Last July, I went on a pretty fantastic wine tasting tour of Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma — the first installment of which I’ve recounted in an earlier post. Here, I’ll be covering my morning at Trattore Farms, a property that not only contains vineyards but also orchards, which are being coaxed back into olive production as a revival of the area’s history and tradition.

The trees on Trattore’s property, in fact, are over 100 years old and it’s found that the same soil and climate that has made it optimal for the vineyards is also conducive to cultivating olive trees. These such trees have been revived over the past few years, and the winery has been at its present location since 2006. And now, there are over a dozen varieties of olive oil that Trattore offers, along with a couple balsalmic vinegars. The vines and orchards are sustained by the advantageous climate as well as one of the most advanced water filtration systems in the county.

With Trattore heading up the Valley’s olive oil production, it’s also a great place and opportunity to learn about the virtues of California olive oil. As of the past 2 years, California olive oil has undergone eons more stringent regulation to be called “extra virgin” than anything being imported from Europe. Given the fact that only 1% of all olive oil being consumed in the world is Californian — with a clear eye on growth — these standards are serving as a baseline to combat what is considered subpar product coming from Europe, going forward.

And, of course, there is their wine. Trattore grows mostly Rhône varietals, including Dry Creek Valley’s most popular grape variety, Zinfandel, as well as Petite Sirah, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvédre, Viognier and Marsanne. The views from the top of the 40-acre ranch are absolutely breathtaking. You’ll get views from Geyser Peak to the entire Dry Creek Valley. With each block being individually managed as well as performing micro picks at harvest, all product at Trattore is the result of thoughtful cultivation.

The best thing is that you can taste a selection of their wines in a variety of tastings, which are available 7 days per week from 11 AM – 5 PM. The Estate Menu at $20 (waived with purchase) will take you through 4-6 of their estate wines as well as all their extra virgin olive oils. The Reserve Menu at $30 (waived with purchase of wine) will also take you through 4-6 of their estate wines including their Appalachian series. Fees are waived for all Club members. There are also outdoor seated tastings available with a charcuterie plate (add’l charge) and Wood-fired pizza Sundays using their own dough and olive oil in the Spring and Fall. If you have 8 or more people, a reservation (707-431-7200 or email info@TrattoreFarms.com) is recommended and costs $25 per person. You can also go for the whole gamut and go on a vineyard, orchard and olive mill tour at $50 per person.

When you can tour the grounds and taste wine and extra virgin olive oil from the same estate, you’re bound to have an unforgettable experience in Dry Creek Valley.

There’s yet another worthwhile experience that can be found at one of the most luxurious and well-known properties in Dry Creek Valley. Take advantage of the food and wine pairing experience at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery, which is over 35 years old and one of the most productive vineyards in the area, making it possible to curate tasting experiences and meals thanks to their top-notch chef and team.

I was lucky enough to get to experience a tasting, pairing up foods with a selection of their estate wines inside their underground Ville Flore room, which is actually open for walk-in or VIP tastings 7 days per week. Their food pairing experience is called the Matchmaker tasting and includes their PreVail brand. Be sure to make your reservation at least 7 days in advance so they have ample time to prepare your tasting.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention they have quite an array of tasting experiences — so be sure to take a gander and see which one is closest to the experience you’re looking for. Whether you’re into whites, reds, Cabs, Pinots, or awakening your “smell memory,” they’ve got a lot to choose from.

The Ferrari-Carano grounds themselves are a wonder to stroll through, so be sure to take a look and enjoy all the carefully groomed gardens and serene waterfalls.

It’s December! I’m super excited about this month every year because it means snow in the Sierras — and that means snowboarding — but for the 2016-17 season, it’s extra special. I’ve been designated an official ambassador for Northstar California, a Vail resort in North Lake Tahoe.

This means that you’ll see me at Northstar quite often this season. I’ll be getting to know the resort as well as nearby Truckee. Whether it’s tearing up the slopes, aprés ski, on-mountain dinners with a winery, off-mountain hot spots, festivals like the Burton Mountain Festival, or night time entertainment, I’ll be sure to get a taste of it all.

Along with a handful of other influencers, I’ll be blogging twice or so per month at a dedicated content blog on the Northstar site, which will launch sometime soon — so keep up to date with my social media channels to learn what that is. I’ll also be doing two instagram take-overs on the @northstar_california handle sometime this season, so you can bet I’ll be trying to catch all the best angles while I’m out there.

I am so excited! See you on the slopes!

*My partnership with Northstar California includes a season pass, stays and compensation. All opinions are still my own.

