Best of Laguna Beach

著者: Diane Armitage
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  • From 25-year Laguna Beach Resident Diane Armitage enjoy fun, engaging interviews of our international chefs and the town's most creative people + my recommendations for THE best places to dine, drink and play in our famous SoCal seaside town.

    Also enjoy the monthly series, "Revenue Recipes: Cooking Up Profits for Restaurants" with me and my special guest, award-winning Restaurant Developer Bruce Russo.

    The Best of Laguna Beach™ podcasts are uploaded on Wednesdays every week by 12 p.m. PST/3 p.m. EST
    2024, Best of Laguna Beach™
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あらすじ・解説

From 25-year Laguna Beach Resident Diane Armitage enjoy fun, engaging interviews of our international chefs and the town's most creative people + my recommendations for THE best places to dine, drink and play in our famous SoCal seaside town.

Also enjoy the monthly series, "Revenue Recipes: Cooking Up Profits for Restaurants" with me and my special guest, award-winning Restaurant Developer Bruce Russo.

The Best of Laguna Beach™ podcasts are uploaded on Wednesdays every week by 12 p.m. PST/3 p.m. EST
2024, Best of Laguna Beach™
エピソード
  • Laguna Native Chef Evan Lewis Talks Turkey, Holidays, Sawdust & More
    2024/10/31
    This past Monday, Oct. 28th, Laguna Beach native Chef Evan Lewis of the new restaurant, Evan’s Gourmet, joined me at the radio station, KFM 104.7. For nearly an hour, we talked everything from …
    ● Evan’s native roots in Laguna Beach and the roots of her recipes in her fabulous restaurant
    ● Her ongoing, creative tenure at the infamous Sawdust Festival (she makes HOW many burgers each day??)
    ● Evan’s new Thanksgiving specials for you and yours
    ● Her group dining and catering options for the holidays and beyond, andthe mot creative recipes she creates for her lucky patrons


    SHOW NOTES:
    :55 Chef Evan’s roots in Laguna Beach, including her cookin’ beginnings as a 7-year-old and her first cooking job at this famed Laguna restaurant.

    6:20 The first important lesson the yet-to-be-chef learned from restaurateurs Mike & Toni Leech of Café Zoolu.

    7:15 We review Chef Evan’s menus at Evan’s Gourmet and jump into her most recent mushroom soup, a recipe she created in honor of the Tanterra Winery.

    9:30 Evan’s 30 years in “complete custom catering,” including multiple events yearly of more than 200 people. (And her biggest panic moments in catering.)

    16:41 The difference in crowds and Evans’ menus between the upcoming Winter Fantasy at the Sawdust grounds vs. the summer crowds at Sawdust.

    18:24 Evan’s biggest selling menu item at the Sawdust and the 3 major adjustments Chef Evan had to make to quicken her Sawdust ticket times.

    23:00 We discuss the intricacies of crispy fried chicken (and why it usually fails)

    26:38 The Thanksgiving holiday specialty I talked Chef Evan into doing because Chef Ron Reno retired and we NEED this.

    29:03 Oddly, how my Pumpkin Pie request became Chef Evan’s NEW, ENTIRE Thanksgiving Dinner offering.

    37:28 How Evan’s Gourmet was a “morph” of Evan’s decades-long journey in cooking, and why Evan made the decision to begin her restaurant business.

    40:10 How Chef Evan decided on her restaurant’s menu items and the “gimmick” she decided on for an-always memorable taste.

    41:30 Chef Evan tells us what her favorite restaurants were in Laguna as she was growing up.

    42:40 A wrap up on everything Chef Evan is doing in the next 60 days, including her 25-quart soup pan for her turkey chili and her upgraded vertical smoker for her smoked tomatoes.

    50:01 Chef tells us where her favorite restaurant is in town (when she’s not cooking at hers).
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    52 分
  • Beautifying Laguna's "Bourbon Street" + Evan's Gourmet Review
    2024/10/24
    Mon, Sept. 23rd’s Best of Laguna show at KXFM 104.7 radio with my special guest, “Beautification Consultant” Ruben Flores:


    3:39 Ruben Flores recalls his first visit to Laguna Beach at the age of 5. (You wouldn’t believe where his family parked for their beach visit)

    6:33 The eclectic property in Laguna Beach that Ruben chose for his own home

    7:47 One of the Best of Laguna Beach Walking Tours ever … still rolling this winter

    12:29 When Laguna Sushi is closing. Get in there, please, to thank Chef Jay Sada (and the funniest story Chef ever shared with me)

    14:44 Ruben’s favorite taco in town as we discuss the Best of Laguna “#1 Taco” survey in honor of National Taco Day on Oct. 1st.

    22:35 We talk about easy, inexpensive upgrades for our Laguna Beach “Bourbon Street,” Ocean Avenue. We also discuss the “beautification ordinance” the City recently passed to provide subsidy to Laguna Beach storefront owners.

