The Divine Dish

Fall Seasonal Menu Tasting Dinner at Pitfire Pizza

Posted on Nov 01, 2012 under Uncategorized | No Comment

Tonight I joined a dozen food bloggers and journalists to taste the new fall seasonal menu at Pitfire Pizza.  Known for rustic seasonally driven ingredient pizzas cooked in a wood fired pit, Pitfire Pizza opened its first restaurant in 1997 in my neighborhood of NoHo.  Our tasting took place at the WeHo location on Fairfax.  Each season, Pitfire adds extra salads, pizzas and pastas featuring seasonal ingredients to their menu.

We started off with a lovely roasted pear salad with roasted bosc pears, dates, ricotta cheese, pine nuts, mixed lettuces and a fig and olive vinaigrette.

Owner Paul Hibler chatted with us about the new menu and let us know that each of the seven Pitfire locations was designed by a different architect to fit each neighborhood.  Also, he shared the secret to the chain’s thin supple crust – the dough is tossed and cooked to order in a 600-degree stone oven. The result is a tender and crunchy pie.

Next up was the Farmer’s Market Platter, featuring grilled bread, kale with golden raisins and pine nuts, fall squash with honey and mint, farro salad with roasted mushrooms and hazelnuts, and roasted brussels sprouts and a heirloom bean dip.

Next came a rye rigatoni with bacon and brussels sprouts.

Pizza is the main attraction at Pitfire and we got to sample a nice selection of new items for the fall menu.  The nice thing about Pitfire is that in addition to the new fall menu items, diners can also design your their own pie, with ingredients such as natural fennel sausage, applewood smoked bacon, natural spiced salami, and some of the best gorgonzola, goat cheese and organic vegetables around.  Here are the pizzas we sampled:

The crowd favorite was the brussels sprouts and bacon pizza with brussel leaves, cream, bacon, garlic and parmesan.

I also loved the roast pumpkin pizza with sage roasted winter squash, wild greens, fontina cheese, toasted pepitas and pumpkin seed oil.

The 15th anniversary Tuscan pizza features mozzarella and gorgonzola cheese, grilled chicken, roasted potatoes and a basil pesto.  I loved this pizza and it will be offered at all Pitfire locations for just $7.99 during the month of November in honor of the chain’s 15th anniversary.

We ended the dinner with a nice dessert of wine poached pears, ice cream and a rye crumble.  We were also given a nice swag bag with a gift card, T-Shirt, chocolate chip cookie and copy of the new menu.

Visit any of the Pitfire Pizza locations in North Hollywood, West LA, West Hollywood, Downtown and Culver City to sample the new fall seasonal menu items, for hours and addresses visit www.pitfirepizza.com.

Farm Visits, Half Moon Bay

Posted on Sep 16, 2012 under Uncategorized | No Comment

A few weeks ago I attended a lovely FAM press trip to the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay.  Part of our trip was a visit to the local farmer’s market and to local farms.  The Ritz’s Chef de Cuisine Sean Eastwood came with us to gather ingredients for our Chef’s Table dinner later that evening.  Here is a sampling of what we viewed at the local farmer’s market.

After the farmer’s market, we headed to farmer John’s Daylight farm.  Chef Eastwood uses many ingredients for dishes on the Ritz Carlton Navio menu from farmer John’s farm.

First we visited the chicken coop and gathered fresh eggs.

Next we moved to the field area and checked out the pumpkins, squash and herb gardens.

Farmer John went into the fields to pick this cool squash for me.

Next we visited the herb gardens.

Next we visited Harley Farms Goat Farm with owner Dee Harley.  Dee’s farm is home to 200 alpine goats and a few llamas over 9 acres in Pescadero.

The goats are milked twice daily and their milk is used for a variety of lotions and cheeses.

The farm also has monthly dinners in their huge barn.

Daylight Farms pumpkin patch is now open so guests can pick their own pumpkins.  Visit at 850 Cabrillo Highway North.  Harley Goat Farm is located at 205 North Street in Pescadero.

RIP, Ernest Borgnine Dies at 95

Posted on Jul 08, 2012 under Uncategorized | No Comment

Today Oscar winning actor Ernest Borgnine passed away.  I interviewed Ernest at his Hollywood Hills home five years ago when he was 90.   He reminded me of a big teddy bear.  He shared with me tales of old Hollywood and his “history” library full of antique and collectibles from past presidents.  Here is the link to my interview with the actor, http://www.latimes.com/extras/events/custom_publishing/arcPdf_storage/livingWell/LivingWell_12-07.pdf.

Food Lovers Weekend in Irvine

Posted on Jul 07, 2012 under Uncategorized | No Comment

Located in the heart of Orange County, Irvine offers world class shopping, great beaches, championship golf courses and nearby theme parks.  They city also offers a variety of restaurants and culinary adventures for visiting foodies.  Here are a few places to explore on your next trip to Irvine.

Check into one of the 536 guestrooms at the Hyatt Regency, the area’s only AAA Four Diamond hotel.  Located two miles from John Wayne Airport and South Coast Plaza, guests can enjoy the 24-hour fitness center, outdoor pool and tennis courts before retreating to guestrooms with modern furnishings and art, separate business spaces with desks and high speed Internet and flat panel television.

Wine enthusiasts can visit The Wine Artist, a 2,500 square foot Tuscan designed boutique winery and wine tasting bar specializing in corporate events, private parties, custom labeled wine and bottling experiences and cooking classes.   Here you can design your own bottle label, pick a red or white blend, cork it, label it and take it home.

Owner MJ Hong teaches a variety of cooking classes, including tastes of Thailand, France, Italy, and Spain.

Reservations for wine bottling and cooking classes can be made at 949/297-3656 located at 21064 Bake Parkway.

Chocoholics will love the Bean to Bar tour and tasting offered at Qzina Institute of Chocolate.   Qzina is an international importer of specialty chocolates and its Irvine facility is a training center for pastry chefs, chocolatiers and cocoa loving laypeople.  During the tour and tasting guests can view the 18,239 pound chocolate sculpture modeled after an ancient Mayan Temple.

Visitors on the bean to bar tour learn how chocolate is made and get to sample chocolates from all over the world.

Located at 9461 Irvine Center Drive, 949/208-8462 for reservations.

Irvine is also home to a number of restaurants, including Chef David Myers Pizzeria Ortica at South Coast Plaza.  Enjoy handmade Napoli-style artisan pizzas, antipasta dishes and homemade pastas.

Pizzeria Ortica is located at 650 Anton Boulevard, reservations at 714/445-4900.

If you are in the mood for Japanese food, try the new SWSH Shabu Shabu, where you can cook your own meal.  Choose from an array of petal thin sliced meat and vegetables, tofu and noodles to dunk in a pot of boiling water then dip in ponzu or sesame sauce and eat with rice.  SWSH’s space is trendy and chic with half of the dining room dedicated to booth seating and the other half to a long traditional bar.   The menu offers a few modern twists including a raw egg to cook with the meat and vegetables, Angus ribeye beef and Kurobuta pork.  Located at 2710 Alton Parkway, 949/474-0888 for reservations.

Standout menu items include the guanciale, ricotta and cippollotto pizza, pear and pecorino torelli, and the tagliatelle bolognese.