WHY Starry Kitchen spices up the Downtown lunch scene with a modern, irreverent approach to Vietnamese-influenced cooking. WHAT California Plaza is a little less corporate with the success of freewheeling Starry Kitchen, which started as an underground restaurant in the owner’s apartment. You pick a protein (free-range lemongrass chicken, the famed crispy tofu balls, spicy [...]
April 29, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Of all the great westside hybrid café/takeout/gourmet markets that have popped up recently, this is the first that doesn’t feel like a lunchtime splurge, with most sandwiches and salads priced less than $10. WHAT Regulars come here for Chinese chicken salad with fried won tons and sugar snaps; tomato, mozzarella and pesto sandwiches; and [...]
April 28, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY First-rate short-order cooking served in a classic lunch-counter diner that’s been here for more than 50 years. WHAT With its lunch counter, black-and-white linoleum floor and retro feel, this small coffee shop would seem more suited to the Midwest than West Hollywood. But it’s beloved by locals for just that old-time atmosphere (and service), [...]
April 21, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Mini pies, medium pies, maxi pies…. WHAT A sunny yellow-and-white-striped color scheme complements a case full of pies at this perky café with plenty of room for sit-down diners. Salads, sandwiches (pulled barbecue chicken on pretzel bread), main dish pot pies (chicken curry) and side dishes (roasted brussels sprouts) are more than just excuses [...]
March 25, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY You’ve been surfing for hours and you’re ready to stoke that engine with really good pancakes or a way better burger than you’ll find elsewhere around here. WHAT A neighborhood hangout with wooden tables, lots of windows and flat-screen TVs, Four Daughters is home to well-prepared comfort food made with the luxurious ingredients expected [...]
February 24, 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 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 House-baked pastries, good sandwiches, Intelligentsia coffee, Lupicia teas and tomb-like quiet for working. WHAT With a no-talking upstairs study area and a quiet downstairs lounge, plus a leafy patio with plenty of shade umbrellas and no restriction on chatting, Bricks & Scones appeals to serious students and screenwriters as well as ladies who lunch [...]
January 9, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Yountville foodie elegance in Brentwood. WHAT Freshness is a fetish here, whether it’s braised sunchokes or perfectly cut shoestring fries from Weiser Farms potatoes. Jeffrey Cerciello, former culinary director of Thomas Keller’s casual dining division, has created an upscale larder featuring dishes (salmon rillettes, poached chicken salad) made with the best local produce alongside [...]
January 4, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY You wish you were in Paris but you’re settling for Venice. WHAT This indoor/outdoor café and market on south Abbot Kinney has catered to homesick ex-pats since 1993. You may be the only English speaker in line waiting to order French comfort food: omelets with a green salad;le cheval (fried egg atop ham and [...]
November 11, 2011 | Posted in
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