WHY Enthusiastic tours of some of L.A.’s best ethnic-food enclaves, including Thai Town, Little Tokyo and the Chinese neighborhoods of the San Gabriel Valley. WHAT Jeff Okita and Alex Tao love L.A. and love to eat, and they’ve channeled those passions into seven tasting tours: Little Tokyo, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Thai Town, Downtown L.A. and [...]
WHY For handmade pasta made by a real Italian mamma. WHAT When Filippo Cortiva split with his partner at nearby Osteria La Buca to open his own place, he brought his mother, Loredana, with him, and now she’s a partner and chef. When she’s not making fresh pasta, she cruises the relaxed, high-ceilinged trattoria to [...]
WHY The perfect middle-of-L.A. spot to meet friends from across town for lunch, with a menu that has something for everyone. WHAT The quintessential L.A. café, Buddha’s Belly has a bright, bamboo-lined indoor-outdoor space, an appealing and affordable pan-Asian menu and good service, and we find it handy when needing a central spot to meet [...]
WHY Pizzas as good as Mozza’s, only less expensive and with less hoopla surrounding them. WHAT Bradford Kent is an obsessive fellow, prone to toss out dough that he feels isn’t just right, and refusing to serve a pizza that is the slightest bit overcooked. Given the tendency toward overly blackened crusts these days, that [...]
WHY High-quality Chiu Chow dim sum, and lots of it. Don’t miss the taro and the exceptionally juicy sui mai. WHAT This vast and grand restaurant is famed for the incredible range of its dim sum—60 choices most weekdays and 80 on weekends—and its Chiu Chow expertise also extends to dishes like the whole perch [...]
WHY Bacon in your salad, bacon for your main course, bacon in your dessert. WHAT L.A.’s foodie sensation is a bare-bones room crammed with people who aren’t even mad that they had to wait 45 minutes… with a reservation. It helps that the staff is remarkably kind, but really it’s because who can stay mad [...]
WHY Excellent produce from McGrath’s and Kenter Canyon Farms, among many others, as well as wonderful eggs and free-range chickens from Healthy Family Farms, a good fish vendor, a few bakers and a great source for naturally raised bison. Switch from beef burgers to bison burgers—you won’t be sorry. WHAT One of the finest markets [...]
WHY Parisian-style macarons, displayed like objets d’art, in the shop formerly known as Paulette (they dropped the ‘Pau’ after a trademark tussle). WHAT French macarons are not the dumpling-style macaroons (normally made of coconut) that we see in the U.S. These are light, tender-crisp sandwich-style cookies that look rather like colorful, miniature hamburgers, except the [...]
WHY L.A.’s best-kept-secret French bistro. WHAT Almost hidden in a corner of the Farmers Market is a café as authentically French as any in Lyon. It’s part of the adjacent Mr. Marcel market, home of French cheeses, olives, wines, table linens and an array of gourmet foods. Unlike most Farmers Market eateries, which are order-at-the-counter [...]
WHY A wee, charming spot with good, affordable wines, cheeses and charcuterie—just the place to transition from the work day to the evening. WHAT The smart folks behind one of our favorite wine bars, Bacaro, run this 600-square-foot spot in the heart of Downtown. Where Bacaro’s focus is Italian, here it’s French, with good, affordable [...]
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