DINING BEAT: FOOD INDUSTRY'S MOVERS AND SHAKERS.Byline: With Larry Lipson There appeared to be no controversial awards presented at the annual California Restaurant Writers awards banquet Monday night at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena. The fairly straightforward event attended by 220, mostly nominees and award hopefuls, featured a toast to the restaurant industry by food talk- show host and personality Jackie Olden. A series of special awards - including chef of the year to Serge Burckel of One in Los Angeles, most promising new restaurant to Lucques in West Hollywood, restaurateur of the year to Cary Redfern of Oysters in Newport Beach and sommelier of the year to Michael Bonaccorsi of Spago in Beverly Hills - provided most of the major attention. However, the most popular award was that of maitre d' of the year. This year it was presented to veteran Los Angeles restaurant figure Bernice Altschul of Studio City, the maitre d' at The Grill in the Hyatt Regency Hotel, downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or . She received a standing ovation. Robert Bell and Michael Franks of the Melange Group of restaurants in the South Bay area were named humanitarians of the year; Ray Jean Fontaine of Le Chardonnay, named service person of the year; Laura Solano of Aioli ai·o·li n. A rich sauce of crushed garlic, egg yolks, lemon juice, and olive oil. [Provençal : ai, garlic (from Latin allium) + oli, oil (from Latin oleum in Torrance, named pastry chef of the year; Hildegard and Norbert Knoll of Knoll's Black Forest Inn in Santa Monica, named recipients of the Mike Roy pioneer of the year award. Five-star supreme achievement honors, the top restaurant awards, again went to Belvedere in the Peninsula Hotel, Beverly Hills; Diaghilev in the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel, West Hollywood, and The Dining Room of the Hotel Bel-Air, duplicating last year in this vaunted vaunt v. vaunt·ed, vaunt·ing, vaunts v.tr. To speak boastfully of; brag about. v.intr. To speak boastfully; brag. See Synonyms at boast1. n. 1. category. There were 33 Southern Californian four-star winners, three more than last year. Noticeably, none for San Diego proper, though the Hotel Del Coronado's Prince of Wales Prince of Wales switches places with his double, poor boy Tom Canty. [Am. Lit.: The Prince and the Pauper] See : Doubles and Mille Fleurs of Rancho Santa Fe were four-star repeaters. Attendees paid $130 for a dinner that began with a hosted wine and champagne reception with appetizers that included foie gras and caviar-topped finger foods. The sit-down portion of the meal started with smoked salmon cake on Asian greens, was followed by a combination of veal medallion and Cajun prawns with spinach gnocchi and braised braise tr.v. braised, brais·ing, brais·es To cook (meat or vegetables) by browning in fat, then simmering in a small quantity of liquid in a covered container. endives. Dessert was flourless chocolate cake in a mango raspberry coulis cou·lis n. A thick sauce made of puréed fruit or vegetables: raspberry coulis. [French, strained liquid, from Old French couleis, from Vulgar Latin . A complete list of 1999-2000 one- through five-star and special awards winners is available in booklet form for $8 (plus $2 postage and handling) by check to CRWA, 8833 Sunset Blvd., No. 406, West Hollywood, Calif. 90069; telephone (310) 657-4030. EATIN' LA COMIDA LATINA Looks like there's a South American mini-trend shaping up in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . Following the debut of Pampas, displaying an Argentine emphasis in Encino, comes the debut of Picanha Brazilian Bar & Grill, 269 E. Palm Ave., Burbank. Boasted as being ``the only authentic Churrascaria A churrascaria (IPA pronunciation: [ʃuxaska'ɾiɐ]) is a Brazilian or Portuguese steakhouse. Churrasco is the cooking style, which translates roughly from the Portuguese for 'barbecue'. in North America'' by owner-partner Atef Taher, Picanha might get an argument from a couple of restaurants in Houston named Churrascos and from local spots like By Brazil in Torrance, Churrascaria in La Mirada and Green Field in West Covina. Even so, the churrasco Churrasco is a Spanish and Portuguese term referring to beef or grilled meat more generally, differing across Latin America but a primary dish in the countries of Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua and other Central America countries. style of serving and carving a variety of skewered meats at Picanha at a set price of $23.95 should provide an interesting dinner experience. Information: (818) 972-2100. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion