MDWK

Stephen Rountree's Passion for the Arts

Wednesday, 23 July 2008 12:58 Cynthia de Castro/AJPress

The Music Center of Los Angeles County is one of America’s three largest performing arts centers and Los Angeles’ premier cultural destination, welcoming over 2 million visitors annually. Centrally located in downtown Los Angeles along Grand Avenue, the Music Center is composed of four venues - Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater and Mark Taper Forum. But, in total program space, it includes Grand Avenue itself, Disney Hall’s entrance steps, two performance spaces and park area on an upper patio, and even the main plaza with its fountain - as well as outdoor theaters, plazas, and gardens. And the main man in charge of it all is Music Center President Stephen D. Rountree.

The Heart of Art

Wednesday, 23 July 2008 12:46 Cynthia de Castro/AJPress

TIME Magazine praised it as “perhaps the most impressive display of virtuoso money-raising and civic citizenship in the history of US womanhood.” Newspapers around the world acclaim it as altering the cultural trajectory of Los Angeles. They’re referring to the exemplary efforts of Dorothy Buffum Chandler in giving birth to the Music Center of Los Angeles County.

As the wife of Norman Chandler, whose family published The Los Angeles Times since 1883, Dorothy Buffum Chandler became active in Los Angeles cultural circles. Seeing the importance of building a home for the arts in Los Angeles, Dorothy Chandler forever changed the city when she agreed in 1955 to head a citizen’s committee to build a permanent home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Chandler championed the cause and expanded the goal to include a performing arts center.

Dale Talde on Pinoy Cuisine: ‘It’s the next big thing’

Wednesday, 09 July 2008 00:00 Momar G. Visaya/AJPress

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Dale Talde on Pinoy Cuisine: ‘It’s the next big thing’

Part of me thinks it’s [Filipino cuisine] the next big thing that’s gonna catch,” Dale Talde, one of the more famous and colorful contestants on the recently-concluded Bravo reality show Top Chef told the Asian Journal in an exclusive interview Monday, June 23.

“It is the original fusion food, you can’t get more original fusion than that, with the Spanish, Chinese, Malay and the native influences. We just need to put it out there,” he said.

Louross in Hell's Kitchen

Wednesday, 09 July 2008 00:00 Joseph Pimentel/AJPress

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

There’s an old saying, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

FilAm Hotel Chef Louross Edralin couldn’t stand the heat of the foul-mouthed, fiery renowned Chef Gordon Ramsey. The 24-year-old Ritz Carlton Las Vegas chef Edralin, more commonly known as “Louross,” was ousted by the host for undercooking meat in one of the episodes of this season’s Fox Hell’s Kitchen reality TV show contest.

Turo-Turo: Fastfood’s Predecessor in Pinoy Culinary History

Wednesday, 09 July 2008 00:00 Miko Santos

(1 vote, average: 5.00 out of 5)

In my recollection, fastfood officially became part of the Philippine experience in the mid-70s. SM Department Store in Makati converted its basement level into a Fast Food Plaza. Back then, the word fastfood meant a cluster of different food stores and restaurants competing with each other in a huge venue.

Your preference is usually based either on familiarity or your willingness to experiment. I remember clearly when my colleagues and I went to Fast Food Plaza and tried our first taste of fastfood -- Kimchi, served with a very spicy beef rib stew that cost about seven pesos a bowl.