Anne Marie Panoringan is Culture OC’s well-informed food columnist. She reports industry news, current events and trends. Anne Marie also contributes regularly to Eater Los Angeles, LAist, TASTE and a host of other well-respected and noteworthy publications. Anne Marie joins us in-studio to discuss her work as Food Columnist for Culture OC and highlight her current columns. “John Sparr Tavern in Glendale/Montrose was founded by Rick Powell and Dave Fink, ex-Disney Imagineers who have lived in Glendale for the past 30 years. It was their upstate New York roots that brought about the idea to build an East coast neighborhood tavern in Glendale, California. There are few memories of his youth more pleasant to Rick than those he shared at Blessings Tavern, in Colonie, New York, where he and his grandfather would meet to enjoy great American comfort food, good drinks, and lasting friendship. In 2024 Chef & Caterer Jennifer Naylor (ex-Granita in Malibu) acquired the legacy tavern. A native Californian, Jennifer followed in her family’s footsteps to become third generation in the restaurant business. Her grandfather founded the Tiny Naylor’s chain, California’s original family-style restaurants and Googie-style drive-ins. Her father Biff Naylor also began at a young age under his father Tiny, and later rejuvenated the original Du-par’s restaurants.” Restaurateur and Chef Jennifer Naylor is our guest providing an overview of all that is John Sparr Tavern. “A family winery and Paso Robles pioneer, Le Vigne Winery has been an integral part of Paso Robles’ wine story for more than four decades. At its core, the winery represents a true marriage—both literal and metaphorical—of heritage and passion. On one side is the family’s deep farming roots in Paso Robles (Sylvia Filippini,) where the land has been cultivated since the 1960’s, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay first planted in 1982, just a year before Paso Robles was officially recognized as an AVA. On the other side, Walter Filippini ’s Italian culinary heritage brings a distinctly Old World perspective to the wines, informing both farming and the cellar, with wines crafted for balance, structure, and purity of fruit. After years of selling fruit to wineries in Napa and Sonoma, Sylvester Winery was launched in 1990, with the tasting room completed in time for the 1995 harvest. In 2013, the name was changed to Le Vigne (Italian for “The Vineyards”), reflecting both heritage and a deep connection to the land. The estate gained an added distinction in 2014 when the Estrella District was designated as a sub-AVA of Paso Robles, establishing Le Vigne as one of the region’s pioneering family wineries.” Winemaker Ben Mayo joins us to pull the cork on all that is Le Vigne Winery. Thereafter we speak with Sylvia Filippini Co-founder of Le Vigne Winery and the related Peacock Cheese Distributing Co. Our own Chef Andrew Gruel, the menu-maker behind the full-service Calico Fish House (located in the Sunset Beach area of Huntington Beach) now joins us with his timely and informative “Ask the Chef” segment where he responds to listeners’ thoughtful inquiries. Whey, a food additive and a byproduct of cheese-making, is in short supply. It’s popularity as a protein additive has skyrocketed. Chef Andrew shares the intel.
