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 Carpaccio, simple roast veal carved tableside, light gnocchi with pesto and Tuscan fish soup, served with deference at a quietly A-list Hollywood canteen. WHAT Well-dressed, middle-aged folks with business to discuss feel very much at home in this traditional ristorante, where the service is smooth and the food is consistently satisfying. It’s the kind [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Superb steaks and chops, succulent side dishes (duck fried rice, Japanese purple yams with crème fra’che) and comfort foods (pot roast, coq au vin). Oh, and a Sunday brunch that Los Angeles Magazine has twice declared the city’s best. WHAT This retro-contemporary (think Mad Men) chophouse run by star chef Suzanne Tracht delivers a [...]
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 Rich oxtails, braised artichokes, green lasagne and other delicious pastas, and wonderful branzino. WHAT There are fancier Italian restaurants in town, but few with better food than this one (and chef Gino Angelini’s other restaurant, La Minestraio). The minimalist storefront is packed a little too tightly, and the room’s a little too loud, but [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY It’s like escaping to Florence right there on Sunset Boulevard. WHAT While the rest of the Sunset Strip screams for attention, this doll house of a ristorante is happy to be invisible—its clientele cares more about food, service and charm than being noticed. Couples and friends reminisce about their last trip to Italy while [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY For Mark Peel’s mastery of simple grilled meats, for the desserts, for Thursday grilled cheese night and for the handsome, old-L.A. setting that makes everyone happy. WHAT Lucques may be the Campanile of the new millennium, but that doesn’t mean Campanile peaked in the ’90s. It remains the perfect L.A. restaurant, the sort of [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY For the farm-fresh ingredients that shine with just the right amount of chef behind them. The beloved family-style Sunday Supper brings gorgeous home-style cooking for $45 per person. WHAT Relaxed and beautiful, homey yet elegant, with just-attentive-enough service that’s never pretentious, Lucques is the reigning Chez Panisse of Los Angeles. It’s one of the [...]
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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