EDITORIAL ARCHIVE

Eat | Drink, San Diego

Herringbone by Brian Malarkey

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The moment you pull in to the parking lot, raw ornate panels of wood adorn the entry, a branched fish hangs happily to the left of the main door and a patio with ease and warmth lines the sidewalk. As you enter inside, to your right are two Moroccan style chairs designed in bright colors directly across from the tiled fireplace emitting just the right amount of heat. With glass orbs listlessly leaning to light the way, a subtle and secret disco ball looms above it all. Soon you find your legs walking through the restaurant, the wooden floors cushioning your steps, your eyes bewildered and overcome with a tranquility that doesn’t in any way obstruct the anticipation of a hearty prospect of fare.

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Culture, Los Angeles, Music

Pacific Symphony Orchestra

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A rousing performance from start to finish, the 35th Anniversary of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra segues into the pre-holiday season with an eclecticism of pieces as profoundly intuitive as they are performed. Led by Music Director Carl St. Clair, the players outdo themselves once more as they partake in transformative renditions of, first, the overture to the folktale odyssey, Russlan and Ludmilla, then finishing the evening off with Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. However, it’s a fact (well, depending on who you ask) that if you really want to hit the proverbial nail on the head when it comes to classicist grandstanding, you need look no further than the beloved—and oft-referenced—Tchaikovsky poesy, Piano Concerto no. 1, performed tonight by the gracefully fierce guest artist, Joyce Yang. In a production as equally “altogether everywhere” as its conductor, the only truth more fully realized is that tonight will surely be unforgettable.

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Eat | Drink, Los Angeles, Southern CA, Southern CA

The Playground DTSA

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I noticed a small touch: a glass of Szigeti Sparkling Gruner Veltliner was waiting at my place setting. Opening a dinner with a nice glass of bubbles does wonders to not only clean the palate, but it allows one to relax before the Amuse Bouche, our first course. We were presented with an extremely interesting, but amazing, choice for the Amuse Bouche: a green chile Mexican chocolate milk with a crispy tortilla lavash topped with age cheddar cheese foam. The warm chocolate milk with a slight hint of acidity perked the taste buds, while the quesadilla soothed them, as if foreshadowing the flavors to come; at the same time, telling the taste buds, “Relax. There is plenty more where that came from.”

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Arts | Culture, Culture, ENTERTAINMENT, Los Angeles

Aladdin and His Winter Wish

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Enter into a second year of the beautiful world of pantomime theatre created by Lythgoe Family Productions at the Pasadena Playhouse and what you’ll find is a happiness you need to warm you this time of year. The experience begins with an interactive Wonderland in the courtyard, a game of “knock down a lantern”, a trip to see Santa, and a room filled with activities from making your own crown to fighting with magical swords. It is a fun escape from the every day and with two kiddos with me for tonight’s performance, I was able to experience it their way.

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Arts | Culture, Culture, Interviews, Photography

Photographer Tim Brown

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We are not alone. Nor are we absent of space and time, emotion or truth.

We are infinitely surrounded by beauty and warmth in spite of shadows cast or the thick fog of doubt creeping into wrangle us down to the ground. We are on an adventure. The kind where our inner fearless child shakes off worry and places our feet on the bottom of a cart, seemingly idle and we see the greatest ride of our lives. Our feet rest on the bar underneath, our hands grip the cold bar above, one leg pushes off and without hesitaiton, we feel the air brushing past our cheeks, the brisk whisper of freedom liberating our very soul, and we feel, as if a magical pull has grasped into our cheeks, we feel each corner of our mouth curling upward until, without pause, our entire being is smiling.

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Eat | Drink, Recipes

Holiday Recipe No. 2 Alice d’Antoni Phillips

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I have watched as Chef Alice d’Antoni Phillips (aka Ally) takes readers and fans through the grocery store, her culinary explorations around the world, and the many beautiful recipes she shares through her Facebook Page and Website. Her charisma and genuine enthusiasm for cooking and sharing color and life of food is contagious.

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Eat | Drink

A Winter Menu Southwestern Style

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As we try to make room on the table and rearrange our plates in order from lunch to dinner, we decide that our first conquest on the lunch menu will be the Winter Arugula Salad—a peak of arugula drizzled with Champagne vinaigrette and topped with creamy goat cheese crumbles, roasted golden beets, pickled leeks, shaved roasted fennel, crunchy noodles, and crisp gala apples. The salad is simple—but not to a fault. The Champagne dressing and goat cheese meld together delightfully and the added crunch of the Asian noodles, bell peppers and apple frolic with the taste buds, never feeling overwrought by an overuse of contrasting flavors and textures.

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A Drink?, Cocktails, Eat | Drink, Los Angeles

Fig & Olive The Music Collection Release Event

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nvited to attend the Fig & Olive Music Collection Release Event on Wednesday, December 4th I was beyond elated to be heading to the pristine Melrose Place restaurant where Chef Pascal Lorange creates truly delightful Mediterranean inspired cuisine. The space has been home to Grammy Events, Oscar Events, celebrity parties and the like but it’s not because it is pretentious. In fact it boasts a truly wonderful airy feel, spacious rooms, earthy envelopment’s, crisp clean dècor with rich hues of color to warm you.

