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 [...]
February 7, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Carefully sourced meats, poultry and fish, smoked and cured by hand. WHAT Salt’s Cure does its own thing. In fact, it does virtually everything: smoking its own fish, curing its meats without nitrates, and pickling a vast array of vegetables. Chefs Chris Phelps and Zak Walters preside over the tiny, tall dining room from [...]
February 6, 2012 | Posted in
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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 [...]
February 5, 2012 | Posted in
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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 [...]
February 4, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY The kitchen knows when to take a fish off the grill and how to bring out the best in each dish—without overcomplicating it. The setting and the food combine to make this the perfect California restaurant. WHAT This lively (i.e. noisy) Abbot Kinney hot spot has a ’70s open-air Big Sur vibe but a [...]
February 1, 2012 | Posted in
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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 [...]
January 30, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY For the little-known Muslim fare of Xinjiang, China’s autonomous far western region. WHAT The food at this homey café, a mesh of Chinese elements and central Asian nomad cooking, likely bears little resemblance to anything you’ve eaten in L.A. Sure, Xinjiang lamb kebabs are well known, but owner Munire Omar brings out zhuafan, a [...]
January 27, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Big salads of local provenance, and a huge, sunny patio on which to enjoy them. WHAT This always-busy outpost of the upscale cafeteria is notable for its 1,200-square-foot patio in back, as well as its roster of salads (grilled chicken Cobb; prawns with chorizo, lima beans, arugula, butter lettuce and lemon vinaigrette) and sandwiches. [...]
January 26, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Mexican dishes with a jolt of traditional flavors in a casual, eco-friendly storefront café. WHAT Tinga’s owners were inspired by Santa Barbara’s deceptively casual La Super Rica. Their thick corn tortillas also have a house-made heft, with cochinita pibil pork tacos as spicy as advertised. Taco plates, quesadillas, burritos and tortas made with steak, [...]
January 25, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY To break the hummus-and-kebab stalemate of most L.A. Middle Eastern places, in a handsome, hardwood-floor bistro setting. Also for the late-night menu, which includes half-price wines. WHAT A farmers’-market sensibility permeates the small and large plates made by Craft alum Micah Wexler: pizza-like flatbreads topped with trendy produce, veal mantee (baby tortellini), quail in [...]
January 24, 2012 | Posted in
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