Last July, I was invited to the incredible Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County for a multi-day excursion in tasting and learning about the region’s wines and the combined food experiences that can be had throughout the area. The wines the region is known for are primarily Zinfandel are Sauvignon Blanc but also some distinct, under-the-radar Rhône style wines.

The experience really changed how I viewed Zinfandel; I now consider it one of my dinner wine candidates — reframing its peppery-ness as an asset. It was so great to hear about the county’s aim to be an entirely sustainable and how the wine-growing region is already 70% there. In the video, I visit 3 vineyards in a day — however, I basically visited 7 overall. It’s hard work, really. Tasting wine.

Upon arrival, I started at Dutcher Crossing, which is actually in Geyserville as opposed to Healdsburg (not in the video). I met up with the proprietor, Debra Mathy, and her dog Dutchess (aptly named dog, who is continuously attached to her side). She dedicated the winery to her late father, who had just passed 3 months before the opening of her vineyard. You’ll note their trademark high wheel bicycle in their tasting room inspired the one on their wine labels. They source wine from select, nearby vineyards to help create distinct blends. You can choose from three levels of wine clubs (Cellar, Founder’s and Proprietor’s) for just the right level of participation for you.

We tasted award-winning wines such as their 2015 Sauvignon Blanc, 2014 Maboroshi Reserve Pinot Noir Barrel Select and 2012 Taylor Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Then, we went into the cave to have some barrel samples of select Zinfandel barrels. Divine. I got a little tour around the vineyard itself via a ride on the mule (it’s motorized — not an actual donkey-horse hybrid animal) and learned a few things about the patterns of the grapes as they grow, what’s healthy and what’s not.

After Dutcher Crossing, I headed to Amista Vineyards to co-host and attend my very first #instameet !! Spencer Spellman of Whisky Tango Globe Trot was the other host, bringing his NorCal influencer big guns to this event. We got to cruise throughout Amista’s beautiful grounds, tasting different wines by individual winemakers at tables stationed throughout the winery.

Participating winemakers included Geyser Peak in Alexander Valley, Frick Winery (a tiny winery specializing in rare Rhône varietals and unusual blends — super impressive), Rued Winery (small batch winery from a Swiss family), and, of course, the omnipresent Dutcher Crossing. The instameet was a great way to bring wine and social media people together for a scenic multi-wine tasting at sunset. I couldn’t think of a more enjoyable way to taste a region’s wines all in the same place. The walk between each station was perfect for getting the blood going but somewhat digesting the wine, as well.

As for the next 3 vineyards, you can get right to the video. They include the biodynamic farm and vineyard Quivira. That garden is a sight in itself to behold, with plants I’ve never heard of before. I got the lowdown on how the entire property is 100% sustainable, got to throw scraps to their chickens and taste the charcuterie made from heritage pigs raised a few feet away.

That was followed by a multi-course Cicheti tasting with wine pairing inside their impressive and entertainment-worthy wine cave at Simoncini Vineyards. It’s a relatively new property, with a state-of-the-art wine cave built into a hill. They’re building upon the Italian tradition of small plates and pairing them with their delicious wines in a cool atmosphere. The wine cave is often used for events — which is fitting since it’s the only wine cave I’ve seen with a piano.

My day ended with yet another multi-course dinner at Michel Schlumberger Winery, where Executive Chef Johnny Gall is doing exciting things pairing his food with and even utlizing the property’s wines in his cooking.

There’s more to come from Dry Creek Valley. Until then, Happy Wine Wednesday!

Hello, Little Blog;

How are you? I’m so sorry to have neglected you all these months, but the truth is that I’ve been writing elsewhere. It’s been a great experience, so let’s put together some linkage on pieces I’ve written that are floating on the internet.

By the way, I actually have more interesting content to come through on this blog in the very near future. Promise. The blog revival: It will happen. In fact, check back in two days for some wine content from up in Sonoma County.

In the meantime, if you’re curious where else you can find my words, I’m excited to share articles I’ve written for LA Weekly, L.A. Times Food, Eater, and Thrillist:

• Cool down with some nitro-infused teas made at Rubies + Diamonds — learn about it at LA Weekly:

High-Tech Coffee Shop Rubies + Diamonds Is Pouring “Nitro-Chilled Teas”

• As it hopefully gets cooler (please pray for rain with me — thanks), you might be able to use this updated list (adding upon Jeff Miller & Zach Brooks’ list) for Thrillist:

Best Ramen in Los Angeles

• For Eater LA, I waxed on how newcomer Daw Yee Myanmar Corner in Silver Lake could bring Burmese food mainstream:

