Tag archives: chef

A Kitchen Clod Takes a Cooking Class in Santa Fe
By Jerry Dunn   |   December 26, 2023

Chef Johnny Vee stood in his test kitchen, welcoming a dozen students to his “New Mexico Combination Plate” class and trying to explain how the list of dishes we’d be preparing had grown so-o-o long. “I don’t smoke pot,” he said, “but it looks like it – like I’m going, ‘Maybe we should make enchiladas. […]

Thomas Keller to Oversee Coral Casino Eateries
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   July 18, 2023

Earlier this week, Ty Warner announced a new partnership with seven-Michelin star chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller, who has been tapped to oversee all food and beverage operations at the iconic Coral Casino on Channel Drive.  “I’m excited to be part of the Coral Casino story,” Chef Keller said in a statement. “It’s an honor […]

Puttin’ on the Ritz
By Richard Mineards   |   May 23, 2023

Susanto Bhattacharya, who started his culinary career in a small town in India, is the new executive chef at the Ritz Carlton Bacara. With skills acquired in Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa, including the Caribbean, he will oversee the oceanside hostelry’s six culinary venues, including the Angel Oak, housing the tony resort’s 12,000-bottle wine […]

Foraging Thyme: The Dance from Ballerina to Chef
By Melissa Petitto   |   January 31, 2023

Little did I know that my life would take the turn from young ballerina to celebrity personal chef in NYC or later that I would end up as Executive Chef and partner in a meal delivery start up in Santa Barbara. And now, I get to write to you, the readers of the Montecito Journal, […]

Evan Kleiman Talks Food and Why Nigella Lawson Has Earned Culinary Diva-dom
By Claudia Schou   |   November 8, 2022

Come see “An Evening with Nigella Lawson” on Saturday, November 12 at 7:30 pm at the Granada Theatre, as the global food icon converses with KCRW’s Evan Kleiman about her new cookbook and the meals, people, and experiences that shaped her life. I had the chance to recently chat with Kleiman about the upcoming event […]

Netflix’s The Andy Warhol Diaries Provides Inspiration for a Foodie’s Diary
By Claudia Schou   |   June 21, 2022

Saturday Dear Diary, This pandemic was so inconvenient, and awful, just awful. I’ve never felt so lonely and depressed in my entire life. Thank you for helping me get through the pandemic! I’ve kept sane with tantalizing home cooked meals and entertaining TV series like Pam and Tommy. Last night I finished the last episode […]

Simple, Homegrown Meals Fit for a Royal Family
By Claudia Schou   |   May 3, 2022

“We don’t talk about Bruno tonight,” joked El Encanto General Manager Janis Clapoff on a recent warm and breezy evening. She was partially making reference to the Oscar award-winning animated film Encanto, but also referring to the hotel’s Executive Chef Bruno Lopez, who was taking the night off as head chef and serving as sous-chef […]

Mollie Moves On
By James Buckley   |   December 7, 2021

I’ve known Mollie Ahlstrand for more than 30 years. Her high-end Italian restaurant on Coast Village Road was there for more than 25 of those years. But, the fires, the floods, the debris flow, and other disasters took their toll and she moved her place to Santa Barbara three years ago, only to run into […]

Marcus Samuelsson’s The Rise Takes Foodies on a Black American Food Adventure
By Claudia Schou   |   August 24, 2021

A few months ago, my bestie, Lynn, a librarian and bibliophile, gave me a vintage copy of How to Talk with Practically Anybody About Practically Anything (Doubleday & Co., 1970), a guidebook to the art of conversation, written by none other than the godmother of celebrity interviews, Barbara Walters. Among her subjects: tycoons, royalty, politicians, […]

Zaca Creek Reopens with New Chef to Help Rebuild Legacy
By Claudia Schou   |   March 25, 2021

This winter, public officials asked restaurant owners, workers, and diners to mostly stay home as lockdowns once again took effect. Now that progress is being made with vaccinations going up and COVID-19 cases going down, restaurants are opening up again just in time to unveil spring menus and debut new outdoor dining spaces. That means […]

