Really want to see this live. man do i love well produced sets.

Please, if you care about me at all, you will consider buying me a pair of Munitio nine millimeter earbuds to validate our friendship. 

And since I don’t always have time to write for my Tumblr, here you go. 

VICEROY SANTA MONICA’S WHIST PRESENTS NEW MENU FROM CHEF TONY DISALVO

(photo by Christie Bishop of LA Weekly)

(photo courtesy of Viceroy Hotel Group)

Highlighting the convivial spirit of the restaurant’s namesake, Chef Tony DiSalvo has reimagined Viceroy Santa Monica’s Whist menu to introduce a new assortment of Mediterranean-inspired dishes and approachable fare that evokes the warmth of an engaging conversation, comfortable dining and the ever-evolving palate of both Angelenos and hotel guests alike. 

DiSalvo has created a culinary adventure inspired by Whist’s foundation of modern Mediterranean style. Provoked by the fusion of Southern California with other southern regions of the world, including France, Italy and Spain, an entirely new selection of smaller plates designed for sharing will please and excite, while an assortment of pasta dishes will be offered alongside the land, sea and market specialties DiSalvo is already known for.

“Whist’s newest menu items are inspired by flavors we crave and enjoy from Spain, France and Italy, things that remind me of my childhood and things my grandmother made,” said DiSalvo. “We want people to have fun while they are eating – engage over several courses, chat over small bites, or simply come to enjoy a sweet treat at the end of the evening, and this new menu and format offers it all.”

Some of the soon-to-be classics from Whist’s new menu include DiSalvo’s Meatballs, a family recipe that has been handed down for more than four generations. Handmade daily, the savory meatballs contain fresh ground pork, beef, ricotta and Parmesan cheese. Another Italian endeavor with a Spanish twist is found in DiSalvo’s Steamed Mussels, infused with the distinctive, peppery smokiness of chorizo and enhanced with the sweet touch of Sambuca.

To find Old World pasta dishes that display DiSalvo’s full Italian mastery, guests may choose the Garganelli selection, featuring a velvety Bolognese ragu combined with pecorino and burgundy truffles, or the Tagliatelle plate that brings forth the rich flavor of guanciale paired with black pepper, caramelized onion and egg.

For a heartier experience, the Colorado Lamb Shank is braised until the meat falls off the bone and is served with eggplant and faro. The lamb is prepared with a dash of North African flair found in Tunisian spices and the flavorful and fiery harissa that accompanies the dish.

In true Californian spirit, weekly specials will include fresh vegetable sides handpicked by the chef and his team at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market, and herbs in many of the featured dishes are grown on the roof of the Viceroy property. Another quintessential California plate is the Black Mission Figs and Burrata dish, made from fresh, seasonal figs, burrata and thinly sliced prosciutto with basil and olive oil croutons.

 Finally, Pastry Chef Brooke Mosley has launched an entirely new dessert menu. Guests seeking a decadent finale will appreciate the Triple Chocolate Bread Pudding topped with burnt meringue, sugared walnuts and homemade coffee ice cream.

Whist’s new menu is available now at Viceroy Santa Monica, 1819 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90401. Reservations can be made at (310) 260-7511 or via OpenTable.com.

For additional information, please contact:

Christina Chu

Christina.Chu@syndicatemediagroup.com

p: (310) 691-8575         

See additional coverage:

Grubstreet LA

http://losangeles.grubstreet.com/2011/01/a_look_at_whists_new_menu.html

LA Weekly

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2011/01/whist_chef_tony_disalvo_interview.php

Angeleno

http://losangeles.modernluxury.com/dining/inn-crowd-three-new-rising-star-chefs

http://losangeles.modernluxury.com/dining/mini-review-whist

http://losangeles.modernluxury.com/dining/5-questions-tony-disalvo

LA Canvas

http://lacanvas.com/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=466&Itemid=218

Pardon My Crumbs

http://pardonmycrumbs.blogspot.com/2011/01/q-with-whist-chef-tony-disalvo-homemade.html

Gourmet Pigs

http://gourmetpigs.blogspot.com/2011/01/whist-at-viceroy-hotel-santa-monica.html

….and soon, on The Cooking Channel’s Food(ography), after filming this Friday. Check. It. Out. 

