You know that thing you’ve always wanted to do? You should do it. | Dreamers & Doers in Bolsa Chica, California

We often visualize communal tables in spaces where people can gather, be themselves and connect with others. Our biggest inspiration has always been Mother Nature; hence we decided to feed our creative vibe with a small “guerrilla” lark at the gorgeous Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve in Huntington Beach, California. This expansive space provided us the most amazing opportunity to think out loud about lark, as is our motto: Do, Reflect, Refine, Do Again. We are excited to continue our journey by deliberately embracing and gravitating towards the things we love….good conversations, gatherings involving amazing food & drinks, chefs with passion, style, design, photography, art, books, inspired spaces, and, of course, one of the things we love is sharing our adventures with you! Come on a lark with us! xo~l

Images by MBMaher.com

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Meet Chef Andrew Miley of Newport Beach, California

of Fork, Knife + Spoon Catering  who will be crafting the menu for our upcoming lark at Molly Wood Garden Design on 8/18/17.  Super thrilled to collaborate and create with this passionate and talented chef!

Chef Andrew Miley on a lark at Molly Wood Garden Design Summer 2017
Chef Andrew Miley on a lark at Molly Wood Garden Design Summer 2017

Where did you grow up?
My father was a Marine and we moved around a lot when I was younger, mainly between California, North Carolina + Connecticut. Once he retired we settle in South Eastern Connecticut where I finished middle school, high school and college.

Where do you live now?
On the balboa peninsula in Newport Beach, California

Was food a big part of your childhood?
Absolutely!  Everything revolved around cooking + eating. Holiday’s, birthdays, you name it. There was always a reason to get the family together and celebrate.

How did you discover your love for cooking-any defining moments?
I don’t think I have any defining moments. Food was always a big part of everyday life. I remember aa kid every Christmas decorating cut out sugar cookies + candy canes with my grandmother, that might have been one of my earliest memories. I started washing dishes + being a prep cook at 15 and have always had my foot in the door of a restaurant in some capacity since.

What do love about the culinary world?
I think my favorite part is feeding people. I feel it to be so nurturing and rewarding and a great way to connect to people.

Did you go to culinary school? 
I did not. School of the hard knocks baby!

Any advice for aspiring chefs? 
A’int nothing to it but to do it.  You need to put the work and time in.  Find out what works, what doesn’t work and build from there.

What ingredient do you use most?
Good olive oil, salt, pepper + fresh herbs.

What is your favorite food/drink pairing?
Grilled hanger steak, chimichurri + an ice cold peroni.

Who do you idolize in the food world?
I don’t think I idolize anybody but am very fond of the mentors + teachers I have learned from along the way. They knew who they are. Oh, and David Chang.

+ + + + + 

(Relatively) Simple. (Definitely) Refreshing. (Very) Inspirational.

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Lark #21 + Chef Kyle Powers + The Potting Shed in Orange, California

How fortunate we are to create and collaborate people who love their craft! Jack Carlisle and his talented crew created the most beautiful setting for our chef inspired dinner. We dined on picturesque farmhouse tables showcasing gorgeous floral arrangements above and below – a true garden adventure.

This welcoming communal table was surrounded by boundless items of interest, causing one to pause every few steps to comment or share a deep-rooted memory.

Mirroring this engaging environment was our “bloom within” menu carefully crafted by the talented Chef Kyle Powers. Delicious Papusas served with fresh herbs, flavorful Chestnut & Squash soup with floating grilled cheese (do try this at home!), Chicken, Filet & Blue Corn Tamale sharing the same platter – we were loving it!

Our favorite moment came when, during the dinner, Jack shared the history of the building – which was one of the very first Ford dealerships. We learned they often held their own parties (even in the days of prohibition) and could count among their guests Walt Disney himself! While taking this in, we raised our glasses to the idea that we are a part of its story. What a true honor!

A huge thank you to all our guest, you are the ones who make each lark magical. Thank you to the talented Steve Orlick for capturing the moment! dsc09944dsc09948dsc00227dsc00163dsc09978

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Lark#19 + Chef Kyle Powers + Heritage Mercantile Co. | Local Love in East Side Costa Mesa, California

We had an amazing time popping up in East Side Costa Mesa at the locally loved (and vice versa) Heritage Mercantile Co., with a gathering of those who are both adventurous and curious.

While casual introductions were made, we mingled indoors and out, eventually settling at the communal table simply adorned with gorgeous hand made ceramic pots and plates by Andrea Luna Reece (@lunabirdie) and a decorative menu by artist Jeri Vann (@jerivanncreations) that detailed the carefully crafted meal.

