Pie is back! After a too-long hiatus, we're thrilled to share that once again, we'll be gathering to share our love for the circular pastry. This year's PieFest and Contest will take place at The Autry Museum of the American West on Saturday, March 14th. Yes, that's Pi Day!

If you are a baker and want to enter the competition, CLICK HERE. If you are a community-minded eater and want to spend a day with us, please RSVP HERE. The event is free and open to the public, and we'll have a lot for you to do, including a pie marketplace, a pie pageant, a beer garden, cooking demos, book signings, and music.

Last week, I wrote about bay leaves as a follow-up to my conversation with Madeleine Brand on Press Play. Forward to 38:24 to listen. Who knew that after hearing so much skepticism about them online, I would tap into a community of leaf lovers? Here's the essay. Be sure to check out the comments. I saw so many good ideas from readers on what to do with both fresh and dried bay leaves. If you have a patch of even, filtered sun, get a little tree for yourself. But I caution you — keep it in the pot or you'll get a monster like mine.

— Evan

DINING HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE GOOD FOOD TEAM

Evan: Every time I visit Los Cinco Puntos in Boyle Heights, I wonder why I take so long between visits. These were some of the best beef tacos I've ever had. The meat was so flavorful. Thick, fresh, hand-patted tortillas. And the nopales! I ate one for lunch and the other taco, deconstructed, was dinner.

Gillian: What do you eat when it's 80 degrees in February? This citrus and fennel salad, topped with fruity Sicilian olive oil, Castelvetrano olives, pistachios and mint is the perfect answer. Of course, you could make this yourself at home, but I prefer to eat at Felix in Venice so I can end the meal with Shannon Swindle's Bay Leaf panna cotta.

Laryl: The size of a toddler's head, the cinnamon roll at Lodge Bread can easily be shared among your three favorite people. Beyond the brioche dough, the icing combines sour cream and labne with a hint of citrus zest. I'm looking forward to their Pasadena location on Lincoln opening later this summer.

Elina: I took my daughter to Disneyland for the first time. After a day of eating corn dogs and churros, I went to a preview of the recently revamped Napa Rose, the upscale, wine-centric restaurant inside the Grand Californian Hotel. When it's done well, I love a fancified version of a downhome classic. This elegant candy bar delivered. With Valrhona chocolate mousse, a hazelnut praline bar, chocolate sauce and ice cream, it was delicious!

THE LATEST EPISODE OF GOOD FOOD

This week on Good Food:

• KCRW's PieFest & Contest is back! We talk to Iowan Beth Howard about her documentary Pieowa, which brings together church ladies, state fair contestants, farm wives, and historians to explore the power of a flaky crust.
• Mia Castro transports herself to Puerto Rico with inspired dishes for Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show featuring Bad Bunny.
• Psychotherapist and Ottolenghi Test Kitchen recipe developer Helen Goh incorporates baking into a meaningful life.
• L.A. Taco's Memo Torres finds time to help compile the city's best Mexican restaurants.
• At her Highland Park gastropub, chef Debbie Lee incorporates farmers market produce into creative bar snacks.

Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

WHAT I'M CONSUMING

WEEKLY RECIPE: Back in 2024, I interviewed Alyse Whitney about her book, Big Dip Energy. If you're still undecided about dips for the big game, here's a tip. Make her Caesar Salad Dip. There's a whole head of romaine whizzed up with the rest of the ingredients. GET THE RECIPE

TASTY STUFF TO DO

• At Afro-Caribbean restaurant Lucia on Fairfax, new exec chef Cleophus "Ophus" Hethington has launched a menu series honoring Afro-diasporic cuisine to celebrate Black History Month. This week focuses on foundational techniques and flavors — ndolé with bitter greens and smoked peanuts, egusi agnolotti filled with rabbit and toasted garri, roasted lamb with fermented sorghum and hibiscus.

• Jade Rabbit in Santa Monica just announced a Sonoratown collab. Since mushu pork is served with thin, tortilla-like pancakes, Chef Bryant Ng has decided to use Sonoratown's tortillas for the dish. It's available for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays only.

• Want to help Good Food? KCRW is conducting an audience survey so we can learn more about who's listening to the show. Share your thoughts. We'd love to hear them! The survey takes only a few minutes.

READING LIST

• Before everyone in LA was queuing for spendy smoothies, Simply Wholesome in the View Park-Windsor Hills neighborhood was juicing wheatgrass and selling Jamaican chicken patties. "The Rastas, the West Indians — my community — embraced me thoroughly," says Percell Keeling, who opened the store in 1984.

• Del Monte is shuttering its last cannery in California. Located in Modesto, the closure means roughly 600 employees and 1,200 seasonal workers will lose their jobs. It's also bad news for Cling Peach farmers. Outside of canned fruit, there's not much of a market for Cling Peaches so anyone who planted for Del Monte doesn't have a buyer for their crop.

• Ballerina Farm (aka influencer Hannah Neeleman) and her husband are passionate raw milk fans. So passionate, they bought a bunch of Jersey cows, started a dairy, and began selling raw milk. Unfortunately, their raw milk failed two safety tests because samples had high levels of coliform, the family of bacteria that includes E. coli. In a statement issued last week, the farm said, "Producing raw milk takes careful planning from a facility and infrastructure standpoint. Unfortunately, we learned this after the fact." Hmmmm, if only there were some sort of process to prevent this from happening.

AWWW

Watch this tapir grow from a watermelon-size baby to a 523-pound cutie.

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

—Evan