The LA Food Podcast

We’re joined by Danny Castillo, the pitmaster behind San Juan Capistrano’s Heritage Barbecue, one of Southern California’s premiere barbecue destinations. In recent years Heritage has earned the attention of the LA Times 101 Best Restaurants List, they’ve been named Restaurant of the Year by the OC Register, and they’ve even gained Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition.  While Danny’s “Cali Craft Barbecue,” as he calls it, is now legendary, the story that got him there is full of pit stops and perseverance. Danny shares with us how he went from fixing up old cars, to working at Whole Foods, to finally breaking out on his own to dedicate himself fully to his one true passion - smoking meats. Beyond Danny’s story, I loved this conversation because Danny shows his true, barbecue nerd side. We speak in depth about the different types of barbecue, why certain woods yield different results, how the heck those big ole offset grills you see at barbecue joints even work, and more. There’s a touch of barbecue history in there, and a ton of recognition for the pitmasters who paved the way for Heritage and others to thrive today.  Helpful links: Heritage BBQ https://www.heritagecraftbbq.com/ Heritage on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/heritagebarbecue/?hl=en

We’re flipping the script today and Father Sal will be interviewing me on today’s podcast. Why are we doing this? Well, today happens to be the day that I announce which type of food I’m focusing on for the 2024 Countdown, a.k.a. My annual expedition to try 100 different versions of a certain Los Angeles food. As a reminder, in 2021 I tackled pizzas, in 2022 I visited 100 different taquerias, and in 2023 I ate 100 epic LA sandwiches in 365 days. Which food will 2024 spotlight? Burgers? Noodles? Tinned fish? Let’s find out.  But first, Father Sal and I catch up on our holiday plans. We hear about his exotic travels to Morocco and South Florida, and I share the behind-the-scenes details of my annual Feast of the Seven Fishes extravaganza. We talk New Year’s Resolutions, and share the top two food-related goals we each aim to complete in 2024. Also stick around to the end if you want to hear real-life audio of my wife and I surprising Father Sal in Seattle for his birthday. He turned 21 for the 11th time this past Wednesday, so a very special Happy Birthday to him from the entire LA Food Pod community.  Helpful links: The LA Countdown https://www.instagram.com/thelacountdown/

Believe it or not, it's already been one full year (and 50+ episodes!) of The LA Food Podcast. As we gear up for 2024, here's a compilation of some of our favorite moments from 2023. Happy New Year! Helpful links: Gilberto Cetina episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/34o2zYM6KVJHqu8D1q76bK?si=zAzzkHxoTAaUi5unZdV3Xg Diego Argoti episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Aci2o7gLVn4jtLlOuwZZR?si=1nUibxNWSNWyrbyfyKUIEQ Lien Ta episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/3VjeSpIelDfrXsMMbvIXQd?si=NNfO7BuFQz6LNOLOaJVhog Gustavo Arellano episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/7iST9Uyzbdcc92R4ERhkAr?si=_Y2NZIbMTheqIewtT3IOwQ Farley Elliott episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/4jJTzB5avWHZsxY6qb3x3L?si=DhQivuDmSQWgsFBt8cvpzw Jeremy Fox episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/7dkkJfaXT76lAy06pZ41Jb?si=JreoyC5gRM674wX0h1b9aQ Courtney Storer episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Crkss2igPVP6CG43qHqMr?si=bHBiF5_BQhKn0mnF3JOMrw The Menu episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/0MOjASg51JCYgeiCuCpBDk?si=TQ0gS1sjT_y6hCqG4gv4cQ

Welcome to the first-ever LA Food Pod Holiday Party! Father Sal joins us to talk holiday plans and to try our hands at some festive mixology. We're making something called a Merry Margarita, brought to us by our friends at Hornitos. Will we like it? Will we hate it? Will you want to try making it for your holiday gathering? Listen to find out.  But that’s not all. What is a holiday party without some sort of game? In a game that only makes sense in the context of the LA Food Podcast, Father Sal and I have combed the food lists of 2023 from the likes of the LA Times, Eater, The Infatuation and more, to draft which ones we thought did the best job. It's a deliciously convoluted white elephant of sorts, except instead of gifts, what you get to walk away with is our arbitrary ranking of a bunch of other arbitrary rankings. What’s not to love? Helpful links: Eater Where to Eat https://www.eater.com/23506205/best-places-to-eat-restaurants-travel-2023 NYT Mexico City dishes https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/t-magazine/mexico-city-restaurants-food.html LAT Hall of Fame https://www.latimes.com/food/list/los-angeles-hall-of-fame-restaurants-modern-classics LA Taco pupusas https://lataco.com/best-pupusas-los-angeles LA Taco tacos https://lataco.com/69-best-tacos-in-la LA Times Italian Sandwiches https://www.latimes.com/food/list/best-italian-sub-sandwiches-los-angeles-guide Infatuation Celebrity-owned restaurants https://www.theinfatuation.com/los-angeles/guides/the-celebrity-owned-restaurant-power-rankings LAist Cheap Fast Eats Gardena https://laist.com/brief/news/food/deliciously-messy-teriyaki-burgers-a-bowling-alley-coffee-shop-and-secret-shu-its-cheap-fast-eats-gardena Kenji Lopez Alt for South Seattle Emerald https://southseattleemerald.com/2023/08/26/j-kenji-lopez-alts-favorite-south-end-restaurants/ NYT's LA 25 https://www.nytimes.com/article/best-restaurants-los-angeles.html