Cover of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros’s “Home” (acoustic) by the cutest four year old. Thanks Anais. 

Sometimes, when I’m bored of my usual spinach/mozzarella/heirloom tomato salad, I go to the salad aisle at TJ’s and get some ideas. Here’s my version (pictured above in cell-phone quality) of their Southwestern salad. Just a reminder, I don’t like writing quantities, since that’s the best part about cooking. You don’t have to use any measuring tools, just adjust according to your palate!):

Ingredients:

• Romaine and iceberg lettuce (chopped)
• Red cabbage (chopped)
• Red bell pepper (diced)
• Black beans
• Corn
• Avocado
• Red onion (chopped - I didn’t add b/c raw onions hurt my stomach, but it’s pretty standard in a taco salad)
• Tomatoes (I used mini heirloom tomatoes)
• Feta cheese (low-fat. Another opportunity here for me to digress about my tragic high-cholesterol condition.)
• Parsley (chopped - I would probably use cilantro, but didn’t have it at the time)
• Tortilla chips (crumbled)
• S&P

Dressing:

• Garlic (minced)
• Lime juice
• E.V.O.
• Champagne vinegar (I would probably use apple cider vinegar, but this was all I had at the time)
• Light canola mayo (Lo and behold! Yet another opportunity.)
• Paprika
• S&P
• a littttttle agave nectar

Alrighty, so obviously just layer the salad ingredients in a bowl and whisk the dressing components in another bowl. Toss and serve. waddup. 

Daft Punk’s TRON Legacy soundtrack
 

I am not originally a TRON fan. I didn’t grow up watching it, but the marketing geniuses behind the film’s strategic geek-chic partnerships with the likes of Rosseau, Hayden Harnett, Rotenier, TomTom, Adidas, Burton and Open Ceremony have most certainly put it on the radar for my demographic. Plus, neoprene, bright colors and lasers? Sign me up. 

Thus, Disney’s decision to have Daft Punk orchestrate the soundtrack was like hiring the pied piper to reel in the whole friggen hipster/electronic community (by the way, have you checked out the “look at this f*cking hipster” site yet? But, that’s an entirely new post). Anyway, I am not here to lie to you. I am a Daft Punk whore. Those robots are supremely brilliant and their long hiatus from the music scene have left me and a gazillion other people hanging on for dear life for any signs of life from the duo (their last full album of original music was from Human After All in 2005.. when I graduated high school!! What?!)

Finally, the clouds parted and synth-xylophone keys chimed and angels swooped and *VOILA*.. TRON Legacy,  mother-effers! First, be forewarned that this is a musical score and not a club in Ibiza, so do not expect to be dancing your ass off the entire time. But, c’mon, didn’t your respect for Daft Punk increase ten-fold when you learned that they worked with a 90-piece orchestra to create the audio/visual extravaganza that is TRON?

In the first track, the ominous tone in Overture hypes up the anticipation for the cyberworld of Tron. No electronic beats are present here, but the absence itself creates a Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard a la Batman Begins introductory tone into the setting of the story. Then, heyyyy. The Grid ushers in the first digital beats in a build-up that underscores this dramatic revelation of Kevin Flynn’s alternate universe and samples a clip of Kevin Flynn’s description of his digital frontier. 

As you progress through the album, it seems as though the story is told from only one perspective that is Sam Flynn’s. While there is a clear (and quite catchy) motif that is repeated throughout the soundtrack, there unfortunately doesn’t seem to be an overarching theme song that embodies the entirety of the movie and all its characters.

For example, in the main title of Jerry Goldsmith’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture, there’s a very dominant theme but is twisted and repurposed by each character— you can tell which parts are intended for the figures onboard Enterprise, but then you also have the Klingons represented by clicks and synths, adding dimension to the entire movie. My personal favorite example of such an interplay is found in the Hook soundtrack by John Williams (I consider it his finest work) that takes Peter Pan’s soaring melodic theme and flits it in and out the heavy, chopped up brass theme of Captain Hook along with nine other character motifs. 

