I *Heart* KCRW

Many of you might already be familiar with the radio station KCRW, a public radio station out of Santa Monica. It has become well known in the last few years for its music programs, particularly Morning Becomes Eclectic with Nic Harcourt (whom I also *heart*). They are always introducing new bands to the masses and have live performances by the likes of Beck, Belle & Sebastian and Cat Power, all the time. Even if you don't live in the LA area, you can catch Nic and other great DJs on the internet using KCRW's handy simulcast feature or by listening to archived shows.

If you've already heard of KCRW, you still may not have heard of one of its non-music shows, Good Food. (Unless you are a friend of mine and I have talked your ear off about it.) Good Food is on every Saturday morning at 11:00 am PST (that's 2:00 pm here on the east coast). It's hosted by Evan Kleinman, a local restaurant owner. Do you remember the Saturday Night Live skit from the 1990's which featured a radio show based on food? I am convinced it was a knock off of Good Food...but don't get me wrong, the KCRW version is awesome! They cover so many fascinating topics that if you love food, you will just eat (hee!) it up. Sure, it's a little LA-centric. Each week starts off with a market report from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market that causes me to think wistfully of California produce. And usually Jonathan Gold from LA Weekly is on talking about his latest hole-in-the-wall food find. But it will actually make you wished you lived in LA, at least for the hour you are listening. Kleinman does feature many topics of general interest as well. In the past few weeks, some have included: catfish, red wine headaches, summer preserves and pudding contests. If you happen to be around in the middle of the day Saturday, definitely tune in. Otherwise, check out the archived shows and listen to one that sounds interesting. I'm always learning something new. And I've even started a list of places to try next time I find myself visiting the family in SoCal.
K. (NYC tart)