Author: Andy MacDonald

It’s rare that I’m afforded the opportunity to review a restaurant that can be deemed “a chain,” but that’s exactly what happened this week. There was a toss-up over which of the two higher-end eateries that recently found footing in our Shoppes at Bel Air to review. Neither are your typical “mom and pop” stores. It was either going to be Grimaldi’s Pizza or P.F. Chang’s. I was up for either. My dining companions, however, enjoyed pizza for lunch so we limped the 30 or so feet westward to our Asian option. It’s been so long since I visited...

Blackberry acid. It’s nothing like the dreaded brown stuff you were warned to avoid at Woodstock. It’s a Prohibition-era recipe (from what we can tell) that was a soda fountain mainstay as well as a home treat, usually kept under lock and key until the preacher or other important visitors made their way to your doorstep. This neat little charm is actually fermented and a touch fizzy but remains alcohol free. Think of Italian sodas. I love those things. This is a great way to have a DIY soda shop in your own kitchen, at a party or on...

Let’s talk about drunk food. There is a difference between bar food and drunk food. Bar food could be anything you serve in a bar, but drunk food is what you need after all that beer, wine and liquor gets the appetite rolling and that brain thinking it’s a great idea to power down chili cheese fries after midnight. We’ve all been there. A light dinner before a concert followed by one too many Andygators and you’re convincing yourself and your ride-hailing driver that a Big Buford and fries will right the listing ship, so to speak. Maybe Taco...