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Culture, Events, Los Angeles, Monthly Events

Eat Your Words Part 4

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This month’s series delves into the often uncomfortable moments where food begins an unraveling conversation about life, introspection, fear, complacency, adventure, and truth. Each performer offers insight into a world even they are unprepared to share and it is raw and wonderful and, well, full of human moments.

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Fashion, Fashion | Health

Fashion Report – The AMAs

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This weekend’s AMAs had us cheering and voting for our favorite artists to win awards, wondering what Miley would do next (she didn’t let us down), and drooling over the gorgeous gown that walked the red carpet and the stage. Black and white seemed to be the “it” colors of the night and sequins and metallic took a place in the spotlight. See some of our favorites below,and check back on Thursday as we recreate two of these amaze looks for less!

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Music

Eroica Trio

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And yet, all of this pales in comparison to the headliner of the evening, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in C Major for violin, cello, piano, and orchestra, performed by one of the most successful all-women chamber ensembles in the world, the Eroica Trio. Garnering its name from a Beethoven piece denoting a “middle-period” in the composer’s work where pieces henceforth were riddled with emotional depth and structural rigor, the group—made up of cellist Sara Sant’ Ambrogio, pianist Erika Nickrenz, and violinist Sara Parkins—similarly takes audience members aback with their incredibly magisterial ferocity and practiced wit. What better piece to emphasize the skills of the titan threesome than the Triple Concerto, a sporadically played arrangement that brings out the magical allure of each member, burdened with individual yet simultaneous solos throughout. Sant’Ambrogio said it best in a recent interview: “It is incredibly exciting watching three soloists toss these amazing melodies and virtuosic fireworks back and forth to each other and the orchestra while the conductor holds it all together and shapes that lush wave of orchestral sound that Beethoven is so famous for.”

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Art, Culture, Los Angeles

What Do You Worship

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Last night I attended an Art Exhibition unlike any other. Fashion, sculptures, photography, painting, music, soul, an infinite realm of art that extended its reach into me. The crowd peppered with familiar faces, gorgeous unknowns, smiling creatives, lustful glances, stolen touch – all swimming in a sea of inspiration that opened us up and invited us in.

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Arts | Culture, Interviews, Music

Andy Comeau and Dawn Lewis

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Andy Comeau is one of my favorite actors. If you don’t know his name, you are missing out. If you’ve ever watched Showtime, you may be familiar with the infinitely well-written, astoundingly performed, screwed up family drama, Award Winning HUFF starring Hank Azaria, Paget Brewster, Andy Comeau, Anton Yelchin, Blythe Danner, and Oliver Platt. Andy played the most endearing, mentally disturbed, heart-wrenching, heart warming brother, Teddy. HUFF is based on Dr. Craig “Huff” Huffstodt played by Azaria who has a teenage patient kill himself in his office. It causes an onslaught of story that unravels through 25 episodes. Teddy, played by Andy Comeau, is a character that to this day is one that deeply impacted me. He was so easy to love and empathize with in spite of the transparent imbalance of his psyche

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Culture, Exclusive, Featured, From the Editor

Time to Live

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We cannot predict or possibly fathom what may or may not happen but we can pause long enough not to miss the things happening right now. We can be grateful for a laugh, a smile, a hug, a kiss, an opportunity, an accomplishment, a breath, the birds in the trees, the sound of the ocean frolicking on the shore, the moment your kid says “I love you” and means it. We have for sure only THIS moment and regardless of how hard times may be or the challenges life continues to present, you are strong and you can survive – and you will. Today, think of all of the things happening in this world and I beg you to be in the present moment and find the wonder in that.

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Culture, GIVEAWAY

November GIVEAWAY No.1

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Want to win a copy of The New Food Lover’s Companion?

Thanks to Barron’s Educational Series, ATOD Magazine has been given 3 copies to giveaway to our readers. This week, send me a photo of your favorite homemade recipe and a list of ingredients. The most tasty, innovative and fun will win the 1st copy!

As a food lover, chef supporter, and believer in fresh quality ingredients, there is what I lovingly refer to as the FOOD BIBLE that is one of the greatest culinary references to any food meaning seeker.

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Eat | Drink

Wine and Wagyu

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The “Dairyman”, in my opinion, had much more character than the Silver Oak, and certainly complimented the intricate blueprint of the Wagyu. Rather than compounding the flavors into a long-after-finished linger as its Cabernet counterpart, this Pinot Noir serves more as a brief, albeit refreshing, clearing of the palate between bites. However, being the glutton that I am, my love affair with the smoother and prolonged effect of the Silver Oak’s constitution was almost a given before I’d sat down to enjoy the meal.

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