June 2010 Archives
Photographer Eric Reed caught this wide-angle view of Ben McGinty, who runs the Gallery at the End of the World, the eclectic and bohemian North Lake Avenue art salon.
(Photo by Eric Reed / Staff)
Dish Bistro's Job Carder has a slow-food approach to cuisine in his kitchen on Union Street. He makes all the house breads and pastas; handmade sausages and charcuterie; and cured bacon, prosciutto and pancetta.
Above is the executive chef's half-roasted Jidori chicken, which he serves with stuffed garlic and thyme. The chicken is slow-roasted with veggies, like sunburst and pattypan squash, Thumbelina carrots, Chambord-glazed cipollini onions and baby turnips.
"I like to stay as true to the ingredients that I'm using as possible and not mask them or overpower them with a bunch of herbs or spices," Carder said. "I believe that everything should be as clean and pure as possible. ... I do it the old-world way."
Carder said he spends a lot of time building relationships with farmers, creameries and the like.
"Luckily, they're willing to ship to me, so we can have ... produce that is all sourced locally," he said. "My lamb comes direct from the farmer, my cheese comes direct from the creamery, my fish comes right out of Bodega Bay to me."
For his summer menu, expect to see Carder working with tomatoes and figs, among other fresh ingredients.
"In the summer, the tomatoes are plump and lush and colorful -- that's when you want to use them," he says. "And figs: I adore figs, I love figs."
Dish Bistro & Bar, 53 E. Union St., (626) 795-5546, dishbistroandbar.com
More photos after the jump:
Continue reading Photos: Chef Job Carder's Cal-Med cuisine at Dish Bistro in Pasadena.
From our summer dining issue, here's a round-up by Emma Gallegos of the area's best chilly treats -- now with extra photographic goodness:
- BULGARINI GELATO
Leo Bulgarini ships the high-quality ingredients for his gelatos all the way from Italy if he has to, but it's all made on site in Altadena and offered up with these irresistible words: "Try this, I just made it this morning." Some of the flavors are straight-up delicious -- fruit sorbets and granita flavored with the real melon, citrus and pineapples, a hazelnut gelato that's more nutty than nutella. Some of the flavors are strangely delicious, like the goat cheese with chocolate nibs: creamy, slightly sweet and then there are these little flecks of hardened goat cheese and bitter chocolate. How about yogurt with celtic salt or olive oil? It's just pazzo enough to work. 749 East Altadena Drive, Altadena, (626) 791-6174, bulgarinigelato.com
Continue reading Photos: Get the scoop -- or two -- on area's best frozen sweets.
In an operations center near the Sonoma County Airport, highly sensitive liquids are handled in a meticulous process that prevents their contamination.
Exacting scientific standards require the most unpolluted environment possible: a semiconductor clean room, devoid of oxygen, into which no human can enter. Materials arriving in and exiting the clean room do so through airlocks that preserve the zero-oxygen environment. The liquid is automatically measured and dispersed -- gently and accurately, over and over -- by some of the world's smallest peristaltic pumps.
And all of this is done, essentially, to decant a bottle of wine. Or, rather, hundreds of thousands of them.
Welcome to the manufacturing pipeline of TastingRoom Inc., the innovators behind TastingRoom.com, which recently began shipping out to California consumers its taste-sized sample kits of wine from vineyards like Trefethen, Patz & Hall, Gundlach Bundschu, Talley, DeLoach and Grgich Hills.
Continue reading Nose Diving: TastingRoom's tiny wine bottles have big tech behind them.
The International Make-Up Artist Trade Show is mecca for the industry's top professionals and anyone who's ever gotten a shiver of joy from purchasing a new lipstick or eyeshadow palette.
At the show, brands like M.A.C., Urban Decay, OCC and Make Up For Ever will unveil new products and offer discounts on your go-to favorites, while pro and celebrity make-up artists will share their tips, tricks and techniques in panels discussions. Among them will be the crew of artists who created the fairyland looks seen in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland."
Visit the Make-Up Museum, watch a couture bridal fashion show, and keep ahead of the curve with a runway show on fall make-up trends
Too, students of make-up face off in a challenge to create winning fantasy looks: The beauty competition has an "Alice in Wonderland" theme, and the character competition is "Grimm's Fairy Tales"-themed.
