15 May 2015 8 Comments
in Observations, Starlets Tags: food, humor, Larry Ellison, Malibu, Matsuhisa, Nikita, Nobu, Robert De Niro
We live next to Malibu, and between my son’s involvement in Malibu Little League, going to the beach and visiting various friends, we spend a fair amount of time there.
Flynn scores!
It used to be you couldn’t get anything decent to eat in the town, which was strange given its demographics. And then, 15 or 20 years ago, Nobu Matsuhisa moved in with his second restaurant after his flagship “Matsuhisa” on La Cienega. More
08 May 2015 23 Comments
in Humor, Pork, Starlets Tags: bak kwa, Chinese New Year, food, humor, Lim Chee Guan, Pork, Shoba Haridass, Singapore
My kid’s call her “Aunt Shoba.” And she’s got a secret.
Our dear friend Shoba, you see, comes from Singapore, where she was recently visiting her parents. We fed her family while she was gone — including a birthday dinner for husband Bob. As a gesture of love and thanks, she brought me something back, a regal red bag with gold Chinese characters embossed on the front, a package weighing around a pound inside, that she slipped to me stealthily with a suggestion: “Hide that.”
Shoba’s back
“What is it?” I whispered back.
“Meat,” she said.
It was called “bak kwa,” from the Lim Chee Guan company. She then sent me a link explaining. More
01 May 2015 18 Comments
in Humor, Recipes, Video Tags: carne asada, Dan Shore, humor, Jon Buck, Mexican food, patacones, shrimp, tacos, Topanga
In the interest of dispelling any outdated notions of men’s night out without the wives being about poker, cigars, cheap beer, pizza delivery and foul talk, I present an alternative: Dad’s Night in Topanga.
Host dad Dan tends to the important stuff
It all started with a text from my friend and oft-Skinny-Girls sidekick, Dan. His wife was out of town, he was at home with the kids, did we all want to get together over the weekend? Turns out my wife was going out for a “girl’s night” for a pal’s birthday on Saturday, and Dad’s Night was ON. More
26 Apr 2015 15 Comments
in Humor, Starlets Tags: Don Schneider, Fenway Park, food, humor, Kula sushi, musabi, onigiri, piñatas, sushi, Topanga
“Dad,” a tiny voice said as I prepared to leave the house one morning, “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to a meeting in town.”
“You’re NOT going to the round-and-round sushi restaurant, are you!??”
“No,” I said, “I’m not.”
Phew!! my 4-year-old sushi-obsessed daughter sighed. “You are NOT allowed to go there without me!”
Imogen with princess dress and salmon at the Kula sushi bar, April 2014
I’ve written about Imogen and her sushi fixation on several occasions before (perhaps most memorably when, in her desperation, she insisted on eating frozen salmon sushi). But recently things had reached a whole new level. At one of our Tuesday sushi dinners with the Schneiders, she lingered around the kitchen after the kids had finished their dinners. More
16 Apr 2015 14 Comments
in Food, Humor, Recipes Tags: Пасха, humor, Lenin, Pasha, piroshkis, Russian cooking, Russian food, Russian Orthodox Easter, Time Life Foods of the World, Topanga
Our friends, Olga and Sam, came for dinner one night recently. Shortly after, we received an email from Olga — who hails from Russia — inviting us to a “Russian Feast”for a holiday called “Пасха” on an upcoming Saturday.
A studious Lenin on Olga’s wall
I’m a big fan of theme dinners. Sadly, we had a previous engagement (a wedding — get it, engagement!??), and asked if she could reschedule. We were free that Sunday. More
skinny girls & mayonnaise 