Suppertime in the LBC

Filipino food is more than just the next so-called “ethnic” food fad. From the country’s unique takes on everything from spaghetti to adobo, it’s the ultimate fusion cuisine. Or, as Filipino-American chef AC Boral -- who after six years of pop-up brunches as Rice & Shine Eats is finally opening his first brick and mortar in Long Beach -- would say, “it’s history on a plate.”

In this episode, Sarah and Brian sat down with Boral and his sous chef, Westside Long Beach native Janice Dig Cabeysa, inside what will soon be Long Beach’s first modern Filipino restaurant for a discussion of all things Filipino food, from the often-dark history that created some of the cuisine’s most famous dishes to the importance of family to the Filipino dining experience. We also talked about why Filipinos love Wu-Tang clan so much (whyy?!) and how a search for identity led both Amerian-born chefs right back to their roots.

In honor of this year’s LA Beer Week, Suppertime in the LBC hit the road to talk about the city’s rapidly growing craft beer scene and why you should ditch the wine and fizzy yellow stuff for a locally-made brew. With Brian Addison on leave for the week, the Post’s resident beer guru Sarah Bennett sat down with Dennis Trilles of Craft Beer Long Beach and Hi-Lo editor (and craft beer neophyte) Steve Lowery to talk about the city’s world-class breweries, why tasting rooms are the new local pubs and how to find your gateway beer.

Recorded live over sour ales and pilsners at Long Beach Beer Labs’ Wrigley tasting room.

On Wednesday, June 5, Long Beach’s growing community of home chefs, bakers and makers collaborated on an intimate dinner as part of the second Long Beach Foodways Summit. The evening featured more than a half dozen people who are somewhere along the pipeline from home kitchen to brick and mortar, a model now increasingly possible thanks to loosened restrictions and an emerging restaurant scene that supports it.

To look more into how this pipeline breeds the next generation of local food entrepreneurs, Sarah and Brian chat with Chef Paul and Dana Buchanan (of veteran farm-to-table catering company Primal Alchemy) to discuss the growing community of makers now serving Long Beach and to talk about the good, the bad and ugly of scaling up a cottage business.

Last week, Brian asked the Long Beach Food Scene Facebook group their thoughts on the most overrated restaurant in the city. Over 500 people responded. As the comments and threads detailing bad experiences at some of our favorite spots piled up -- yes, nearly every eating establishment in the city made the list at some point -- so did the few who thought the question itself was unfair. “Why are you bashing on small business?” “This is just inviting people to be mean.”

In Episode 2 of the Post’s new food podcast Suppertime in the LBC, Brian and Sarah sit down for an impromptu discussion on the cult of boosterism, why restaurants really close in Long Beach (hint: not because of a Facebook post), and why in our changing city, it’s important than ever to question the places that don’t live up to what Long Beach deserves.

Food writers Brian Addison and Sarah Bennett gush about Bamboo Club, Long Beach's new Tiki-themed dive bar, and discuss how executive chef Melissa Ortiz is elevating the city's food scene. Fellow Long Beach Post staffer (and resident Tiki buff) Kelly Puente dishes on Tiki history, why Tiki bar food usually sucks and more.