Photo credit: Amber Matsumoto/LA Dodgers
The Dodgers clenched the National League West Title last weekend, paving the way for some serious post-season play. Krista Simmons had a chance to chat with food blogger-come-outfielder Andre Ethier before the madness of Fall ball began for a story she wrote for edible Los Angeles. Here’s what he had to say about his favorite eats and treats around the Los Angeles.
What’s in Your Kitchen?—with Andre E, Dodger Foodie
By Krista Simmons
From the Fall 2009 issue of edible Los Angeles
The diet of an athlete can be quite a phenomenon. Their eating habits range from slightly shocking (Lamar Odom’s candy fixation) to almost appalling (Michael Phelps’ 12,000-calorie-a-day intake). Athletes are elite specimens, spending countless hours training, competing and traveling. But regardless of the physical strain that their bodies endure, their dietary regimens remain a reflection of their personality, background and passion. 
 
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Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier is no exception. In fact, he’s an enthused foodie who writes a blog called Dining with Dre’, and can’t seem to get enough of the LA dining scene. “There are only a few cities in the U.S. where you can really experience so many different ethnic flavors in one area. Every kind of food you could want to taste is within 20 minutes’ distance here,” he says. 
 
And he’s in the center of it all. His wife, Maggie, and 10-month-old son, Dreson, live together in Hollywood during the baseball season; in the off-season they head to his hometown, Phoenix. Ethier confesses that his dining lifestyle has changed quite a bit since his son’s birth. His blog posts have slowed in frequency because he treasures the moments he gets with his family.
 
“We don’t go out as much, and when we do it’s more of a homey, mellow place,” he says. But he and his wife have taken to making natural, homemade baby food. Dresson’s favorite is sweet potatoes, which they sometimes get from the Original Farmers Market at the Grove. Ethier believes that his son will follow in his foodie footsteps. “Well, he won’t really have much of a choice,” he chuckles. “I think he’ll have a very well-equipped palate.”

Photo credit: Jon Soo Hoo/ LA Dodgers
 
The left-handed right fielder is of French Canadian and Mexican descent, and his favorite homemade dishes reflect that. “My aunt has the greatest recipe for menudo,” he says. Menudo is a traditional Mexican soup commonly served on the weekends made with tripe and garnished with lime, cilantro and chopped onion. “I just can’t live without it. On Sundays we get it catered in to the field. It’s a tradition.” 
 
One of his favorite snacks to make is freshly chopped mangos and cucumbers topped with lots of lime juice and hot sauce. “It’s a refreshing snack I go with all the time,” he says, a simple way to get some fruit and veggies in. (Angelenos can find a similar snack at the little fruit stands that adorn many street corners on the Eastside). Ethier has taken a firm stance in the great Hot Sauce Head debate—Chalula is his seasoning of choice. It’s always on stock in the slugger’s refrigerator. “I swear it goes great with everything. I think it’s a little thicker than Tapatio and a little garlickier.” 
 
There are other items he can’t live without: gyro meat, fresh fish and lots of veggies, for example. You won’t find many frozen meals or prepared foods in his kitchen. “Everything we have is really fresh,” Ethier says, including the orange juice: He is a fan of freshly squeezed OJ, the pulpy kind to be precise. And since breakfast is one of the meals that he’s guaranteed to eat at home, he takes it seriously. There’s always turkey sausage, eggs and fruit to be found in his fridge.
 
And just like many other true-blue Angelenos, Ethier is a huge fan of Pizzeria Mozza. His favorite pizza? “The salumi, mozzarella, tomato and chile. It’s my staple,” he confesses. 
 
“Usually, I’m not a big fan of cheese or wine. I like to get to the substance of the meal,” he says. But on occasion, he lets his French-Canadian side shine through, and indulges in some of Mozza’s specialty cheeses and charcuterie. “I’ll pick up one of those balls of burrata, and snack on it throughout the week. I also really like their prosciutto,” he says. 
 
Ethier admits that his wife does a lot of the cooking during the season on top of eating out frequently. Wherever he is, though, there’s one thing he can’t do without: his trusty custom-made chopsticks.
 
‘I have this awesome set of chopsticks that [former teammate] Takashi Saito gave me. They’re made of recycled baseball bats. They are hand-crafted by [the sporting goods manufacturer] Mizuno and have their own special carrying case. I take them with me everywhere I go. I bring them back and forth between LA and Phoenix. People always give me funny looks when I bring them out,” he says. Perhaps it’s not the chopsticks they’re staring at—after all, Ethier is a Major League Baseball superstar, and a darling young one at that. 
 
But no matter how big of a star he is, Ethier still manages to make time for the local community. He’s worked with the Dodgers Dream Foundation for an event called Carne Asada Sunday, where he served up fans strip steak for the charity, which builds fields and donates equipment for youth in LA. He’s also an active volunteer with the Union Rescue Mission and the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. 
 
It seems as if Andre Ethier’s heart is as big as his batting average. Now, if only they could incorporate that into his stats…
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Krista Simmons is a local restaurants editor, writer and blogger who regularly contributes to various LA publications including Brand X, Metromix, the LA Times Daily Dish and iamthatgirl.com