Cooking

During his eight-day murder trial last year, David Viens made for an enigmatic presence. He sat in a wheelchair at the defense table, hands folded, face devoid of emotion -- even as jurors heard recordings of him telling investigators he accidentally killed his wife and cooked her body to dispose of it. The panel convicted Viens, a chef, of second-degree murder, and on Friday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rand S. Rubin sentenced him...

The chef who told authorities he accidentally killed his wife and cooked her body to dispose of it acted with a "calculated ruthlessness" that a probation officer found "chilling," according to a report filed with the court. David Viens, 49, was convicted of second-degree murder last year, and on Friday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rand S. Rubin sentenced him to 15 years to life in prison.  In a report that Rand reviewed, a probation officer took issue with Viens' claims that he had no intention of killing his wife, Dawn, in October 2009 when he duct-taped her mouth, feet and hands and then went to bed. Viens told authorities that, when he woke up, he discovered that she was "hard.

During his eight-day murder trial last year, David Viens made for an enigmatic presence. The former chef sat in a wheelchair at the defense table, hands folded, face devoid of emotion - even as jurors heard recordings of him telling investigators he accidentally killed his wife and cooked her body to dispose of it. The panel convicted Viens of second-degree murder, and on Friday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rand S. Rubin sentenced him...

David Viens, the chef who told authorities that he accidentally killed his wife and cooked her body to dispose of it, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison on Friday. Viens was convicted last year of second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Dawn. He has since fired his attorney. He spoke for about 40 minutes in a failed bid to persuade Superior Court Judge Rand S. Rubin to give him a new trial. "I loved my wife. I didn't cook my wife," he said. In a sentencing memo, prosecutors called Viens "a liar and a manipulator" and said he had a history of narcotics-related crimes before the 2009 slaying.

The cook's year can be divided in two: tomato and not-tomato. But sometimes, even the best-intentioned, most locavore-crazy among us so crave a sweet, tart bite in our salads that we break down and grab one of those cottony out-of-season tennis balls. You've done it too. Don't try to deny it. In some cases, though, there's an easy alternative. Because happily for us, beneficent nature has ensured that the not-tomato months pair up perfectly with the drowning-in-citrus ones. And in a lot of dishes, a little bit of citrus will give you just what you were hankering for - certainly a lot better than an out-of-season tomato.

Graham Elliot pops up at Son of a Gun: Graham Elliot of Graham Elliot restaurant in Chicago will be coming to the West Coast to guest chef at Son of A Gun on April 8 and 9. Chef Elliot, along with Graham Elliot restaurant sous chef John Slack and sommelier Jamie Kluz, will prepare a five course tasting menu priced at $100 per person with wine pairings available for an additional $40. Call (323) 782-9033 for reservations and menu details. 8370 W. 3rd St., L.A., (323) 782-9033, www.sonofagunrestaurant.com . This Is Not a Pop-Up: Barbara Brass of Wolfgang Puck Catering will be cooking through Sunday at This Is Not a Pop-Up.

What to cook for St. Patrick's Day? I was stumped. That's why I checked in with Colman Andrews, editorial director of The Daily Meal and author most recently of " The Country Cooking of Ireland" (Chronicle Books, 2009, $50). Andrews, who grew up in Los Angeles and spent a good deal of his working life here writing about food and wine for various magazines, lives on the East Coast now.    "We've had little signs of spring around here, but the weather's turning colder again later this week, and this weekend I'm going to make a pot of turnip and brown bread soup," he writes.

If there's anything better than fixing food you love for people you love, it's having them sing songs you love for you when you're done. That's a roundabout way of explaining how I got two-thirds of the Flatlanders to play for me on my birthday. The story starts long, long ago in a place far, far away (well, back in the 1970s in Lubbock, Texas). It seems like several lifetimes ago, but back then I was a sportswriter at the local newspaper. It's kind of odd to say anyone is lucky to be in Lubbock at any time, but I certainly was lucky enough to be there at a magical moment when the local music scene -- always thriving -- was absolutely amazing.

A federal judge has ruled that Apple's Chief Executive Tim Cook must testify in the U.S. government's e-books antitrust case against the company. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan granted the Department of Justice's request to order Cook to testify for four hours in the lawsuit, according to Reuters . Apple had tried to block attempts to have Cook sit for a deposition, saying it would be "cumulative and duplicative" because the government had already deposed 11 other Apple executives, Reuters said.

Earlier this week I wrote about the sudden burst of distinctive new campuses  being proposed for Silicon Valley. But while building your own architectural wonderland has now officially become a trend here, it was Apple's proposed spaceship campus that kicked it off.  Alas, getting the thing off the ground is taking longer than expected. During Apple's recent annual shareholder meeting, Chief Executive Tim Cook told the audience that the building wouldn't be ready by 2015, and that now the company was looking at 2016 to occupy it.  "It is taking a little longer," Cook said, in response to a question from a shareholder.  PHOTOS: 10 tech companies to watch in 2013 Cook didn't give any specific reason for the delay, though he did say the company was continuing to fine-tune its plans.