GAYOT's Blog

by Sophie Gayot

Some thirty years ago, chef Bruno Serato arrived from Italy with $200 in his pocket. In 1987, he purchased the 1909 National Historical Landmark building in Orange County, California, that housed the Anaheim White House restaurant since 1981. Thus began the latest chapter in Serato’s success story.

His cuisine, passion and energy have attracted many celebs to the Anaheim restaurant, including Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, athletes David Beckham and Martina Navratilova and actors Sidney Poitier and Danny DeVito to name a few. Singer Gwen Stefani even has a dish dedicated to her: lobster ravioli. GAYOT.com has given the landmark numerous accolades, naming it one of the Top 10 Orange County Italian Restaurants | Top 10 Orange County Wine List Restaurants | Top 10 Orange County Romantic Restaurants | Top 10 Orange County Special Occasion Restaurants | Top 10 Orange County Business Restaurants | Top 10 Orange County Star Spotting Restaurants | Top 10 Orange County Thanksgiving Restaurants | Top 10 Orange County New Year’s Eve Restaurants | Top 10 Orange County Food Rating Restaurant.

Continue reading “Bruno Serato, Our Hero” »

by Sophie Gayot

To celebrate the start of the holiday season, the Four Seasons Hotel at Beverly Hills invited some 300 guests last night. The reception was actually a very good excuse to collect toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. The foundation then distributes them as Christmas gifts to needy children. The Marines left with more than 500 presents!

Hotel general manager Mehdi Eftekari is behind this good cause. He started getting involved with the Marines’ organization sixteen years ago, when he was at the Newport Beach Four Seasons, and then brought it with him when he moved to the Los Angeles location eight years ago.

Continue reading “Toys for Tots at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills” »

by Michelle Kwan

The thirteenth annual Project by Project-sponsored Plate by Plate event benefiting the Chinatown Youth Initiatives showcased the culinary talents of a group of distinguished chefs, among them Chris Jaeckle of Ai Fiori. Guests at the October 14 happening in New York City sampled specialties from participating restaurants, including a traditional Korean spicy welk salad with buckwheat noodles from Danji, Iberico ham from Bar Basque, and braised beef cheek from Macao Trading Co. Wineries like Southern California-based Monte De Oro and Bedell of North Fork, Long Island, served up tastings of their finest reds and whites, while Hakkaisan, Joto and Tengumai acquainted visitors with the subtleties of saké. Spirits distributors Zyr Vodka, Speyburn Scotch and Caorunn Gin, and designer water purveyor Voss, were also on hand. One of the highlights of the evening was the Quickfire Challenge with last year’s winner Jaeckle and former Top Chef contestant Lee Anne Wong as competitors, with each chef preparing dishes centered around one main ingredient: salmon. Kudos went to Jaeckle’s various salmon-inspired crudos, but ultimately, the title went to Wong’s salmon prepared three ways. 

Continue reading “Project by Project, Plate by Plate” »

by Sophie Gayot

By the end of yesterday’s reception at the French Consulate in Beverly Hills, the guests were covered with glitter. Had we gotten too close to the models, who were wearing fine French jewels? No, the glitter was coming from the Madame Chocolat truffles! For the fifth edition of “The Jewels of France” event, chocolatier Hasty Torres was offering edible glitter truffles.

We had a few. Or maybe a lot, I’m not sure; when it comes to chocolate, we make all these excuses. We had to choose from the dark chocolate espresso covered in gold and silver, the white chocolate lime in blue or green, and the red and fuchsia filled with milk chocolate raspberry (my favorite).

Continue reading “Glitter Everywhere” »

Nobu Matsuhisa, his chefs & Sophie Gayot

by Sophie Gayot

Just so you’re not confused by the headline, this blog is not about a train powered by Krug Champagne or even drinking Krug while riding on a train. It’s about listening to the group Train performing live while drinking Krug Champagne during Saturday night’s Los Angeles Food & Wine event, which left quite an unforgettable memory.

Earlier that tasty night, many top chefs served their food to the appreciative crowd. The choices of food (and wines) were vast and very different, as were the participating toques: Joachim Splichal & Tony Esnault (Patina, GAYOT.com Top 40 Restaurant in the US), Paul Prudhomme (K-Paul Louisiana Kitchen, GAYOT 2011 Top 10 Insider Picks in the US), Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood, GAYOT.com Top 40 Restaurant in the US), Hugo Bolanos (CUT, GAYOT.com 2011 Top 10 Steakhouses in the US), and 2011 Top Chef on Top Chef Masters Floyd Cardoz (North End Grill). Lines were very long in front of Lydia Shire (Towne Stove & Spirits); and Akasha Richmond (Akasha), who served a delicious braised American lamb (word spread fast). Also popular was Drew Nieporent & Stephen Lewandowski’s choucroute (Tribeca Grill, Alsatian chefs should be jealous of the recipe). Chef Ben Ford (Ford’s Filling Station) got help serving from his son Eaton.

