Taste: the Best and the Worst
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Chefs Suzanne Goin of Lucques, AOC and The Hungry Cat and Stoney Chen of the X'Otik Kitchen describe the foods they crave the most in Southern California - and food critic Jonathan Gold of the LA Weekly describes his worst meal ever.
Suzanne Goin's picks:.
Peanut butter ice cream at Mashti Malone's
1525 N. La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90028
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Foie gras pastrami at Spago
176 N. Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
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Stoney Chen's pick:
The egg rolls at Golden Deli
815 W. Las Tunas
San Gabriel, CA 91776
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The Citrus Variety Collection
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In 1907, citrus growers needed a way to study and improve their crops. They turned to the University of California, which established the Citrus Experiment Station in Riverside to grow new, hardy and sweet fruit. At the heart of the experiments is the Citrus Variety Collection, which contains over 900 separate varieties of citrus. Ben Adair checked it out with Tracy Kahn, curator of the collection.
Cheese Impresario
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When does eating cheese become an experience? When you have it at the Playboy Mansion - or on Cheese Impresario Barrie Lynn's roof deck in Hancock Park. Ayala Ben-Yehuda went there to sample Harbourne Blue, Beenleigh Blue and Monte Enebro cheeses.
Fake Food
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Ayala Ben-Yehuda visits the Iwasaki Images of America factory in Torrance, which uses techniques developed in Japan to create bananas, tacos, hamburgers and peaches that look so good you'll want to taste every one. But you can't - they're made of plastic.
Holy Pumpkin Bread
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The smell of baking bread hangs over Beachwood Canyon some mornings. Laura Belous tracked it to the Monastery of the Angels and a cloistered order of Dominican nuns, who make what Laura says is the best pumpkin bread she has ever tasted.
Monastery of the Angels
1977 Carmen Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90068
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Chronicle Wine Cellar
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Don't be surprised, when in Pasadena, if the traffic suddenly slows in the vicinity of the Pie 'n Burger near Lake. Those in the know are craning their necks to see if a certain flag is in a certain place - because that means a purveyor of fine wines at bargain-basement prices has swung his apartment door open for business. Queena Kim checks out the Chronicle Wine Cellar.
Just swing by the Pie 'n Burger and look for the American flag swinging next to the parking lot entrance.
Pie 'n Burger
913 E. California Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91106
Deep End Dining: Fugu
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Fugu, aka blowfish, aka pufferfish, is one of the deadliest fish in the oceans. Its blood and organs contain a virulent neurotoxin, and it's estimated each fish can kill 30 men. However, the hands of a sushi chef at Santa Monica Airport's Hump restaurant can transform "deadly" to "delicacy." Ben Adair risked his life with Eddie Lin of Deep End Dining.com.
Hump
3221 Donald Douglas Loop South
Santa Monica, California 90405
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Concerning Breakfast
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For reporter Annie Cheney, "what did you have for breakfast?" is a very serious question. Cheney chronicled her struggle with anorexia in "Concerning Breakfast," a story she produced with Jay Allison. Special thanks to the public radio web site Transom.org.
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