Today, June 26, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., and tomorrow, June 27, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $10-$60. Pasadena Convention Center, 300 Green St. imatsshow.com
More photos after the jump:
Celebrity chef Michael Voltaggio is leaving The Langham Huntington in July, but the renovation of the hotel's Michelin-star restaurant is going ahead as scheduled, said Langham spokeswoman Elsa Schelin.
These renderings, the "latest sketches" provided by The Langham, give a glimpse into the future look of the as-yet-unnamed restaurant.
The Dining Room will close July 18 and is slated to reopen in early October -- now, with a new chef at its helm.
Atlanta-based architecture and design firm The Johnson Studio is leading the remodel.
It's not the first time the kitchen's leadership has changed since the hotel began planning the renovations. Bill Johnson, head of the design firm, noted in an e-mailed statement that the restaurant redesign project started when chef Craig Strong was still in The Dining Room's top spot.
"The arrival of Michael Voltaggio with his success on 'Top Chef' brought new energy, and we had a great time working with his ideas and tweaking the design to reflect his style and his cooking," Johnson said. "While we are sad to see him go, we are excited about the space that we are creating and look forward to working with the new chef through the construction and the finishing touches. We are confident that our design reflects the forward thinking vision and direction of the Langham brand and we are eager for the city of Pasadena to experience this exciting new restaurant."
Hundreds of customers lined up overnight at the Apple store in Old Pasadena ahead of today's iPhone 4 launch. Here are some critical observations from Twitter:
Continue reading Twitter dispatches from the line at Pasadena's Apple store.
More than 250 koi splashed down Wednesday at their new home at The Huntington Library in San Marino. The colorful fish were a gift from Anaheim's Disneyland Resort, which needed to relocate them from a hotel koi pond.
The fish are now living swimming it up in a series of five lily ponds below The Huntington's Jungle Garden, in another pond in the Japanese Garden and in a lake in the Chinese Garden.
The Huntington says "the new residents took to the water like -- well -- like fish to water."
Some interspecies cuteness, as the fish mingle with other denizens of the gardens, after the jump:
Continue reading Photos: Disneyland koi splash down at The Huntington in San Marino.
A traditional Spanish dessert -- these days, corrupted by an explosion in popularity and en masse distribution at theme parks and even fast-food joints -- the churros at POP Champagne and Dessert Bar are on the high end of the doughy spectrum.
Chef Ray Vasquez rolls his fresh churros in sugar and serves them up with a trio of sauces: warm chocolate, dulce de leche and cinnamon.
POP Champagne and Dessert Bar, 33 E. Union St., (626) 795-1295, popchampagnebar.com
More photos after the jump:
Staff writer Caroline An set out to discover what produce is in season at the area's best farmers markets.
Summer has arrived, and succulent favorites are ripe for the picking: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, apricots, plums, peaches and nectarines.
Also, sweet white corn, summer squash, beets, avocados and fava beans are all up for your consideration as hot-weather culinary inspiration.
For something a bit more unusual on your summer menu, try cactus.
Read the full story in Rose Magazine, plus lots of delicious photos after the jump:
Continue reading Photos: Harvest a bounty from farmers markets in the Pasadena area.
Rose Magazine partnered with the Pasadena POPS and the Star-News to celebrate the kick-off of our summer dining and entertainment issue on Friday, June 18.
The party was held on the lawn adjacent to the Rose Bowl, which is the new concert venue for the POPS.
Guests enjoyed food and drink from Pasadena eateries like Porta Via and Polkatots Cupcakes.
Rose Magazine's Woman of the Year, Nadine Washington, helped co-host the celebration and was honored with an official pin recognizing the commendation.
The festivities concluded with a working-rehearsal performance by the POPS and guest artists Cirque de la Symphonie, as they prepared to open their summer concert season the following night.
More photos after the jump:
Continue reading Photos: Rose Magazine kick-off party with the Pasadena POPS.
- ELEMENTS KITCHEN
37 S. El Molino Ave., (626) 440-0044, elementskitchen.com
Every Thursday is "liquid sketches" night, when the bartenders gear up for an Iron Chef-style challenge.
Read the full story by Claudia S. Palma in Rose Magazine. Plus lots of photos and more bars after the jump:
Continue reading Photos: Summer libations from Pasadena bartenders.
