WHY Not that you’d regret shelling out for dinner, but the best deal in town is lunch at Joe’s, where for $19 you get a superb three-course meal—perhaps parsnip-fennel soup, shrimp risotto-sofrito and chocolate crunch cake. Great brunch, too. WHAT Before Abbot Kinney was the coolest place in L.A., Joe Miller gambled and opened a [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY No cover, no drink minimum, no kidding. WHAT Listening to jazz and sipping martinis at this stylish neighborhood restaurant on a Sunday night—when the rest of the world is nodding off during 60 Minutes—is deliciously fun and indulgent. Grab a seat at the bar to hear such accomplished musicians as blues guitarist Phil Upchurch [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Such exquisite French-influenced small plates as shrimp-mousse-filled ravioli with shiitake sauce, grilled hearts of romaine salad, filet mignon with Roquefort butter and foie gras with Japanese eggplant. WHAT After running Franco-Japanese restaurant Shiro in South Pasadena for many years, chef Hideo Yamashiro flipped the name and opened the smaller and more casual Orris on [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Farmers’ market—fresh comfort food like shrimp and grits (the house special), shiitake-and-Gruyère bread pudding, and pear crumble. Extras include a big communal table, a modest $10 corkage and no corkage on Mondays. WHAT Nook Bistro is indeed a nook, a tiny spot hidden in the back corner of a little strip mall with not [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Thin-crust pizzas in the individual Italian style, topped with gorgonzola, pears and walnuts or spicy Italian sausage, and a wide selection of pastas, perhaps with shrimp and asparagus or with homemade Italian sausage. WHAT The stylish import from Toronto brought a lively café to a neighborhood hungry for mid-priced, casual Italian. From the Eames [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY The steal is the $15 three-course Sunday supper with $12 bottles (yes, whole bottles) of house wine. Brilliant? No. Fun and economical? You bet. Dominick’s is a great place to take out-of-towners. WHAT An old-school Rat Pack hangout restored to its original red-sauce Italian splendor with black and white photos lining the walls and [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY AOC has an NYC bistro feel with excellent wines by the glass and perfectly ripe cheeses—and staff members who know more than just their name. The Cal-Mediterranean food is always reliable, if a smidge less so than at sister restaurant Lucques. WHAT Anything vegetable (or animal, for that matter) is coddled by the cooks [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Macrobiotic, organic, vegetarian and/or vegan cooking that’s better than you might think is possible. WHAT Shigefumi Tachibe, founding chef of the late lamented La Petite Chaya and executive chef of Chaya Venice and Chaya Brasserie, became an avid student of macrobiotic cooking years ago, and his studies finally paid off with this chic little [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Dungeness crab salad, grilled yellowtail collar, simple and ultra-fresh sushi and rolls. WHAT Find your way to this all-but-hidden space off a gritty loading dock in the warehouse district east of downtown, and you’ll be transported into an almost cinematically perfect loft/gallery scene (huge paintings, exposed brick walls, Frank Gehry—designed cardboard chairs) with impressively [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Well-prepared modern American comfort food—mac ‘n cheese, Caesar salad, flat-iron steak with blue-cheese fries—at fair prices in a swell old building. WHAT High ceilings, old tile floors and burnished wooden tables give Pete’s a look usually more associated with San Francisco or New York. This is a fine place for a weekend lunch after [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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