Taking Burmese Food to the Mainstream

• For the L.A. Times food section, I’ve been reporting on spotted trends, such as matcha-in-everything, unique sausages, and weed cocktails. My latest is on how you can put together your own Little Saigon food crawl:

This West Hollywood Restaurant is Making Weed Cocktails

Going full matcha: Where to find matcha-infused doughnuts, tiramisu and cocktails

Where to find a chicken Parmesan sausage and more unique links around town

How to have a Little Saigon food crawl complete with pho, spring rolls and plenty of Vietnamese coffee

• And in non-food-related writing, I had the pleasure of writing for GOOD Magazine‘s sports section on Infinite Flow, a wheelchair dancing group in Sherman Oaks. It’s definitely worth a read, if I may say so myself:

Ballroom Dancing On Wheels: Inside the competitive and beautiful world of wheelchair dance

When you get approached to reminisce about a certain time and place, nay, a certain chef and his concept – on-camera – you know you’ve been hit with something very special. In the present age of reality TV, of course, you might have suspicions it could be exploitive, but then you know the show. And multi-Emmy-award-winning Mind of a Chef just so happens to be one of your favorite shows on cooking and the culture of food.

Furthermore, when you hear that the particular episode you’re asked to be a part is about LudoBites, and you’ll get to experience Ludo recreating a few dishes right in his own brand new kitchen. you know that it’s going to be good. There’s just so much to unpack, there.

And unpack it, we did – in conversation over a four-course cooking demo for the episode. But not before announcing over our social media channels that Ludo will be the star of 8 episodes of Mind of a Chef, Season 5 (set to air late Fall, 2016). When we got to the cooking, though, it was hard not to get nostalgic along with Jo Stougaard (My Last Bite and MoonBeach Diary), Josh Lurie (FoodGPS), Diana Hossfeld (Diana Takes a Bite), William Chi (Food Digger) and Kevin Eats (Kevin Eats), who also got asked to be a part of the episode.

After all, my blog – where I began to cut my writing teeth – was but three or so years old when LudoBites started. In all our bloggity blogsome glory, I was just one of many food geeks who converged from different corners of the internet (thank you, Al Gore). Some had a WordPress blog (*ahem*), some had a Blogspot blog, some were Chowhound forum groupies, and others were these people called the Yelp! Elite; many stood at the intersection of two or more circles in the Venn diagram. Whatever it was, it was happening through blog posts and Twitter, making our sprawling city that much smaller with community; think the era of Jon Favreau’s acclaimed movie, Chef. We barely remembered to bother with names – it would be our Twitter handles as introductions, first.

I had been to LudoBites 2.0 through 10.0 – with the exception of 9.0, which took place in Hawaii. Blogging and tweeting – both of which were still on the upshot of becoming legitimate mediums – are credited for much of its success, even propelling the concept into its own Sundance series. When is the next LudoBites going to happen and where? We all stood by Twitter to find out. After dining, we posted photos from our Canon SD series point-and-shoot cameras of the dishes as soon as we could get home to blog the experience (Twitter hadn’t even added photos until 2011 in order to keep up with then iPhone-only Instagram, until after at least LudoBites 5.0). Krissy was also using Twitter to fill in reservations that had been cancelled on.

Many traditional restaurants were still warming up – or outright resistant – to the ever rampant photo taking culture, to the instant reviews or opinions posted by your Average Joe online. Official restaurant critics had to visit a restaurant three times before his/her review and still do, but they were slower going about that back then.

Ludo, however, was a L’Orangerie and Bastide alum, who quit fine dining to cook particularly experimental dishes in rotating locations for an evolving Los Angeles dining audience. We were learning to love food that pushed the boundaries, ate that food delivered through an uneven service model in a casual environment, but were charged reasonable amounts for it with dollars earned after the economic collapse of 2008. I could feel the collective shift in our priorities to the simple pleasures, the simple things in life – that is, the food we ate. LudoBites was the best bang for our buck when you wanted a sense of adventure for your palate in our LA economy. Yes, only in Los Angeles could this happen; rents would be too expensive to fail in any other metropolis.

Ludo and Krissy realized the power of bloggers and embraced us back, with Krissy even creating a light box set-up to facilitate the creation of fantastic pictures for these blog posts. I myself was just learning both how much I really loved to write and how much I really loved this city through writing about food. But it didn’t hurt that recognition from blogging came in the form of increased Twitter followers and more invites for media dinners in my Inbox. I was elated to find out that my idol, Jonathan Gold, knew I existed. The Los Angeles food community really hit a turning point during these years, even if every other city still continued to dismiss our entire dining scene.

