WHY La Grande Orange’s casual sibling is a busy pizza specialist in the same historic Pasadena train station. WHAT Gourmet toppings like fig and blue cheese or sausage with shaved fennel top chewy sourdough crusts from a wood-burning oven. Crab legs, salads like the Green Day and a few other appetizers complete the menu; plenty [...]
March 7, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Do one thing and do it well. In this case, it’s churros. WHAT The food is a wash, but the churros, served warm from the fryer, are to die for. These are nothing like the Mexican churros that dominate L.A.—these are Spanish churros. They’re smaller, denser and more crisp, served with toppings and fillings [...]
March 6, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY The Los Angeles County Museum of Art finally gets the high-style bar and restaurant it deserves. WHAT With bright red Saarinen chairs and a display of colorful teacups from the museum’s collection, the bright, airy restaurant complements the recently added Renzo Piano—designed pavilion opposite. On chef Kris Morningstar’s menu, flavorful fare like wild mushrooms, [...]
February 23, 2012 | Posted in
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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 [...]
February 13, 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 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 [...]
January 29, 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 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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WHY Better-than-you’d-think cooking in a no-frills café. WHAT Owner Robert Humphreys brings his classical training (at Patina and elsewhere) to his funky, everyday café, and the result is a gift for East Pasadenans. There’s good coffee in the morning, worthwhile and affordable wines and beers at night, and one of the best burgers in Pasadena. [...]
January 20, 2012 | Posted in
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