Continue reading “Krug & Train” »

by Sophie Gayot

Last night was the opening of the first Los Angeles Food & Wine which was held at L.A. LIVE. To celebrate the evening, mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Randy Jackson took the stage. They are both food lovers, and are great supporters of restaurants and the hard working people they employ.

The event was truly red carpet, as the entire area where the chefs and wineries had their booths was completely covered with it, which was great for those wearing high heels. It made the setting quite elegant for sampling Daniel Boulud’s charcuterie, Kerry Simon and Nona Sivley’s tuna tartare with caviar (SIMON L.A.), Lissa Doumani’s savory Japanese pancakes (Terra) and Michael Ginor’s escargots, to name just a few. Kristen Schaefer, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’ mixologist, was serving “The Alameda cocktail” (Hangar One blueberry vodka, green Chartreuse, blueberry and pomegranate juice, fresh lemon, and thyme-infused honey), and not too far away, Maison Marques & Domaines was pouring Louis Roederer Cristal 2004.

Continue reading “Food & Wine at L.A. LIVE” »

Savore Catering team: Daniel Elkins, Richard Lauther, Michael Morisette with Sophie Gayot

by Sophie Gayot

On Saturday, July 9th, over 4,000 people partied on the backlot of Paramount Studios in Los Angeles at the 37th annual Block Party of the Concern Foundation. The event was so successful that it was packed like the Paris métro at 6 p.m. A record was broken with the amount of money raised that evening with the ticket sales, plus the live and silent auctions: a million and half dollars. Among the lots sold was dinner with me while I review a restaurant!

Because of the crowds, I couldn’t get to most of the 80 restaurants that participated, along with pastry shops, wineries, and bars. To see some of the participants, look at the photos in the gallery below. One of the most memorable displays was put on by Savore Catering, which cooked more than 1,000 eggs for 58 minutes in a 147-degree-Fahrenheit water bath to prepare their “farm egg on baked heirloom beans with béarnaise” to the hungry hordes.

Continue reading “So Crowded, It Was Hard to Walk” »

by Sophie Gayot

Last Saturday was the third time I attended Vintage Hollywood’s Annual Wine & Food Tasting Event. It’s always a special night, in that the fundraiser is held on the grounds of a Los Angeles mansion.

As the two hundred guests were arriving at the sold-out evening, the sun was setting through the branches of gorgeous trees, adding elegance to the ambience at the Westside LA location. I was excited by the diversity of the tasting bites and wines offered by the restaurants and vintners. From the oysters of Oyster Gourmet and Blue Plate Oysterette to the caramel fleur de sel toffee of Valerie Confections via the Mediterranean sandwich of Tavern, the panini of Bar Toscana, the steak tartare of Bouchon, the foie gras chicken liver mousse of Waterloo & City (that everybody was raving about, including me), the braised pork leg from Jar, the scallops and rabbit rillettes of On Sunset, the burrata from Mozza, the grilled cheese sandwich from The Foundry on Melrose, the tuna wonton tacos of Zengo, the La Quierca proscuito from Akasha and the shrimp ceviche from La Sandia, I had quite enough for the evening (though I was able to sneak into my stomach a banana foster from Florentino Ice Cream). Apologies to Whist restaurant at the Viceroy and Simple Things Sandwich & Pie Shop, but I simply had no more room, even for a coffee from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Continue reading “Tasting At Sunset” »

by Sophie Gayot

The 22nd Annual Culinary Evening with the California Winemasters held on May 14th in the “Midwest Street” backlot of Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, was a huge success. At the sold-out event, more than 1,400 guests enjoyed food prepared by 45 top chefs paired with wines from more than 70 California wineries. Chefs and winemakers were all in attendance to give partygoers all the explanations they needed.

Every year, the event benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The money raised, $23,000,000 over 22 years, including $1,667,500 this year, is used for vital research and care centers. Thanks to the new treatments, people with cystic fibrosis are now living one year longer for every year of research. When this event began, patients were living into their teenage years. Now, the median age is approaching 40.

Continue reading “I am Sold to the Highest Bidder” »

by Sophie Gayot
 

 

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