(Instagram? When it arrived on Android, that would unleash yet another monster. Don’t get me started on Snapchat. I’m a little late on that one, but I’m trying.)

The rest is history. Though they never named it a “pop-up,” their roving dinner party was festooned with the name and they are credited for popularizing the concept. Now, a pop-up can be found everywhere you look – whether for food, clothing, or retail. To have witnessed the popularization of it was an honor. Ludo has been on TV a billion times since, and luckily Angelenos have no shortage of places to have his food. There’s now Trois Mec, Petit Trois, Trois Familia, and a second installment of Petit Trois that will be coming to the Valley (the latter was another announcement we made during the shoot).

For me: More and more, then less, blogging. Always Tweeting. And more than ever, Instagramming, as well as freelance writing for online food publications, while still constantly interchanging “blogger” and “writer” descriptors for myself. The truth is, I started out as a blogger and I will always be a blogger – this blog even passed the 10 year mark awhile back! I never went to journalism school, and it was through networking, workshops, more writing, and trial and error that I stumbled upon this career in one of the most interesting, most underestimated cities in the world. I’m so honored to have been here from this vantage point, always learning, always tasting, and doing my best to document what I can.

I can’t wait to see what’s next for us. Thanks for following along. (Don’t forget me on Twitter and Instagram.)

Also: Shout out to my girl Laurel, who passed along some great on-camera beauty tools and tricks!

Now in its 27th year, the Passport to Dry Creek Valley event this weekend promises to be a great time to visit and taste Pinots, Zinfandels and other Sonoma wines. If you fly to Sonoma (via Alaska Air), you’ll get to take home a case of wine free of charge. And if you wisely decide to take a bottle from a Dry Creek vineyard to dine at one of the participating charter restaurants, you’ll also get free corkage as a part of their culinary cooperative.

While I love wine, food and wine always taste better when together, so I’ve highlighted some culinary-focused opportunities at certain wineries to turn your attention to this weekend:

Mauritson Wines is run by one of the most historic families in the area. They’ve been growing grapes since the 19th century, so they’ve got the Sonoma tradition passed on through many generations. Each year, they partner with Michelin-starred Chef Charlie Palmer (Aureole in NY, Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg) for fantastic food pairings in their tasting room.

At Fritz Underground Winery, they’re doing it up with a Scottish theme. Along with their herbaceous Sauvignon Blanc, they’ll be serving potato cakes with smoked salmon and herbed creme fraiche Their estate Zinfandel will be paired with a hearty beef stew. The winery opened in the 1970s, but recently in 2015 gave a fresh update to their tasting room that’s worth checking out.

And don’t miss the Pedroncelli Winery, which is partnering up with Chef Brian Anderson from Santa Rosa’s 2016 Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant, Bistro 29. Brittany cuisine (that is, food which originates in France’s most western region) by Chef will pair fantastically with food-friendly wines from this historic winery!

Zichichi Winery sells all of their wines as Futures, which means that they offer tastings straight from the barrel before their wines are finished aging and ready to bottle. This special barrel sampling experience is paired with cuisine from Chef Dino Bugica of nearby Geyserville’s 2016 Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant Diavola Pizzeria and Salumeria.

Arguably Dry Creek Valley’s most famous winery, Ridge Vineyards Lytton-Springs, is where you’ll fully experience Zinfandel as a single vineyard, food pairing wine. Stop here for fresh tastings of California’s heritage grape. Wines will be paired with wine country cuisine prepared by Feast Catering’s Chef Jesse McQuarrie‘s wine country cuisine.

So buy your ticket now and head on over to Passport to Dry Creek Valley for a memorable weekend. The great part is that unlike many other multi-winery tasting events, this one has a long-standing tradition. When buying your ticket, you also choose which winery you would like to pick your passport up at, which spreads the crowds over the entire valley. And 28 of the 45 wineries will be vegetarian friendly, so choose accordingly to your dietary restrictions. Use this itinerary planner to schedule your visits – it maps out all the participating wineries.

Cin cin!

With this year being a leap year, I feel it calls for a special outing of sorts on February 29th. After all, it comes but once every four years, so you might as well make the most of it.

An occasion like Jeremiah Stone and Fabian von Hauske, of Contra and Wildair (NYC) fame, collaborating with Louis Tikram at E.P. & L.P. might just do it. And for $80 per person (plus tax and gratuity), you’ll have a seat at this 7-course, family style Leap Year dinner that promises to inspire.

There will be no better way to ring in the Year of the Monkey, with flavors from lands as far as Fiji, the South Pacific, Vietnam, France and South East Asia being highlighted. It will be quite the collaboration to taste at the dinner table.

