TRAKTIR / where solidarity meets Old Country Ukrainian food
By Larry Levine – We came for the solidarity and stayed for the food. And now, a year later, on the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we’re here again, at Traktir. For the solidarity and the food. Traktir is a Ukrainian restaurant in Tarzana CA,... Read More
MARK OKUDA’S ROCKET RIDE TO SUCCESS AT THE BROTHERS SUSHI
By Larry Levine – Mark Okuda eyed the slab of blue fin tuna on the cutting surface with respect. He turned it to a slightly different angle and paused the blade over the pink toro. The fat content promised a morsel that would melt on my tongue. One final... Read More
GIVE ME A MENU AND GET THAT QR CODE OFF MY RESTAURANT TABLE
There’s an elegance about a restaurant menu. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Michelin-starred, white tablecloth spot or a neighborhood burger joint. You’re greeted, led to a table and handed a menu. It may be styled in brilliant red with gold embossed lettering. Or it may... Read More
ESSAYS FROM IRELAND AND ENGLAND – 2022
By Larry Levine – CHAPTER ONE – GETTING THERE NO LONGER IS HALF THE FUN OF TRAVEL There’s an old saying among vacation travelers: Getting there is half the fun. It’s clearly is from another time, a distant memory of an era when travel was more glamourous and far... Read More
WHAT’S THE ONE THING YOU WOULDN’T EAT? / A simple question that grew
Is there something you wouldn’t eat unless it was the last thing between you and starvation? And even then you would gag as it crossed your lips. That’s the kind of question one asks if one is a food writer with too much free time. Like when sitting in the noon-time... Read More
IF WE CAN’T TRAVEL TO OTHER COUNTRIES, WHY NOT BRING THEM TO US / a culinary journey without leaving home
By Larry Levine – 527 home cooked dinners in 544 nights … then we tried something new. For 18 months I’ve cooked dinner for the two of us virtually every night. In one stretch, starting March 16, 2020, I cooked dinner at home 340 consecutive nights. The string... Read More
WHILE WE WAIT TO SMILE AGAIN / a food writer rides out the pandemic
By Larry Levine – I wonder where they are, the four men whose combined years may total one-third of a millennium. They were there so many days, regulars at a table in the back corner of Angelini Osteria on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. With the cork extracted and the... Read More
A SLICE OF LIFE / DINING IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC
I doubt it’s a world record. It probably isn’t among the longest current streaks. But it’s a personal high of which I am proud. A few nights ago, Jennifer and I ate our 300th consecutive pandemic-inspired home-cooked dinner, pot roast with potatoes and carrots. During... Read More
AS MORE RESTAURANTS CLOSE, LET US NEVER FORGET THIS DIDN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN
By Larry Levine – Measured on a scale of more than 165,000 dead, the loss of some of our favorite restaurants doesn’t seem like much. Until we remember the people whose lives are invested in those restaurants. The owners who operate on slim profit margins. The... Read More
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