Posts by Richard Foss

Mexican food has been redefined in California at least twice in the last century. In the 1950s drive-in owner named Glenn Bell started experimenting with hard shell tacos, which were then a novelty, and stuffing them with hamburger fillings, including  lettuce and cheddar cheese along with a salsa that had barely perceptible heat. The company…

Whatever you think of immigration (and in the current political climate it’s pretty certain you have some opinion), the countries that have a lot of it sure develop interesting cuisines. Fascinating hybrids develop in neighborhoods where cultures mingle, and the most appealing ones become part of the shared culinary heritage of their adopted country. This…

Grand Parade Of Bivalves… I have a soft spot for oysters, so am leading off with a note about a dinner on Monday, November 12, at which they’ll be in everything except dessert. A seafood-based five course dinner is thematically perfect for Sea Change at Chez Melange, and oyster expert and author Carolyn Tillie will…

Downtown Will Smell Different… After over a quarter-century in business, the original Mama D’s will soon close. Like many downtown businesses they have been facing substantial rent increases, and it’s hard to make big money selling relatively inexpensive plates of pasta. Founder Chris Davidson spends his time at the Redondo Beach location, so those of…

Have you ever been in line at a supermarket check stand and suddenly realized you couldn’t remember which loyalty card to pull out because you forgot where you were? You’re not the only one. Major grocery stores all have the same architecture and the same offerings, and if you only visit those you might regard…

Restaurant designers who repurpose old buildings sometimes strike a balance between old and new aesthetics. Conserve that antique bar, those mid-century banquettes, the tile floor, but in a room with open beams and airy space instead of the lower ceiling that would have been standard a century ago. It’s a way of referencing an antique…

I don’t usually call restaurant owners’ judgment into question in reviews, but when I first visited the eatery, then called Workshop Enoteca, my first thought was, “What were they thinking when they did this?” The small space in the corner of a mini-mall was formerly a modest diner that handled a lot of takeout orders,…

There is a well-worn formula for success in the restaurant industry: create an appealing concept, work it until it’s perfect, then open branch operations that duplicate the original. If the chain is particularly successful then the original often acquires a mystique, the sense that this is the place where the magic came together. Diehard fans…