In the beginning, man cooked his meat outside, on a stick over an open fire.

Author Alice Sebold said, “I like gardening — it's a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself.”

Now that Long Beach restaurants are starting to open again, the Grunion Gazette has complied an initial list of those that have reopened.

Writers Note: This story was written a week before most of us were asked to “social distance” ourselves from well...everyone else! So unfortunately the menudo spot mentioned in this story (as of me writing this) is no longer serving the magical soup on Saturdays due to the COVID-19 crisis. B…

Okay, so we’ve stocked our kitchens. Now we need to create a plan for using all those beans, lentils, canned veggies, tuna, pasta and rice.

“The wait before surgery is a traumatic time for children and their parents,” said Rita Goshert director of the Child Life Department at MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital. “Anxiety levels are very high.”

“Long Beach loves fine dining,” Hideaway owner Geoff Rau said. “We want to not be pretentious, not stuffy. We want people to feel comfortable.”

Great hospitality and quality food are the central elements of Ubuntu Café in Belmont Heights. With a heartfelt commitment to customer satisfaction, husband and wife team Fellippe Esteves and Danielle Soldati say they are determined to make Ubuntu “The Greatest Neighborhood Café.”

It's time to eat.

Valentine's Day is tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 14), so time is running out to make plans. Here's a last-minute roundup of places to celebrate. Unless otherwise indicated, everything happens on Friday.

Valentine's Day is this week. Here are events to help you plan for that special day in Long Beach.

Enjoy a handful of mild, nutty-tasting sunflower seeds with their firm but tender texture to take care of your snacking needs.

It’s the time of year for many of us to make “improvement” plans. If eating healthy is on your list, horseradish should be a will buy item. Horseradish recently received high marks for its low fat, high flavor properties on the Guidelines on Obesity from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood I…

A truly American vegetable, winter squash is a comforting food during the cold (well, at least cool) months. Available in many varieties, winter squash can play a part in an edible holiday centerpiece or as a center-of-the-plate menu item.

The walnut is a world-class traveler. Thought to have originated on the shores of the Caspian Sea, walnut trees were introduced into Europe by Roman traders. In ancient Greece, the walnut was cultivated for walnut oil.

Thanksgiving is around the corner. Here's some information in case you don't want to cook. Unless otherwise indicated, everything takes place on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28.

Cranberries are available fresh, frozen, canned, dried and in juice, so take some time to include them on your menus. If you’ve never made fresh cranberry sauce, you’ll be surprised how easy it is.

Three brothers surfing their way down the Baja California coast some 30 years ago stumbled across a cheap street food — fish tacos — and thought they could do better. Today, they own more than 30 Wahoo's Fish Taco restaurants, and there are another 30 or so franchised stores spread out acros…

The much anticipated 2ND & PCH, an 11-acre open air commercial center, held its grand opening last month with hundreds of locals gathering at the retail center for the first time.

What most of us call sweet potatoes are actually yams. True sweet potatoes resemble elongated baking potatoes, with slightly yellow interiors and a mildly sweet taste. True sweet potatoes would not work very well with winter favorites or with pie.

Sweet basil is one of my favorite edible leaves. It is fragrant, versatile and beautiful. There are lots and lots of basil varieties; most people are acquainted with sweet basil. Its scent is compared with anise or licorice. As a culinary ingredient, sweet basil is the main ingredient in pes…

The steak house is a classic American tradition that has been under pressure recently, as eating trends change.

“I grew up cooking with my mom. In Korea, we would cook a big meal and share our food with the whole neighborhood.”

One of the most popular quotations of the 19th Century was "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." Before the 20th Century there were no official four food groups, food guide pyramid or specific science that pointed to the importance of five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Peopl…

Since opening decades ago, Sir Winston’s has become one of the crown jewels of the Long Beach dining scene, combining upscale cuisine with one of the best views around.

Armenia, China, Same Difference: Apricots’ technical name is “prunus armeniaca,” because some misdirected Western botanists thought that the apricot had originated in Armenia. They didn’t go quite far enough, as the apricot comes originally from China. Any which way, apricots were one of the…

Zucchini are infamously prodigious growers. Urban legend has zucchini-growers leaving bushels and bushels of the green-growing monster on strangers' front steps, under the cloak of darkness.

Summer is coming to an end, but not before Belmont Shore showcases Second Street with one last Stroll & Savor to close out the season.

When the days heat up, kitchen thoughts tend to stray towards “ cool and crispy.”

It's a family affair at the family-owned restaurant Georgia's Restaurant at Long Beach Exchange (LBX). 

The interior of a cool cucumber contains ascorbic acid, vitamin C, and caffeic acid, which can do anything from possibly help to strengthen the immune systems to ease swelling on the skin. The exterior, the skin, is rich in fiber and contains a variety of beneficial minerals including silica…

Pam Abell, chef of Steamed Organic Vegetarian Cuisine, said that sharing food with the community and making people feel genuinely nourished is one of the best things about cooking.

The giant pots will be boiling once again and filled with delicious little freshwater creatures at the annual Long Beach Crawfish Festival.

Isn’t fresh summer corn grand?

Spinach was the Spanish secret for many years. This deep green mystery is thought to have originated in Persia and was brought to Spain by the Moors.

You’d expect great deli food at the Bixby Brooklyn Deli, but there are vegetarian options and Italian basics as well.

This could be the sweetest start to the summer ever: free ice cream.

“The people in Los Angeles are not real foodies,” Jean-Luc Naret, director of Michelin, told Esquire magazine in 2010. That same year, Michelin stopped awarding stars to Southern California restaurants.

The Taste of Downtown returns from 6 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26, and Thursday, June 27, at Pine Avenue and The Promenade.