Peep the menu here:

• Oyster with Lapsang Tea Geleé, Bitter Almond Milk & caviar
• Frasier Island Spanner Crab Congee
• Cloudy Bay Diamond Clams, Tendon, XO & Sesame
• Crispy Skin Chicken with ginger and green onions
• Pork Spare Ribs with sweet potato, toasted rice, maple & mirin sauce
• Stir-fried Morning Glory with garlic chili & yellow bean
• Served with Steamed Jasmine rice
• Dessert: Lychee Szechuan & lime, Elderflower and Pistachios

So be sure to reserve your spot. With Contra and Wildair as lauded as they are, tickets are sure to go well in advance.

Happy Leap Year!

Los Angeles has been a phenomenal place to eat for the duration of 2015. In fact, it’s been really hard to keep up with everything going on in all parts of the city, but what a great problem to have. Better food is available in more neighborhoods, helping raise the standard of dining out in all parts. Hopefully all parts, anyway. We do have our native Roy Choi, doing what he can to make sure such positive change reaches otherwise forgotten neighborhoods, with his and Daniel Patterson’s project, LocaL.

But for all the Fig & Olives of the see-and-be-seen L.A. dining scene, there have been some indisputable favorites of mine to rise to the top. I see 2015 as the year we’ve surpassed the huffing and puffing about authenticity and what that even means for all the history and diversity we have in this city. It’s been exciting to taste how we’ve moved beyond all that to a place and time where chefs can confidently make their mark using flavors from all over the world as their paintbrushes.

So read on, and get to it. 2016 is just around the corner:

Branzino at Maré
The experience at Eric Greenspan’s Maré should begin with crudité and include the shellfish course, wherein you choose your bivalve and broth – and after which you add pasta and raw egg to enjoy with your resulting stew. But the branzino, topped with fig-pomegranate sauce and pomegranate seeds, was perfectly prepared when I visited Maré and is something I would order again. Crispy, salty skin veiling a tender white flake. So good.

Kerala Seafood Curry at Sambar
There are so many outstanding flavors and textures at Akasha Richmond’s Sambar, you won’t ever get bored eating at this Indian-inspired Culver City gem. My favorite, though, is the Kerala Seafood Curry with salmon, squid, mussels, shrimp, coconut broth with mustard seeds, curry leaves, ginger & cherry tomato poured over rice. Start off with a plate of crispy sev puri chaat, and you’re golden.

Though Culver City has lost out big time with the closing of Bucato, 2015 has been a great year for the neighborhood, especially with Hanjip across the street and Maple Block Meat Company.

Chile Relleno at Broken Spanish
There are many chile rellenos I’ve had that have been on the overwhelming side. If I were to blame that on my admittedly California-fied palate, there’d be no shame in that. But Broken Spanish‘s version with a Poblano chile stuffed with potato, kale, and lemon, all topped with soubise, is a tasty combination.

There are some more expensive Platos Principales dishes at Broken Spanish that earmark the restaurant as the higher end approach of the two, but I’m completely content with the dishes that are more middling on the menu. I do enjoy both B.S. Taqueria as well as Broken Spanish, and B.S. Taqueria is fast becoming a standby of mine whenever I’m meeting up with people in that area of Downtown L.A., which is happening more and more frequently. Viva la DTLA!

Wild Boar Tenderloin at Redbird
It’s hard to tell what, exactly, I liked the most at Redbird. It could’ve been the Wagyu tartare that I had a couple weeks ago, or the Lobster gnocchi sardi pasta that’s no longer on the menu.

While the restaurant’s namesake protein, the Veal Fraser, is certainly impressive, I’ve only eaten here as a two-top, so I’m going with the Wild Boar Tenderloin. It was so flavorful, tender and outright delicious. Then again, everything at Redbird is so finely tuned, I can expect that whatever I order here – including the awesome aromatic cocktails – will merely be a part of an exceptional dining experience in its entirety.

Bone Marrow with Chinese Doughnuts at Simbal Restaurant
I liked a lot of things at Shawn Pham’s Simbal, but when you’re in Metro L.A. and SGV breakfasts are primarily composed of dim sum, there’s that special something that can really get to you and the combination of bone marrow and you tiao, or Chinese donuts. It’s like a well executed marriage of Taiwanese breakfast and American meat butter. The sweetness of the jam offsets the richness of the bone marrow and doughnuts for some simply heavenly bites.

It was at Simbal I introduced bone marrow, bone luging, mezcal (< --B.S. Taqueria, actually) and Chinese donuts to my visiting friends from Wisconsin during their visit here, and it's pretty wonderful to see people from your Midwest past really enjoying Asian-inspired cooking that you know is nothing like they have at home.

