Chef Jay Terauchi

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Los Gatos, CA
Chef Jay Terauchi

A Los Angeles food consultant by day,
food eater at night. Follow my food adventures.

04/22/2026

“Picanha” is my second favorite word…

This is what I usually get at Pampas Grill, a Brazilian churrascaria (BBQ), in Culver City yesterday.

With Picanha (Sirloin Cap), Tri-Tip, Potato Salad, Pasta Salad, Garlic Noodles, Chicken Stroganoff, Garlic Bread, and Fried Plantains.

I picked up some Roasted Potatoes from the farmers market and enjoyed it this morning with the leftover Picanha.
For those keeping score at home, “Charcuterie” is my favorite word.

04/16/2026

It’s a Matcha Yuzu Day…

Thanks to my friend, , for making some great suggestions as to good snacks on a Wednesday in Pasadena.

“Matcha Tonic” from Mandarin 2
With matcha, Japanese yuzu juice, agave,
and fever tree tonic.

“Matcha Yuzu Canele” from BU Pastry Bar

The drink and canele, a matcha made in heaven!

04/12/2026

I’ve Waited All Day for This!

The Saturday Special at …

Shrimp Curry Plate
I opted with the Rice and Peas & Vegetables
vs. Roti. Both tough choices, since the Roti is made fresh in-house. But, I went with curry and rice.

The curry has a small bit of heat, just to make it interesting or to remind you of the tropical weather in the Caribbean. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Speaking of the Caribbean, did you know…

A slice of apple pie is $2.50 in Jamaica and $3.00 in the Bahamas. These are the pie rates of the Caribbean.

Now you know…

04/11/2026

Happy FryDay!

The Country Dinner (Number 2)
from Broaster Kitchen in Montebello.

5 pieces of Fried Chicken, 3 pieces of Broasted Potatoes, Coleslaw, and 2 Rolls.

I added Corn on the Cob and Ranch Dressing.

A friend brought me here over 20+ years ago, her family had been coming here for years before they moved out of the area. I’ve been coming here every so often since she first brought me.

Broasted chicken is fried in a pressure cooker and can be less oily, but I really like the potatoes.

TGIF!

04/09/2026

Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Jack in the Box

Dr Pepper® Strawberries and Cream Shake,
finished with whipped cream.

It had a hint of strawberry, almost fragrant. I would’ve preferred just the Dr Pepper, but hey, it’s a celebration.

Speaking of , I remember meeting Jack and Mrs. Box during the Brunchfast introduction about 10 years ago.

Happy Anniversary, Jack!

04/06/2026

Look what the Easter Bunny brought me…

After an early morning cooking Easter breakfast and a lunch service, it was nice to enjoy my Caribbean meal while watching the game this afternoon.

As a kid, Easter meant coloring eggs, egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, deviled eggs, and egg salad sandwiches the day after.

These days, Easter means a whole lotta broken egg shells (for Easter breakfast) 😂

Jerk Chicken with Rice & Peas, Cabbage, and Fried Plantains from in San Gabriel.👍

Although I cooked today, I did have the day off from work, saw some friends, and spent some time with one of my nieces tonight.

That’s all folks!

Oops, wrong rabbit!

03/23/2026

IYKYK

The Hardest Reservation to get in Los Angeles!
(some will say the Noma LA pop-up…)

Mason of .ny began doing Branzino pop-ups in NYC. A friend told me about it and said I needed to plan a trip. Since a NYC trip wasn’t in my short term plans, I kinda forgot about it.

Meanwhile, and I have been taking about a Branzino that we had years ago with some other chefs, cooked over an open fire at a Silver Lake restaurant that unfortunately closed during the pandemic. Yep, still talking about it 9 years later.

To my surprise, .ny is spending the winter months in Los Angeles, now’s my chance! But hearing horror stories of trying to get a reservation is impossible. I tried for 6 weeks…

And I FINALLY was able to get a reservation for one Branzino before he leaves town. It took 1/10 of a second before this day was SOLD OUT, but I was one of the lucky ones!

