GAYOT's Blog

by Sophie Gayot
 

 

by Sophie Gayot

 
The fifth annual Flavors Culinary Gala of the Los Angeles Division of the American Liver Foundation will be part of the GAYOT.com Dinner Series as it was last year. The fundraiser will be held on May 22nd at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, starting at 5:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception and a silent auction, followed by a sit-down dinner.

Bar BLVD in Studio City, CA offers creative cocktails in a posh, lounge-style environment

by Cara Trump 

Craft beers and themed cocktails were flowing at Bar BLVD’s grand opening on April 13 at the BLVD Hotel & Spa in Studio City, CA. Although the actual bar can only seat about six guests at its counter, the space — shared by the lobby — provides lush couch seating in a lounge-style environment. 

Attendees sipped specialty drinks named after famous Los Angeles boulevards such as the Venice Blvd lychee martini and the Hollywood Blvd (our personal favorite), a mixture of rum, fresh raspberries, strawberries and muddled mint. As guests mingled and nibbled on snacks provided by BLVD Café, a DJ was spinning a mix of dance music, adding to the chic ambience of the new bar.

Continue reading “Bar BLVD Grand Opening in Los Angeles” »

by Meryl Pearlstein

New York City’s East Village has a large college student population, many of whom enjoy cheap eats and sweets. The local dessert bars that they frequent are open to all. Streets like St. Mark’s, a holdover from punk days and still going strong, are lined with restaurants where one can have a complete, belly-patting meal for ten dollars (give or take a little). After a nice savory meal, comes the best part: dessert. The dessert bars of the East Village are the hidden secrets of the area.

Just behind Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Momofuku Milk Bar East is the dessert shop of the famous Momofuku chain (there’s also one midtown west). The Milk Bar’s trademark dessert, the Cereal Milk soft serve ice cream, offers a new twist to an old favorite — cereal in milk. The soft serve is sweet and a little salty, but completely true to its name; it tastes like Frosted Flakes and milk. In addition, Momofuku Milk Bar serves sugar-saturated treats like the Compost Cookie (my personal favorite), which is a conglomeration of ingredients such as potato chips, pretzels, chocolate chips, and more savory and sweet “things.” The Crack Pie is a sugar-coma-inducing, melt-in-your-mouth pie. If you crave sugar and sweets, this is your nirvana.

Continue reading “Buying Crack (Pie) in the East Village” »

by Sophie Gayot

“The President walks into a tavern through the back door,” sounds like the beginning of a racy joke, but that’s exactly what happened last night in Southern California. There were so many people around Tavern, the restaurant where Barack Obama was holding a fundraiser, that the Commander-in-Chief had to be escorted in through the back door.

We know that Tavern co-owners Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne worked closely with the Secret Service to plan the event and the menu. According to Caroline, “Many have asked us about our dinner last evening for President Obama at Tavern. It was an incredible and intense experience for Suzanne, me, and everyone that works with us. The planning, anticipation and execution of the evening was nerve-wracking and exciting beyond description. We and our entire staff are just so honored to have been entrusted with such an important evening.

Continue reading “Suzanne Goin & Caroline Styne Cook for President Obama” »

by Sophie Gayot

Aren’t you always looking for a place to brunch on Sunday? There is a new one at Montage Beverly Hills at its restaurant Scarpetta. Chef Scott Conant, a lady killer, is not always there, but you may still enjoy his kitchen while he is busy touring his other Scarpetta restaurants or shooting his TV show. And I really mean his kitchen, as the savory buffet is actually displayed in the kitchen, a unique feature of which Montage owner Alan Fuerstman takes pride. Not too many restaurants can claim to have such a beautiful kitchen. We all wish we could have one like that.

Continue reading “Sunday Brunch at Scarpetta Beverly Hills” »

by Sophie Gayot

 

Continue reading “Café Boulud at Animal” »

by Cara Trump

We love a good party — especially when it benefits a great charity — and as it turns out, the people behind Angeleno magazine know how to pull out all the stops. On Tuesday, April 12, Angeleno held its “Men of Style” affair at the Saks Fifth Avenue Men’s Store in Beverly Hills to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and we were there to experience all the high-end, guy-centered goodness they had to offer.

The festivities were spread across three floors, beginning with Chivas signature cocktails and hors d’oeuvres served on the first floor, which could be enjoyed throughout the store or in the Clubhouse Corner, a lounge sponsored by Park Hyatt Aviara and designed by Interior Illusions. Also on the first floor was Connoisseur Row, featuring a handwriting analysis booth, handcrafted humidors and luxury gifts, as well as the Sideways Stop, where guests could taste artisanal cheeses and Central Coast wines from the Hitching Post (the restaurant and wine producer made famous in the movie “Sideways“).

Continue reading “Fashion for a Good Cause” »

by Sophie Gayot

If you are not invited, there are only a few more days to get ready to enjoy the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton from the comfort of your own home. In order to get you all set up for watching the April 29th ceremony, Kristen Olson, assistant food editor at Betty Crocker, shares some tips in my exclusive video interview with her.

Continue reading “For the Royal Day” »

President Barack Obama

by Jeff Hoyt

Is President Obama reading GAYOT.com? We certainly hope so. We named mk one of our top 10 Chicago Special Occasion Restaurants, and the President has decided to host a special occasion there tonight. The site of his fundraiser is also on our top 10 Chicago American restaurant list, which is important as he is already wooing voters for the 2012 Presidential election. It is also on our top 10 Chicago Romantic restaurant list, so we hope Michelle will be there!

Dinner will be a little pricier than usual tonight: a reported $35,800 a head. For that kind of donation, we’d expect to be named Ambassador to a Caribbean island nation. Here’s what’s on the menu that features only sustainably produced American food and wine:

Continue reading “Obama’s Dinner: A lot of Bread” »

Older Posts »