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Salt & Straw ice cream

If you’re looking to spice up your holiday meal this Thanksgiving, consider this: an entire meal in five pints of ice cream. And not just any ice cream — handmade, small-batch Salt and Straw ice cream direct from Portland, Oregon.

So what’s so special about Salt and Straw? Cousins Kim and Tyler Malek use only all-natural dairy; local, sustainable and organic ingredients; as well as imported flavors from small, handpicked farms and producers. The ice cream is made with 17 percent butterfat, little air and low sweetness. And then there are the unique flavors: Honey Balsamic Strawberry with Cracked Pepper, Coffee and Bourbon, and Pear with Blue Cheese, among others.

Which brings us back to the Thanksgiving flavors. The Maleks recently visited the only place outside Oregon that serves their ice cream — Joan’s on Third in Los Angeles, which carries the five-pack and serves Salt and Straw by the scoop (we Angelenos are super lucky) — to share these unique holiday flavors with us.

Herewith, Salt and Straw’s Thanksgiving dinner:

Sweet Potato and Candied Pecans: pureed sweet potatoes in the ice cream, with marshmallow fluff and roasted pecans. I much prefer this to the real thing.

Sweet Potato and Candied Pecans

Apple Cranberry Stuffing: celery-sweetened ice cream with cranberries, apples and a white bread pudding flavored with a variety of spices. Really interesting — and delicious — given the celery ice cream. I also like chewing on the bits of bread.

Apple Cranberry Stuffing

Salted Caramel Thanksgiving Turkey: Salted caramel ice cream with turkey skin brittle. Really, really interesting. It’s reminiscent of candied bacon ice creams, but it takes like turkey. Definitely tastes like turkey.

Salted Caramel Thanksgiving Turkey

Mincemeat Pie: holiday spiced ice cream with dried figs, cherries, currants and apples steeped in brandy and fresh citrus. Apparently mincemeat pies don’t actually contain meat (at least, not anymore). This ice cream is super spiced, with lots of cinnamon, clove and all kinds of good holiday flavors.

Mincemeat Pie

Pumpkin Custard and Spiced Chèvre: pumpkin custard piped into a spiced goat cheese ice cream. This was my favorite, hands-down. I love pumpkin-flavored treats and look forward to pumpkin pie every Thanksgiving. I thought Trader Joe’s made the best pumpkin ice cream I’ve ever tasted. There’s no comparison next to Salt and Straw’s.

Pumpkin Custard and Spiced Chevre

All five flavors, and you have to buy them as a package, are available while supplies last at Joan’s on Third for $65. While you’re there, pick up some of Joan’s tasty housemade potato chips.

Note: This tasting was hosted.

Further reading:

Turkey Ice Cream? Thanksgiving Flavors from Portland’s Salt and Straw, Now at Joan’s on Third by Gourmet Pigs

I imagine The Dining Room and Terrace at El Encanto hotel — high up on a hill overlooking the city of Santa Barbara — is a lovely place to enjoy an expertly crafted meal. The hotel, which opened in March and is the first West Coast location for Orient-Express Hotels, offers what look like spectacular views of Santa Barbara and the Pacific Ocean. I wouldn’t really know because I haven’t actually been there. But I have had Chef Patrice Martineau’s nicely executed and delicious food.

Martineau and the El Encanto team recently hosted a tasting in Los Angeles (now that’s what I call service), and it was so impressive that I now have a trip to Santa Barbara on my list so I can enjoy one of Martineau’s meals in its native environment. We tasted some of the regular menu dishes, as well as some special bites, including some aged cheddar made from the milk of El Encanto’s own Holstein cow, Ellie.

We started off with a crab salad, which was served alongside cranberry gelée, chilled ginger verbena hollandaise sauce and a raspberry vinegar glaze. The sweet crab meat was tempered with the tartness and acid in its accompaniments, creating a perfect balance.

Crab salad

Next up was the slow-baked organic Scottish salmon in a yuzukosho crust served with baby vegetables and glazed gnocchi in a smoked bonito orange broth. The yuzukosho, a fermented Japanese seasoning made from chili peppers, yuzu peel and salt, gave the salmon an interesting Asian twist complemented by the bonito broth.

Scottish salmon

We also had Martineau’s braised short ribs, which are braised in white wine instead of the more common red wine, which lightened the flavor of the meat up — a nice touch, given the heaviness of short ribs. Roasted fennel, crushed celery root, basil, tomatoes and roasted tombolina carrots rounded out the dish.