From the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colo., the "Top Chef" talked to Krista Simmons of the L.A. Times' Daily Dish blog about yesterday's announcement that he'll be leaving The Langham in Pasadena to start his own restaurant venture:Krista Simmons: Because of your personality and your style of cooking, everyone was surprised that you stayed at the Langham for so long. Why leave now that they're renovating?
Michael Voltaggio: I had to come to terms with the fact that I either stay in Pasadena and be at this restaurant being branded around me, or I can do something on my own outside of the Langham. I decided I want to make my own place. ... At the end of the day I know that no matter what, that restaurant wasn't mine....KS: What neighborhoods are you scoping out? Is there a possibility that you might not even stay in L.A.?
MV: Restaurants don't just fall out of the sky, so it'll be a while. My goal is to stay in Los Angeles. I love L.A. and think it's the most exciting food city to be in right now. ... I'll be looking in West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, places with a lot of foot traffic.
Full post here.
(Staff file photo)
Kate Ogilvie, 10, plays the role of artist Johannes Vermeer with his painting "The Milkmaid."
At Monrovia's Wild Rose Elementary School, GATE students in the fourth and fifth grade transformed themselves Tuesday into historical figures as part of the school's Wax Museum exhibit. The young scholars researched their characters from the past and made costumes and props to display while interacting with classmates.
(Photo by Walt Mancini / Staff)
In the middle of the bustle of Pasadena lies the Urban Homestead, a self-reliant oasis for Jules Dervaes and his adult children, Anais, Justin and Jordanne.
The family lives and works on the property, where a tenth of an acre is devoted to gardening.
The average home-sized spot has yielded more than 5,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables annually for the past two years. It boasts more than 400 different types of produce, as well as nearly 2,000 chicken and duck eggs and 25 pounds of honey, which is sold to local restaurants, caterers and other clients and also finds its way to the Dervaes' table.
Read more by reporter Michelle J. Mills in Rose Magazine, at the interactive link below, plus lots of photos after the jump:
Continue reading Photos: Edible living arrangements at Pasadena's Urban Homestead.
"Top Chef" Michael Voltaggio will be leaving The Dining Room at The Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa when the restaurant closes for renovation on July 18, spokeswoman Elsa Schelin confirmed.
Voltaggio is leaving "to work on new projects." Schelin said no further details about his departure were yet available.
Atlanta-based architecture firm The Johnson Studio will still manage the upcoming renovation of The Dining Room.
Here's the full statement from Schelin:
"The Langham Huntington, Pasadena is grateful for our partnership with Chef Voltaggio this past year and wish him great success in his future endeavors. The Dining Room will close on July 18 to undergo a renovation, with an expected re-opening at the end of September. The restaurant will re-open with a new name and a more modern and stylish look and feel, designed by The Johnson Studio. Exact details regarding the restaurant's name, design details, menu and launch date will be disclosed in the coming months."
(Staff file photo)
Rumors are building in the blogosphere that Michael Voltaggio is leaving the restaurant at The Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa, Eater LA reported earlier today.The L.A. Times travel blog says the departure has been confirmed by Langham spokeswoman Elsa Schelin.
I have a line into Schelin asking for more details.
It was less than a month ago when I sat down with Voltaggio in The Dining Room and talked about plans to reinvent the restaurant. He was still very much at the center of the project, working with hotel officials and Bill Johnson of the architecture firm The Johnson Studio to bring the design of the space into alignment with his cutting-edge cuisine.
If true, Voltaggio's exit from The Langham would change a lot of things, including parts of our latest cover story that focus on the chef.
Stay tuned for updates.
In the meantime, here's a video we put together from that recent interview and photo shoot with the celebrity chef.
Alondra Hot Wings says its atomic wings weigh in at a hefty three million Scoville heat units. (Compare that to the hottest pepper, bhut jolokia or the ghost chili, which is at more than one million Scoville units.)Diners are required to sign a disclaimer before taking on the Alondra challenge of eating the wings, and reporter Stacey Wang was up to the fiery test.
Watch the video, below, and read more in Rose Magazine.
This boutique is brimming with you-can-do-no-wrong ensembles for summer and beyond.
Draw them in with turquoise and sea-foam delights that can be worn afternoon or, paired with heels, at night. Indeed, the array of colorful fabrics and accessories on hand may make you dizzy with happiness.
Look out for some killer handbags in the feminine-Western vein that are almost big enough to accomodate every item you'll score when shopping here.
