When the pandemic changed our world, I no longer could shoot close-up-and-unmasked with chefs in my home kitchen. So I changed my approach to filming videos. For the time being I’m flying solo, cooking up some of my favorite recipes garnered from my decades of work in the food world. Favorites – recipes that feel like best friends. I’ll start…
Cathy Thomas Cooks
Videos
Recognize the name? Chef Amar Santana dazzled viewers as a finalist on Bravo’s “Top Chef.” He competed on Korean Food Battle, and although he doesn’t speak Korean, almost won the competition. The HALL Global Eatery, SCP, Costa Mesa: Along with business partner Ahmed Labbate, Chef Santana has opened a extraordinary food hall at South Coast Plaza (it’s the spot where…
Sarah Daniels is the first female executive chef to head up a kitchen in a Del Frisco’s Grille, the chain of trendy bar-and-grill eateries that have more than 20 locations from coast to coast. Daniels took culinary charge of Irvine Spectrum location a few months ago, working her magic on everything from hearty salads to wood-oven baked flatbreads to pappardelle…
Serve these to guests and they’ll gobble them down with gusto. Snacking is a part of everyday life in India. I was delighted to find a wide variety of delectable chaats (savory street-style snacks) at ADYA restaurant at the Anaheim Packing House. ADYA’s chef-owner, Shachi Mehra, has a talent for combining tradition with innovation. Her avocado raita is one example…
Andrew Gruel, chef and CEO of Slapfish Restaurant Group, knows what makes an irresistible lobster roll. His repertoire also includes a crab-spiked rendition dubbed a Clobster Roll, a half New England lobster-half Dungeness crabmeat creation. It hoists the allure even higher. Have a look at this short video; see how chef makes it easy and delicious. Thanks go to videographer/photographer,…
Alfonso Ramirez learned in baby steps in his childhood home. Eat. Walk. Cook … The executive chef at Pinot Provence, Costa Mesa, says that his chef-father is his culinary hero and was the one responsible for his early training. His father was the accomplished executive chef at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C., where the late, fearless French chef Jean-Louis…
Sample one of Jon Blackford’s Imperial Wagyu strip steaks, and you may never want to explore other entree options. The meat is so richly flavored and the texture so velvety, it could be addictive. Blackford, executive chef at A Restaurant in Newport Beach, sears the perfectly marbled beef directly on a French burner. He says that the device is 10…
Joshua Severson’s culinary talents aren’t limited to topnotch red meat cookery. The executive chef for Teemu Selanne’s steak-centric restaurant in Laguna Beach, Severson also works his magic with seafood. His impressive work experience includes a stint working with celebrity chef Tom Colicchio at award-winning Craft Steak in Las Vegas. But his flair with fish stems from his Pacific Northwest upbringing,…