New Chef Brings Easy Going, Yet Sophisticated Cuisine to El Encanto
By Claudia Schou   |   March 11, 2021

There’s a new chef and fresh burst of inspiration in Belmond El Encanto’s kitchen. The Old Hollywood glamour-style hotel, perched on the Riviera, gets its first major menu change in four years, thanks to Bruno Lopez. He’s the former executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage and Raffles L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills and is […]

Baking and Reading Your Way Through a Pandemic
By Claudia Schou   |   February 4, 2021

In the Kitchen with Leslie Zemeckis  When Leslie Zemeckis saunters into a room, people pay attention. That’s because the Montecito-based actress-baker-author exudes a kind of charm and poise that makes it possible to swan her way through any room – even a kitchen. Her kitchen is her temple, her place for Zen. So is her […]

Compliments to the Chef
By Richard Mineards   |   January 21, 2021

On a personal note, I remember Albert Roux, the French-born chef whose London eatery, La Gavroche, was the first in Britain to earn three Michelin stars, who has died aged 85. Albert and his brother, Michel, who moved to more heavenly pastures last year, opened their restaurant, named after a character in Victor Hugo’s novel […]

In the Kitchen with Nancy Silverton
By Claudia Schou   |   January 21, 2021

When Skepticism and Humor Become the Perfect Recipe for Artisanal Bread Whenever I hear the name Le Cordon Bleu it reminds me of the time I took a “Savory Nibbles” cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu Paris with my mother-in-law, Marie. After completing the very first step of our course – to crack an egg […]

In the Kitchen with Matt Johnson
By Claudia Schou   |   December 24, 2020

These days it’s hard to get excited about anything when days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months and the only glimmer of hope is your next home-cooked meal. Same salad dressing, same lemon chicken, same wine, and the same cloth napkins (just washed). Life has been, well, uneventful. That is, up until last […]

Holiday Bundt for Brunch or Dessert
By Claudia Schou   |   December 24, 2020

These gorgeously shaped cakes are perfect for every holiday meal, according to San Ysidro Ranch pastry chef Michelle Straub. Throughout her time in the gastronomic world, Straub has put a focus on bringing new life to classic recipes using the best ingredients possible. “My goal has always been to do the basics extremely well, because […]

Crooning and Cooking
By Richard Mineards   |   November 12, 2020

Santa Barbara’s Singing Chef Andy LoRusso, who now lives in Naples, Florida, was diagnosed with the neurological disorder dystonia, a mild form of Parkinson’s disease, two years ago. “It causes excessive involuntary muscle contractions for which I take Botox shots every ninety days,” says Andy, who grew up in Newark, New Jersey, before finding his […]

In the Kitchen with Serkaddis Alemu
By Claudia Schou   |   November 5, 2020

A seasoned Ethiopian chef on the art of making injera and a new approach to communal dining during the pandemic Petit Valentien serves bistro-style French cuisine with classic offerings such as Petrale Sole, but weekend brunch is another matter. That’s when diners gather at the bohemian-style café for Ethiopian feasts of spicy meats and braised […]

Cottage Rehab’s Evening of Empowering Entertainment
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 13, 2020

Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation presents a fundraising screening of the 2017 film Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story, which describes Eduardo Garcia‘s rehabilitation journey following injuries he suffered from a massive electric shock while hunting. A classically trained chef who found his passion for cooking at an early age, Garcia cut his teeth in the industry […]

Enlightenment in the Kitchen: Michael Krohnen on Cooking for J. Krishnamurti
By Claudia Schou   |   October 13, 2020

“I’m very simple in what I prepare in the kitchen these days,” Michael Krohnen says as he stands in a small yet tidy and well-appointed kitchen of a 1910 farmhouse in Ojai’s East End. Although not a classically trained chef, Krohnen is nonetheless known throughout the world, and his thoughts on cooking have been translated […]