsin, ate a dozen servings of fried fish, then got very, very upset when the restaurant claimed they were about to run out of fish for the night, so they gave him eight more pieces to go and sent him on his way. But it wasn't enough for this greedy glutton. He called the police on the restaurant and, according to CNN, "plans to picket the restaurant every Sunday until something changes." Yes, as others point out, it's like that Simpsons episode where Homer does pretty much the same thing. So congratulations, Bill Wisth, you've made your point while at the same time becoming a cartoonish symbol of America's ever-growing obesity epidemic. We just hope for his sake he doesn't plan on driving to the picket line each week! [CNN via KLTV]

Department of Deportment: How (and Why) to Dine Solo

By Krista Simmons

Table for one, please.Photo: Christian Ekblad/iStockphoto

Eating alone in a restaurant is a funny thing: Some people shudder at the thought, others swear by it. The recent announcement of a new diner-pairing site brought the practice to light, and the many, many jokes made at the service's expense indicate that dining alone, especially as a woman, hasn't lost its stigma. (Gakwer's take: "If Women Stop Eating Alone, Whom Will We Pity in Restaurants?") But lots of people — especially industry folks — happily eat alone all the time. Business travelers, too, are often forced to hit the town solo. Everyone has dined alone at some point, either by choice or circumstance, and there are considerable benefits to be had when doing so, provided you take advantage in the right way.

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Who's Cooking at Taste of the Nation L.A., June 10 at The Lot

By Hadley Tomicki

Share Our Strength

Taste of the Nation, the annual chef-crammed fundraiser for Share Our Strength's efforts to end childhood hunger in the U.S., returns on June 10 from 1:00 to 4:00 P.M. at West Hollywood's The Lot. The event is guaranteed to be packed with chef-power, as the cause is close to the hearts of many industry power-players. come take a look at this year's lineup.

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Michael Cimarusti, Jeremy Fox, and Others to Help Celebrate Manresa’s Tenth Anniversary

By Jay Barmann

Manresa in Los Gatos, California.Photo: Grub Street

Chef David Kinch hinted earlier that he'd be inviting some well known friends and alumni of Manresa for a series of "Cooking With Friends" dinners in July, in celebration of the restaurant's tenth anniversary. Now Grub Street gets the details on the dinners, which will include a homecoming of sorts for a group of Bay Area chefs, and two who have recently emigrated to SoCal: Jeremy Fox and Charlie Parker. Also, Los Angeles chef Michael Cimarusti (Providence) will be collaborating on the first of the dinners with Kinch on July 11.

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There’s a ‘New’ Cut of Beef: the Vegas Strip Steak

By Hugh Merwin

Moo

Let's put our hands together and offer a round of welcoming applause to the Vegas Strip steak, a "new" cut of beef which today joins the hallowed ranks of other such butchery innovations as the Delmonico, the Tomahawk, cube steak, minute steak, the Newport, the flat iron, and the Denver steak.

Of course David Burke is involved. »

Hey, Scotland: Rashida Jones Has Had Your Haggis, and She Hates It

By Caroline Shin
Watch Video

During a special Scotland segment on Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show, things turned sort of sour between the host and Rashida Jones at the mere mention of haggis. "Oof, ugh," Jones utters. "It's actually delicious," Ferguson replies. "It's just like sausage." Jones, though, would beg to differ: "It's not just like sausage. I don't agree with that." Check out the clip, straight ahead.

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Getting Schooled: Harvard Will Honor Jamie Oliver

By Alan Sytsma

He's a Harvard man.Photo: Getty Images

Next Tuesday, Jamie Oliver will head to Boston to pick up an award from the Harvard School of Public Health "for his substantial achievements in working to end the childhood obesity epidemic," according to a press release. The school awards the so-called Healthy Cap Award "to an individual or group that has made significant contributions to public health and nutrition through acts of good will, charity, leadership, innovation, policy change, or the vigorous promotion of a healthy lifestyle." Among Oliver's contributions to that cause: his show Food Revolution. Taking advantage of this branding opportunity, Oliver's organization is also working to celebrate Food Revolution Day, urging people to "stand up for real food" on May 19. [Harvard, Boston Globe]

05/15/12

The Hudson Starts Weekday Brunch and Reprises Its Block Party

By Hadley Tomicki

Next Monday, West Hollywood's The Hudson plans a new brunch service that will be available every week day from 11:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.** The new selection features both breakfast dishes including chicken and waffles, crepes, and breakfast burritos as well as lunchables like a Philly cheese steak with rib-eye, brioche grilled cheese, and options for fried or grilled fish tacos. There will also be bottomless mimosas and "beermosas" for fifteen dollars to start (and possibly end) the day. The Hudson's full brunch menu is below.

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