SUCRE Sweets Parisian Ice Cream & Bakeshop with its treasures of Syrian-influenced pastries sits demurely through the archway from Souk Shawarma, it’s savory “big brother” next door. And well it should — owner-pastry chef, Lauren is the younger sister of chef-owner, Andrew Faour, who partners with...
(Gerry Furth-Sides) “Souk” (market in Arabic) is an intriguing enough name to draw restaurant. What brings people back to the recently opened Souk Shawarma Cafe is the soul-filled food of chef partners (Syrian-American ) Andrew Faour and (Jamaican-American) Matt Carpenter. Souk stands as the only U.S. restaura...
(Gerry Furth-Sides ) Already at the age of seven, after the kids at school assumed my mother, who arrived in this country on a luxury liner, was “a gypsy” because she had dark hair, some sort of an accent and was wearing a beret, I knew there had to be a better word for “foreign-born […]...
(Gerry Furth-Sides) The best indication of SOL COCINA’s personality was already seen on opening nights when the restaurant pulled out all the stops — like offering a tray of tequila drinks as a guests greeting even before they stepped in the door. The third location of this Arizona based co...
(Gerry Furth-Sides) The Inimitable Chef Celestine Drago’s wide smile (above) says it all about the event of the season, Planned Parenthood Food Fare, now over a quarter century running. And so does the playful grin of another regular icon, Chef Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill (below). Chef Celestin0 was an honor...
Devoted American chef, Jimmy Shaw, continues to popularize his own version of Mexican cuisine at the jam-packed Loteria! Grill restaurant on the Third Street Promenade. You don’t know where to look first in the open air cantina designed by Richard Altuna. Floor to ceiling back-lit cubicles filled with shiny bottles on a mu...
(Gerry Furth-Sides) General Manager Chris Garcia may be the one to meet you at the door with a huge Chino “hill country” welcome but the spirit behind the extraordinary The Pub at Chino Hills belongs to owners Andrew Faour and Mathew Carpenter. The owner-chefs know how to entice diners to try sophisticated, global di...
(Gerry Furth-Sides) A lot of memories came up when I recently received an email introducing the book above, Kitchen Diary. It read, “Do you remember the first time you tried your Grandmother’s cookies? Or that dish your mother makes that takes you back to your childhood with every bite?” Actually no, I do not. I remember ...
(Gerry Furth-Sides) Leading the way to a new mushroom shake fad, celebrities are following health enthusiasts – West Hollywood and Brentwood, wouldncha know it – to LA juice bars to get their daily dose to help them glow and detox. While mushrooms have always been known to provide enormous health benefits and tast...
(Gerry Furth-Sides) It all still begins – and ends-with the coffee bean from farm to roasting to cup at Demitasse Roastery & Kitchen, which introduces an extensive menu of globally-inspired dishes, natural wines, local beers and signature Demitasse Shims to their house-roasted small batches of ethically-source...
Gerry Furth-Sides 
Barbara Hansen 
Chef-owner Alain Cohen 
Roberta Deen 
Jose Martinez 
Nivedita Basu 