This Week's Appetizing News: Celeb Regular at the Market

Happy Post-Valentines Day-Mardi Gras-Chinese New Year everybody! We hope your weekend was grand, however you celebrated. This has been quite the eventful month so far!

Since we boast regular celebrity sightings on our tours, we are just a little excited to report that actor George Segal (photo here) has been a new Monday-Saturday "regular" at the "Hollywood Table" of the East Patio at the Original Farmers Market, where our tastings commence on our LA tour. Today I was in the patio and noticed that this group of men, most of whom wear fedoras or berets (including Mr. Segal) begin to gather right around 9am, and enjoy coffee and usually lively conversation, with laughter. Our group this morning enjoyed Bob's Coffee and Doughnuts just to the side of their table. Mr. Segal was a big favorite of Lisa's and mine in his role at Jack Gallo on "Just Shoot Me" some years ago. Mind you, we haven't had the guts to go introduce ourselves and tell him so ... yet ...

We have dined pretty well lately, and have a couple of hits to report for this week's ~

"We recommend ..."
Britt's BBQ, El Segundo - Lisa especially recommends the baby-back ribs and suggests that the mac-and-chili is a don't-miss!
Kassava Caribbean, West 3rd Street (just across from Cedars-Sinai Hospital) - I recommend the fried chicken with jerk sauce, roti, and Jamaican patties and then making 10 or 12 or 20 subsequent visits to try everything else on the menu. Today they were out of their French Caribbean cupcakes due to a large order for the hospital, so I didn't get to try them. (I do not like when that happens.)

And finally, if you like the idea of coming on our LA tour soon, you will love this news! Ferrara Chocolate has generously offered us samples of their Belgian Milk Chocolate Bars, as gifts to our LA tour guests for the next few weeks at least. We have tasted them (just to see if you would like them, of course!), and we think they are going to be very well-received! Available at Ralph's and Walgreen's stores now, we welcome you to try them out if you want to enjoy some of the best-quality chocolate this side of the continent!

I will leave you with that tempting thought, and wish you a week filled with all things delicious, especially at the table with those you love!

Until next time, on behalf of Lisa, I remain your faithful ...

Diane Scalia
Tour Maestra
Melting Pot Food Tours

... from our Melting Pot: Guacomole with a New Orleans Twist

In This Week's Appetizing News, we wish to offer our humble congratulations to the New Orleans Saints, for their Super Bowl XLIV victory last Sunday!

Now, let's consider that ...

• their prestigious championship deserves an honorary recipe,
• last Friday was - surprise! - World Nutella Day,
• Di is working on a new concept for us called "French Fridays",
• next Tuesday is Mardi Gras (New Orleans is so busy this month!) and,
• we love our French tour merchants and, our fans in France (hence the baguettes)!
  

With great pride and joy, Di offers her New Orleans-inspired guacamole recipe. It was originally developed for the Chilean Avocado Board, in 2004 for the Sugar Bowl game. Served with toasted baguette slices, admittedly it seems quite strange and unusual ... until you get a taste and, can't stop eating it! Try it for a Mardi Gras celebration or anytime you have occasion for boasting a fantastic new appetizer!

PS: Click here if you want to take the guacamole to whole other French level ...

New Orleans-style Guacamole
3 large, ripe avocados, peeled, seeded, cut in chunks
2 tsp Tabasco sauce, or to taste
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar or, orange juice
2 tsp hot-and-sweet mustard
2 cups cooked (peeled, deveined, tails removed) shrimp, chopped coarsely
1/2 large sweet white onion, diced
Sugar-Pepper, for seasoning and garnishing dip:
2 tsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp red cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 tsp sugar

Toasted French baguette slices, for serving

Mash avocado chunks in large bowl. In separate bowl, whisk next four ingredients until smooth. Gently stir into mashed avocado and blend well; add shrimp and onion. Prepare Sugar-Pepper by mixing salt, black pepper, red pepper, and sugar. Add gradually to taste, to avocado mixture, adjust seasoning, reserving some sugar-pepper for topping guacamole if desired. Transfer to serving bowl, garnish as desired. Enjoy as spread for baguette slices. Yields 6-8 servings.

Or, if you just prefer someone else do the food and you practice being a guest, you might really love this weekend's LA Street Food Fest. Take your Valentine, your Mardi Gras date, your Chinese New Year of the Tiger buddy, or maybe even someone who doesn't have to work or study on President's Day Monday! Enjoy a full-on food-frenzy extravaganza offered by LA's most popular catering and gourmet trucks, all in one location. Goodwill is part of the deal, so feel good about toasting the LA Food Bank at one of the beer and wine bars!

Just enjoy! On behalf of my lovely siser Lisa, you are wished delicious hours around the table this week, especially with those you love! Happy Valentines Day, Chinese New Year, and Presidents Day!

Until next time, I remain,
Diane Scalia
Your Tour (and Blog) Maestra

New Home: This Week's Appetizing News from our Melting Pot!

Happy Groundhog Day! Punxsutawney Phil (shown in photo, left; courtesy of Fox news) apparently saw his shadow this morning, so it looks like we've got a little winter left. Perhaps look at the bright side - more fabulous winter meals for the next six weeks at least!

Meanwhile, here at Melting Pot Food Tours, as we continue to stretch and grow and move toward more fun and success, we're gently mixing a few things up - for the greater good! To jazz up our new Facebook fan page, we've decided to post a blog story and newsbites about what is delicious each week, usually on Tuesdays. This blog post will take the place of our former weekly messages to members' inboxes.

We will also continue emailing our monthly "Appetizing News" newsletter, so we'd love you to kindly sign up for our mailing list if you haven't already!

This week we're simply going to introduce a new feature we'll be presenting regularly. "We recommend ..." will acquaint you with places we've discovered - or maybe have loved for a long time - that we consider hidden treasures for great dining in and around town (other than those which are current tour stops)!

We would love to hear from you about your favorite independently-owned places as well! Let's do our part to give these best-kept secrets more exposure and keep them thriving! Here's a few to start us up.

We recommend ...

Playa Blanca - Peruvian cuisine, moderately priced, incredibly delicious! Owned and operated by family, in El Segundo. Lunch and dinner.

Antigua Bread Bakery and Cafe - Fresh, wonderful Guatemalan with a Euro twist, i.e., enjoy croissants and/or chilaquiles for breakfast...lunch...dinner! In Highland Park with a new location opening soon in West Alhambra on Huntington Drive. Their new site is forthcoming but locations are listed on current page.

TART - Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, just across from the Original LA Farmers Market at the Farmer's Daughter boutique hotel. Considered "Southern Chic", its classy comfort food is so very good! Di's particular weakness is their homemade biscuits for breakfast ...

Where have you eaten lately that you think ought to top our don't-miss list? Please let us know! Tell us a little about what you enjoyed, the price levels, and where/how we can learn more about the place. Post your comments on our wall or here on the blog. Thank you!

We hope you've enjoyed this post, and please know how very much we appreciate your becoming a fan on our new page! Please tell your family, friends, Romans, countrymen, people you don't like (kidding about that last suggestion) about our fan page if you'd like, we'd love to continue to grow with your support!

Enjoy a delicious week, especially with those you love around the table! We'll see you here next Tuesday. Until then, we send ...

Warmest regards,

Lisa and Diane Scalia
Your Melting Pot Tour hosts