But I digress. Essentially, about 60% of the album is a repetitive musical phrase of three varieties that simple crescendoes into a climax then decrescendos, or adds a little electronic bass for a slight differentiation every now and then (listen to Adagio for TRON or Flynn Lives for the epitome of this example). The formula is uninspiring, but then Daft Punk compensates with tracks like Derezzed and TRON Legacy (End Titles) that exhibits the full mastery of their electronic roots and all is forgiven. 

Overall, the album is critical and absolutely successful in creating the tone and setting for TRON Legacy, but on its own, does not tell a story. Every now and then, there’s a gem like Rectifier that comes to life and allows you to visualize the action of the movie, but those are few and far between. Still, this is an epic soundtrack that, if were orchestrated by another composer, would probably sound closer to some outdated, 90s-Matrix-sort-of-effort that wouldn’t have nearly the same digital prowess that Daft Punk brings to the table. 

 UPDATE: Found out that Hans Zimmer had a hand in this production, hence the Batman-like tone noted above. 

Grecian-Roman-Egyptian inspired jewelry from Ederra Paris

photojojo:

HSBC lined the bottom of this pool with an aerial photo of NYC. Swimming in the pool is like swimming over a flooded city!

They appropriately named it the Global Warming Pool.

Thanks, Natalie!

Hi, I’m alive. It’s been awhile and I’ve accumulated quite a few pictures on my Droid of cooking attempts to share, so here’s one of them! I’m not sure how many of you have tried the warm vegetable salad at Blue Plate, but it’s bomb dot com and a refreshing break from the usual salad. Someone recreated it for me at home months ago, but here’s my version (not as successful, but I liked it!)

Essentially, you take sautéed veggies and add it to cold spinach while dressing the whole thing in a yummy dressing. Sensationally simple. In my version, I also added ahi tuna. 

Ingredients:

Group one:

Green beans

Sweet potato spears

Butternut squash

Cucumbers (I like Persian)

Bell Peppers (I used red for more color)

Garlic/Shallots

Group two: 

Ahi tuna marinated in olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, cilantro, sea salt and pepper

Group three:

Spinach

Dressing:

• Balsamic vinegar
• Extra virgin olive oil  
• Dijon mustard
• Lemon juice
• Agave syrup
• Sea salt/pepper
• (Chopped garlic/shallots if you’re an overachiever)

So this salad is pretty straightforward. First, sauté group one in olive oil (or grapeseed oil), sea salt and pepper. Secondly, take your pre-marinated ahi tuna steak and use that George Foreman grill that your parents bought you for college but you only used 5 times. Cook according to your liking (I think I OD’d mine, usually I like it rarer in the center) and slice into smaller, bite-size pieces. Finally, add group one and two onto your spinach, and toss it all in the balsamic/honey/vinaigrette. 

I don’t like to put the measurements for the dressing or the prep for the ingredients (i.e. sliced cucumber disks) since everyone’s palate is different, so you should adjust according to your taste buds and aesthetic preferences. For example, while most people suggest three parts olive oil to one part vinegar, I like equal parts. And looking back, I probably would have sliced my cucumbers vertically.

Alrighty, see you guys in… I dunno, two weeks again? Be here or be lame. Just wanted to give you non-culinary-oriented friends of mine some hope, because if I can try to cook (yes, me, who lived off of Hot Cheetos and cream cheese, peanut butter and toast and the salad bar from my sorority in college), I believe in you too. 

Finally. Images of Tom Ford’s first women’s collection (Spring 2010) have been released in Vogue. I have been anticipating this day for ages, and I’m sorry I’m a day late in sharing as I’ve been under at work. Megan, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry for dragging you into Tom Ford at Crystals in Vegas to admire men’s clothing. According to Colin Firth, Ford is now working on another film too.. this man makes me sick. And so does that disgusting gold sequin jacket and the oversized quartz necklace that makes me want to throw up.. but of course I’m saying all this in a very Jersey manner.