We’re joined by Brant Cox and Sylvio Martins of The Infatuation LA to break down their list of the Best New Restaurants of 2023. They dropped this list a couple of weeks ago now, and it includes some truly stellar spots that have graced the LA dining scene this past year, such as Donna’s of Echo Park and Loreto of Frogtown. Brant and Sylvio walk us through their process for compiling this list. We learn about their favorites, honorable mentions that just missed out, and why some big names like Funke and Poltergeist didn’t quite make the cut.  We also talk food trends of 2023 - from the Great Martini Revival to the seemingly inescapable barrage of red sauce Italian spots flooding our timelines - and they look forward to 2024, discussing which upcoming restaurant openings have them chomping at the bit.  First though, there are a couple of headlines in the food world I wanted to discuss, from LA’s Al Fresco Program moving towards permanence to the closure of several big name restaurants. Helpful links: Infatuation Best New Restaurants 2023 https://www.theinfatuation.com/los-angeles/collection/best-new-restaurants-los-angeles-2023 LAT on Al Fresco dining https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-12-08/los-angeles-city-council-permanent-al-fresco-dining Michelin adds 3 LA restaurants to guide https://la.eater.com/2023/12/12/23998495/michelin-guide-discoveries-2023-hibi-baroo-olivia-restaurants-los-angeles Kinn closure https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2023-11-21/los-angeles-korean-restaurant-kinn-chef-mental-health#:~:text=On%20closing%20L.A.'s%20Kinn%2C%20chef%20highlights%20mental%20health%20issues,close%20his%20tasting%2Dmenu%20restaurant. Craft closure https://la.eater.com/2023/11/20/23969943/craft-la-kinn-koreatown-closed-restaurants-los-angeles-november-2023 Angry Egret closure https://la.eater.com/2023/12/14/24001272/chef-wes-avila-angry-egret-dinette-chinatown-restaurant-closure-los-angeles

LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison dropped his much-anticipated 101 Best Restaurants list on Tuesday and it’s set the internet abuzz with thoughts and reactions aplenty. Congratulations to all of the restaurants who made the list, I hope you’re all celebrating accordingly. I offer some high-level observations and perhaps a couple of nuggets of constructive criticism. Because that’s just the helpful guy that I am.  We’re also joined by Father Sal to talk about the trend of influencer-backed restaurants, and we also break down the latest season of The Great British Bake Off. The Bake Off conversation is jolly good fun - we talk about the new host, our fave contestants, and we get into a pretty heated debate about whether this is actually a show about food, or if it’s really just vibes.  Helpful links: 101 list https://www.latimes.com/food/list/101-best-los-angeles-restaurants-ranked-2023 Hall of Fame https://www.latimes.com/food/list/los-angeles-hall-of-fame-restaurants-modern-classics LA Times on influencer-backed restaurants https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2023-11-24/influencer-backed-restaurants-los-angeles-worth-the-hype Great British Bake Off https://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/ Eater article defending Prue https://www.eater.com/23972427/leave-prue-leith-alone-great-british-bake-off

Chef Jeremy Fox is best known in Los Angeles for helming the widely acclaimed restaurants Rustic Canyon and Birdie G’s. He joins us to walk through his illustrious career, from his days at David Kinch’s Manresa in Los Gatos, to earning a Michelin star for a vegetarian restaurant attached to a yoga studio in Napa Valley. He talks about how an impounded car led him to move to Southern California, and his very personal inspiration for opening Birdie G’s, his Santa Monica restaurant that he describes as the product of an Eastern European Jew who grew up in the Midwest and settled down in California by way of the American South. Now, there’s a journey. Helpful links: Birdie G's https://www.birdiegsla.com/about/ 8 Nights at Birdie G's https://blog.resy.com/2023/10/8-nights-at-birdie-gs/ Rustic Canyon https://rusticcanyonrestaurant.com/ Chef Jeremy Fox on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/chefjeremyfox/?hl=en

