WHY For handmade pasta made by a real Italian mamma. WHAT When Filippo Cortiva split with his partner at nearby Osteria La Buca to open his own place, he brought his mother, Loredana, with him, and now she’s a partner and chef. When she’s not making fresh pasta, she cruises the relaxed, high-ceilinged trattoria to [...]
February 16, 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 Pizzas as good as Mozza’s, only less expensive and with less hoopla surrounding them. WHAT Bradford Kent is an obsessive fellow, prone to toss out dough that he feels isn’t just right, and refusing to serve a pizza that is the slightest bit overcooked. Given the tendency toward overly blackened crusts these days, that [...]
February 7, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Carefully sourced meats, poultry and fish, smoked and cured by hand. WHAT Salt’s Cure does its own thing. In fact, it does virtually everything: smoking its own fish, curing its meats without nitrates, and pickling a vast array of vegetables. Chefs Chris Phelps and Zak Walters preside over the tiny, tall dining room from [...]
February 6, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Bacon in your salad, bacon for your main course, bacon in your dessert. WHAT L.A.’s foodie sensation is a bare-bones room crammed with people who aren’t even mad that they had to wait 45 minutes… with a reservation. It helps that the staff is remarkably kind, but really it’s because who can stay mad [...]
February 4, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Excellent produce from McGrath’s and Kenter Canyon Farms, among many others, as well as wonderful eggs and free-range chickens from Healthy Family Farms, a good fish vendor, a few bakers and a great source for naturally raised bison. Switch from beef burgers to bison burgers—you won’t be sorry. WHAT One of the finest markets [...]
February 4, 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 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 Mexican dishes with a jolt of traditional flavors in a casual, eco-friendly storefront café. WHAT Tinga’s owners were inspired by Santa Barbara’s deceptively casual La Super Rica. Their thick corn tortillas also have a house-made heft, with cochinita pibil pork tacos as spicy as advertised. Taco plates, quesadillas, burritos and tortas made with steak, [...]
January 25, 2012 | Posted in
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Do you religiously save Jonathan Gold’s restaurant lists in the L.A. Weekly? Is “Ask Mr. Gold” the first thing you check in the paper’s Food and Restaurant section? If you answered yes to one or both of the above, here are three dates you’ll want to mark down. The first is Sunday March 4th for [...]
January 23, 2012 | Posted in
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