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
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
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
OK, IT’S WINTER. LET’S TALK SOUP with a recipe for Norma Levine’s Homemade Chicken Soup
By Larry Levine – I went out to bring in the mail yesterday afternoon and it was cold. Sunny, but cold. I went out to bring in the newspapers from the driveway this morning and it was cold. The calendar still says autumn but it already feels like winter. Even here in... Read More
BOOK REVIEW: Pati’s Mexican Table
By Larry Levine – I first met Pati Jinich one Saturday afternoon early this year. She was on her weekly PBS TV show, Pati’s Mexican Table. I was in my living room. Each week Pati visits villages and cities in Mexico to introduce us to the local cuisine and we spend... Read More
COOK ONCE, EAT TWICE / handy hints for home cooks, with a recipe for a great Russian Cabbage Soup
By Larry Levine – Cook once, eat twice. Or three times. That’s one of the secrets to how Jennifer and I have eaten home-cooked dinners 66 consecutive nights without getting bored. The last time we ate in a restaurant was March 15, when we had breakfast at Art’s Deli... Read More
A TIME-TESTED BRISKET RECIPE FOR PASSOVER OR ANY OTHER DAY
By Larry Levine – There may be as many ways to bake a brisket as there are cooks preparing the meat for a Passover Dinner or any other time of year.. The one I’m sharing here is rooted in a very simple method used by my late mother. I doctored it through the... Read More
A BIG STEP FOR A SUSHI CHEF AND HIS WIFE / the challenge of restaurant ownership
By Larry Levine – First, a question for our male readers: you are 36 years old; you are married and have two children – a boy, Shaun, 11, and a girl, Kairi, 10; you live with your wife and children in an upscale neighborhood in the suburbs of Los Angeles; you are a... Read More
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