Lobster Burrata Toast and Carbonara at SMYC
My entire meal at Andrew Kirschner’s SMYC was so outstanding, I intended to write a whole post about it; alas, freelance assignments won out over the blog the last half of 2015. As far as favorites, though, it was hard to pick between the Carbonara (no longer on the menu) and the Lobster and Burrata Toast.

But the Toast, in my interpretation, is pretty much the epitome of Chef Kirschner’s personalized take on seafood prepared the Los Angeles way and at a level that no one since David Lentz of Hungry Cat has reached. Yes, we love the New England clam shack and that’s all fine and dandy, but the Lobster Burrata Toast is our Lobster roll. No, there’s no avocado on that – we invented that too, thank you very much – and in fact it’s that much better. Other toasts on the menu are available with other toppings, such as sardines, for posterity.

Grilled Spicy Lamb Breast, Laksa at Cassia
A confession of sorts: I’m glad that we have some semblence of Bryant Ng’s The Spice Table back; I’m pretty cranky that Cassia all the way out in Santa Monica. I’ve also yet to eat around the menu, but knowing the grilled lamb breast over the wood-fired oven and the Laksa are back are reason enough.

Talking with Bryant a couple months into Cassia’s opening, I learned that the dishes ordered most often were surprisingly the more traditional Southeast Asian ones. It should be interesting to see his cooking veer even closer to the origins of the flavors he was seeking to bring to the Westside. Cassia’s place in Santa Monica was an overwhelmingly smart business decision in that there’s nothing like this there.

Short Rib at Odys and Penelope
This Applewood Smoked gem at Quinn & Karen Hatfields’ Odys + Penelope is a novelty of sorts, but for very good reasons. It’s as juicy and flavorful as the restaurant’s environment is filled with the fragrance of smoked wood. The smoke ring around the bone is perfect, revealing tender, barely sweet rib meat that falls right off the bone.

The interior of Odys + Penelope is such an inviting modern space that appeals to all the senses and it’s always a pleasure to dine there. The menu is trim but covers all the stops. And if you need a tip for starters, you’ll definitely want to go with their Creamy Cauliflower and Millet. It’s like velvet without the carbs, if you care about that sort of thing. (But if you’re reading this, you probably don’t.)

Adam Perry Lang Everything at Jimmy Kimmel Backlot
Please don’t be mad at me, but Adam Perry Lang‘s meats are available probably 2 – 3 weeks out of the entire year in Los Angeles in the Jimmy Kimmel Live! backlot. It’s through his meats that I’ve learned right here in L.A. what an art it is, and APL’s got books on this singular topic to prove it. The Master slings his incredible BBQ during the daytime for lunch hour, and people line up well in advance as he sells out every single time he opens. Beef ribs, pork ribs, brisket, prime rib, you name it. Adam Perry Lang’s BBQ is the best, and as a BBQ-deficient town, Los Angeles is 100% better for it. His meats are perfectly seasoned, perfectly smoked, always incredibly juicy with a char you can taste throughout.

When he’s here.

Kimchi Fried Rice at Hanjip
I could talk about the Tomahawk Chop at Chris Oh, Stephane Bombet & Francois Renaud’s new Hanjip in Culver City, but that might be too obvious. Yes, the Korean BBQ here is fantastic, complete with a server who grills your meat to perfection, and Culver City is all the better for not having to make the drive east should they not want to. As a Korean BBQ veteran willing to handcuff myself to a Korean friend to try all the stops in Koreatown, though, I found the most charm in the unusual meats and fishes available to ‘cue, like Hamachi Collar and Baby Octopus, as well as the little side dishes outside of the banchan. The Bone Marrow Corn Cheese with bonito. And the Kimchi in Brown Butter, which is only appropriate when the restauranteurs are French, right? It’s served up in a metal lunch box, ready for shaking except for the small fact that it kind of burns your hands if you try to do so, so you’ll just relegate to swishing your chopsticks through it, anyway. It’s still amazingly delicious.

Kimchi Fried Rice at Baroo
I have had one dish at Baroo, helmed by Chef Kwang Uh, because I went alone, and I went only once recently. But now it’s on my bucket list to return, and with dining compatriots in tow so that I can really experience what’s going on on the menu. But that kimchi fried rice was one of the most uniquely delicious things I’ve tasted all year. When the chef uses basmati rice underneath a 63 degree egg and adds purple potato chips, roasted seaweed and pineapple-fermented kimchi, you really can’t help but wonder what is in store, next. The textures and tastes are an incredible spin on Korean dining, with ample room for vegan and vegetarians on the chalkboard menu. Just know that it’s just two guys, along with Matthew Kim, so they don’t have a dedicated cashier nor server. But it’s all worth it.

