6/16/11 – A last second call to arms from Street Gourmet LA founder Bill Esparza led us to Ensenada and Congreso Ensenada Gastronomica, a conference that convened at Hotel Coral, where top chefs from across from Mexico converged for a full program of cooking demos. Hundreds of culinary students filled the ballroom, and we not only got a chance to meet the chefs, we also learned how they construct their plates and what distinguishes their culinary philosophies.

6/16/11 – Mezcal magnet Bill Esparza led us past Ensenada tourist traps like Papas & Beer to reach El Agave Gastro Bar, an agave-fueled drinking establishment with agave-inclusive food from business partners Salvador and Jorge. We tried some 100% Espadin mezcals from Oaxacan producer Yuu Baal before they busted out the house brand, which features a pina on the bottom of the bottle. We cleansed our palates with orange slices sprinkled with sal de guisado.

6/17/11 – Jenee Kim, the Seoul born chef-owner of Park’s and Don Dae Gam, recently opened a contemporary Korean spot called LaOn Dining at 1145 South Western Avenue, taking over half of the Don Dae Gam space and specializing in “enjoyable” shared plates of items that are divided into two primary categories: Yori (cooked) and Hwa Ro (DIY). Some of the most interesting dishes we experienced were the beef tartare wraps with quail eggs (pictured), Wagyu beef fritters, open-flame abalone and an array of meats, vegetables and mushrooms prepared on a tabletop charcoal grill. Stone Pot Roe Rice was especially dazzling, with four types of roe and sea urchin appearing on sizzling rice stone pot.

6/18/11 – Gjelina Take Away is already attracting a steady stream of customers on Venice’s Abbot Kinney Boulevard. A previous trip yielded pastries, and now that they’re fully operational, they’ve got thin-crust pizzas topped with ingredients like mozzarella and Castelvetrano olives (pictured), plus sandwiches packed with pork shoulder meatballs, Fontina and tomato sauce, and if you enjoy sweet espresso drinks, a Cuban-inspired cortado dolce with brown sugar.

6/18/11 – Tony’s Darts Away/Mohawk Bend bar owner Tony Yanow and business partner Meg Gill, previously the national sales director for Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, invited a group of beer writers to an industrial stretch of Atwater Village to preview Golden Road Brewing. They also introduced brewmaster Jon Carpenter, a San Diego native who’s been working as the lead brewer for Sam Calagione at Delaware’s Dogfish Head. The 42,000 square foot complex consists of massive red, yellow and blue buildings that will include a canning line, an ambitious barrel aging program and, eventually, an on-site restaurant.

6/19/11 – No Cookie Left Behind convened for the fifth straight year at Scoops in support of Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale, raising more than $2300 by selling sweet contributions from pros, semi-pros and amateur bakers. My buy was a chocolate caramel shortbread cookie.