Teen Chef Makes Debut at Beverly Hills Restaurant
I’m so at this on Wednesday and will ABSOLUTELY blog about the experience!!
He has cooked for more than 120 people at a time, worked in top restaurants across the country, and entertains 12 people at his home monthly for an 18-course meal. These accomplishments may seem like the work of a veteran chef, but this cook is only 14 years old.
Flynn McGarry will be taking his talents to BierBeisl, an Austrian restaurant in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 30 where he will cook a 12-course meal for 40 people - an event that is already completely sold out and costs $160 a person.
“The chef at BierBeisl is super nice and said, ‘Whatever you need, I’ll help you cook,’” McGarry said. “It was a natural thing, and it works with the restaurant’s schedule and is a lot easier to do it in a restaurant. I am going into this a lot more confident than other dinners. I started working on this [Thursday], running around town getting supplies. It is a week process, which people don’t really realize.” Read More
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Teen Chef Makes Debut at Beverly Hills Restaurant
I’m so at this on Wednesday and will ABSOLUTELY blog about the experience!!
He has cooked for more than 120 people at a time, worked in top restaurants across the country, and entertains 12 people at his home monthly for an 18-course meal. These accomplishments may seem like the work of a veteran chef, but this cook is only 14 years old.
Flynn McGarry will be taking his talents to BierBeisl, an Austrian restaurant in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 30 where he will cook a 12-course meal for 40 people - an event that is already completely sold out and costs $160 a person.
“The chef at BierBeisl is super nice and said, ‘Whatever you need, I’ll help you cook,’” McGarry said. “It was a natural thing, and it works with the restaurant’s schedule and is a lot easier to do it in a restaurant. I am going into this a lot more confident than other dinners. I started working on this [Thursday], running around town getting supplies. It is a week process, which people don’t really realize.” Read More
Al Gelato’s “Free Gelato for a Year” Contest
Al Gelato’s is by far the best gelato in Los Angeles and they are having a contest to win a pint of gelato every week for a year. If you are still reading this, you clearly don’t understand how good this gelato is or you would be reading the contest rules already…..just sayin’.
Everything Sprinkles does is pretty amazing. First it was cupcakes. Then it was a 24-hour vending machine for cupcakes. And now it’s ice cream. What in the world is next!
Sprinkles Ice Cream
We would have been incredulous if you had told us in first grade that we would one day tire of cupcakes.
Of course, we could not predict the sweet oversaturation of the cupcake economy. Our love for ice cream, however, is immortal.
Which is why, after a few weeks of admitted avoidance, we recently found ourselves standing next to the summer-vacationing kids of Beverly Hills, waiting in line at Sprinkles Ice Cream. If the confections sold at the bakery next door have become trite, Sprinkles Ice Cream makes the same batter seem fresh. Sundaes are ice cream scooped over split cupcakes ($8.50); ice cream sandwiches are made with two rounded cupcake tops ($7).
That the ice cream ($3.50 a scoop) is not too sweet, that the flavors are both layered and playful certainly helps the cause. Bourbon accents the chocolate chip; cherries are simmered in wine before being folded into the cherry vanilla. There’s even Cap'n Crunch ice cream.
An Andy Warhol quote is posted on the back wall: “Rodeo Drive is like a giant butterscotch sundae.” If Sprinkles Ice Cream has its way, Santa Monica Boulevard will become an oversized scoop of Cap'n Crunch ice cream sandwiched between cupcake tops (pictured).
Sprinkles Ice Cream, 9631 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; 310-274-7890 or sprinklesicecream.com
They had me at “brownie”.
Beverly Hills Brownie Company
Consider the brownie.
There’s nothing all that profound to consider here—it’s just that brownies are really good. You kind of want one. And the city is incomprehensibly shy on all-brownie emporiums.
Or was…
Take a look at Beverly Hills Brownie Company, a fancy little shop filled with endless squares of rich, rich chocolate, now open on Beverly Drive.
You’ll find it under a big crystal chandelier—yes, this is a brownie shop; yes, you’re in Beverly Hills. It’s a bright little bakery where pretty much everything is impossibly white, like it just got its SAG card on a toothpaste commercial.
Everything, that is, except for all those brownies behind the counter. They’re made individually here, so each square of decadent chocolate has a crisp crust all around the edges. And, well, “gooey” would not be a terrible word to describe the delicious center.
They’ve got chocolate. They’ve got Andes mint. They’ve got red velvet, poppy seed and vanilla—but most important of all is the Black-Out, with semisweet, bittersweet and milk chocolate… and chocolate frosting. The options change, but generally you can plan on hitting this spot whenever you need a big box’s worth of appreciation directed your way at an afternoon meeting.
If you plan on sharing.
Beverly Hills Brownie Company
315 N Beverly Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310-275-1295
official website
I love anyone who opens a German or Austrian restaurant in LA. It’s such great comfort food!
Austrian Cuisine hits Beverly Hills
BierBeisl isn’t a locally minded restaurant.
Whenever possible, chef Bernhard Mairinger turns to the country of his birth, Austria, to stock the kitchen of his new Beverly Hills spot.
Stiegl, the Salzburg brewery that’s gloriously inescapable in Austria, dominates the beer list. And there’s plenty of Grüner Veltliner, Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch, too.