Agadashi Tofu at Aburiya Raku
If I lived any closer to La Cienega at the WeHo/Beverly Hills latitude, my late-night eating would increase drastically in frequency and be monopolized by our Las Vegas import of Aburiya Raku. Everything is good, I think – I need to visit more often – but you mustn’t forget to order the tofu. I can’t even recommend any particular tofu over the other (there are 3 – Oyaji and Raku in addition to the Agadashi), but I loved the Agadashi, and I hear the Oyaji is the Raku with sauce. Both are spongier than the Agadashi. Honestly? They ran out of the Raku when I went at 10 pm on a Wednesday. More attempts shall be made. This tofu is so good, though, it’s like eating a blanket. In the best way. Does that make sense?

Apologies for not updating the blog, but here’s a post to push its revival into the New Year. Here I come, 2016! This week, I’ll be posting a round-up of sorts on 2015 and noteworthy dishes at noteworthy restaurants.

In any case, feel free to catch up with a few of my freelance articles, and my comments forthwith, that I wrote for other online publications the latter half of 2015 here. Also, a plug to follow me on other social media channels, which I’ve been updating pretty regularly: Instagram, Twitter, and eventually Snapchat (@estar_la)!

• A personal essay I wrote for Eater National. It’s crazy how ever since Fresh Off the Boat aired, we’ve gotten Dr. Ken and Netflix’s Master of None as far as Asian American representation on TV. After a lifetime of not seeing hardly anyone who was even the same shade I am on TV, 2015 felt like jackpot:

How ABC’s ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ Tells a Familiar First-Generation Story

• During Eater LA’s Cheap Eats week, I culled a memory from my college days, commuting from Westwood to Alhambra just for boba milk tea and fried pork chop. For Cocktail Week, I rounded up some sherry-based cocktails as well as cocktai

The Fried Pork Chop at Old Country Cafe Taught Me to Embrace My Taiwanese Heritage
How L.A.’s Top Bars Are Using the Spice Trade to Their Cocktail Advantage
13 Fine Sherry-Based Cocktails in Los Angeles

• I did a few round-ups for Time Out Los Angeles, a couple of which were on the sandwich beat. We’re talking extensive, exhaustive research, here. Let’s put it this way: I haven’t had a pastrami or banh mi for quite awhile. Dim Sum? Plenty.

The Best Pastrami Sandwiches in Los Angeles
The Best Dim Sum Restaurants in Los Angeles
The Best Banh Mi in Los Angeles

• I did a couple stories for Thrillist Los Angeles on the illustrious L.A. Armenian chicken institution that is Zankou Chicken and a story about a whole bunch of Bloody Marys around the city:

Fifteen Things You Didn’t Know About Zankou Chicken
L.A.’s 12 Best Bloody Marys

Happy reading. I’ll catch you guys with another 2015 update tomorrow.

One of the main afternoon events was a tasting through different Cabernet Sauvignon vintages from the Mondavi estate, which was an eye-opening experience to say the least. Afterwards, I got to sit down and talk with one of the youngest Master Sommeliers in the world and one of the newly anointed Lexus Culinary Masters, Carlton McCoy of The Little Nell in Aspen. At 30, he is one of the youngest Master Sommeliers in the world and is only the second of African-American descent in history.

What is being a Lexus Culinary Master all about?

For me it’s about quality, it’s about the experience. It is about lifestyle. I’m very comfortable partnering with Lexus. [With cars,] you’re buying a high quality car and it has this much HP. At the restaurants, people are buying a quality dining experience.

With there being only only two-hundred-some Master Sommeliers in the world and over half of them being in North America, you obviously have a gift for tasting, for service. When was this first apparent to you?

I don’t think you pay attention to it until somebody points it out to you. It’s what you perceive so how would you know? You only know what you know. I do very well in the kitchen and creating well-balanced dishes. [Talk about understatement: Carlton won a C-CAP cooking class and earned a full scholarship to CIA in Hyde Park, NY, before working in the kitchens of Aquavit, Craft Steak and Per Se.] And I carry that over into the dining room. I was approached by a sommelier to go into studying and tasting wine in Washington DC. I guess this was not normal. I was 23 at the time.

How did people treat you, being so young?

I was the youngest teaching assistant at 19 years old I was very comfortable in that position. You treat people with humility. Even now, I’m 30 years old, but the majority of my staff still respect me. You treat everybody with humility and consistency.