We are grateful that the talents of Chef Kyle Powers who not only created a makeshift kitchen, but also presented us with four courses of which is best described as “passion on an a plate”, each one better than the next. As each entree was introduced, Mike Otto of Tolosa Winery thoughtfully poured each glass of wine while sharing the nuances of the blends and pairings.

As the sun slowly set and the lights above became more vibrant, friendships were formed, food was savored, wine was enjoyed, art was discovered, music was played and true connections were made.

Thank you to everyone came together to create such a beautiful evening. Special thanks to Host Jennifer Bloch of Heritage Mercantile Co. and all of our guests for coming on a lark with us!

Xo~l

Established in 2013, Heritage Mercantile Co. is a purveyor of unique, handmade goods. They believe in sustainable products, local makers, timeless design, and USA goods.

Photo credits to @missmphotography

On  lark at Heritage Mercantile June 2016.
On lark at Heritage Mercantile June 2016.
On  lark at Heritage Mercantile June 2016.
On lark at Heritage Mercantile June 2016.
On  lark at Heritage Mercantile June 2016.
On lark at Heritage Mercantile June 2016.
On  lark at Heritage Mercantile June 2016.
On lark at Heritage Mercantile June 2016.
On  lark at Heritage Mercantile June 2016.
On lark at Heritage Mercantile June 2016.

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Chef Kyle Powers Creative Crafted Menu
+ Tolosa Wine Pairing Pairing by Mike Otto

Welcome drinks + cheese platter + mingling

Course 1 corn/goat cheese souffle/ toast/ warm olives
Tolosa No Oak Chardonnay

Course 2 treviso/arugula/watercress salad with pine nuts and a blueberry coconut vinaigrette
Tolosa Rose

Course 3 meat trio- skirt steak, pork belly, chicken/cauliflower puree/haricot verts/carrots
Tolosa Pinot Noir

*Veggie Option* falafel /cauliflower puree/haricot verts/carrots
Tolosa Pinot Noir

Course 4 melon ice cream/lavender/kiwi coulis/donut
Spiked coffee

Come on a lark with us! Next lark to be announced soon, follow us on Instagram @letsgoonalark

 

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Lark + Chef Kyle Powers + Sourced Collective | Lovin’ it Up in Laguna Beach, California

Thank you to all who attended our lark at Sourced Collective a charming old blue a-framed house on Glenneyre Street “where dreamers become doers”. We gathered around the communal table to enjoy the art of conversation, become inspired by design, raise our glasses in unison and enjoy delicious food.

We are grateful for our adventurous guests, Host Michelle Mercado, Chef Kyle Powers, Mike Otto of Tolosa Winery, Wunderland & Co., LetterSparrow and Andrea Luna Reece. We also had the pleasure of meeting @inviscus who brought their good vibes, appetites and curiosity to capture our story:

 

Thursday 3/24/16 Menu curated by CHEF KYLE POWERS {fork in the road catering}

upon arrival and paired w/chefs choice blackberry pie martini:

lobster roll toast + pickled mushroom flatbread

on the table and paired w/Tolosa Wine:

spicy clam in broth sip

grilled little gem w/picked plum & gorgonzola topped w/plum vinaigrette

skirt steak w/egg, celery root, beans chimi sauce.

Sweet coffee bread pudding w/lavender budino

⌘veggie option⌘ mushroom ravioli w/capers, celery leek puree & herb oil micro salad garnish

Simple. Refreshing. Inspirational.

Come on a lark with us!

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Meet Chef & Food Photographer Jim Sullivan of San Diego, California

Chef Jim Sullivan on a lark at The Hood Kitchen Space
Chef Jim Sullivan on a lark at The Hood Kitchen Space

We are thrilled to introduce Chef Jim Sullivan of Medium Raw Arts who we met on a lark at The Hood Kitchen Space last summer. Chef Jim is also a talented culinary photographer who captures food and pretty much anything associated with food. The best thing about Jim is his boundless enthusiasm for his craft. He will be cooking up the good vibes at our 1/30/16 DTLA lark at the Lawrence Fodor Loft.

What is your idea of the perfect meal?

I always think about this and ask my friends. What would my last meal be if I could pick anything? For me that’s easy, a hot spicy bowl of ramen w pork belly, poached egg and fresh herbs.

What living chef do you most admire?