More photos after the jump:
Continue reading Shop the block: L&G Fashion Boutique, 302 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia.
With its modernized art-deco space accented by dripping crystal pendant lights, Verita plays on the edge of luxury and elegance, while still offering that intimate small-town salon experience to puts you at ease among friends.
Verita stylists are masters of the Brazilian blowout, a huge-right-now trend for tresses that softens and smooths curls and waves and allows you to blow-dry in a fraction of the time -- so you don't have to sacrifice either style. It's also a gentler process and less dependent on harsh chemicals compared to other straightening formulas.
More photos after the jump:
Continue reading Shop the block: Verita Salon, 111 E. Lime Ave., Monrovia.
A shop that manages to be both extensive in its collections and still feel cozy, Jenni B. is an ideal boutique for scooping up special-occasion wear and investing in classic pieces upon which to build a wardrobe.
Look for Poetic License shoes -- especially the divine, colorful summer strappies -- and dresses and tanks from Kyumi and Voom by Joy Han. It feels a bit like Downtown L.A. fashion-district heaven, but this retail remix resides in the heart of Old Town Monrovia.
More photos after the jump:
Continue reading Shop the block: Jenni B., 106 E. Lime Ave., Monrovia.
Use the arrow bars, at right and left, to turn from one page to the next.
Continue reading Flip through the digital edition of Rose Magazine's June/July issue.
A hidden treasure in Pasadena, The Majestical Roof is not easy to find: Follow a sign off Fair Oaks Avenue, down a brick-road tunnel and into a quiet courtyard, where the boutique is tucked away on one side. The boutique sells an eclectic mix of products, from handmade soaps to vintage wear to mix media art pieces. There are cutesy, awkward mutant doll from The Cinnamon Roll Gang collection and children's toy boxes, alongside vintage jewelry pieces, like chandelier earrings revamped into cocktail rings.
The Majestical Roof has also become a venue for more than 100 artists to build their reputation and sell their work.
Read more by reporter Stacey Wang in Rose Magazine.
More photos after the jump:
Continue reading Treasures under a Majestical Roof in Pasadena.
What happens when more than 500 artists go back to the drawing board -- and the drawing board is a bunch of pavement in Pasadena?
The result is the Pasadena Chalk Festival, an explosion of color and style on the walkways of the Paseo Colorado shopping center. Face-painting and designated areas for kids to try their hand at their own variety of beautiful chalk art make this event a Father's Day weekend classic.
The Pasadena Chalk Festival this year will also attempt to set a world record for largest display of chalk pavement art.
Saturday and Sunday, June 19-20, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Free. Paseo Colorado, 280 E. Colorado Blvd. Free. (626) 795-9100, pasadenachalkfestival.com
More photos from festivals past, after the jump:
Continue reading Chalk it up: The Pasadena Chalk Festival colors your world this weekend.
Pick up a copy of the Pasadena Star-News this Wednesday, June 16, and look inside to find a copy of the June issue of Rose Magazine.Covering the best of summer dining and entertainment, this issue also examines the seeds of a new culinary culture being planted in Pasadena.
You'll read about:
- "Top Chef" Michael Voltaggio and the upcoming transformation of The Dining Room at The Langham
- The best local restaurants, farmers' markets, ethnic cuisine, vegetarian picks, frozen treats, coffee shops and more
- Summer spirits crafted by the city's best mixologists and bartenders
- The Urban Homesteaders and DIY tips to get you growing on the path to sustainable living
- Some of the strangest, hottest foods in the San Gabriel Valley
- L.A. Opera's production of Wagner's Ring cycle and why booing belongs, especially at the opera
- All our regular departments -- Shop, Go, Think, Seen, Insider -- including a Shop the Block feature out of Old Town Monrovia, plus the best of local events in June, July and early August
Check back here on our blog for lots of online exclusives -- photos, videos and links to the online edition of the magazine -- starting Wednesday.
Breaking up is hard to do. Above, "Fork in the Road" artist Ken Marshall tries to separate a resistant Bob Stane from the 18-foot wooden sculpture, as it was relocated from its seven-month home at the intersection of Pasadena and St. John avenues.
The dramatic tableau was all playacting, of course. The Star-News' Janette Williams reports the fork is headed for greener pastures -- aka refurbishment -- and a new life somewhere.