“Luck is believing you’re lucky.”
~ Tennessee Williams

Fortunately, could get away for a bit (or bite since we’re talking about food) to share this experience with me.

We got to watch Mason season and cook each fish to perfection. He told me that he was only cooking on camping equipment, which I told him he’s doing a great job regardless.

Piscator’s Grilled Branzino Supper
- Mediterranean Grilled Branzino, Served Whole
- Rosé Blood Orange Slaw
- Homemade Sea Salt Focaccia
- Blackberries & Bundled Thyme incl. side chimichurri

The fish was well seasoned and cooked perfectly, we didn’t do much talking as we enjoyed each element. We did order a couple of other dishes from the host, Little Ripper in Glassell Park.

It was well worth the wait and everything was excellent.

Today was a good day!

03/20/2026

Throwback Thursday

I was talking to a guy in the kitchen today about his trip to Japan. He was asking me all about Japan…

Twenty years ago, I went to Japan to cook at a charity event in Kobe. On the Shinkansen (Bullet Train), I pulled out a bag of Doritos, which I bought before my flight. But of course it got pushed down in my backpack and I forgot about it on my flight.

We picked up Ekibens (bento box) at Tokyo Station before the start of our journey to Kobe and it was a bit too early for me to eat, so I pulled out the bag of Doritos and left it on my tray table.

If you want to meet Americans now living in Japan, bring of bag of Doritos with you on the Shinkansen. I had 5 people ask me where I bought it? I told them, I picked it up in Los Angeles. They were disappointed that it wasn’t in Japan. I offered the unopened bag to them, but they all declined.

Another product I’d bring to Japan is Red Vines, you can’t get these in Japan neither.

Do you know of any other products that Americans crave in Japan?

03/19/2026

FINALLY!!!

My niece and I have been trying to get a pizza from
Bub and Grandma’s Pizza since they opened.

My work schedule, with lots of night shifts, we couldn’t find a day for pizza, until this day…

Pepperoni Pie
from in Highland Park.

We enjoyed the sourdough crust, it’s a large pizza,
AND we enjoyed the Caesar Salad too.

A good pizza day!

03/18/2026

It’s Tako Tuesday!

For some reason, I wanted Tako Sushi (octopus) today. But, where can you get octopus sushi at 3 pm???

I guess I could make it myself, but I wanted to eat within 15 minutes, not enough time to cook rice…

So, the next best thing, grab-n-go sushi from Yama Sushi Marketplace in San Gabriel.

I opted for a Chirashi Bowl, sashimi-grade seafood over sushi rice. I wish the seafood was a bit bigger, but since I didn’t want to make it myself, I get what I can easily get, right?

So, I’m enjoying Tako Tuesday!

03/16/2026

Winner Winner Peruvian Chicken Dinner!

A Whole Chicken
at in Pasadena.

A pollo à la brasa (wood-fired rotisserie chicken) with two sides. We opted for White Rice and French Fries. The rice was ok, but the fries were really good.

I was looking forward to a juicy rotisserie chicken, which was seasoned very well and a very good chicken.

But the Aji Verde (green sauce) was just ok,
I was a bit disappointed.

Next time, I’ll order the chicken with fries and plantains.
,
inthe626

03/08/2026

It’s Sandwich Saturday!

Sopressata Sandwich
at in Silver Lake.

With molinari sopressata, sharp fontina, artichoke, arugula, red onion, mayo, aged balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper.

I added Marinated Artichokes for an extra $1.50,
but it doesn’t look like I got the “extra”

So, I guess I’m not extra at Bodega Park.

This was one of my favorite LA sandwiches,
but on this day, it was a bit disappointing, not just because my extra artichokes wasn’t there.

Address

Los Gatos, CA

Website

http://jayeats.com/

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