I wouldn’t necessarily say a chef, more like person, my grandmother! This is a woman who was in WWII as a prisoner in a camp, left everything with just the clothes on her back and came to the US. Worked her ass off to raise 5 children (all are very successful) and has 16 grandchildren. That’s what inspires me!

What is you best, most simple, culinary advice?

Have FUN!

What is your motto?

Work hard, be humble…repeat!

What came first, food or photography?

Food/chef. I was doing pop up events after culinary school and people were taking images of my food with their iPhones, which were terrible. So I finally decided to get a DLSR and delve into food photography. This was about 3 years ago and since then my focus has been food/cocktail photography but still cook as much as I can.

How does your food and food photography influence each other?

For me they go hand in hand. My love for food drives my photography.

What foods/ingredients do you consider over or under rated?

I think a lot of “foodies” get caught up with the fancy ingredients i.e., foie gras or truffles. I like to keep it simple and just focus on fresh ingredients. I’m more of the adage less is more, which I feel you can see in my food and photography.

What was your most favorite dining experience?

Well Per Se in NYC definitely was the best restaurant dining experience. The way the FOH/BOH work in symmetry was amazing. BUT I will have to say the absolute best “food” experience was when I spent time in Paris. I stayed in a flat just a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower and was able to walk across street to all the available purveyors on a daily basis. I would walk to the fishmonger, pick out some fresh seafood and then walk over to vegetable stand and then go back and cook! The ability to have such amazing fresh and various purveyors right there was awesome! I wish I could have that every day! Being able talk to the purveyors and get what was fresh was so inspiring. Definitely want to have that experience again, soon! (on a side note: I do have this secret love for street food. The best thing I’ve eaten in awhile has to be in Tijuana. The food at Carwash del Torta is badass!)

Who is your favorite person to cook for?

My wife! Hands down. She is a foodie at heart, a great baker and my toughest critic.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Being able to provide for my family. My family is everything to me.

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We love how this Chef/Photographer captures the heart of the culinary community. See Chef Jim’s delicious Baja inspired menu and come on a lark with us!

 

 

 

Meet Ramen Chef Angelino Baltazar of Costa Mesa, California

The best thing about lark is that is malleable in so many ways. At the core of our business model is the idea of supporting and nurturing passion discovered in people we meet along the way – and sharing it with others. Chef Angelino’s enthusiasm, professional demeanor, and open mindedness impressed us and we soon learned of his desire to open a ramen restaurant and offered him an opportunity to “go on a lark”.

Lark #17 leads us back toThe Hood Kitchen Space to embrace Chef Angelino’s dream. Now is your opportunity to meet the chef behind the menu, but first this brief Q&A:

What inspired you to follow your culinary dream? 

I wouldn’t say inspiration was really part of how this happened. I just really love ramen and Japanese food. Eventually I was really tired of driving far for Ramen and I just decided to do something about it. When the opportunities came up I just decided not to hesitate and I took them.

Do you remember your first ramen bowl? 

I never had good ramen until I was in college. Until then I mostly grew up on the instant ramen.

Where do you want to end up?

I want to end up owning and hopefully changing the landscape of restaurants in Long Beach. 

What is the thing about ramen that most people don’t understand or know?

This is hard. There’s actually a lot. I’m going to sound like I don’t make sense

Ramen is actually not from Japan originally. It’s originally from China.

Ramen is complicated and simple at the same time.

There is more than one kind of ramen. There are specific regions of Japan that serve distinctive styles.

Ramen has no rules and a lot of rules at the same time.

There’s more than one way to make the broth, but the devil is in the details, extremely subtle, but significant details for every style of ramen.

There’s more, but hopefully it should give you a good idea. There is a reason most ramen shops are small and most of the really good ramen shops only make one kind of ramen.

How long does it take you to make the noodles? 

It actually depends on the time of year, how cold it is, the humidity, the kind of noodle I am making for the broth. Eventually I started working with Sun Noodles, constantly changing the recipe and adjusting what I needed. It took me about a 4-5 months of tweaking the noodles just right. Shout out to Sun Noodles.

What do you prefer to drink when enjoying ramen? 

Cheap Japanese beer or whiskey high ball.

Where/Why did you choose the name Omiyage Kitchen for your restaurant? 

I had to pick something related to my story of how I ended up here. Omiyage actually translates directly to souvenir, but the context is off. Omiyage is something you bring to someone when you travel and it is usually something edible specific to that region. I thought it would be fitting to have a name that represents the reason for me leaving to go to Tokyo just to learn about ramen so that I could eventually come back to start a ramen shop here in the States.

How did you get the opportunity to travel to Seattle/Japan?

