Californian – FoodWatcher

Gracias Madre Offers a Taste of the Margarita’s Past & Future

If there’s a way to distill the LA experience down to one moment, it’s this: sitting on Gracias Madre’s sunny patio in West Hollywood, sipping on a margarita while looking out for Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.

“Anytime anyone says that they came strai…

“Anytime anyone says that they came straight here from the airport, I’m always like, ‘Welcome to the most California restaurant there is,’” Gracias Madre beverage director Maxwell Reis jokes. “We’re on the street where celebrities go if they want paparazzi to see them. People are camping out at a two-top in the patio trying to spot famous people. It’s hilarious.”

The 1994 Queer Church Cookbook That Can Teach Us to Mourn

U.S. culture at large generally regards mourning as a personal act. Food plays a role: a lunch buffet following a funeral, or gifts of lasagna or Bundt cakes from friends and neighbors to those left grieving. But how to process loss on such a massive scale? Is there a way that food can help to honor large numbers of those who’ve died—like the 6 million around the world who’ve fallen to COVID—in some project of shared remembering?

In the early 1990s, when San Francisco was an epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and medical treatment for the disease was in its early stages, one local faith community was able to do just that with a cookbook. Titled Those People at That Church, the self-published collection of recipes from San Francisco’s St. Francis Lutheran Church appeared in November 1994.

Is Bacon Actually Banned in California?

Is a bacon ban really looming in California? That’s been the pressing question among meat lovers for days after the Associated Press sounded the alarm on the upcoming implementation of Proposition 12, a law in California that will require a larger minimum confinement area for pigs, egg-laying chicken, and calves. The good news is that this doesn’t mean that bacon or other pork products will be all-out banned in the Golden State, but the legislation, which will go into effect in 2022, will impact farmers, restaurateurs, and consumers, as the price of pork will likely increase in a few years.

A Hands-Off Trick for Better Bacon

This Is the Only Way I Cook Bacon Now, Thanks to … a Power Outage

From Our Shop

Smithey Cast Iron 2-in-1 Griddle and Skillet

$100–$300

More Options

Staub Cast Iron Double Handle Fry Pan, 13″

$259–$269

More Colors

Tongs (Set of 2)

$32

More Colors

What Is Proposition 12?

Although pork lovers are biting their fingernails, wondering if they’ll be able to enjoy bacon strips with breakfast or a nice, crispy pork schnitzel at dinner, this measure isn’t anything new. It was actually on ballots in California way back in 2018.

A Hands-Off Trick for Better Bacon

This Is the Only Way I Cook Bacon Now, Thanks to ... a Power Outage

From Our Shop

Is This the Next Big Sustainable Spirit?

More people are drinking premium tequila and mezcal than ever before—particularly, in America and Japan. Over 170,000 liters of tequila and mezcal were exported to the U.S. alone in 2017, amounting to over half of Mexico's total exported mezcal. It's safe to assume that number's only grown since. In fact, it's projected that the agave spirit category will continue to grow 14 percent every year in North America.

All of this begs the question: How long can Mexican agave crops sustain the demands of this upward trend?

The 10 Los Angeles Bakeries We Can’t Leave Town Without Visiting

In partnership with Hilton, we’re sharing all the bakeries we look forward to visiting every time we’re in Los Angeles. On the menu: life-changing almond croissants, blueberry roti buns, Instagram-famous ricotta toast, and so much more.

I don’t know…

In partnership with Hilton, we're sharing all the bakeries we look forward to visiting every time we're in Los Angeles. On the menu: life-changing almond croissants, blueberry roti buns, Instagram-famous ricotta toast, and so much more.

I don't know about you, but whenever I plan a trip I organize my schedule around food. Whether that means making a dinner reservation weeks in advance or allotting an extra 30 minutes to stand in line for the best [insert popular food item here] in town, you can bet I know exactly where I'll be eating and drinking for just about every meal of the day.

A Local’s Guide to San Diego, aka the Ultimate Winter Getaway

We’ve partnered with Hilton to share a few local favorites for your next trip to San Diego, California—aka the perfect cold-weather getaway. Think: beachfront restaurants, laidback bakeries, one-of-a-kind shops, and more. For extra-comfy accommodations…

We've partnered with Hilton to share a few local favorites for your next trip to San Diego, California—aka the perfect cold-weather getaway. Think: beachfront restaurants, laidback bakeries, one-of-a-kind shops, and more. For extra-comfy accommodations, check out one of Hilton's 37 locations throughout the city, from the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter in downtown to the Cape Rey Carlsbad Beach, a Hilton Resort and Spa.

San Diego’s easygoing attitude and pretty-much-always-perfect weather has made it a go-to vacation destination for decades, but its food scene hasn’t always gotten the same love. That’s changed in recent years with the city taking advantage of its plum location, which happens to be near farms, ranches, the ocean, and vineyards.

A Hands-Off Trick for Better Bacon

This Is the Only Way I Cook Bacon Now, Thanks to … a Power Outage

Smithey Cast Iron 2-in-1 Griddle and Skillet $100–$300

Staub Cast Iron Double Handle Fry Pan, 13″ $259–$269

Tongs (Set of 2) $32

What Is Proposition 12?

A Hands-Off Trick for Better Bacon

This Is the Only Way I Cook Bacon Now, Thanks to ... a Power Outage

Smithey Cast Iron 2-in-1 Griddle and Skillet $100–$300

Staub Cast Iron Double Handle Fry Pan, 13" $259–$269

Tongs (Set of 2) $32

What Is Proposition 12?

Smithey Cast Iron 2-in-1 Griddle and Skillet

$100–$300

Staub Cast Iron Double Handle Fry Pan, 13″

$259–$269

Tongs (Set of 2)

$32