Mountain Views News          Saturday, January 28, 2012

9

GOOD FOOD & DRINK

Mountain Views News Saturday, January 28, 2012

STARBUCK’S FOR BEER AND 

MY JOURNEY FOR MEXICAN FARE CONTINUES

 Ordering a “Short or a Tall One” at Starbucks will soon take on a whole new meaning. 
The Seattle-based coffee house said that, yes indeed the rumors are true, beer and wine 
will soon be available in six stores in Southern California toward the end of 2012. Is our 
sleepy little town ready for a latte and an ice cold beer? Not likely; no area stores are on the 
list. Starbuck’s started this brewing experiment in the 2010, with beer costing $5 each and 
glasses of wines listed between $7 and $9. Beer will only be available by the bottle and for 
now there are no plans to change the name to Starbucks Old Town Brewery. Figuring that 
serving adult beverages and premium food is the wave of 
the future, Clarice Turner, Starbucks’ senior vice president 
of U.S. operations, said Monday, “As our customers 
transition from work to home, many are looking for a 
warm and inviting place to unwind and connect with the 
people they care about.”

 Now that we have that issue out of the way, it seems 
every single day I get the question, “Peter, who has the 
best Mexican Food in the Pasadena area?” That, just 
so you know, is a different question than, Peter, which is the best Mexican restaurant in 
Pasadena?” The best food or the best restaurant is subjective. But, as the key holder of this 
prestigious position of authority, I better at least come up with a few answers for you. My 
daughter Lauren and I go to Rosarito on Colorado whenever we want good Mexican food. 
It’s simple, good and we get it to go. We love their carne asada tacos and I always get a 
chicken burrito. I wish there were full-service Mexican restaurants that had the tastiness of 
Rosarito’s. I wonder out loud, “What is real Mexican fare?” I did a little research and here 
is just a glimpse of how we got to all of these Mexican restaurants in the area.

 Food historians tell us Tex-Mex cuisine originated hundreds of years ago when Spanish/ 
Mexican recipes combined with Anglo fare. Te-Mex, as we Americans know it today, is a 
twentieth century phenomenon. Dictionaries and food history sources confirm the first 
print evidence of the term “Tex-Mex” occurred in the 1940s. Linguists remind us words are 
often used for several years before they appear in print. Tex-Mex restaurants first surfaced 
outside the southwest region in cities with large Mexican populations. The gourmet Tex-
Mex “fad” began in the 1970s. Diana Kennedy, noted Mexican culinary expert, is credited 
for elevating these common Mexican street foods - burritos, tacos and enchiladas - to 
trendy fare, partly because they appealed to the (then) younger generation. Now, here in 
the states we have embraced it as Mexican Cuisine. I suspect that since we now view 
Mexican food as inexpensive, it has gained greater popularity through our limited budgets. 

I decided to put my math model to the test. Good food, a good margarita, good service and 
a nice atmosphere. The restaurant is La Fiesta Grande, also on Colorado. Located right near 
the Pasadena Playhouse. Charlie, the bartender, is tops in his class: he pours a blended or 
an on-the-rocks margarita that is consistently top notch; you don’t need three margaritas 
here. On many nights there is a strolling band of three musicians playing your favorite 
Latin tunes. Sorry, we can’t call them mariachis until there are at least seven musicians. 

The food is good as well. For this article, I dined there twice in the past two weeks. I had a 
Chicken salad that was muy bueno and just recently the Carnitas plate for $12.95 proved to 
be about the best carnitas that I have had in Pasadena amongst the restaurants involved in 
the Mexican Restaurant Wars. My friend, Kind Ken, always gets the Carne Asada Nachos, 
here, and he swears they, too, are the best in town. My producer Madd Maxx, whom I have 
come to know as a soup expert, gave their meatball/ Wedding soup two thumbs up. So, that 
is my vote for one of the better spots in town. Check it out. My up front apologies to all the 
75 other Mexican restaurants that I have dined at in the past twenty years.

La Fiesta Grande

624 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. 

Walk in accepted, (626) 795-5577. 

Four Stars out of 5. 


HEARTY BAKED POTATO SOUP


INGREDIENTS

•3 large russet potatoes, cleaned, skins pierced 3-4 times with a fork 

•1/4 cup butter or margarine 

•1 small yellow onion, chopped 

•2 cloves garlic, minced 

•1/4 cup flour 

•2 cups chicken broth (or one 14-ounce can) 

•12 ounces evaporated milk (I use the fat-free kind) 

•2 tsp seasoned salt 

•Optional toppings: shredded cheese, diced ham or crumbled bacon, chives or scallions, Tabasco 
sauce, croutons

DIRECTIONS 

Microwave the potatoes 8-9 minutes until baked through. Set aside to cool slightly. Melt the 
butter in a soup pot over medium-high heat and add onion. Cook 6-7 minutes until softened. 
Add minced garlic and cook 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add flour and stir several minutes 
to make a thickened roux. Gradually stir in evaporated milk and broth. Scoop the pulp from 
one potato, mash it slightly and add to soup. Cook soup on medium to bring to a boil. Add 
seasoning salt (to taste). Dice the remaining two potatoes and empty skin of the third potato. 
Add to soup and heat through. Serve alone or topped with anything that sounds good to you.

