Newsletter: Counter: Bowls of comfort, floats of blood, fingers of chickens

There are many things to look forward to, either this weekend or in the coming days. Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, the 2015 edition of Jonathan Gold's list of the 101 best restaurants. Also: bowls of soup. Because this week, Jonathan reviews Colonia Publica in Whittier, where there are repeating bowls of fideo, a Mexican noodle soup. And we consider where to find bowls of khao soi, the northern Thai curry soup that is, for some of us, even more addictive than ramen. 

What else? There are restaurants with crazy menus and fun projects for Halloween, including face painting at Pot, ribs and bones at Melisse, and a beer party at Angel City Brewery. We also check out 3-D food printing, a chicken finger chain and a whole menu devoted to a Sanrio character. Happy trick-or-treating indeed. 

And be on the lookout for Wednesday's In the Kitchen newsletter, with cooking tips and news, including new recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen.

—Amy Scattergood

'Mexican ramen' in Whittier

Jonathan Gold considers Ricardo Diaz's Colonia Publica. The chef — whose restaurants include Colonia Taco Lounge (now relocating), Tacoteca, Cook’s Tortas and Bizarra Capital — has devoted this Uptown Whittier place to fideo, a dish our restaurant critic describes as a kind of Mexican ramen.  "Fideo is not often a restaurant food. It is home cooking, strongly identified with soothing comfort, with Mom and Thursday nights in front of the TV."

5 places for khao soi in L.A.

Tien Nguyen helps you get your khao soi fix, highlighting five restaurants in and around Thai Town that serve notable bowls of the addictive northern Thai coconut curry soup. (And if you're still ordering pad Thai all the time, maybe it's time to branch out.) Khao soi is amazing stuff: loaded with noodles, often (but not always) a leg of chicken and an egg, topped with a flourish of crunchy fried noodles. And then there are the garnishes. 

A bowl of the northern Thai coconut curry soup at Khao Soi by Inthanon Thai, a newish restaurant in Hollywood.

(Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

(Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Where to eat on Halloween

Deputy Food Editor Jenn Harris rounds up various Halloween or Dia de los Muertos food and drink specials. So guess which L.A. restaurant is serving "choked by a spider soup," eyeball monkfish and ribs and bones? You won't get it right, so we'll tell you: Melisse. The Michelin-starred bastion of fine dining in Santa Monica will also make you a vampire's blood float for Halloween. 

Cheesy ghost-shaped toasts are a perfect garnish for creamy tomato soup. Layer a thin slice of cheese over sliced bread, using a cookie cutter to cut out the ghost. Toast the bread in the oven or toaster until the cheese is melted, and use peppercorns to make the eyes.

(Ann Johansson / For The Times)

(Ann Johansson / For The Times)

The future of printed food

Test Kitchen Director Noelle Carter checks out 3D Systems, a 3-D digital design and printing company that premiered its 3DS Culinary Lab this past week, featuring local culinary and creative talent while allowing guests a look at the possibilities for its ChefJet Pro 3-D printer. Um, what exactly does that mean? Chefs served things like Wagyu steak tartare with a 3-D printed wasabi egg, a 3-D printed pumpkin and maple waffle cradling a quail egg, and cocktails with a 3-D printed crystal of smoked salt. 

More fun with Sanrio characters

If you haven't yet been to Plan Check Kitchen + Bar (yes, it's on the current 101), then maybe it's time to break down and go. The restaurant now has a menu devoted to Gudetama, a kind of unmotivated egg, which probably makes it a lot more suited to restaurant dishes than, say, Hello Kitty. The multi-course menu includes Gudetama sliders, which are made with fried quail eggs, cheese two ways, bacon two ways, ketchup leather and hot sauce.

Plan Check Kitchen + Bar is launching a special menu to celebrate Gudetama, the new Sanrio character.

(Los Angeles Times)

(Los Angeles Times)

Chicken fingers. And more chicken fingers.

Do you like chicken fingers? Of course you do, but maybe not as much as the folks who opened Raising Cane's, a restaurant devoted to them, in Louisiana in 1996. There are now more than 240 Raising Cane's restaurants in 20 states. And one just opened in Costa Mesa. More chicken fingers, served in a box with crinkle-cut fries, for us all.

Raising Cane’s, the Louisiana-based chicken finger restaurant chain, is opening a location in Costa Mesa on Thursday.

(Raising Cane’s)

(Raising Cane's)

Jonathan Gold's 101

The 101 is coming! The Los Angeles Times will publish Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants, the authoritative annual guide to local dining, on Wednesday at latimes.com/jgold101. The print edition will be delivered to Times’ Saturday subscribers on Nov. 7. Official hashtag #JGOLD101. 

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