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Today’s episode is all about gratitude. For our main course today, I’m joined by Father Sal to reminisce on the meals that we feel most grateful for in 2023. And although yes, there are tales of surf n turf burritos, roasted bone marrow gnocchi, and pizza so good that it haunts my dreams to this day, it’s really a conversation about the intangibles that make certain meals that much more memorable.  But first, Father Sal and I chop up the latest and greatest headlines in the food world. There’s a GOAT-level list of Best Dishes in Mexico City from The New York Times and a not-so-GOAT level list of where to eat in LA from pop singer Tate McRae. We do a “cop or drop” inspired by the many food holiday gift guides that have come out in the past week, and Father Sal gives us his expert take on the Infatuation’s latest guide to LA’s Indian and Pakistani restaurants. There’s a fun little helping of bad idea/horrible idea for ya, and for dessert, we’ve got another edition of our acclaimed segment, “Shitty Yelp Review of the Week,” in which we each share a moment in the past week when the people in our lives would have been justified in leaving us a shitty yelp review as humans. Let’s just say that mine involves shrimp tacos, a stray dog, and Poltergeist chef Diego Argoti. You won’t wanna miss it. Helpful links: The best food guide, in my opinion https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-food-scene/a-food-themed-holiday-gift-guide Infatuation's Best Indian and Pakistani restaurants https://www.theinfatuation.com/los-angeles/guides/the-best-indian-pakistani-restaurants-in-la NYT's Best Dishes in CDMX https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/t-magazine/mexico-city-restaurants-food.html Infatuation's Best New Restaurants 2023 https://www.theinfatuation.com/los-angeles/collection/best-new-restaurants-los-angeles-2023 Infatuation's Tate McRae list https://www.theinfatuation.com/los-angeles/guides/tate-mcrae-la-restaurants NY Carbone private dining club https://www.grubstreet.com/2023/11/zzs-club-carbone-privato-nyc.html

We’re joined today by writer and editor Virali Dave to talk all things Negronis. Virali is a well-versed and passionate consumer of cocktail culture, and the well loved Italian cocktail has been an obsession of hers as of late. She joins us to talk about the cocktail’s origins, how to tell if your bartender’s making you a good one, and where to find the five best versions around the City of Angels. We also spend some time talking about her journey as a food writer, from her humble beginnings fact checking at The Ringer, to her most recent experience writing and editing some pretty awesome pieces for Eater LA.  Also... there have been some important developments with respect to legal street vending in Los Angeles. In October, LA City Council Member Hugo Soto-Martinez introduced a motion that could have some pretty significant ramifications for LA’s street vendors. We’re joined by Doug Smith of Inclusive Action for the City to break down what it all means. Helpful links: Virali on IG https://www.instagram.com/virali/?hl=en Virali's article on Rendition Room https://la.eater.com/2023/9/11/23863248/rendition-room-speakeasy-studio-city-scott-warren-bartender-feature Rendition Room https://therenditionroom.wildapricot.org/ Margot https://www.margot.la/ Grandmaster Recorders https://grandmasterrecorders.com/ Baar Baar https://www.baarbaarla.com/

LA3C Food and Music Festival is coming to Downtown LA’s Historic Core this weekend. We’re joined by Joey Rubin, who leads food curation for the festival, to hear about how him and his team put together one of the coolest food festival experiences this city has ever seen. From a Oaxacan sushi pop-up featuring the folks over at Simon in Silver Lake, to a bonkers collab between Poltergeist’s Diego Argoti and Pearl River Deli’s Johnny Lee that may or may not feature an orange chicken burrito, this is truly the kind of food experience that could only happen in LA. So listen to the conversation with Joey, go buy the $20 tickets - $20! That’s it! - and I’ll see you there, dear listener. But first, I’m going to give you a quick rundown of 3 news stories that caught my eye this week. There’s a LA restaurant that’s been named to Eater’s list of Best New Restaurants in America 2023, a fascinating look at Erewhon’s questionable past, and some fried chicken drama cracking on between Timeout LA and Le Coupe. Helpful links: LA3C Marketplace tickets https://www.la3c.com/marketplace Biite Club https://biite.club/ Joey on IG https://www.instagram.com/joey.rubin/?hl=en Eater's Best New Restaurants America https://www.eater.com/2023/11/7/23949168/eaters-best-new-restaurants-america-2023 The Cut on Erewhon https://www.thecut.com/article/erewhon-smoothie-boston-los-angeles-history.html Timeout LA fried chicken list https://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/restaurants/best-fried-chicken-in-los-angeles