Category: Food & Drink

Female restaurateurs step out of the box to raise funds By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Women restaurateurs from across Los Angeles have banded together to help keep the industry alive. The charitable organization RE:Her is hosting the inaugural 10 Days RE:Her restaurant initiative, which features collaborations, thematic menus and one-on-one conversations between female industry leaders. The festival kicks off Thursday, Jan. 21, the anniversary of the Women’s March of 2017, and runs through Saturday, Jan. 30, throughout the county. “In light of what we’ve been through this year, we wanted to bring us together,” said Mary Sue Milliken of Santa Monica’s...

Lavender and Truffles ice cream features custom spices and organic herbs By Holly Jenvey Lavender and Truffles is an innovative, plant-based ice cream brand that opened a pop-up parlor in Venice on November 19. The non-dairy ice cream is made with five simple ingredients and is inspired by spices and herbs that are traditionally found in the culinary dishes of Asian cultures. Founder Alicia Liu, a self-taught cook who has over 20 years of experience working with luxury brands, decided that she would start making ice cream on her own during the pandemic. “It started with my daughter, she...

Santa Monica Brew Works’ limited-release IPAs celebrate iconic local establishments Santa Monica Brew Works’ limited-release IPAs celebrate iconic local establishments By Kamala Kirk During the pandemic, Santa Monica Brew Works has stepped up to support and help others in the community in a number of ways. In addition to supporting frontline healthcare workers and nourishing homebound neighbors with Meals On Wheels West in tandem with local artists Corie Mattie and Ruben Rojas of Beautify Earth, the Santa Monica-based brewery has created limited-release beers that celebrate iconic local establishments. “This year has challenged small companies like ours to dig deep,...

The Wee Chippy in Venice continues to thrive during the pandemic By Sara Edwards Nestled in a 110-square-foot space on the Ocean Front Walk in Venice is a little walk-up counter where the fresh-battered cod and hand-cut chips are sizzling all day long. The Wee Chippy, open since 2013, is a fish and chips booth where Glasgow native Joe Gorrie puts a unique twist on the classic Scottish delicacy. Prior to starting his business, Gorrie worked in television and media writing, and would travel back and forth between Brooklyn and Venice. His friends would always ask him to make...

A Venice consultant’s cookbook helps people become more turkey savvy By Sara Edwards Venice consultant Jessica Williams’ idea for creating a Thanksgiving cookbook started off with her writing recipes for her son and his cousins. After she told people what she was doing, they began to ask Williams to write her recipes down for them and what her shopping list looked like for Thanksgiving, which made her realize how much of an interest there was in the subject. “It then became this idea that maybe people could benefit from this, especially for what I call us hyphenated Americans such...