LA’s Asian Bakeries Gear-Up for Annual Mooncake Festival This Weekend

The annual Mid-Autumn Festival lands on Saturday, September 10, and Los Angeles’s Asian bakeries are cranking out mooncakes to meet demand from both longtime celebrants and those new to the tradition. While these dense delicacies are traditionally filled with seeds, nuts, dried fruits, and preserved meats with salted egg yolks in the center, some bakeries are offering more creative takes this year, including boba mooncakes at Sunmerry Bakery.

For those whose palates lean old-school Cantonese, head to Phoenix Bakery in Chinatown or Kee Wah Bakery in Monterey Park and Arcadia. Thai-style mooncakes filled with salted egg yolk custard are available at Aliya Lavaland in Monterey Park. For Taiwanese mooncakes with flakey exteriors, there’s Sunmerry Bakery (Temple City, Arcadia, Monterey Park) and J.J. Bakery (Torrance, Arcadia, City of Industry, Temple City). For the freshest Vietnamese-style mooncakes, head south to Dong Hung Vien Bakery or My Hiep Bakery in Little Saigon. To celebrate this Saturday evening, brew a pot of tea, share a mooncake, and gaze at the plumpest, brightest moon of the year.

DoorDash’s new food magazine channels Lucky Peach design vibes

DoorDash recently launched a glossy food magazine called Secret Menu. The first issue is dedicated to Asian food in Los Angeles and features a slew of old- and new-school, Asian-owned businesses including Jitlada in Thai Town, Yang’s Kitchen in Alhambra, Shiku in Downtown, Kim Hoa Hue in South El Monte, and more.

Breastfeeding while working on the line

Journalist Megan Zhang writes about the unique postpartum difficulties that nursing moms face in the restaurant industry for Saveur. She explores a few promising initiatives including Pumpspotting, an app aimed at culinary workers to find safe and private spaces to lactate.

Shopping for snacks at Koreatown’s California Market

Instagrammer Jason Goble (@supersnacksupreme) pens a guide for LAist on the best snacks to procure at Koreatown’s California Market. His recommendations include creamed corn flavored bites and tteokbokki-inspired munchies. See the full list.

Three LA restaurants land on Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurants list

The magazine’s restaurant editor Elazar Sontag named Quarter Sheets, Lasita, and Yangban Society to this year’s 50 Best New Restaurants list.

In praise of the tuna melt at Cassell’s Hamburger

According to food writer Maureen Harrington for Los Angeles magazine, the tuna melt at Cassell’s Hamburgers in Koreatown is the bees knees. Whereas most restaurants crack open canned tuna, this praise-worthy version of the sandwich uses freshly caught albacore loin and poaches it in lemon and aromatics.

$10 burgers at Messhall Kitchen

Los Feliz favorite Messhall Kitchen is celebrating its 10th birthday by offering the $18 Mess Burger (white cheddar, caramelized onions, pickles, smoky sauce, brioche) with fries for $10 throughout the month of September, from noon to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to. 3 p.m. on weekends.