 

TABLE FOR TWO by Peter Dills

thechefknows@yahoo.com

SIERRA MADRE CIVIC CLUB 
COOK BOOK

 What do you ask when you hear that some 
of the finest cooks in Sierra Made have 
published a cookbook? You ask where to get 
one, of course. Well, members of the Sierra 
Madre Civic Club have published a collection 
of their best recipes for hors d’oeuvres, soups, 
salads, entrees, breads, vegetable dishes, side 
dishes, relishes, sauces, and brunch items in 
a volume entitled Recipes We Proudly Share. 

The collection can be purchased for $15 at 
Arnold’s Hardware and Savor the Flavor or 
by calling 792-0852 or 355-7880.

The Sierra Madre Civic Club is a non-
profit, philanthropic organization that last 
year donated more than $20,000 back to 
the community in the form of educational 
scholarships and grants to such organizations 
as the Sierra Madre Rose Float Association, 
the library’s One Book One City Program, 
Sierra Madre Elementary School, Creative 
Arts, and the Sierra Madre Playhouse. 
Proceeds from the sale of the cookbooks 
become part of the philanthropy fund. 

So do yourself and your community a favor 
and get your own copy of Recipes We Proudly 
Share. We hope you’ll find, as many others 
have, that once you’ve bought one copy, you’ll 
be back to buy additional ones for sisters, 
cousins, friends, and neighbors who’ve asked 
you where you got that recipe for the delicious 
dish you’ve served.

We’d like to hear from you! 

What’s on YOUR Mind?

Contact us at: 

editor@mtnviewsnews.com or 

www.facebook.com/mountainviewsnews

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT


PORCELAIN RAFT

Italian born musician, Mauro Remiddi, who performs under the 
moniker Porcelain Raft, has released, “Strange Weekend.” Although 
he’s been associated with different acts, this is the first album behind 
the name, Porcelain Raft. “Strange Weekend” is bedroom-pop at it’s 
absolute finest. 

A mixture between spacey electro-rock and dreamy pop, the record 
swirls and dazzles every step of the way. It’s the kind of album that 
absorbs your inner thoughts and emotions. It carries this magical ability to transfer your 
entity to another world or perhaps in this case, a celestial utopia. Porcelain Raft combines 
shoe-gaze and 90s alt. rock with shimmery melodies and a palpable gracefulness. 

Overall the execution is impeccable and the 
results are nearly off the charts. The beauty 
found and discovered in “Strange Weekend” 
will stimulate your body, soothe your mind 
and capture your soul. 

There’s not much not to like here. While 
some songs like “Unless You Speak From 
Your Heart” and “Picture” may take a few 
listens to win you over, rest assure, they 
will since their vital pieces to this puzzle. 
“Is It Too Deep For You?” starts off like 
a hauntingly slow hip hop jam and while 
remains fairly slow throughout is mesmerizing in tone. “Backwords” is divine, internally 
captivating, and simply moving. “The End Of Silence” will have you remaining silent, as 
the song is enormously magnetic and gorgeous. Remiddi’s vocals are bliss, full of heartache 
as he sings directly to you (and for a moment you feel as if he is singing only to you). The 
aforementioned song, much like the album, is profoundly intimate and deeply personal. 
This is the kind of album that can make all the difference in the world to you on any given 
day. The capabilities of the record go far beyond any words I can muster. The limitations 
on this record are that it only sprawls to ten tracks. Whereas the music may end after 34 
minutes, the feeling you get while listening lasts for much longer. 

“Strange Weekend” moves you, tears you apart and finally becomes you. It’ll percolate your 
mind and ruminate there for a while. It gathers a great feeling because it allows you to observe 
the things that were troubling you and wash away any trepidation that was associated with 
them. Porcelain Raft’s music pays respect to the sound it’s influenced by, but effortlessly 
comes together feeling strangely original. “Strange Weekend” offers so much in such a 
small package. An intensely fulfilling experience from start to finish, Porcelain Raft knows 
how to get straight to your heart without ever appearing manipulative or disingenuous.


Artist: Porcelain Raft

Album: Strange Weekend

Label: Secretly Canadian 

Released: January 24, 2012

Grade 9.0 out of 10

Key Tracks: “Drifting In And 
Out “ “Is It Too Deep For You?”, 
“Backwords”, “The End Of 
Silence”