Stane, of Altadena's Coffee Gallery Backstage, and the "Fork in the Road" Gang surely have something up their collective sleeve for the mammoth utensil.
After the jump, an alternate view:
World Cup opening day is upon us, and, in celebration, The Bar at The Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa is now serving up nightly specials and inspired takes on street food from around the globe.
The World Cup "Kickoff" promotion includes The Langham's signature cocktails and an upscale bar-food menu crafted by Chef Erik Schuster (that's him, at left).
Each dish represents a different World Cup competitor country, and weekly face-offs will pit one country's menu item against another. (This week is England's fish and chips against the U.S. "Dirty Dogs.")
Follow and play along on Twitter, too, for the chance to win some complimentary World Cup street food.
Let's take a food journey, in photos, after the jump:
ANSWER: Pasadena City Hall. More photos here.
Students at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Pasadena are building a very special confection that, when finished, will be a cake-and-icing replica of a local structure.
Can you guess which it will be?
(Hint: It's not actually a house. The headline is just a clever diversion.)
(Photos by Walt Mancini / Staff)
Exciting news for Pasadena foodies: The original L.A. Street Food Fest is coming to the Rose Bowl on July 24.
There will be more than 55 food vendors, including all the top mobile-gourmet food trucks, old-school carts and stands, celebrity chefs and street-inspired dishes from L.A. restaurants. Added to the mix: Two beer gardens, cocktails and tequila tastings.
Ticket prices are all-inclusive, parking is free, and the proceeds benefit two great causes: St. Vincent Meals on Wheels and Woolly School Garden.
And, this time around, the food fest will be better equipped to handle the overwhelming demand that's inevitable when every sought-after food truck is gathered in one locale -- along with beer gardens, cocktails and live music. Organizers say they've worked out the kinks in the system that, at February's event, created massive wait times and prevented some people from getting into the festival.
July 24, VIP preview, 4-5 p.m.; general admission, 5:30-9 p.m.; Tickets, $45; VIP, $65. Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive
(Photo by Watchara Phomicinda / Staff)
The exhibitions are dual: One looking back at the fascinating domain of patent models in the 1800s, the other looking forward to the future of objects conceived on computers and sprouted up by machines. One revolution has already changed the world; the other soon will.
Image, at top: This printed rose began with a high-resolution scan of a real rose, and was then printed at Art Center on a 3D Systems' V-Flash 3D Printer, in which a photo-polymer resin is cured by UV light, in micro-thin layers, each one four-thousandths of an inch thick. (Photo credit: Steven A. Heller / Art Center College of Design)
Over the weekend, Star-News reporter Janette Williams wrote about the new headquarters for contemporary performing arts troupe Lineage Dance. After 10 years of performing in and around the city, the group now has a permanent, 2,700-square foot space in Old Pasadena.
It's the second space dedicated to modern dance and choreography to open in recent months in Pasadena. The Pennington Dance Group's ARC ("A Room to Create") Pasadena studio opened in April.
Photographer Keith Birmingham checked in at the new Lineage studio and caught some of the dancers rehearsing for the gala opening of the center.
More photos after the jump.
Continue reading Local motion: Scenes from the Lineage Performing Arts Center.
Recent Comments
Cheap fashion dresses on Jewelry box: Rose Queen crowns through history: I thought it was going to be some boring old post, but it really compe ...
dress on It's a nice day for a white wedding ... show: I am impressed with this post here. Good luck. you can check also wedd ...
brides on Festival of Brides: The Upscale Bridal Show: I am impressed with this post here. Good luck. you can check also wedd ...
Hershel Mcconnel on Deeper state of play: Pasadena Hoop Group: Seriously, there must be a better way for this. ...
Clay Braegelmann on Empty-house party at the 2010 Pasadena Showcase House of Design: I really like this, but I think you must be more carefull with the wor ...
Dwight Chochrek on Historic Cravens Estate will be the 2010 Pasadena Showcase House of Design: Can you tell me an exact source for this info? ...
wedding dresses on Shop the block: There's plenty of EyeCandy at this modern, minimalist beauty bar in Montrose: Very good post here. Thank you for the time and the quality. Good luck ...
Vera Polley on Festival of Brides: The Upscale Bridal Show: Twitter had a tweet on Wholesale Neiko Abrasives - Blades that lead m ...
natural colon cleanse on The Langham's new chef is Savoy protege David Féau: someone needs to smack you in the face ...