How do you approach wine, personally?

It’s what you decide to focus in on. The time we spend on tasting wine, it becomes somewhat of a chore. When I go out I tend not to drink wine. I love to see, smell and taste wine; it seems like you’re doing it so intensely. I don’t know how to do it casually. You get so focused and in tune. It has to do with flavor and reverse memory. You knew about the cinnamon roll shop on Pismo Beach that was coming up before it even came into view. When I started to smell wine, I’m deconstructing that reverse cinnabon.

What about a photographic memory?

When I study, I never used flash cards. I draw maps and I take naps, but I memorize the page. I can still memorize my notes for Chablis. Labels especially. I was at a tasting earlier in Napa, on a Barbaresco panel. And this woman was taking these notes, but my handwriting is really bad. I just remember wines; I just memorize it. I know this sounds silly but people only remember what they care about. Things you care about, you never forget.

What are the biggest misconceptions about wine?

You have to listen to other people. One of my biggest issues is the culture of wine ratings, tasting notes, etc. What it has done is it has shifted the power away from people. They really have this crutch of, What are these scores? That person [on Wine Spectator] has no clue what you like. Look at a wine that has 100 points – what does that actually mean? But what if you don’t like the same style of wine as that person at wine spectator? This is a major issue and that’s one of the biggest issues I have with wine in America right now. I like to pull people away from that. Get people to ignore the notes. Hey what do you think? Go buy a bottle of it and just try it. What’s the worst that’s going to happen? How bad is it really going to be? It’s going to be OK. It’s not as serious as people make it out to be.

You will never know everything about wine. That’s my job. I don’t go to the auto mechanic and tell him, You know what – I already know what’s wrong with my car. Why would I need to go to the auto mechanic? But maybe I want to learn how to do simple things like change the oil. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to know everything about wine. It’s impossible. You can just learn to casually enjoy and learn about wine. Don’t make it a stressful experience. Really enjoy yourself. That’s what wine is all about.

What are you drinking these days? What are you buying to drink?

That changes frequently. I always compare wines to music. It depends on what you’re into and what you really like. I get into phases where I enjoy bright plush wines, other times I can’t stand it. There are times when I really enjoy. Right now I really enjoy Chablis. I drink an enormous amount of it. In for buying to age, As far as what to buy, wines in the Rhone Valley are the most underpriced wines in France and they won’t be for a long time. Burgundy has gotten so expensive right now for even collectors. It’s good idea to move into other regions.

What do you recommend, if money is no object?

If your goal is to invest, Bourdeaux is always great. Northern Rhone Valley, Burgundy, Loire. Chenin Blancs are really stunning.

Do you drink wine at home?

I don’t drink wine at home hardly ever unless I have company because it becomes a chore. I drink this cocktail I like, which I joke about. I call it Farm to Table. {If it’s not farm to table, then it’s got a problem, right?) I take a pint glass and put ice on the bottom, squeeze a little lime over it, then pour beer into the glass. I started drinking this in Thailand. I love it so much, it’s so refreshing.
I don’t drink an enormous amount of spirits but I really like tequila. Not aged tequila, but just pure silver. Ocho is my favorite. I love single state tequilas. On the rocks. I don’t like infused spirits. I’ll drink Calvados, it’s a little more interesting. I like blanco because it shows the base ingredient. A lot of spirits taste like oak, but I like to taste the distillate.

Which wineries do you appreciate?

I love old historical estates like Charles Krug, Diamond Creek, Dominus, the old Equinox. There are a couple new hotshots with very interesting wines. Hirsch Winery. Ross Cobb is probably my fave domestic Pinot Noir. It’s like a hobby winery. I rarely see a domestic wine where this happens. Buddy Rogers is doing great things. Hirsch Winery. Ross Kobb is probably my favorite domiestic pinot noir. There’s that sugar ripeness. His mom planted the coast in 1986. You taste his wines, he has a cuvee I’ve never seen. I’ve never been taken aback by a domestic Pinot Noir but I get true pleasure by tasting his wines.

Do you like sparkling domestics?

The J. Schram is really stunning. That’s that’s serious bubbles. I remember my first trip to California when I visted the winery. I remember enjoying it. Domestically, Soter Winery makes stunning sparkling wines. I like domestic sparklers because they can offer phenomenal value.

Iron Horse is classic. I was on the same trip as J. [Schram] for that 21st birthday weekend in Napa. I thought it was the coolest thing because That’s the energy I like with wine in general. Approachability is kind of lost. I love that attitude of, “Come on in.” That’s what really would help California wines to be known. Sonoma still is excited to get anyone down there. More of that approach is necessary.