Braised short rib

Ellie’s Silver Mountain aged cheddar, served with fresh figs and cream of balsamic vinegar on a bed of edible wheatgrass, was a tasty was for us to get ready for the sweeter desserts, which included chocolate truffles and little almond berry tea cakes. But the main event was the Manjari Chocolate “Florentine,” a classic chocolate mousse topped with almond and hazelnut nougatine. While the dessert wasn’t really a florentine, it contained the flavors of the classic Italian dessert (I guess that’s why its name has quotation marks in it), and with the chocolate mousse made for a rich ending to a lovely meal.

Ellie’s Silver Mountain cheese

Tea cakes and truffles

Manjari Chocolate “Florentine”

Note: The meal was hosted.

Pear and cheese salad

When you first walk into The Church Key on the Sunset Strip, you might think, in no particular order, “This place is big. And pretty. And it kind of looks like an Anthropologie store. Are those food carts being pushed around? Am I sitting on a couch to eat dinner?” At least, those were some of the thoughts running through my head, which isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy my experience. Because I did, because the food was pretty darn good.

How could it not be? Most of the creative and business team are made up of XIV alumni — Chef Steven Fretz (Top Round Roast Beef, XIV), General Manager Joseph Sabato (The Bazaar, XIV) and Chef de Cuisine Ryan Ososky (XIV, Bradley Ogden) — with Mixologist Devon Espinosa (Pour Vous, ink.) and Pastry Chef Ian Opina (Hatfields) thrown into the mix.

But the dining experience at The Church Key is definitely something new. While there’s the regular food and drink menu, there are also roaming carts serving off-menu specials dim sum style, including frozen-to-order boozy popsicles. This can make for a fun meal, but you can also easily eat too much if your eyes are bigger than what your belly can hold. Also, the cuisine might be best described as “international,” though management calls it “modern American.” Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe. Basically the menu is all over the place, but because most of it is executed so well that it really doesn’t matter.

Popsicle-freezing cart

Boozy popsicle

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Mo-Chica’s Pisco Sour

If you’re anything like me, you’re not that into Halloween. But if, like me, you like a good party with good food and drink, then Chef Ricardo Zarate’s restaurants, conveniently located through Los Angeles, will be the places to be.

Picca
9575 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
310.277.0133
9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

*Welcome shot for those dressed in costume
*$20 open bar for those who enjoyed dinner earlier in the evening; $25 open bar for general public (includes Pisco Halloween Punch, Peruvian beer and house wines)
*Costume contest, “Thriller” dance competition, bobbing for apples, receive 20 percent off New Year’s Eve dinner, “Spooky Gift Bags,” and surprise grand prize

Mo-Chica
517 W. 7th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90014
213.622.3744

11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

*Welcome shot for those dressed in costume
*$25 open bar including Peruvian Pisco Halloween Punch, Peruvian beer and house wines

2:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

*20 percent off entire bill during happy hour
*Costume contest, dance competition, gift certificates and “Spooky Gift Bags”

Paiche
13488 Maxella Ave.
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
310.893.6100

2:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

*$25 open bar with special-themed cocktails, beer and house wine

9 p.m. to midnight

*666 menu featuring 6 dishes for $6 each
*Raffle, costume contest, one-hour mixology class with Mixologist Deysi Alvarez, one-hour cooking class with Ricardo Lopez, and more

Corinth Canal

After a few days in Athens, my husband, Rory, and I headed for the open Greek road on the Peloponnese. We hit up Corinth, Nafplio, Stoupa (for the wedding) and Ancient Olympia.

Driving in Greece

Driving in Greece wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. For one thing, the Greeks drive on the right side of the road, so we didn’t have to worry about driving on the left. There’s also a national network of highways that never seems to have any traffic, so that’s also a plus. It’s only when you’re driving through small villages — which we did on our way back to Athens from Olympia — that it gets tricky. Yes, some of the streets in Athens are small, but some of the “roads” in Greek villages are only roads in the academic sense; they really did not look like any road a car should be driving on!

Corinth

Our first stop was Corinth, where we stopped for pics of the canal (pictured above) before we made our way to the beach. Pro tip: while you can find English speakers in much of Greece, the folks who worked in the restaurants along the beach in Corinth did not speak English very well. We were surprised since Corinth is only an hour outside Athens. This made trying to find beach towels to buy difficult! However, we discovered here that restaurants often have beach chairs that you can use for free as long as you buy something, even if it’s just a drink. They have servers who come out to you, too. I wish we had this kind of service in Los Angeles as a matter of course!

