Alma’s tasting menu, DIY tofu, Balaboosta pop-up

As of today, downtown’s Alma restaurant (whose chef, Ari Taymor, recently received a Best New Chef nod from Food & Wine magazine) is offering a single nine-course tasting menu for $95 dollars, with optional beverage pairings for $55. “This is a decision to better utilize our farmer and forager, Courtney Guerra’s Flower Avenue Garden, with an ambition to source close to 100% of our own produce,” Taymor wrote in an email. “We have always felt that our longer tasting menu is the best expression of our restaurant, and we would like to offer our guests a unified, curated experience.” 952 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, (213) 244-1422, www.alma-la.com.

Cookbook author Andrea Nguyen will lead a tofu-making workshop at the Institute of Domestic Technology in Altadena on May 31. Using inexpensive and easily obtainable ingredients, students will learn how to make different kinds of fresh soy milk for preparing a variety of tofu: silken tofu, tender block tofu, warm tofu pudding and yuba (tofu skin). A tofu tasting bar will feature savory and sweet toppings to try out on participants’ creations. Topics of discussion will include how to source quality beans and coagulants and uses for tofu byproducts. Lunch is included, with a menu of dishes from Nguyen’s cookbook “Asian Tofu: Discover the Best, Make Your Own, and Cook It at Home.” 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $195 per person (includes lunch, beverages, ingredients and supplies). Sign up at the institute’s website. Zane Grey Estate, 396 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, www.instituteofdomestictechnology.com.

Einat Admony, chef-owner of New York’s Balaboosta, Bar Bolonat and Taïm restaurants, is popping up at Mauro’s Cafe at Fred Segal from May 27 to 31. Her recently published cookbook, “Balaboosta: Bold Mediterranean Recipes to Feed the People You Love,” features 140 of the recipes she cooks for family and friends. Admony will be serving upscale versions of the Mediterranean dishes you might find on any given night at Balaboosta, such as shrimp kataïf with tobiko sauce and adobo-rubbed skirt steak with charred tomato, spring onions and cherry tomato vinaigrette. The three-course dinner will blend her Israeli heritage with inspirations from California’s spring produce. Optional wine pairing. Seatings from 6 to 9:30 p.m. each night. Tickets are $90 (excluding beverages). To make a reservation, call (917) 740-1003 or go to balaboosta-mauros.brownpapertickets.com. Mauro’s Cafe at Fred Segal, 8112 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles.

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