WHY A new, radical wave of ramen that fuses Japanese tradition with Californian innovation. WHAT Ramen California sprang from the mind of Shigetoshi Nakamura, a Japanese ramen prodigy who has taken on the task of reinventing the noodle soup. Indeed, diners should be advised to abandon all previous ramen knowledge—Nakamura’s noodle soups are all about [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Intercontinental fusion food informed by 100 years of immigration. WHAT Born out of history, this quaint place is the culinary result of a century of Japanese immigration to Peru. Its success stems from its ability to take two disparate cuisines and forge a strong, seafood-based middle ground. On the Peruvian side of things, try [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY When you’re in Boyle Heights but don’t want Mexican food. WHAT You’ll feel like you’re walking into the film L.A. Confidential when you pull open the screen door to this diner, which has just five stools and three leatherette booths. It’s a vestige of when Boyle Heights was a hub of Japanese immigrants, before [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Yes, Virginia, there is good sushi in the West Valley. WHAT Located in affluent, restaurant-hungry Woodland Hills, this place has a menu rich with cooked Japanese specialties such as tempura, teriyaki and grilled seafood, as well as sushi, sashimi and a variety of creative cut rolls. Regulars rave about the lunch combo specials, but [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Flawless French pastries with Japanese flair. WHAT Keiko Nojima’s creations are as cross-cultural as they are classic: delicate and refined pastries that seamlessly balance tradition and intercontinental innovation. Take the mactha roll, for example, alternating layers of green tea chiffon cake and chestnut cream topped with sweet azuki beans. Or the fabulous cream puffs [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY This New York import is known for its fusion sushi, like hamachi with jalapeño, and you can get it at slightly lower prices than in the main dining room below. WHAT This elegant mezzanine cocktail lounge with a handful of small tables becomes a standing-room only hot spot on the weekends. WHO Scene hoppers [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY High-quality sushi and regional specialties served in an intimate setting. WHAT Step inside this curbside sushi joint on a Friday night and you’ll be transported to a bustling Manhattan hot spot with its shotgun interior, cozy booths and frantically busy staff delivering quality sushi with a few unexpected surprises (think black pig sausage from [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY The best soba noodles in the South Bay. Great izakaya, too. WHAT Noodles made by hand in small batches are the draw at this dinky, hard-to-find noodle and izakaya spot (hint: enter from the back parking lot). While it makes fine eel tempura, grilled steak and wild mushrooms over rice, the reason to drive [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY For 50 cents they’ll add extra pork fat to your soup base. Need we say more? WHAT It’s not as fast as we’d like, because of the lines of ramen addicts who slow things down at peak times. But the flavorful pork broth served at this dive is worth the wait. And you won’t [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY For Nobu Matsuhisa’s Peruvian-influenced Japanese cuisine, which came to fame here and later swept the food world. WHAT The Nobu craze started here, in a restaurant far simpler than its overwrought Beverly Hills neighbors, and while the Nobus in Malibu, New York, Aspen and beyond may be a bigger deal these days, we still [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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