A beach in Corinth

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Westside Negroni at The Churchill. Photo by Annabelle Abouab.

On Thursday, Oct. 17, stop by The Churchill on West Third Street for a combined celebration in honor of the restaurant’s 2nd anniversary as well as The Hudson’s 4th anniversary. Starting at 10 p.m., you’ll be treated to passed appetizers from Churchill Executive Chef Michael Bryant, half-off fall cocktails from mixologist Karen Grill and sounds from KCRW’s Garth Trinidad. With Bryant and Grill behind the eats, this is sure to be a tasty affair.

Set to be on the passed-app menu:

*Ahi tuna with cucumber and harissa aioli
*Mini tacos with fresh snapper ceviche, pico de gallo and guacamole
*Beef tartare
*Roasted market veggie kabobs
*Parmesan gougères
*Angus beef sliders

Grill’s new fall cocktails will be half-off at $6 and include:

*24th 1/2 Century: scotch, Punt e Mes, cacao, fresh lemon juice
*Mezcalifornia Dreamin’: mezcal, Cointreau, sage liquer, fresh lime juice
*Westside Negroni: London Dry gin, east india sherry, Aperol, lemon zest
*Caipeira: cachaca, pear brandy, lime segments, Peychauds bitters
*High Tea: tequila, earl grey tea, rhubarb liquer, orange bitters, fresh lemon juice, soda
*Tiki-Tiki Tembo: aged rum, Cynar, pineapple juice, orgeat, lime, grated nutmeg
*Churchill Manhattan: rye whiskey, vermouth, Angostura bitters
*Lily of the Valley: gin, aloe liquer, agave rose soda, fresh lime juice

Bryant recently took over for chef Bruce Kalman, who left to start his own pickle company, and Grill has taken over for Mia Sarazen. I recently tried both Bryant’s food and Grill’s drinks (the 24th 1/2 Century was my favorite, followed closely by the Westside Negroni, which is less bitter than traditional negronis) and can attest to their quality. Should be a good time!

The Churchill
8384 W. 3rd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
10 p.m. to close

2013 LAFW tee. From Flavour Gallery.

If you’ve been to some of the country’s major food events, including LA Food & Wine, LA Times The Taste, Pebble Beach Food & Wine, and New York City Wine & Food Festival, then you’ve seen Flavour Gallery‘s T-shirts. The vintage wash and modern prints make these event shirts way cooler than the typical festival apparel.

Flavour Gallery has also teamed up with celebrity food personalities, including Chris Cosentino, Andrew Zimmern and Jenn Louis, to create unique food-inspired designs. Remember those stylish LudoBites T-shirts the pop-ups’ staffers wore? Those were Flavour Gallery’s, too.

Husband-and-wife team Erin and Alfredo Malatesta founded the company a couple of years ago after 10 years in the fashion industry as an expression of their love for food.

“We had spent many years designing and manufacturing for other brands and wanted to create something that was near and dear to our hearts,” Erin said. “At the time, there was no lifestyle brand focused on food — something that you would wear to express how passionate you are about cooking, being a chef, festivals or wine.”

If you order a shirt online, it’ll arrive wrapped like a piece of freshly butchered meat (this is a good thing), like so:

Flavour Gallery package

This style, called Classy Utensils, features some on-trend neon print on a soft burnout tee. I received a size medium, and Erin was right when warning me that this style runs small because even the medium is snug. I recommend a large if you like a looser fit.

Classy Utensils T-shirt

While I’m generally not a big fan of tees with graphics, Flavour Gallery’s shirts are fun stuff for those of us who enjoy food and food-related things. That’s me, natch.

Note: This shirt was complimentary.

Eslor Replenishing Scrub. From eslor.com.

I think I’ve found my new favorite skincare line: Eslor.

Started by a pharmacologist who wanted to create a natural skin care line for his wife, Eslor has some really effective products with ingredients such as aloe vera, safflower oil, algae extract and almond meal extract. Eslor products are also free of parabens, sodium lauryl sulphate and sodium lauryl ether sulphate.

I had the opportunity to try out almost all of Eslor’s products, and I’ve decided on some favorites.

First off, the Soothing Refiner & Cleanser left my skin feeling really clean without any residue. It also left my skin feeling soft without being overly moisturized. Likewise, the Soothing Cream moisturizer, while thicker than my usual moisturizer, didn’t leave my skin overly oily. It’s much lighter than it seems, which works well for my combination-oily skin.