    27:28 The “Little Freebirds” awesome kids’ clothing store I love on Ocean Avenue, Chef Leo Bongarra’s move to 237 Ocean Avenue to brighten that space, and Wild Taco’s commitment to staying in Laguna Beach on the corner of Ocean Ave.

    36:20 Our combined take on the new restaurant, Evan’s Gourmet, and Chef Evan Lewis’ stint in this town since childhood. We discuss Evan’s serendipitous movement into restaurant ownership, her 22-year catering world that still continues, and her menu items we loved most when Ruben, Nelson Coates and I chose Evan’s for dinner last weekend.

    44:56 Evan’s is changing up her reservation system, and this is why. Plus - Evan’s Happy Hour specials and Laguna Beach resident DISCOUNTS (quite lovely).
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    50 分
  • Laguna's haunted houses, greatest eats & (fill-in-the-blank) Ocean Avenue
    2024/10/24
    This Monday, Oct. 21st, my dear buddy Ruben Flores, joined me at my “Best of Laguna Beach” radio show on KXFM 104.7 Radio for lively, fun discussion that covers everything from places we think are haunted to updates on our favorite eats in Laguna and favorite sets around the world, thanks to Nelson Coates.

    Moments in the show:
    1:00 Introducing Ruben Flores “Laguna’s Beautification Consultant” and his versions of Laguna Nursery here in Laguna Beach.

    3:30 We talk a few minutes about Nelson Coates behind his back (Ruben’s partner and the Production Designer of “The Morning Show” on Apple TV).
    • 5:10 Why Nelson’s title is so misleading, and how Ruben defines Nelson’s role as a “Production Designer.”
    • 6:40 Nelson’s greatest forté and how that showed itself in two sets of bricks Nelson decided on for a “hotel” facade in “The Morning Show.”
    • 8:55 Different movie and streaming creations by Nelson that Ruben has visited all over the world. We also discuss Nelson’s emotional detachment as all of his sets are swept away after filming.
    • 13:25 Ruben talks about his favorite sets from Nelson’s world and how Nelson helps make actors feel more at home on their sets during filming.
    16:10 Can you name the style of your home in three words? We talk to Ruben’s bi-monthly Garden Walks (next one is Nov. 2nd at 10 am, Laguna Nursery, 481 N. Coast Highway).

    18:00 Why Ruben continues to haul in GIANT pumpkins for his Nursery’s frontage during Halloween/autumn’s season. And the haunted paintings inside the Nursery.

    21:45 A rundown of Halloween events in Laguna Beach. Then we wander into haunted places in town and mention the places we think are the most haunted place in town. Ruben also talks about the “Storybook Architecture” homes in North Laguna (usually referred to as witches’ houses)

    25:40 The horrific, heartbreaking demise of our National Historic Registered Villa Rockledge. Ruben shares an amazing historical story that connects Riverside’s Mission Inn to Villa Rockledge here.

    28:15 We return to Halloween events in Laguna and talk about the long-running, extensive “trick or treat street” FIERCE competition between Oak Street and Brooks Street. I also mention the Halloween parties/costume contests at Mozambique and Skyloft.

    31:00 We discuss our recent dinner at Chef Erik’s Oliver’s Osteria in the Canyon (next to Sawdust), and why it FEELS good. Oliver’s, a Michelin Bib Gourmand winner, was a third-generation restaurant in the space and was initially quite tiny until post-COVID came along and provided the giant outdoor tenting for additional dining. Although I’m often there for brunch on the weekends, this was one of our first times back for dinner. (Stay tuned for that larger article here at Best of Laguna Beach.)

    36:55 An Oto Sushi and Pinafini update on their coming-soon dates. We also discuss that second floor level at the Oto Sushi location; it has always been in play since Sorrento Grill was first established by Restaurateur David Wilhelm. We discuss the possibility of putting a different theme in place in that upper level, and skip over to Bodega’s unique multiple dining “themes” and my favorite restaurant as a kid, Casa Bonita in Denver (Go South Park for making Casa Bonita famous!)

    41:15 We discuss the ingenuity of Ivan Spiers (owner of Bodega and Skyloft in downtown, in addition to Rumari’s and Mozambique) and my quick margarita and wings at Skyloft on Saturday.

    42:10 The loss of Wild Taco at the corner of Coast Highway and Ocean. We discuss our own brilliant opinions about what should go in that space next.

    45:45 We discuss the sorry state of lower Ocean Avenue, the storybook “step sister” to the one street over, Forest Avenue’s continually marketed “Promenade.” Ruben talks about showing love to Ocean Avenue, where trees aren’t being watered, and where pumpkin displays and large containers of flowers do not exist.
    We then move into clean up and “love” that could occur on “Restaurant Row” and the singular Peppertree Lane whose charm could be duplicated elsewhere in town. We close with more suggestions on what to do to attract more polish, life and beauty into our town.

    54:00 Next week: Chef Evan of Evan’s Gourmet will be discussing her holiday season plans for YOU at “The Best of Laguna Beach radio show on KXFM 104.7!
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    54 分

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