la.foodblogging

I haven’t seen the print edition tonite but it looks like the LA Times is publishing a Special Restaurant Issue, themed Lotus Land, in the magazine (Calendar Live, whatever) section tomorrow.

Stories include:

The Dining Guide: A survey of 250 SoCal eateries. (Ouch. The K-Town listing is beat. In fact, each district has only around 10 entries. Think of it: Every neighborhood in L.A. will have something to gripe about.)

SIV does a pull-out section on just Asian eats., e.g., Chinese food is getting bold and bright at New Concept in the San Gabriel Valley, where chef Chen Chen Liang is busting tradition with such dishes as flash-fried shrimp accented by the nuttiness of toasted oatmeal.

I can tell you first-hand that chef Liang’s customers are also breaking with tradition in the dining room and it isn’t pretty.

The Times throws chef Liang another 1,000+ words, by writer Russ Parsons, who claims New Concept’s chef is “changing the face of Chinese cuisine in Los Angeles.” It’s a nice profile and Parsons has the good sense to quote Chinese restaurant maven Carl Chu, author of Chinese Food Finder: Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley, (who) says chef Chen’s visibility “is groundbreaking, if (New Concept is) willing to stick to it.”

Dan Neil writes about how punishing it is to work in a kitchen as a “short-order warrior” in Cooks on Fire. Excerpt: At least there aren’t any Monte Cristo sandwiches, which take agonizing minutes to make. Chef, I need a Monte Cristo!

There’s also a soft celeb-oriented story on night clubs with Asiatic themes by Andrew John Ignatius Vontz (oy… wonder if the Times’ “hipster” cub reporter knows what “vontz” means in Yiddish). I think I have enough creepy celebs in my diet, thanks. Vontz last wrote for the magazine about “hipster hairstyles,” or so it says next to his byline.

SIV covers new-ish scoff-spots like Providence, Meson G, and the Hungry Cat in Eat Here Now.

There’s also a random side-bar that highlights ingredients and tools used in Asian cooking. The mini-profiles include dosa, chopsticks, matcha, goji berries and strainers. Some nice photo opps, but a jumbled selection of Asian food stuffs.

I’m just glad LAT is keeping a local focus. I thought that last Sonoma wine special issue was … uhm … not so helpful.

Photo credit: makster