ok, so it looks like i can't stay away from the kitchen too long :p

[kcma]

I'll be opening a restaurant in the space that used to be Caffe Luna on Melrose near Fairfax, right next to The Foundry with the chef/owner.

should be a fun place :p and if there are cooks in LA looking for work, or culinary students looking for externship, PM me :)

[Boondocker]

I told my chef I want to take another week off and stage again this winter, so i may get ahold of you then

[kcma]

come, this chef/owner has 2 other projects all starting soon. very exciting group :)

[dough]

congrats. i hope it works out better then you ever could have expected.

[kcma]

i hope for alot ;) that would be great, hehe

[tonydahose]

good luck KC:)

[Chef BertMor]

Good luck KC, what kinds of projects are these? With a little luck, I may be coming to L.A. late this year to visit relatives. It would be very cool to check out what you got going, and to visit my old stomping grounds. I wonder if my stomping grounds even exist. when last out there the SM 3r st promenade was still years away. Back then it was full of clapped out cheapo retail stores.

[kcma]

well, the old sous from water grill is executie chef at michael's now, and lobster is still there right by the beach. campanile and spago are still there... i wouldn't goto patina though... valentino hasn't changed much... that's about it right? :p

but definitely let me know when you're coming :) i'll post the menu when i have a chance to, but it'll be a wine and small plate kindda place with wine director coming from bouley and la bernadin, will be fun :)

[Chef BertMor]

I worked at Michael's!!!! Real briefly!!! It was my first job in a 'real' restaurant!! Of course I didn't last long, lacked the skills. But it was great learning what a real kitchen was all about. The only person I remember from there was Dorkas, and she was the pastry chef....I didn't do pastries LOL Lobster? never heard of it. Ma Maison had closed already and Spago was only open a little bit. Patina was all the rage back then. Campanile was hot, and so was City Cafe. Valentino, doesn't ring a bell. There were a few nice places out on PCH Geoffrey's and Splash (where I worked for a year). Here is a table we did one night, wish I could have been a fly on the wall: Johnny Carson, Don Rickles, Dan Martin, and Bob Newhart, with Robert Redford and Sonja Braga sitting at the other end of the room in a corner.


Ahhhh to be cooking for celebrities......

Yeah the small plates thing can be fun. Not too hectic to stress out the nerves but allows for nice creativity. Are you going to be running the kitchen?

[kcma]

I worked at Michael's!!!! Real briefly!!! It was my first job in a 'real' restaurant!! Of course I didn't last long, lacked the skills. But it was great learning what a real kitchen was all about. The only person I remember from there was Dorkas, and she was the pastry chef....I didn't do pastries LOL Lobster? never heard of it. Ma Maison had closed already and Spago was only open a little bit. Patina was all the rage back then. Campanile was hot, and so was City Cafe. Valentino, doesn't ring a bell. There were a few nice places out on PCH Geoffrey's and Splash (where I worked for a year). Here is a table we did one night, wish I could have been a fly on the wall: Johnny Carson, Don Rickles, Dan Martin, and Bob Newhart, with Robert Redford and Sonja Braga sitting at the other end of the room in a corner.


Ahhhh to be cooking for celebrities......

Yeah the small plates thing can be fun. Not too hectic to stress out the nerves but allows for nice creativity. Are you going to be running the kitchen?

chef/owner is working on 3-4 projects, i'm opening with him and training to eventually run it. but i'll be working on all of his projects with him, this one, a cash cow that's brewing, and eventually a really high end place for single seating tasting :)

no idea about Valentino? i guess that's opened after you've left :p it's just such an institution that i never actually think about how long it's been here... just thought it's always here :) but it's the old italian joint with LA's best wine list. everyone knows valentino, but no one knows who the chef is :p

[Boondocker]

you know, i'm really starting to dig doing small plates. I'm not sure why, they just look alot sexier than a full entree portion. Tight and sexy and clean.

Then again, maybe its because its easier to play with new things since we can just buy a pound and blow it out on happy hour

[kcma]

i love small plates, like all the tasting portions we used to do at providence. sexy :)

and yes, it makes putting up specials very easy, at the same time, prepping for a special is a chore because you're doing so much prep for just a few orders :p

[Chef BertMor]

chef/owner is working on 3-4 projects, i'm opening with him and training to eventually run it. but i'll be working on all of his projects with him, this one, a cash cow that's brewing, and eventually a really high end place for single seating tasting :)

no idea about Valentino? i guess that's opened after you've left :p it's just such an institution that i never actually think about how long it's been here... just thought it's always here :) but it's the old italian joint with LA's best wine list. everyone knows valentino, but no one knows who the chef is :p

Wait, is Valentino's west of La Brea, somewhere on Pico or SM Blvd... something ike that just west of BH? I think I've been there ages ago. don't really remember much but it seemed like a nice place. You're basic American style Italian red sauce kinda place, but white tablecloth.

Pity I still don't live in L.A. and 20 years younger. I could definitely see networking with all the younger chefs that are around today. A lot fewer back in the late 80's and early '90's. Besides those guys were allo coke-heads. I knew a lady who worked in Ma Maison who told us all about all the coke that used to get cut on the prep tables before during and after service. And then there was the sous chef who murdered Domminique Dunne (the daughter of the famous author who covered the OJ trial) he was dating. I wonder what ever happened to him?

[kcma]

yes, it's in santa monica :p decent but uninspiring italian food that's a bit too costly... but amazing wine list :) since i can't afford either food, nor wine there. i usually end up somewhere else when craving italian fixing. Valentino is usually frequented by older ppl.

Mmmm the coke heads, they haven't completely gone away :p and then there are the whole generation of chefs who became chefs... to get chicks... yeh...

wait, cooks and chefs back then can afford cokes? i think that kindda slowed down and stopped in most places because no one makes enough money to afford coke anymore :p

[Arturo]

well, the old sous from water grill is executie chef at michael's now, and lobster is still there right by the beach. campanile and spago are still there... i wouldn't goto patina though... valentino hasn't changed much... that's about it right? :p


Wait Yumin is at Michael's??? That is interesting news. It's been a while since they've had someone that caliber

[kcma]

no yumin isn't there :p Doug went there.

Doug's great... but Yumin would destroy him :) I'm still rooting for Yumin.

[VERDEinVT]

Good luck with this. Maybe Next year i can do a stage out there with you.

[kcma]

thanks!! anytime :)

[VERDEinVT]

I would love to see some pics and a menu once the time comes.