About

Welcome. My name is Scott Schalin.

I started this site as a way to showcase my passion for food, travel, music and life in general. Really it’s just a place to share new takes on old recipes, off-the-path dining experiences and much more.

So, who the hell am I? Well, I’m still figuring that out, but I began my communications career working for Stephen J. Cannell Productions as a Production Coordinator for such TV shows as 21 Jump Street, Wiseguy and The Commish.  

At the same time,  I also worked as a freelance-music writer and editor for such publications as SPIN, Billboard, RIP, BAM, Request and Music Connection. I wrote hundreds of features on some of the most popular artists of this era, including Metallica, Van Halen, AC/DC, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, Motley Crue and Tool.

While working on some of Larry Flynt’s music magazines, I was also writing long-form features for Hustler (yeah, yeah…they do have articles). Soon, I left Cannell Productions to become an Editor of Hustler and worked my way up Flynt’s Fortress of Fantasy in Beverly Hills. I helped launch several new, successful magazine titles and was soon promoted to Executive Editor of Chic.

In January, 1996, I was recruited by the Seattle-based Internet Entertainment Group (IEG) to help launch a news and entertainment site which quickly became one of the most popular web destinations in the world. Keep in mind, this way before the Perez Hilton’s and TMZ’s of the world, and IEG scooped the industry by first showing the infamous Pamela-Tommy Lee splurge tape.

A family responsibility forced my return to LA where I became the Creative Director of a newly formed online corporation called, Interactive Gallery Inc. (IGI). IGI created a slew of sports, info and entertainment websites, and I was proud to eventually become the President of the company overseing more than 100 employees. As sales grew, IGI was courted and eventually purchased by New Frontier Media, a publicly-traded (NASDAQ: NOOF), Colorado-based corporation that specialized in cable and satellite programming.

All was well with our new controlling partners, until they decided to consolidate the companies into one facility in Boulder, CO. My preference for smoggy sun to thin frigidity kept me in LA where I partnered with a former business ally to become the President and owner-partner of Herbal Groups Inc., a marketing company specializing in selling a variety of all-natural supplements for a plethora of maladies.

I continue to write online articles focusing on modern music and restuarants in Los Angeles. My primary hobbies include suffering with the Dodgers and sipping martinis while creating new culinary concoctions in the Sherman Oaks, CA, kitchen I share with my best friend and beautiful wife, Leslie, the kindest nurse on the planet. There’s usually a trio of cats, Scully, Charlie and Cooper, and a blonde Lab named Otis milling around the cutting board searching for scraps.

But then, in a way, we’re all searching for scraps. But I digress…