Roasted beans on cooling tray at the Zane Grey Estate

Coffee Roasting Workshop – Altadena, California

Before leaving Los Angeles, I’d wanted to learn more about coffee, so I found a roasting workshop in Altadena, CA, at the Institute of Domestic Technology.  Despite the name, the place has more of a charming, granola DIY vibe than something more…domesticated, with a well-equipped workshop in what might otherwise be a guesthouse space, right next to the goats.  It was quite literally at somebody’s digs, albeit somebody’s National Register of Historic Places digs. Continue reading »

Pork Soup Dumpling at Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung – Shanghai

As my first dinner after arriving in Shanghai, Myra and I went to an old favorite – Din Tai Fung, the upscale contemporary Chinese concept with Taiwanese roots and famous for its xiaolongbao soup dumplings.  The brand has locations in most large Asian cities, and so far I’d been to a few of their shops in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles (in Chinese-populated Arcadia, just west of Pasadena).

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