I also liked the Replenishing Scrub, which reminded me of St. Ives apricot scrub but without the thickness. Eslor’s scrub has big pieces of something (almonds, I think) that felt a little harsh but left my skin smooth. It’s a little hard to use because if you add too much water, it falls apart, but when you get the water-to-scrub proportion right, it’s effective. But the Botanical Peeling Gel is my favorite. You leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes, then rub to peel it off. It left my skin feeling really clean and smooth.

Overall, using these products made my skin look and feel healthier and more youthful. And the best part may be that the products aren’t cost-prohibitive. The most expensive product is the Brightening Activator at $110; many others fall well below that price. Effective and affordable — score!

Note: These product samples were complimentary.

Cream and rhubarb at Red Medicine. Photo by Jordan Kahn.

Red Medicine, Chef Jordan Kahn’s ode to late-night, post-restaurant-shift eating, is undergoing a transformation. While the restaurant has focused on serving Vietnamese-inspired food, kind of like what Kahn and his work buddies would eat after service was over, Red Medicine is now phasing that menu out to make room for new, innovative creations inspired by what he finds foraging — on the beach, in his neighborhood, even in his backyard — in a “new naturalist” style dependent on local availability.

Kahn’s dishes have always looked like pieces of art, and his new ones are no exception. From the exotic-looking “cream and rhubarb” to the surprising “bread and cheese” (the simple names don’t do the dishes justice), the plating looks like it must be a painstaking task. Every cluster of food, be it vegetables, cheese or some kind of protein, looks like a beautiful little garden captured in a whimsical moment in time. I half expected to see elves peeking out from behind the cluster of veggies and flowers on my plates.

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J.Crew denim. From J.Crew.

Don’t miss out on the long weekend’s Labor Day sales!

Gap
Adult t-shirts $10 and baby tees $8 Thursday, Aug. 29, only
Up to 40 percent off select styles through Monday, Sept. 2
In stores and online

OpenSky
85 percent off clearance

Banana Republic
40 percent off purchase online and in stores with code BRWEEKEND through Monday, Sept. 2
Extra 20 percent off when you open a BananaCard in store by Monday, Sept. 2

Old Navy
30 percent off entire store or 35 percent off when you use your Old Navy, Gap or Banana Card online (with code SPREE) and in stores
40 percent off all adult Famous jeans (not combinable with other discounts) in store only
Through Monday, Sept. 2

Anthropologie
New items added to sale, and extra 25 percent off home sale items through Monday, Sept. 2

Diane von Furstenberg
30 percent off pre-fall 2013 collection online and in stores through Monday, Sept. 2

J.Crew
25 percent off denim Thursday, Aug. 29, only
Extra 30 percent off final sale items in stores and online with code HELLO30
Free shipping on orders $100+

J.Crew Factory
40 to 50 percent off everything online and in stores through Monday, Sept. 2

West Elm
15 percent off sofas, sectionals and upholstered accent chairs
15 percent off mirrors
20 percent off laundry and cleaning
Extra 30 percent off pillows and throw blanket markdowns with code XTRAPILLOWS
Up to 30 percent off bedding
30 percent off select rugs
Online and in stores through Monday, Sept. 2

C. Wonder
25 percent off full-price items online and in store with code LABORDAY through Monday, Sept. 2

Ann Taylor
30 percent off full-price items
Extra 40 percent off sale items
In stores and online

Barnes & Noble
15 percent off any item in stores and online with code BWJQV61LMZ6E3 through Monday, Sept. 2

H&M
Items available in store and online starting at $5 through Monday, Sept. 2

Lifebooker
Extra 20 percent off Loot with code LABORDAY

Travelocity
Extra 15 percent off hotel bookings with code GOWEEKEND15E Friday, Aug. 30, only

Gilt City
20 percent off with code THANKS20 through Monday, Sept. 2

Piperlime
25 percent off full-price women’s jeans with code DENIM through Tuesday, Sept. 3

Topshop
Extra 20 percent off sale items

Macy’s
Extra 20 percent off (15 percent off home, excluding furniture and mattresses) with code DEALS through Monday, Sept. 2
Free shipping on orders $99+

Williams-Sonoma
Extra 15 percent off clearance items with code SAVENOW
Free shipping with code LABORDAY
15 percent off table top with code LABORDAY
20 percent off cooking tools with code TOOLS20
20 percent off soap and lotion
Up to 75 percent off outdoor
20 percent off Williams-Sonoma cookware
In stores and online through Monday, Sept. 2