Notes of red wine and nutmeg? This black pepper is an epiphany

“Do you like it spicy?” I love hearing those words. It’s a question I got recently from the cashier at Southern Spice in Irvine. When I said, “Yes. Yes I do,” she steered me toward an incredible eggplant curry. “You want it spicy?” asked a...

Pot-au-feu is at the heart of the French kitchen; more than a beef soup, it is the enduring symbol of hearth and home, an emblem of a life well lived. The revolutionary Mirabeau called pot-au-feu the foundation of empires. Anthony Bourdain calls...

Mao xue wang — a spicy stew with origins in Chongqing, southwestern China’s megacity — always contains a patchwork of ingredients emphasizing varied textures. Xiang La Hui, a new Sichuan restaurant in Alhambra, serves an extravagant version....

This week, Shawn Xa, owner and chef at XA Sweet & Savory Cafe in Orange, rendered the review I wrote on his restaurant outdated, but in a way I've always been anticipating. Xa has always promised that he would continually improve and change things...

Shortly after the post that I did yesterday about the migration of Red Robin from one Tustin shopping center to another Tustin shopping center went live, I got an e-mail from one of its PR people. She told me that the chain was now also offering...