WHY Serious dogs served on grilled King’s Hawaiian bread. WHAT These are solid, substantial hot dogs, often topped with bacon and/or chili. Skip the heavy, bland El Mariachi, but consider the BLAST dog, with bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato and serrano chili, and by all means try the tater tots. The addition of a beer garden [...]
January 12, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY To enjoy delicious food and drink in an elegant room without a hint of stuffiness. WHAT The team behind Elements Café & Catering operates this attractive white-tablecloth restaurant in the charming, Spanish-style Pasadena Playhouse complex. With a menu organized around key ingredients (‘elements’) that change with the seasons, this is a fun restaurant for [...]
December 16, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Downtown-style cocktail chic in a formerly frumpy Pasadena landmark restaurant. WHAT It was a stroke of genius for the owners of the Raymond, a pricey restaurant in a circa-1886 cottage, to turn space over to cocktail guru Aidan Demarest (of Edison and Seven Grand fame). The drinks are terrific, the cozy interior has a [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY WeHo chic in old-money Pasadena. WHAT This glam white-on-white restaurant doesn’t look one bit like Pasadena, and we admire the Langham Huntington for pushing the envelope. (It’s always entertaining to see San Marino men in Brooks Brothers blazers trying to figure out what to do with that precious morsel of lobster that appears to [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY L.A.’s passion for cheese spreads eastward, into a spacious gourmet shop facing Shopper’s Lane. WHAT A solid collection of imported and domestic cheese is kept in a temperature-controlled cold room, so shoppers tell the counterfolk what they’re in the mood to sample or choose from the cheese menu. Wine and cheese tastings are held [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY For the great wine list, with lots of worthy choices for less than $10 a glass; the well-conceived and fairly priced small-plates menu; and the gregarious charm of Chef Beltran, who spends a lot of time checking on diners. WHAT After years of bouncing around various restaurants, success has come to chef Claud Beltran [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY A comfortable place to sit, sip, nosh and talk, with two lounge-y seating areas, a wooden communal table, and room to stand and chat around the gleaming tasting machines. WHAT Part retail store, part wine bar and part high-tech tasting center, this quiet little spot was created by two wine-loving couples who invested in [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY West Virginia may have figured out a long time ago that cole slaw goes good on a hot dog, but here in California it’s a revelation. WHAT You can create your own dog from the many varieties and toppings, but you won’t do better than the house-designed versions, which are actually really good salads [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Vibrant classic and modern Korean cooking made with love by do-gooders. WHAT Kimmy Song, founder and CEO of !It Jeans in Vernon, wanted to use her success to give back, and because she loves food, she decided to do it by opening a restaurant. The result is a light-filled café manned by incredibly nice [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY A wonderland of Armenian baked goods. WHAT There are some two dozen savory specialties at this family-run shop, like tangy zaatar-rubbed flatbreads and tender, doughy pockets stuffed with spicy sujuk and cheese. All are baked to order, including the magnificent khachapuri, an oblong Georgian pizza topped with four kinds of Middle Eastern cheeses and [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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