Lesley Balla
Los Angeles-based freelance food writer.
Residents of Morro Bay have been harvesting oysters for over 100 years, and this farm may have perfected the art.
Umamicatessen, the multi-restaurant-in-one concept in downtown L.A., is not a far cry from the restaurant that lived in that space from the 1940s through the 1970s: Berliner's.
Seeking out the best up-and-coming pinot noir producers in a sea of pinot noir is no easy feat, but we did just that after sipping and swirling around Santa Monica's Pinot Days.
You don't have to drive north of San Francisco to find the state's best wines -- one of the largest and fastest-growing regions is Paso Robles, less than a four-hour drive from Los Angeles.
We've found five fried chicken sandwich alternatives -- even better than Chick-fil-A --
to try around L.A.
From Italian pannettone to Swedish Lucia buns, here are five of our seasonal favorites.
We're so lucky to have a slew of talented local artisans making hand-crafted, unique and delicious products that anyone will appreciate, especially the foodie love of your life.
There aren't a lot of people who would attempt, or could stomach, tasting 30 burgers over the course of a few days, but that's exactly what the chef and restaurateur did.
There are many reasons to love West Hollywood's Dominick's and Little Dom's in Los Feliz: chef Brandon Boudet's homey, often seasonal American and Italian…
An ingredient in the Beer and a Ball, one of my favorite cocktails at John Sedlar's new Beverly Boulevard restaurant Playa, is listed as "Hops Infused Champagne" on the menu, but it's actually the Champagne of Beers, Miller High Life. Who knew?
If you can't make a trip to Italy this summer, you can always get a taste in Brentwood.
It's really not surprising that Michael McCarty wanted to start a farm-to-glass cocktail program at his eponymous Santa Monica restaurant. After all, he was instrumental in starting the farm-to-table movement here when it opened in 1979.