Hello Friends,

This past week we received news that Good Food has once again been nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award for our episode “The Life and Times of Lalo Garcia: immigration, deportation, reconciliation.” The episode traces the life of chef Eduardo “Lalo” García Guzmán and features him as well as Laura Tillman, author of The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo García. Her book was also nominated for Literary Writing. Friends who just arrived from CDMX couldn't stop praising their meal at Lalo's Máximo Bistrot. What a story of redemption and perseverance.

I had so much fun bantering about pasta with Dan Pashman and Andy Richter this week. I love exchanging barbs with smart people. Thanks to everyone who came out to hear us and said hi. Before our banter, Dan and I met at Pijja Palace, the Indian-ish sports bar in Silverlake. The food was better than ever. I could eat the Malai Rigatoni on the regular. But it was their Caesar salad that blew me away. I think it's one of the best in town.

And it was great to be introduced to ChowNow's space in Culver City. What a perfect place for the NowServingLA facilitated event!  ChowNow is a delivery app that doesn't take a huge bite from restaurant owners. Let's support them. Maybe one day I'll get to cook in their kitchen for you.

After the event, a friend who attended whisked me away for a late evening snack at Dear John's. My order? Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail, creamed spinach, and a martini of course. All in all a good eating-out week.

Take a look below at our show this week. And send me pics of your cocktails you're inspired to order or make.

Thank you, Evan

Whether it's Humphrey Bogart's French 75 in Casablanca, Audrey Hepburn's Mississippi Punch in Breakfast at Tiffany's, or James Bond's martini (shaken not stirred, of course), old Hollywood movies had a way of making cocktails look like the apex of leisure and sophistication. Historian Hadley Meares looks at how Hollywood sips cocktails on the big screen.

"A weird quirk of spirits history, but especially bourbon history, is that for most of its existence, it merely existed to be drunk," writes Aaron Goldfarb. But for some people, liquor is so much more. It's the hunt for collectors who pay massive sums to possess rare bottles. Goldfarb focuses on these alcohol obsessives in his book, Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits.

Hearing Frank La of Be Bright Coffee describe what it's like to compete (and win) the US Coffee Championship is to hear what might be the greatest example of multi-tasking that exists. Contenders in the competition have 15 minutes to present an espresso, a milk beverage, and a signature beverage to four sensory judges. Seriously. Listen to him describe the experience.

When we talk about great tacos, we generally talk about their flavor, texture, spice, and the warm hug of a fresh corn tortilla. Rarely do we talk about the strength it takes to cook 1,000 pounds of carnitas, rendering the meat in its own sizzling fat in a makeshift kitchen on a sidewalk while pressing handmade tortillas. That's exactly what Guadalupe Baez does every Sunday morning at Carnitas Los Gabrieles in Downtown LA. In a story for L.A. Taco, Memo Torres describes her as the Queen of Carnitas.

Cherries are here! If you want to taste the peak of this fruit drive past your supermarket to find cherries from Murray Family Farms. Here's a list of farmer's markets where you can find them. Steven Murray Jr. is a sixth-generation California farmer. His cherries, grown in Bakersfield, are the first to market in North America. To ensure they can harvest the cherries early, the growing process involves reflective tarps, pruning techniques, high-calcium clay used as a sunscreen, and overhead misting with winter chilling. All this work brings the cherries to market a mere seven days earlier, but the profits are considerable. It's such a great hidden story.

I'm thrilled to announce that I'm hosting two tours in Italy this October. The first — from 10/13 to 10/19 — is organized by my friend Elizabeth Minchilli. It's in the Salento region of Puglia, the tip of the heel of the boot, a land of white villages, conical stone trulli, and fabulous food centered on vegetables, cheese, and seafood. Here is the info. The second week — from 10/20 to 10/26 — is a tour organized by KCRW for folks at the Champion level. If you'd like more information, email developmentevents@kcrw.org We'll be spending a week in Rome eating, listening to music, cooking together, and chatting with famed journalists, in short, translating the KCRW cultural experience to one of the greatest cities in the world. We'll cook together and wander. Both weeks promise to be great travel.