The sausages at BierBeisl aren’t imported, but the smooth texture of the bratwurst ($9), made by Continental Gourmet Sausage, might convince you otherwise. Mairinger brings a delicate touch to the links here, belying his training at L.A.’s finishing school for chefs, Patina. His sausages aren’t strictly about snap and char; some, like weisswurst ($9), are simmered in milk.
That deftness carries over to more definitively Austrian dishes such as schnitzel ($19 to $25). Feel free to choose whichever fried cutlet–turkey, pork or veal–you’d like to eat with lingonberries. But we implore you to pick the potato salad for your side dish.
Despite all the true imports Mairinger brings to BierBeisl, this vinegary salad (click here for the recipe) is the Austrian dish we’re most glad to now have available; this is the potato salad we fell for when visiting Vienna–the one we’ve been chasing ever since.
BierBeisl, 9669 Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; 310-271-7274 or bierbeisl-la.com
Ok, if you live in LA you know about Sprinkles. Now they’re opening an ice cream shop next door? Woah…yummy, yummy, yummy!
Sprinkles Announces 24-Hour Cupcake Access & Ice Cream Shop
If you’re craving a cupcake in the middle of the night, unless you planned ahead and have some on your counter, your only choice might be those nasty ones at your local all-night grocery store. That is, until Sprinkles, one of the L.A.-based bakeries deemed responsible for kicking off the international cupcake craze, launches their 24-hour cupcake access.
Oh, and because that wasn’t enough, Sprinkles is also planning to open an ice cream shop in Beverly Hills, adjacent to their cupcake shop.
Details are scant, but the photographic evidence is on Facebook, where 24-Hour-Sprinkles and Sprinkles Ice Cream already exist.
The 24-Hour-Sprinkles seems to be some sort of vending machine modeled after an old-school ATM. And it’s pink! (Squeeeee!)
We can only imagine at least one of their ice cream flavors will be inspired by cupcakes. But will any of their flavors be inspired by Los Angeles?
No word yet on when either expanded Sprinkle option will be available.
UPDATE 4:45 PM: We got some info from Sprinkles about the ice cream and the 24-Hour access!
Here’s what Sprinkles tells us about their ice cream:
Our ice cream will be hand-crafted American ice cream using only the finest ingredients, staying in line with the Sprinkles philosophy. Scooped into crisp waffle cones, pressed between fluffy cupcake tops or piled high into sundaes topped with housemade sauces and toppings, Sprinkles Ice Cream shop is a back to basics creamery with a Sprinkles twist! Sprinkles Ice Cream will also serve up freshly baked cookies and brownies!
And, yep, that’s pretty much a cupcake ATM, or, as they call it, the “world’s first cupcake automat.” More details:
This automatic cupcake machine dispenses freshly baked cupcakes, cupcake mixes, apparel and even cupcakes for Fido! In the heart of Beverly Hills nestled between Sprinkles Cupcakes and the brand new Sprinkles Ice Cream, 24 Hour Sprinkles will be continuously restocked day and night with a variety of freshly baked cupcake flavors.
This looks rad…for lunch.
The Larder at Maple Drive
Weekday lunch is about to get haute.
Suzanne Goin (AOC, Lucques, Tavern) and partner Caroline Styne roll out their latest epicurean venture, The Larder at Maple Drive, this week. Like their Larder at Tavern, the bite-size Beverly Hills space pulls triple duty as cafe/bakery/marketplace.
Sidle up to the deli counter to create your own sandwich from market-fresh produce, house-baked bread, and meats like Iowa ham and sopressata. Or opt for The Pilgrim (roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing) or The Laurel Canyon (avocado, feta yogurt, sprouts).
Salad snobs dig into freshly made creations like the chopped vegan Cobb or spanish tuna with shell beans and marinated tomato. Takeaways (grilled hanger steak, roasted carrots), homemade pastries, and jams are also up for grabs.
Dine in the courtyard, get your grub to go, or have it delivered to your desk (coming soon).
So you can nosh and watch Hulu work.
The Larder at Maple Drive, 345 North Maple Drive, between Alden Drive and West Third Street, suite 100, Beverly Hills (310-248-3779).
If you’ve never been to Bouchon Bakery, you’re going to love me forever for telling you that the one in Beverly Hills is about to open…run, don’t walk!
Welcome to Thomas Keller’s French Bakery
Last weekend: you can’t even talk about it.
This Wednesday: you can’t even talk about it.
Because, yes, Wednesday’s the day when Thomas Keller’s long-anticipated bakery finally debuts with espresso, quiche and all the sweet baked goods you can fit in your car—Bouchon Bakery is (nearly) here.
You’ll find it on the ground floor outside that big courtyard park off Canon—next to Bouchon’s little indoor-outdoor bar, under the actual restaurant upstairs. It’s an intimate spot that looks like a classic neighborhood boulangerie—though the neighborhood in question is now a bit west of Paris.
So in just a few days, you’ll come by the counter with the paper in the morning for an Equator espresso and a pain au chocolat outside in the sun. But you’ll also want to give it heavy consideration for your next intense lunchtime quiche craving.
And we suppose we should tell you about that counter. It’ll be full to overflowing with a changing mix of cookies… and croissants… and tarts… and coffee cakes… and all sorts of French finery involving carbs and sugar.
Your second favorite kind of French finery.