If you're like me, you're probably on your last nerve heat-wise. I live in mid-Wilshire, and I cannot remember the last time it hit 104 degrees here. My poor kitty Izzy, who has beautiful long grey hair, looks like an unstuffed stuffy discarded on the floor.

On the show this week, I tout paletas and cucumber or melon agua fresca as refreshers. I also want to shout out cold showers and the dongchimi guksu noodles in an icy fermented radish broth from The Corner Place in Koreatown.

I hope our show this week takes your mind away from the heat. The interview with Marion Nestle and Lisa Sutherland was exceptional. Their book Sugar Coated uses cereal boxes to tell the story of marketing and American ultra-processed food. At one point, Marion asks, "The big question is, how did it become ok for kids to eat essentially vitamin-enriched cookies for breakfast? How is that ok?" I'm going to be interviewing Marion in Santa Barbara on October 29th as part of the UC Santa Barbara Bodies Politic speaking series. Details will be announced soon.

Last week, I wrote about non-stick pans and alternatives to them in the Good Food Substack. I realized while writing that I should probably re-season my cast iron. The heat and my general tendency to sloth made me look to see if there is someone in LA who does this. It turns out, there is! Check out Dad Does Dishes in Burbank. He takes old pans that still have a lot of use left and makes them look like new. I also remembered that some of my favorite pans come from the kitchens of lifelong cooks who invited me to take what I wanted when they downsized. Many Boomers who cook bought very good cookware.

Take care and take time to recover once the heatwave passes.

Good Food, Part 1 (Apple / Spotify):

• Marion Nestle and Lisa Sutherland argue that if you want to understand the American food industry, start in the cereal aisle.
• In preparation for the High Holidays, Leah Koenig explores 2,000 years of Jewish baking.

Good Food, Part 2 (Apple / Spotify):

• Pierce Abernathy makes vegetables the heroes of the plate.
• Matt Biancaniello turns the farmers market into a cocktail menu while Cirone Farms sees its earliest apple harvest ever.

—Evan

THE GOOD FOOD TEAM'S DINING HIGHLIGHTS

Evan: I have a friend who loves to tell me what she is craving so that I'll make it for her. She's been asking for a coconut cake for at least three years. I am not a layer cake-making person. But I finally made a mix hack cake inspired by a colleague who posted one on IG. I figured if a mix was good enough for a former pastry chef, it was good enough for me too. My friend loved it and said, "Hey, you still made it, right?"

Gillian: When I brought home Pierce Abernathy's new book, Every Stem, Every Leaf, my 7-year-old immediately zeroed in on the Concord Grape Sorbet recipe. Fortuitously, it's Concord grape season, so it was an easy project to tackle. We've now made it twice to glowing reviews from both kids and adults. Both times we couldn't wait for it to freeze before we dug in.

Laryl: During the brief respite from the heat last week, I dug out one of my favorite soup recipes. It's a tattered page saved from a running magazine at least two decades old. It incorporates turkey meatballs, fennel, kale, and cannellini beans. I use quinoa elbow noodles and have the leftovers for quick dinners all week. Soup season can't come soon enough, truly.

Elina: There's nothing my buffet heart loves more than a combo plate. When I had lunch with a longtime friend at the even more longstanding Otomisan in Boyle Heights, I naturally had to order one. Did I have to choose between tempura and katsu? Hell, no. Did it come with soup, salad, and rice? Hell, yes. Was it served on a plate the size of a hubcap? You know it.

WHAT I'M CONSUMING

WEEKLY RECIPE: This week begins the Jewish High Holidays. In the Ashkenazi tradition, Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) is nearly always celebrated by dipping apple slices in honey or with an apple cake. Or both! This week I interviewed Leah Koenig about her new book The Dessert Table. Her recipe for her mother's Back Pocket Apple Cake is something all of us should have for fall baking, whether you celebrate the holidays or not. Photo credit Leah Koenig. GET THE RECIPE 

TASTY THINGS TO DO

• Thunderbolt in Echo Park throws itself a 7th birthday party featuring seven hours of cocktails for $7 on Sunday, September 13, 2 - 9 PM. You might wanna make a reservation for this one.
• Long Beach Burger Week returns September 13-20 with featured burgers priced $5 - $25. Marathon Burger, Parker's Lighthouse, and Crack Burgers are just a few of the 20+ participants.
• Learn to make handrolls with Camélia sous chef Yuki Hayashigawa. You'll practice the craft while enjoying sake, wine, and spritz pairings then, hopefully, walk away with skills you can use. Sunday, September 13, 12 - 2 PM. $100.
• Barman Matthew Biancaniello collabs with Evangeline Swamp Room (the new bar next door to Little Jewel in Chinatown) to host a New Orleans-themed oyster and cocktail pop-up on Thursday, September 17, 6 - 9 PM. $55 tasting menu.
• On Friday, September 18, chef Kwame Onwauchi chats with filmmaker Ava Duvernay about his book, All Hours: Crazy Good Food for Whatever, Whenever. It happens at Reparations Club in West Adams. Signing at 5 PM, conversation at 7 PM. $0-45.
• Eater brings Off Menu to the Tam O'Shanter on Saturday, September 19. Expect dishes and drinks from Holbox, Pasjoli, Ji Rong, Quarter Sheets, Cafe Telegrama, Sumibiyakitori Kidori, and other local spots. $125.
• Next Sunday, September 20, head to Sabzee Market in Encino for the latest installment of Good Food x Grocery Goblin's reading series. Evan Kleiman will introduce the readers who include Dorrin Shahsavari & Niousha Nabighods, Angel Dimayuga, and Frank Shyong. $20.

TASTY THINGS TO READ

• Starting in childhood, women are taught to restrict their food intake so they can achieve a particular ideal of thinness and beauty. This constant state of semi-starvation might come with a hidden cognitive cost, sapping women's mental bandwidth and making them easier to dismiss and control.
• Boyle Heights vegan restaurant Un Solo Sol will close September 28 after a 16-year run. The pandemic hit it hard. More recently, the ICE raids and Lineage warehouse fire made it impossible for owner Carlos Ortez to keep the business afloat.
• After nine years, Italian restaurant Rossoblu will close November 1. Chef-owner Steve Samson and his wife and business partner, Dina, may have plans for the 7,500-square-foot DTLA space.

AWWW

Watch this guinea pig eat a leaf. It'll melt you.

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

—Evan

P.S. Support what you love!

Good Food is free for everyone, and now that we’re fully community-funded, your support makes this work possible. If you’ve been enjoying what our team brings to your inbox, donate by midnight Sunday, September 13th for a chance to win a 12-course Jacaranda dinner for two, complete with beverage pairings, a meet-and-greet with Chef Daniel Patterson, and more.