Fire in the Kitchen: Acceptance of Slow Food lifestyle doesn't extend to kombucha, a tea made from bacteria

This week, I checked out UCLA’s new Slow Food chapter, a club which promotes the Slow Food Movement’s national initiative for good, clean and fair food. The main force behind the Slow Food lifestyle is unprocessed, fresh, local ingredients, cooked simply and with love.

Bus Stops: Helpful tips for taking the Metro late at night

For the first time since I started the Bus Stops column, I took the bus at night. It was after 11 p.m. when I finally set foot in Westwood again, and the experience taught me a lot. For all of my fellow young bus riders, here are three helpful tips I learned while riding the Metro this weekend:

Hundreds of restaurants participate in dineLA Restaurant Week, offering three-course meals for a lower price for the next two weeks

With America’s obsession with good food, restaurants and chefs have become the edible equivalents of runways and fashion designers. You say Gianni Versace? I say Mario Batali. You say New York Fashion Week? I say Los Angeles Restaurant Week.

Sunday marked the beginning of dineLA Restaurant Week, a two-week event during which restaurants across the city offer three-course meals for a reduced price. Depending on the restaurant, a meal of appetizer, entrée and dessert will cost between $16 and $28 for lunch and $26 and $44 for dinner.

Scoop Dreams: Pac-10 Power Rankings (Jan. 24)

Scoop Dreams columnist Eli Smukler checks in with this week’s Pac-10 men’s basketball Power Rankings (you can find last week’s rankings here):

1. No. 18 Washington (15-4, 7-1 Pac-10)

Washington logoIn their best start to conference play since 1986, the Huskies are the closest thing the Pac-10 has to a lock for the NCAA Tournament. Washington’s 17-point victory over Arizona was a statement to the entire conference, and its win over ASU kept the team undefeated at home.