Are grocery stores charging you more than your neighbor?

This was a big week for the Good Food team. On Wednesday, famed food politics guru Marion Nestle was in the studio at KCRW for an interview. It will air soon. I’ve interviewed Marion many times, but it’s been years since we were in a room together. Oh my, did we laugh and enjoy it. She is one of my favorite people. Somehow, even though we often talk of frustrating policy issues, she manages to find hope in all of it.

That theme of hope continued that evening when the GF team attended the premiere of Food 2050. It tells the stories of 10 food system visionaries who are reimagining the future where they live and work. It's a project of the Rockefeller Foundation. Marion was in the film and was part of a panel with our pal Gustavo Arellano. Viola Davis, who narrates the doc, offered moving remarks about her personal experience with hunger as a child. Powerful.

Thursday focused on René Redzepi, first for an in-depth interview about noma's upcoming residency in Los Angeles (the conversation will air on next week's show) and then for an in-person event in the performance studio at KCRW where he was joined by local wild food expert Pascal Baudar. Listening to René talk about the LA he's come to know made me tear up. One of the most amusing parts of the evening was watching Pascal pull out various wild food preparations and hand them to René to smell and taste. I could have watched them interact all evening.

— Evan

Evan: I had some free time between shopping at the Santa Monica Farmers Market and recording interviews at KCRW so I took myself out for breakfast at Saby's on Venice and Beethoven. They make excellent Huevos Rancheros Divorciados.

Gillian: The best thing I ate this week was a tiny pinecone, which can only mean one thing: noma has arrived in LA. On Thursday night, René Redzepi and some noma team members were at the station for an intimate event with KCRW members. On the menu were an acorn and a pinecone, unfamiliar flavors and textures that will stick with me for a long time.

Laryl: After a WFH morning meeting, I walked over to Granada, a new spot for coffee in my Angelino Heights neighborhood, operated by Sydney Wayser and Isaac Watters out of their home kitchen. A flat white and morning pastry from Sasha Piligian was backdropped by chatty couples, millennials on laptops, and charming toddlers shakily pushing plastic wheelbarrows over the crunchy backyard gravel.

Elina: Dha Rae Oak is a Koreatown legend. Call 24 hours in advance to order their signature item — clay pot roasted duck. Stuffed with pumpkin and sunflower seeds, gingko nuts, mung beans, jujubes and sticky rice, it's rubbed with herbs and swaddled in cheesecloth before it's cooked. The meat is juicy and fall-off-the-bone tender. Dip it in the peppery seasoning salt or the spicy-tart garlic and ginger sauce and enjoy it with Cass beer.

On this week's episode of Good Food…

Reporter Eric Gardner explains how grocery stores are exploring "dynamic pricing," charging different people different prices for the same items.
Sean Sherman, the Sioux Chef, links the natural environments, traditions, and histories of Indigenous peoples across North America in his latest cookbook.
Krystle Hickman journeys through the world of California bees, one letter at a time.
Jason Cheng explains why his farm, Yao Cheng Farm in Camarillo, is dropping its organic certification.

Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Listen to the Episode

WHAT I'M CONSUMING

WEEKLY RECIPE: Since I just shot a video about puntarelle at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, it seems only fitting to share more info and a recipe. When you happen upon puntarelle for the first time, it seems like an alien life form. Move past that quickly since it's so satisfying to eat. If you don't have access to puntarelle, here's a recipe I wrote in 2008 using Belgian Endive and celery as a substitute. GET THE RECIPE

TASTY STUFF TO DO

Cassoulet night returns to A.O.C. in West Hollywood on Sunday, January 18. The three-course menu features a salad of young greens; the house cassoulet of duck, pork, and garlic sausage; and an apple brown butter tart for dessert. $95/per person. Advance reservations required.
On Saturday, January 17, from 11 a.m. until dusk, at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pasadena for Power Up Altadena! This family-friendly, all ages event aims to celebrate, heal, and empower Altadena one year after the Eaton Fire. It features two stages of live world music, jazz, and hip hop as well as food trucks, workshops and local vendors. Free food until 4 PM.

READING LIST

Condé Nast apparently forgot to renew the trademark for Gourmet, so a group of five journalists grabbed it so they can relaunch the food magazine as a worker-owned co-op.
Acclaimed chef and author Elle Simone Scott, who was the first Black woman to host America's Test Kitchen, has died at age 49. In addition to launching the SheChef network, she used her platform to advocate for cancer research.
Popular Mar Vista spot Beethoven Market is in a pickle. The city of LA revoked its beverage permit, meaning it can no longer serve alcohol, which can be a death blow for a restaurant.

AWWWW

What in the heck is a muntjac??? We don't know but it's tiny, cute and trying to play with/fight a rhinoceros.

To see more of what I'm consuming, including recipes, events, and other stories, check out my Substack!

—Evan