Essays Archive

PORTABLE EDIBLES / do indigenous dishes lose something in transit, or is it us

By Larry Levine – You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy. Or in my case, you can take the boy out of Brooklyn … But what happens when you take the Chicago Dog out of Chicago, or the baguette out of Paris, or [...]
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FEELING MY OATS / funny and serious facts about oatmeal

By Larry Sheingold - This is about oat groats. Not haute groats, which sounds the same but connotes groats more chic than just oats. This is groats vs. grotesque. The difference between one of nature’s perfect foods and the junk food McDonalds and others make from it. What set me off are groat quotes by [...]
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CHEFS, NOT BABES / how we sell cars in the 21st century

By Larry Levine – While in college, Joyce earned spending money as a model at car shows. Manufacturers and dealers hired her to stand beside their cars in a swim suit and heels. Her job was to look lovely, smile and hand literature about the cars to men who stopped by. We dated a few [...]
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A VEGAN IN A WORLD OF OMNIVORES

By Pam Giarrizzo - Eating in restaurants used to be so much simpler. Back in the day, I’d look at the menu and try to decide between the rib-eye steak and the grilled pork chop, between the linguine with prawns and the lasagna with Italian sausage. But about nine and a half years ago, I [...]
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LOUVAR – a fish you may never taste, or even see

By Larry Levine – “Perhaps one of the most prized and sought after fish on the West Coast, a fish shrouded in much mystery …” “… the best fish I ever tasted.” “Buttery, but not rich … A slight crunch like halibut fin … Smooth texture, no gristle …” These quotes rained down on my inbox [...]
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FUKUSHIMA: A LESSON FOR CALIFORNIA / the nuclear threat to the state’s agriculture and the world’s food supply

By Larry Levine – The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant sits on the coast of California 197 miles from downtown San Francisco, 170 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It’s 119 miles from Diablo Canyon to Fresno and 103 miles to Bakersfield, both in the heart of California’s great Central Valley, one of the most important [...]
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THE AGE OF COMMENTARYUS / strange happenings from the world of food blogs

By Larry Sheingold - (This is one of an occasional series by Larry Sheingold exploring the world of volunteer internet dining reviews.) With apologies to the musical, Hair. This is the dawning of the Age of Commentaryus. We’ve always had opinions. Always shared them. But thanks to the internet, never has so much commentary been offered for [...]
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FEAST OF THE 7 FISHES / In memory of Jim Tabilio

(We first published this article in January 2011 – a bit late for the 2010 holiday season but we found it warm and tender. Marika Tabilio is the daughter of the late Jim Tabilio, who was one of the original co-hosts at the restaurant recommendation web site atLarrys.com. Some six weeks after we published this [...]
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37 QUINTESSENTIAL RESTAURANTS FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA

By Larry Levine - What is the quintessential restaurant in San Francisco? How about Los Angeles? Sacramento? San Diego? New York? Chicago? Boston? We put those questions to the co-hosts of our sister web site – www.atLarrys.com, where we do restaurant recommendations – and quickly learned the answers get more complicated the more you think [...]
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IRKS, PEEVES AND IRRITANTS FROM THE WORLD OF RESTAURANT DINING / what really bothers you?

By Larry Levine – At the risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon, I want to devote a few paragraphs to a discussion of some of the things that can and do go wrong in a restaurant and things that become either pet peeves, major irritants, or just downright unacceptable. Call it an invitation to [...]
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