Leah Chase’s legacy, tiki bar origins, sake school

Hosted by Evan Kleiman Jun. 15, 2019 Food & Drink

An old menu from Don the Beachcomber. Photo credit: Patrick Epino

This week we remember the pioneering Creole chef Leah Chase. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Bragg has written a loving ode to his mom’s Southern table. Plus, we get an education on the origins of tiki bars as well as the nuances of sake.

From this Episode:

What Creole chef Leah Chase meant to the world

She was the Queen of Creole, and a friend to civil rights leaders and U.S. presidents. Leah Chase passed away June 1, 2019 at the age of 96.

10 min

Rick Bragg remembers his mother’s Southern table

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Bragg has written a memoir about his Southern upbringing . Growing up in Possum Trot, Alabama, Bragg’s palate was irrevocably shaped by...

12 min

How Filipino bartenders shaped the origins of the Tiki bar

Tiki bars are arguably making a comeback these days. For many, these bars represent innocent nostalgia—an escape to an exotic, tropical past.

9 min

Sake 101: Lessons from Echo Park’s newest sake bar

Sommelier Courtney Kaplan and her partner chef Charles Namba recently opened Ototo , a sake bar in Echo Park next to their popular izakaya, Tsubaki .

10 min

Bill Addison raves about the Michelin-starred Hayato at the Row DTLA

Chef Brandon Go recently turned heads when he earned his first Michelin star only a year and a half after opening Hayato at the Row DTLA .

5 min

Market Report: California King Salmon

California king salmon, or chinook, is back in season. This week Gillian Ferguson talks about the prized fish with Max Dornbush , a buyer with Gjelina Restaurant Group...

10 min