WHY Luxe breakfast and lunch on the beach. WHAT Is $17 too much to pay for bacon ‘n eggs? Not with a setting like this—a white-washed California dream of a café at sand level in this beachfront hotel, with windows open to the ocean air and the cyclists a few feet away on the bike [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
Discoveries |
Read More »
WHY Seal Beach’s legendary smokehouse and beer bar has finally crossed county lines. WHAT Many consider Beachwood to be the region’s top beer bar, a place where the craft movement gained legs and hopheads were born. Now there’s even more Beachwood to go around with its new downtown Long Beach location. The menu remains the [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
Discoveries |
Read More »
WHY The best old-school stand burger in the Valley. WHAT 84-year-old Bill Elwell has been making burgers on his vintage grill in this dumpy part of Van Nuys for decades, and something about the seasoning of the grill and Bill’s technique makes for the perfect fast-food burger, complete with orange cheese and a grilled white [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
Discoveries |
Read More »
WHY The best ice cream soda in L.A., if not the world. WHAT Set inside a pharmacy that sells a Cronenbergian array of medical devices, this retro-style soda counter serves a fantastic array of ice creams: Lappert’s, Cascade and Fosselman’s (including our fave, chocolate-dipped strawberry). But what we love most is how they use that [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
Discoveries |
Read More »
WHY Dulce de leche frozen yogurt, free WiFi and delivery. WHAT Want to see a cool, subtly tattooed, wedge-wearing junior studio exec leap up and down like a kindergartener? Invite her to Froyo Life, which has developed a rabid cult following in Los Feliz. The yogurts, both of the sweet-and-creamy and tart varieties, are well [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
Discoveries |
Read More »
WHY To enjoy an architectural ice cream sandwich without having to chase a truck around town. WHAT After a couple of years of success with its modern-day ice cream truck, this vendor of insanely thick ice cream sandwiches named (and designed) in honor of Frank Gehry, Richard Meier and other architects now has its own [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
Discoveries |
Read More »
WHY To savor top-quality Vietnamese and Thai cooking. WHAT Owner-chef Dan Nguyen, who seems omnipresent in this small, stylish café in Warner Center Shopping Plaza, has created a neighborhood gem offering Vietnamese and Thai specialties, including pad thai, sates, salads, curries and stir-fries. Don’t miss the wonderful pho and other noodle soups, the succulent, porky [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
Discoveries |
Read More »
WHY Beautiful salads, Stumptown coffee and the best chocolate-chip cookie in town. WHAT A little bit of San Francisco and Portland in Old Pasadena, the Market on Holly is the creation of two longtime locals, composer Marty Davich and caterer Mary Pat Brandmeyer. There’s a small market (fancy pastas, oils, local organic milk), a swell [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
Discoveries |
Read More »
WHAT Native American fusion doesn’t sound promising, but the golden discs of freshly fried dough prove otherwise. Savory versions can be topped with barbecued beef or a mild bean and beef chili, but a classic, dinner-plate-size frybread, with airy pockets of dough rising from the surface and cinnamon sugar amassing in the valleys, may be [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
Discoveries |
Read More »
WHAT This pan-ethnic truck, repatriated from San Francisco, approaches food with a gleeful more is more abandon, like shrimp in garlic coconut curry, or hot links topped with onions, peppers, bacon, a fried egg and chipotle crema. Prepare for a messy meal that’s sweet, savory and strange. , @globalsoultruck, globalsoultruck.com. Cash only. Region: Citywide Features: [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
Discoveries |
Read More »