WHY For talented, gregarious chef Mark Gold, and for the Sunday brunch and dinner. WHAT Cozy, minimalist Eva has two faces: the more restrained cuisine, such as udon noodles with clams and scallops served at lunch and dinner most days, and the heartier Sunday dinners. The Sunday four-course prix-fixe meals are a great value, with [...]
December 11, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Upscale Mexican cuisine with a beautiful Long Beach view. WHAT A centerpiece of the redesigned and rebranded Hotel Maya, Fuego delivers a Mexican menu focused on coastal cooking. That translates to dishes like citric ceviches of shrimp and lobster scooped up with plantain chips, YucatÂn-style pork two ways (presented as an achiote-glazed fillet and [...]
December 3, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY South of France—inspired dining morning, noon or night in a pretty Côte d’Azur setting. WHAT Hollywood’s glitzy W Hotel may seem an improbable place to find a bright brasserie seemingly transplanted from Cannes, but this bustling, white-tiled, marble-floored spot is good for business meetings, visitors touring Hollywood and post-clubbing late meals. The menu is [...]
November 30, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Terrific, refined Italian fare without having to go over the hill. WHAT Florentine native and sometime actor Armando Pucci has created a delightful spot for fans of light, sophisticated Tuscan food. We are slaves to the chalkboard daily specials (the pappardelle with Dungeness crab and cherry tomatoes is sublime), but the regular menu has [...]
November 6, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY For the chance to explore the rich flavors of authentic Portuguese cooking. WHAT Known for its traditional Portuguese pastries, Natas now has a full-on restaurant. You could be in Lisbon—the charming room, entirely lined in crisp blue-and-white tile, is one of the few places in town to sample dishes like caldeirada, a seafood stew, [...]
October 30, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY The same excellent, expensive rustic-elegant food as at neighboring Gjelina, ready to take out in ten minutes. WHAT It can take six weeks to score a dinner reservation at Venice’s hottest restaurant, Gjelina, but now with GTA (Gjelina Take Away) next door, you can take the food back to work or home or even [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Because you need a rooftop bar Downtown that isn’t overpriced and played out (like The Standard). WHAT This multi-story bar and restaurant boasts wraparound patios with gorgeous views of Pershing Square on one side and Bunker Hill on the other. The décor is art deco, the food is French (coq au vin, onion soup), [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY The gorgeous old hotel, the fabulous setting, the appetizers and the beautiful people. WHAT Atmosphere oozes out of this new dining room in the historic Roosevelt: tufted leather banquettes, burnished woods, marble tables, painted ceilings and aproned waiters who really know what they’re doing. Everyone gets the squishy Parker House rolls and samples the [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY A loungey little restaurant that’s upscale enough to impress a date but casual enough to pop into with friends. WHAT The ambience is intimate and friendly. Happy hour is the best time to come: $2 off all wines by the glass and half-off crisp flatbreads, like the one topped with burrata, cippolini onions and [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Some of L.A.’s most original and inspired cocktails in an atmosphere that oozes discreet charm. WHAT The mellow ambience belies the rigorous attention to detail bestowed on every cocktail by Allan Katz and his crew. The location doesn’t make it easy to find (you have to walk through the Doheny’s parking lot), but once [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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