ROC Dumpling House in Playa Vista Is Staffing Up!



Soon our long dark national nightmare will be over. (By national, I mean the Westside. And by the Westside, I mean Playa Vista.) (and by nightmare, I mean the lack of any credible Chinese food.)

Momofuku Hot Take! David Chang “Announces” LA Project?

David Chang was on Bill Simmons’ podcast last week and said that he likely had something in the works for Los Angeles! Chang has never seemed in a rush to bring Momofuku to LA, but this is the first time I’ve heard him sound so interested (maybe already committed?) to doing something. I guess before we get dreams of Momofuku kimchi jjigae in our heads, he was vague and non-committal. It’s just as likely that his easier concepts, Fuku or Milk Bar, are the ones he’s thinking of bringing to LA. That’s fine. One step at a time.

Corner Cottage — the Search for the Best Breakfast Burrito Lumbers on

Spotted on a couple lists of LA’s best breakfast burritos, Corner Cottage doesn’t quite live up to those lofty heights. But they make a perfectly fine bb that’s at least worth trying.

Koala T Cafe — Adding Szechuan Food to a Boba Place. Hmm. OK.



I’m pretty open to ambitious attempts by restaurants to try something new. At least I like to think so. But a boba place transforming itself into a full service Szechuan restaurant? I couldn’t resist despite obvious warning signs. (there’s orange chicken on the menu)

McDonald’s Fried Apple Pies Are Back! — At Least in SoCal. For now.

Holy moley! In the biggest under-the-radar-news in the history of fooddouchery, McDonald’s quietly brought back deep-fried pies!

1992 was a dark year. “Achy Breaky Heart” topped the charts for a stretch. Microsoft Windows 3.1 launched the era of the Blue Screen of Death. And McDonald’s made the fateful decision to take their apple and cherry pies out of the fryer and into the oven. I lost 30 pounds the following year, but I think I lost a little bit of my soul.

Why Are There So Many Great Asian Women Bakers in LA All of a Sudden?

Just positing a question for further exploration later: have you noticed that in the last few years many of the exciting new baking operations around town are headed by Asian women? I don’t have any theories right now. Just the observation.

Momofuku Milk Bar Banana Cream Pie at Home

UCLA Food and Science Pie Lecture with Christina Tosi and Zoe Nathan

I paid $25 to taste 2 oz. of pie from UCLA undergrads.

The draw was that the UCLA Food and Science class invited Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar and Zoe Nathan of Huckleberry and Milo and Olive to judge the students’ pie experiments and lecture on pie. Yes, that’s right — I paid to hear two great bakers lecture on pie but not eat any of their pie.

Also, guest judging were two UCLA profs and two UCLA alums, Jonathan Gold and Evan Kleiman.

WordPress App — My Nemesis

Stupid WordPress app ate my next post — AGAIN!
I wrote out tomorrow’s post about Santouka ramen. It was brilliant — insightful, relevant, touching on larger themes of existentialism and post-modernity. Now it’s lost to the netherworld, where even archive.org can’t find it.

I’m aware that WordPress is a free product and there’s something to be said for gift horses. But as GOB Bluth would say, “COME ON!”

Demitasse Update – Pain au Chocolat and Samo

Word out of Cafe Demitasse in Little Tokyo is that they will open a second location in Santa Monica! The third wave coffee revolution continues to spread across LA, saving citizens from the clutches of Starbucks.