By Brianna Chu Students of all ages, background, and experience are moving in and out of the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE)’s fairly new Los Angeles campus from 7:30 am to 10:00 pm most weekdays. There are three shifts of classes: 7:30-11:30 am, 12:00-4:00 pm, and 6:00-10:00 pm, the latter of which is meant for…
By Brianna Chu When you walk into Mignon Chocolate, you don’t just walk into a chocolate store: you walk into a business with a rich, multi-generational, and cosmopolitan history. The Ter Poghossian family business starts with Mignon Chocolate owner Joe Ter Poghossian’s grandfather, Hovsep Ter Poghossian Sr., who opened and operated a bakery in Ukraine…
By Brianna Chu John Bicos shares ownership of Gus’s BBQ with his brother, Chris. He had been coming to Gus’s since he was a kid, as his best friend (and indeed, the best man at his wedding!) was the great-grandson of the eponymous Gus, who started the restaurant with his relatives in 1946. Their family…
By Brianna Chu Owner Pete Gallanis, as you might guess, is not the first owner of Cameron’s Seafood. The eponymous John Cameron was an attorney who, when inspired by his friend Fred Duckett – owner of The Fish Market – opened his own restaurant in 1984. However, Cameron quickly realized that he liked eating at…
By Brianna Chu After a decade of owning Ichima Sushi, owner James Park and his brother opened Oseyo Shabu Shabu in 2014. They transitioned into Oseyo and sold Ichima the next year. Park wanted to run a smaller restaurant so he could spend more time with his kids: so the shift from Ichima, which had…
By Brianna Chu Coming into its fourth year running, Masters of Taste is an exclusive dining event that brings together an incredible array of culinary masters, restaurants, pastry chefs, alcohol specialists, breweries, and mixologists from all over Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. The purpose? To raise money for a deserving cause. One-hundred percent of…
By Brianna Chu Some readers may already recognize Meat District Co. from last November’s feature on the restaurant in the Business Spotlight. If not, well… (*cough* You should go read it before you read my review. *cough*) If you’ve never been to the restaurant, it’s got a modern, industrial atmosphere with rustic, warm touches. You…
By Brianna Chu The current owner of the local Arcadian landmark and restaurant, the Derby, doesn’t really put his name out there. Dustin Nicholarsen prefers to be behind-the-scenes, half curating a museum and half running a restaurant that he actually loves to eat at, as he puts it. He is well-versed in the restaurant’s storied…
By Brianna Chu Located on Sierra Madre Boulevard in Sierra Madre, Sierra Fusion lets you know what it’s all about right in its name. It’s a cozy but not stuffy spot, with large windows and an accent brick wall on the far end with handpainted, one-of-a-kind artworks on the walls. The artist who paints them…
By Brianna Chu Even just from the outside, the Raymond 1886 isn’t your average restaurant: the place is literally a cottage, not to mention its hard-to-spot location on Fair Oaks. It looks, for all intents and purposes, like a well-kept Craftsman bungalow, set with dark brown door frames, brick, and olive green panels. Inside, the…