WHY With its California-dream patio and organic, market food, Wilshire is bucking to be the Michael’s for the new millennium. It’s not that, but we appreciate the effort. WHAT Wilshire has a too-cool country-club vibe, complete with leather club chairs and a cover-charge scene at the bar after 9:30, but it’s not just the latest [...]
Type: Restaurant
Region: West of the 405
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
Features: A Scene, Cocktails, Dinner, Essentially L.A., Lunch, Patio Dining, Private Room, Romantic, Sustainable
Price Range: $25-$33, $34-up
Cuisine Type: Modern American, Steakhouse
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY An only-in-L.A. combo: creative Cal-Mediterranean dishes meet Justin Timberlake—worthy poolside dining. WHAT Mega-style meets better-than-the-norm hotel dining at this too-hip-for-most beach hotel. You can dine out on the green patio, in your own private tent or in the glam dining room; while it’s more romantic at night, it’s pricier, too, so we like coming [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY For the newish Vin Bar, a more casual and affordable spot situated rather awkwardly within the restaurant. WHAT This groundbreaking Italian restaurant has impeccable silver and service, the atmosphere exudes self-satisfied wealth, and the kitchen is accomplished, turning out such delicacies as truffle-topped risotto, agnolotti with braised Sonoma lamb, and a garlic-rubbed veal chop [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Its patio, its still-amazing art collection and its new front-of-the-house cocktail lounge. WHAT Michael McCarty opened his namesake restaurant back in 1979 and was hugely influential in defining what was dubbed California cuisine and went on to become modern American cooking. His kitchen helped make goat cheese, arugula and caramelized onions a wildly popular [...]
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WHY The seasonally inspired and hard-to-resist four-course tasting menu; at $105 without wine, it’s a serious indulgence, but one you’re not likely to forget. Believe it or not, it’s worth the extra $30 for the roast chicken, which is not like any roast chicken you’ve ever had. Beautiful vegetarian tasting menu, too. WHAT Mélisse is [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Cosmopolitan cooking without pretension, with a beach-friendly location that can’t be beat. WHAT It has every right to be a tourist trap, but this pierside seafood restaurant is anything but. Always packed and always noisy, the modern concrete-and-glass space gives diners stellar views of the sea, sky and Ferris wheel—along with a daily-changing menu [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY This carefully constructed Cal-Mediterranean seafood menu is worth the splurge, especially when you consider the setting. WHAT High ceilings, crisp white walls and floor-to-ceiling windows frame the dazzling view at this privileged outpost of elegant, yet unshowoffy, cuisine. A chef change led to a menu change as well, so the Asian influences gave way [...]
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WHY A Bruce Marder gem worth finding amid the posh Ocean Avenue hotels. WHAT The luxuriously simple, farm-fresh fare served in this tiny, romantic Italian restaurant is worth a special-occasion splurge. Meats are a specialty, so resist the handmade pastas and dive into the steaks and chops, grilled in the wood-burning fireplace in the corner [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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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 Lobster enchiladas, and one of the best happy hours in town. WHAT Chaya Venice’s once-pioneering East-meets-West cuisine is now found all over L.A., but it’s good to revisit the source for good sushi, seaweed salads, pastas and such French-Japanese hybrids as miso-marinated sea bass with a wasabi-tamarind beurre blanc. WHO Venice artists and musicians, [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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