S1e1: Sotta
In 2019, after moving from Chicago back home to California, I discovered this family-owned Mediterranean restaurant called Sotta and thought it was a great place to feature. With just an idea in mind and no tangible content to show him, Mike, the owner of Sotta, took a chance on me and agreed to have his restaurant showcased as the first episode on the pilot season of Nutrihunt.
I laugh every time I think about my first meeting with Mike since one of the first questions he had was “you aren’t a show about kitchen nightmares, are you”? After explaining the premise of the show to Mike, he realized Nutrihunt is the exact opposite from that. Sotta’s kitchen is far from a nightmare - it is a place that conjures up delicious and nutritious Mediterranean food in an aesthetically pleasing and friendly atmosphere.
Sotta’s location is the genuine definition of prime. It is equidistant from Burbank, Studio City, Toluca Lake, and fairly close to Hollywood. Locals and tourists alike can venture to Sotta without being stuck in the infamous LA traffic….for too long.
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Sotta is a place that conjures up delicious and nutritious Mediterranean food in an aesthetically pleasing and friendly atmosphere.
Every Nutrihunt episode will feature two main dishes: the most popular and one of the healthiest from an overall nutritional composition. In this episode, Sotta’s White Meat Chicken Kabob Plate alongside Hummus and Babaganoush is featured as the most popular, while the Whole Wheat Salmon Wrap with Lentil Soup and Seasonal Vegetables dish is one of the healthiest. Both entrees pack a nutritional punch and contain a substantial amount of all the macronutrients that you would need. After trying them out with Erik, we immediately understood why they were fan favorites!
The episode features the beautiful and somewhat challenging Wisdom Tree hike.
The episode features the beautiful and somewhat challenging Wisdom Tree hike, which connects to the popular Hollywood Sign hike, however, there are plenty of other things you can do and places to see close to Sotta - Universal Studios Hollywood, Griffith Observatory & Park, The Greek Theatre, Lake Hollywood Park, Runyon Canyon, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Warner Brothers Studios, and The Walt Disney Studios are all well within the Angeleno definition of close by. So, if you are on the hunt for some amazing and nutritious food in the Burbank area, please go check out Sotta!
Scientific Resources for Sotta
Donini, L. M., Dernini, S., Lairon, D., Serra-Majem, L., Amiot, M.-J., del Balzo, V., Giusti, A.-M., Burlingame, B., Belahsen, R., Maiani, G., Polito, A., Turrini, A., Intorre, F., Trichopoulou, A., & Berry, M. E. (2016). A consensus proposal for Nutritional indicators to assess the sustainability of a healthy diet: The Mediterranean diet as a case study. Frontiers in Nutrition, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2016.00037
Folate (folic acid) – vitamin b9. The Nutrition Source. (2019, July 2). https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/folic-acid/.
Jackson, A., Forsyth, C. B., Shaikh, M., Voigt, R. M., Engen, P. A., Ramirez, V., & Keshavarzian, A. (2019). Diet in Parkinson's Disease: Critical role for the microbiome. Frontiers in Neurology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2019.01245
Kruman, I. I., Culmsee, C., Chan, S. L., Kruman, Y., Guo, Z., Penix, L. R., & Mattson, M. P. (2000). Homocysteine elicits a DNA damage response in neurons that promotes apoptosis and hypersensitivity TO EXCITOTOXICITY. The Journal of Neuroscience, 20(18), 6920–6926. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.20-18-06920.2000
Lange, K. W. (2019, June 26). Mediterranean diet and alzheimer's disease. Movement and Nutrition in Health and Disease. https://www.movement-nutrition.de/article/view/13.
Maraki, M. I., Yannakoulia, M., Stamelou, M., Stefanis, L., Xiromerisiou, G., Kosmidis, M. H., Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G. M., Sakka, P., Anastasiou, C. A., Simopoulou, E., & Scarmeas, N. (2018). Mediterranean diet adherence is related to reduced probability of prodromal parkinson's disease. Movement Disorders, 34(1), 48–57. https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.27489
McGrattan, A. M., McGuinness, B., McKinley, M. C., Kee, F., Passmore, P., Woodside, J. V., & McEvoy, C. T. (2019). Diet and inflammation in cognitive ageing and alzheimer’s disease. Current Nutrition Reports, 8(2), 53–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-019-0271-4
Molybdenum. Linus Pauling Institute. (2021, June 25). https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/minerals/molybdenum.
Niacin. Linus Pauling Institute. (2021, January 1). https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/niacin#niacin-equivalent.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Office of dietary supplements - thiamin. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Thiamin-HealthProfessional/.
U.S. National Library of Medicine. (n.d.). Thiamin: Medlineplus medical encyclopedia. MedlinePlus. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002401.htm.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Office of dietary supplements - niacin. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Niacin-HealthProfessional/.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Office of dietary supplements - folate. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate-HealthProfessional/.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Office of dietary supplements - vitamin b6. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB6-HealthProfessional/.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Office of dietary supplements - vitamin b12. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB12-Consumer/.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Office of dietary supplements - vitamin d. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Office of dietary supplements - iodine. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iodine-Consumer/.
Vitamin b12. The Nutrition Source. (2019, June 4). https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-b12/.
What's New and Beneficial about Garbanzo Beans. Garbanzo beans (chickpeas). (n.d.). http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=58.
What's New and Beneficial About Chicken. Chicken, pasture-raised. (n.d.). http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=116.
What's New and Beneficial about Salmon. Salmon. (n.d.). http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=104.