Someone who knew I wanted to start a ramen shop called me and said they were leaving to go to Japan and they could make some introductions. So I left. I quit my job and a week later I was on a plane with some money and no idea on how to speak Japanese. There is a actually a lot more to the store I leave out.

I worked in Seattle because an opportunity had aligned with timing. It’s pretty straightforward; you just have to tell yourself to go do it.

Any funny stories to share about these experiences?

YUP. But I’d prefer to share them over beers in front of a person.

Did you go to culinary school? 

Nope. Save yourself the trouble and just go stage somewhere nice for a really long time. You are much better off.

How did you get linked up with The Hood Kitchen?

I had originally started working there from a company a few years back.

How do you know Chef Kyle Powers?

Through an Amateur Dodgeball League. KIDDING!

Actually, we met by chance. I had just come back from Japan and Kyle had an opening and somehow we’ve just been working together ever since.

What is your next favorite meal/food?

I actually don’t have one specific meal or food that is my favorite. It’s just always a constantly changing. I’m just really curious about a lot of ingredients.

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And this curiosity is what we love about Chef Angelino! Here’s to collaborating, creating, and knowing that anything is possible. See the ramen inspired menu FullSizeRender (28)and come on a lark with us!!

LARK UNDERGROUND DINING & MARKETPLACE

saturday 11/7/15 from 7:30pm-9:30/10pm
The Hood Kitchen 
$95 per person, all inclusive good vibes, food & drinks
questions, please email: hello@larkartisanmarket.com
purchase tickets*: let’s go on a lark!

*non-refundable/absolutely transferable

Lark + Chef Kyle + J o l I e of Lido Marina Village in Newport Beach, California

7/30/15 Pop-up Dinner Party at  J o l i e  in Newport Beach, CA

J o l i e {beautiful in French} truly lives up to it’s name. Owner Cherie D’Sa and her crew Nicole and Norma operate with style and grace. We love their light and airy seaside location showcasing amazing collection of curated high-end clothing, shoes, handbags, and home goods.

J o l I e embraced lark and then showed us what the word “hustle” actually looks like. One of the few shops open while Lido Marina Village is under construction, they have managed to build a strong local following and create their own piece of fashion paradise in a short period of time.

To add style upon style, lark was fortunate to collaborate with talented artists Andrea Luna Reece and Stacy & Selavi at Ready Set Make. They added some beautiful handmade ceramic tapas plates and stunning Himmeli sculptures to sit alongside the gorgeous menus created by LetterSparrow.

Everything about J o l I e is perfect, so we decided to set the vibe just outside the doors by creating a hip and fun vignette with fabulous furnishings from 503found (check out those yellow chairs from Paris!).

As you may surmise, our communal dinner table was already bursting with good vibes when Chef Kyle shared all the delicious details of his eponymous menu:

welcome beverage

honeydew basil spritzer: gin, honeydew puree & basil simple syrup, finished w/champagne

appetizer

grilled octopus w/spicy champagne vinaigrette, preserved lemon & thinly sliced purple potatoes

on the table + paired with wine

pickled watermelon salad

tossed in a burnt tortilla vinaigrette, w/grilled kale, burrata cheese & toasted almonds

shrimp & crab cake

served w/white bean tahini puree, fried soft shell crab + a charred corn & fresno chili salad

*vegetarian option: summer squash cake served / white bean tahini puree, and a charred corn & fresno chili salad  

dessert 

shortbread biscuit served w/frozen greek yogurt & blueberry sage compote

Bringing this lark to fruition, we discovered this fashionista’s paradise is rooted to the ground with genuine people on every side of the counter.

We are grateful for all who gathered, making this a beautiful summer lark! A gazillion thanks to our guests, @Shop_Jolie, @LetterSparrow, @ReadySetMake, @MySaltySoul, @LunaBirdie, @503found & @ForkInTheRoadCatering. Until we meet again! Xo~l

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Lark + Jolie = Summer 2015
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Lark + Jolie + Ready Set Make = Summer 2015
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Lark + Jolie + Andrea Luna Reece + Letter Sparrow = Summer 2015
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Lark + Jolie + Letter Sparrow = Summer 2015
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Lark + Jolie + Summer 2015
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Lark + Jolie = Summer 2015

Lark + Letter Sparrow

We are excited to announce our collaboration with Letter Sparrow, who will be designing our menu and place cards for our upcoming lark at 503found.  We only see good things coming from this talented artist and are honored to work with her.  xo~l FullSizeRender (8)