GAYOT's Blog

by Sophie Gayot

Some couples are diabolic, but Jacques & Hasty Torres aka Mr. Chocolate and Madame Chocolat, are “chocoholic.” Jacques operates out of Brooklyn, Hasty out of Beverly Hills. If you are in the Los Angeles area and cannot drive to Beverly Hills or cannot fly to New York to indulge in their chocolate creations, you have a chance to get their pieces at two pop-up stores. One is located at The Grove in Los Angeles (near the foot of the Christmas tree across from Crate & Barrel), and the second one in Glendale at Americana at Brand (102 Caruso Ave. across from Trattoria Amici restaurant and Barnes & Noble, formerly Guess Accessory store).

His chocolate products are wrapped in brown and orange, while hers are in brown and beige, so there is no reason to be confused. Since it’s the holiday season, we recommend Jacques’ Christmas tree, snowman, and Santa Claus and Hasty’s nutcrackers, watches or gift baskets. They run from $1 to $200.

You will also find their classics: Hasty’s Eiffel Tower, High Heel Pumps, or truffles; and Jacques’ chocolate caramel corn, espresso beans or chocolate-covered marshmallows (I never had those, so they’re next on my list.)

Continue reading “A Couple Deep in Chocolate” »

by Sophie Gayot

The latest accomplishment of Sam Nazarian’s sbe group is Mercato di Vetro restaurant in West Hollywood. The challenge Nazarian faces every time he opens a new place is to actually come up with a “new” place and not duplicate one of the successes he already has. Remember, sbe is at the helm of Katsuya (4 locations), The Bazaar by José Andrés, Cleo, The Abbey, Gladstone’s and Papaya King.

One of the reasons he has managed to continue his winning ways is because of the talented team Nazarian has assembled. It seems that all of them work really hard, so guests can have a great experience, leave happy and want to return. Watch our exclusive interview with one team member, sbe’s executive chef Danny Elmaleh, who created the menu at Mercato.

Continue reading “An Italian Affair in West Hollywood” »

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 Sophie Gayot

For your culinary delight, we have compiled a list of restaurants serving a Thanksgiving menu throughout America, and even in Paris & London. If you happen to be in Los Angeles — 1.78 million passengers are expected at LAX this Thanksgivi​ng, a 16 per cent increase over last year — and want to immerse yourself in the LA food scene, may I recommend you spend your holiday at chef Eric Greenspan’s new restaurant The Roof on Wilshire.

Starting at 4 p.m. until 11 p.m., for $29 (yes, only $ 29!), diners will enjoy an appetizer (salad of celery root, pomegranate, carrot or sunchoke soup); turkey, of course (with rosemary mashed potatoes, green beans with mushrooms, crispy onions, cranberry dijon chutney and pumpernickel stuffing); and dessert (pumpkin bread pudding). To discover the restaurant, watch our exclusive video with Iron Chef America-winner Greenspan, who also co-hosts the A&E show “Fix This Kitchen.” For more information, read our just published review of the restaurant.

Continue reading “Thanksgiving on a LA Rooftop” »

by Sophie Gayot

There were some one hundred parties around the USA celebrating the arrival of the 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau. It is probably the wine that gets the most attention when it is released. Most the 300,000 Georges Duboeuf bottles imported in the America will be sold between now and December. The good news is that the price has not changed since last year due to the Euro exchange rate: $11.00. We have tried the wine yesterday. It is a very pleasant, and a very good value. Read our tasting notes in GAYOT.com Wine section.

I am just back from one of the celebrations held in Los Angeles. The Gamay wine was appropriately paired with Michel Cordon Bleu smoked salmon topped by Kendall Farms crème fraîche, pâtés and saucissons from Fabrique Délices, duck breast with fingerling potatoes by Maple Leaf Farms, a truly decadent Republica del Cacao chocolate fondue and macarons by Blue Blanc Rouge.

 

Continue reading “Beaujolais Nouveau is Here!” »

by Sophie Gayot

After twelve years of being the chef in his own restaurant, Josiah Citrin of Mélisse in Santa Monica has just published his first cookbook: In Pursuit of Excellence. Watch our exclusive video interview with Citrin to learn more about the book from the chef himself.

Mélisse restaurant has been named to GAYOT.com’s Top 40 US Restaurants continuously since 2006. The restaurant is also featured on our lists of the Top 10 LA Food Rating Restaurants, Top 10 LA Business Restaurants, Top 10 LA French Restaurants, Top 10 LA Romantic Restaurants, Top 10 LA California Cuisine Restaurants, Top 10 LA Wine List Restaurants, Top 10 LA Special Occasion Restaurants, Top 10 LA Thanksgiving Restaurants, and Top 10 LA New Year’s Eve Restaurants.

For more cookbooks on GAYOT.com, visit the Cookbook Reviews section.

Continue reading “Cooking with Citrin” »

by Sophie Gayot

The Food Network needs no introduction, of course, but have you heard about their new show “Chef Hunter”? Hosted by culinary recruiter Carrie McCully, “Chef Hunter” is a docu-reality series that takes you behind the scenes of running a restaurant, beyond just cooking the food. In the six episodes, chefs compete head-to-head for coveted executive chef positions at restaurants all over the country.

Watch our exclusive video interview with McCully to learn more about the show, and tune in to the next episodes. For information about the airing dates, click here.

Continue reading “Hunting for a Chef on Food Network” »

by Sophie Gayot

As you know, we go around the globe to bring the freshest news about the restaurant scene. If you missed me on the radio a few weeks ago, here is your chance to catch up on the conversation I had with chef Jamie Gwen. Her weekly radio show airs on Sundays in Los Angeles on KFWB News Talk 980.

Click on the restaurant names below to listen to what we had to say:

• L’Abeille, Shangri-La Hotel Paris, Paris – (More about the restaurant at GAYOT.com with an exclusive video of executive chef Philippe Labbé);

• Le Bernardin, New York – (More about chef Eric Ripert at GAYOT.com’s blog);

• Mercato di Vetro, West Hollywood;

• Stella Rossa Pizza Bar, Santa Monica – (More about the restaurant at GAYOT.com with an exclusive video with executive chef Jeff Mahin. The restaurant has just been named one of GAYOT.com’s Top 10 Pizza Restaurants in the US);

Continue reading “Restaurant News on the Airwaves” »

by Sophie Gayot

The pool pictured in the photo to the left of this text is at the just-reopened Hotel Bel-Air, but most guests won’t be allowed to use it. It is to be used exclusively by those high-rollers staying in the brand-new 6,775 square-foot Presidential suite. Just imagine the luxury: one bedroom, one bathroom (although adjoining rooms may be connected for a maximum of five bedrooms and five bathrooms), indoor and outdoor living spaces, a private dining room for ten, chef’s kitchen, study, great room with a grand piano, and that magnificent pool, all for $15,000 or so per night.

If that one-of-a-kind space is too big for you, choose from the other 58 rooms and 45 suites the historic hotel now has to offer. Twelve of them are completely new, in new buildings constructed into the hillside; make sure to ask how to get there before heading there. This is the result of two years of renovations, remodeling, and refurbishing, and somewhere under $100 million dollars invested by the Dorchester Collection to make the Hotel Bel-Air more grand and splendid than it ever was since its 1946 opening. When you own a legend, you are obliged to maintain its status.

Continue reading “Hotel Bel-Air Reopens With Great Luxury” »

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” »

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