Chefs Choice

When it comes to cooking there are a few wrong ways to do something, but many right ways. I will use tomato sauce as an example. Over the years I've heard of many variations of this simple recipe with a relatively small amount of ingredients. For example with the the garlic, I've heard to mince it, to slice it, I've even heard to keep it whole. Some variations say to sweat the garlic, others to toast it and give it a little color, some insist on only using roasted garlic. Same with the onions, I've heard of different shapes, sizes and different times to add them. Wine or no wine? Some recipes insist that the....read more

by Sarah Dickerman When I was a kid, every pickle my father ate was a bit of a disappointment. Dad, who grew up in the 1930s and '40s in the Bronx, New York, remembered plucking kosher sours out of barrels filled with cloudy brine-"Now those were pickles!" he'd tell us. I only knew Claussen and other vinegar-cured pickles, the kind you buy in jars off the supermarket shelf, and I liked them just fine. But when I finally tasted a real pickle-the kind made the old-fashioned way, fermented with nothing more than salt, water, and time-I realized what I had been missing. A vinegary pickle plows through your palate with its tartness (often in a....read more

Chef Eric Lamphere recognized his interest in the culinary industry as a teen, when he began working at a local bar and grille in his hometown of Auburn, New York. He started as a dishwasher while in high school, and worked his way up from there. After graduating high school, Chef Eric attended the Culinary Institute of America where he met his mentor Bob Rothfus. Bob, being the first chef at Liquid Assets (www.la94.com), recruited Eric immediately after his graduation from the CIA, where he has remained since. Chef Eric likes to consider his dishes as works of art that appeal to all senses by enhancing the sense of smell and taste....read more

Inspiration for this article came from my trip to the farmers market and what followed. This crazy undecided weather has us all craving consistent sun and a little energy burst. I decided to take a walk, yes take a walk, to the farmers market. I always enjoy it but it seamed that this time around was even better. After an off season with not much to choose from, it was great to see all these goodies available. I picked up some delish radishes, fresh eggs and arugula. Hungry for breakfast, this was just the perfect opportunity to create a fresh farmers market dish. Over easy eggs with....read more

A salamander in a kitchen refers to a broiler, a high and direct heat source. They are most commonly used for melting cheese or finishing a dish because of the quick cooking time. Nate is one of our line cooks at LA and during a busy Friday night he was in charge of the halibut enpapiot special. For those who are not familiar with papiot, it is a French term for “in paper”. We fold parchment paper in half and cut heart shapes, then butter the sides, add veggies, white wine and our seasoned fish. The paper is sealed on all edges so the fish steams in its natural juice in the oven. Nate decided to stick the papiot in the....read more

One evening a couple years ago I decided to do a delicious scallop and pineapple kabob dish for dinner. Three scallops on each kabob with a chunk of fresh pineapple, peppers and onions. We grilled them and served them over rice. Matt and I were working and one of our best customers came in for dinner and ordered the scallop and pineapple dish.  I grilled the kabobs and finished them in the oven until the veggies were tender. 3 minutes after they had gone to the table they returned to the kitchen, the guest complained that the scallops were raw. Matt was disappointed in me, confused as to why I....read more

Part Two- Matt Back in the Nebula days 94th street hosted 3 chefs; Bobo, Sweet P and myself. I had just started out working in the kitchen at Liquid Assets/Nebula. Bobo (Bob) was the head chef and was prepping for New Years Eve dinner. He was making a chicken demi-glace and this wasn’t any ordinary chicken demi. He had spent hours upon hours working on this wonderfully rich, velvety demi. He first roasted the bones, estimated to weigh around 100 pounds, the stock he made over night was tasty enough, but he wasn’t satisfied. Then Bobo cleaned off the bones after straining the stock and made another batch of stock the next....read more

Part 1 Mikey                 In the culinary world everyone makes mistakes. Some we will never forget and others we choose to never be reminded of. Either way you learn from these mistakes.              When storing soup, one uses an ice stick to bring the soup down to a safe storing temperature. In the LA Kitchen we say, "Put ice in it". One of my first days working at L A Sweet P asked me to cool down his corn chowder and “put ice in it”. So I proceeded to....read more

Ring in the new year LA style! Join us for drinks, dinner and resolutions! We will have a special NYE menu in addition to your LA favorites and plenty of champs! Come see what the hype is all about! Xx LA 94 Girl....read more