March 3, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Angelenos continually bemoan the fact that late night dining options are so limited, but for the past 21 years, San Gabriel has housed one of the city’s best moonlit haunts, a Taiwan-style cafeteria and congee cafe called Lu’s Garden that works just as well when the sun is out.
Lu refers to Lu Shi Sam, the 83-year-old owner, who opened the original Garden in Taipei back …
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March 3, 2010 at 12:39 am
In Los Angeles, there are limits to just how fancy restaurateurs are able to push fine dining. There’s no longer demand for grand palaces like L’Orangerie. Instead, people flock to places like The Bazaar, which delivers just as much glitz as gastronomy. On Melrose, Karen and Quinn Hatfield seem to have struck just the right balance, offering inventive, high-value food in a refined setting.
The …
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February 25, 2010 at 4:09 pm
12 years ago, when I first moved to L.A. and Zagat still played a part in my decision making process, Valentino was a restaurant to aspire to, consistently topping the red book’s ratings. Piero Selvaggio’s refined Italian restaurant always seemed too expensive, and there never seemed to be the right occasion to eat at Valentino, which dates to 1972. Unfortunately for Selvaggio (but fortunately for …
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February 23, 2010 at 3:56 pm
There’s no such thing as a recession-proof restaurant, but there are certainly concepts better equipped to weather the deluge. In L.A., look no further than Mozza, a multi-pronged Italian juggernaut from Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich armed with enough tantalizing options to please just about any palate. My first Osteria Mozza meal was solid in 2008, and considering the accomplished players, it came …
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February 17, 2010 at 3:27 pm
If somebody casts a net into an aquarium, their catch would probably look similar to what you’d find on the tabletop grills at Flaming Clam Grill of Cheongdamdong. The casual Koreatown restaurant absolutely bombards diners with waves of crustaceans and mollusks, including shrimp, oysters, conch, giant clams, scallops and mussels. Flaming Clam is truly a pescatarian’s dream, named for Cheongdamdong, “a posh Seoul suburb nicknamed …
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February 16, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Back in the days when I was actually well rounded, one of my favorite things to do was grab the Sunday paper and settle into a table at a nearby café for brunch. Lazy Sundays are harder to come by lately, but Valentine’s Day was a great excuse to disconnect, which is how we ended up at Canele. The Atwater Village bistro has developed a …
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February 16, 2010 at 2:31 pm
The house salad should have given it away, or maybe the fact that a second Afghan restaurant served pizza, but for some reason, it took a post-meal chat with owner Mohammed Yasin Safdari to determine that a connection existed with the only other Afghan restaurant I’d encountered in the San Fernando Valley: Chopan Kebab House. Safdari is a Kabul native who operated Morigi’s Khyber in …
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February 15, 2010 at 5:59 pm
In regional Thai restaurants like Sri Siam Cafe, don’t judge the menu by the front cover. Instead, flip immediately to the back page, where you’re bound to find a treasure trove of unusual specialties. Of course, at Sri Siam Cafe, the back page is just as likely to be missing entirely, but flip through enough menus and your persistence will be rewarded.
Sri Siam Cafe has …
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February 12, 2010 at 9:00 am
There aren’t many 100-branch chains in the U.S. that can inspire confidence. In-N-Out certainly has its proponents, and Five Guys is an emerging burger brand from Virginia…and that’s about it. In and around Beijing, Malan Noodles has over 100 branches. In the past decade, the corporation (named for a type of flower in northwest China) has expanded to Los Angeles. A Monterey Park branch went …
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February 9, 2010 at 9:00 am
My first year-and-a-half as an Angeleno were spent in Santa Monica, soaking up sunshine and seabreezes. Unfortunately, back in 1999 and 2000, my home base lacked the most important element: good food. My fruitless hunt for a decent meal led me further and further east; now it takes me 45 minutes just to drive to Santa Monica, but if Josh Loeb and Zoe Nathan were …
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January 29, 2010 at 11:55 am
BREADBAR co-owner Ali Chalabi and chef Noriyuki Sugie have made repeated efforts to give inventive chefs a stage with their monthly “Hatchi Series.” On January 28, lauded Mo-Chica chef-owner Ricardo Zarate took to the Century City stage, delivering a captivating Peruvian dining experience that he dubbed “Peru Mucho Gusto.”
A trio was playing traditional Peruvian music on BREADBAR’s patio, including a percussionist who was blistering a …
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January 27, 2010 at 10:00 am
Restaurateurs, bar owners and now bloggers have stepped up to raise money for Haitian relief. On February 6 from 10 PM – 2 AM, Matthew Kang (Mattatouille), Fiona Chandra (Gourmet Pigs) and Matt Robold (RumDood) are mixing cocktails at Vertical Wine Bistro. 50% of profits from the bar and lounge area will benefit Artists For Peace & Justice, a “fundraising effort founded by Paul Haggis …
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January 25, 2010 at 4:35 pm
For hardcore food fiends, it’s no longer enough to just serve Mexican, Chinese or Japanese food. The meals have to be tied to a particular region or state, with a laser-like focus and indigenous ingredients. That’s what makes a restaurant like Moqueca so exciting. A Brazilian samba singer tipped off Street Gourmet LA blogger Bill Esparza in late 2008, right as the restaurant was opening. …
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January 25, 2010 at 11:00 am
Il Grano is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Los Angeles, and there wouldn’t be an Il Grano, or a chef Sal Marino, without Marino Ristorante. His father Ciro and mother Maria opened their eponymous restaurant in 1983, building on Ciro’s success at bygone Hollywood landmark Martoni’s. Ciro passed away last year, but Maria and son Mario are carrying on the family tradition. To …
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January 21, 2010 at 4:33 pm
The L.A. BEER BLAST is designed to let Food GPS readers know what’s new at select L.A. bars and restaurants with great beer selections. You’ll also discover beer-related events in the area and learn about industry leaders. Expect a new L.A. BEER BLAST every Thursday evening, in time for the weekend rush. Look in the left sidebar, SUBSCRIBE to Food GPS and you’ll receive the …
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January 21, 2010 at 2:40 pm
“Resistance is futile” at Rachel Marie Klemek’s bakery in a business park near John Wayne Airport. The location is unlikely, but Klemek has been producing some compelling baked goods since 2004.
Klemek plays up the unusual in her branding, featuring labels with cake UFOs and tractor beams that pull people onboard. For probing, no doubt, since that seems to be an alien specialty. The logo is …
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January 21, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are still referenced regularly in Palm Springs, and while there’s always room for the Rat Pack, Tara Lazar is helping to prove that not everything has to be retro in the desert. Pat Saperstein from Eating L.A. tipped me off to the restaurant after a recent retreat, and I followed her advice to Lazar’s airy breakfast and lunch spot on …
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January 20, 2010 at 12:24 pm
West Adams is best known for a well-preserved strip of Victorian homes located southwest of downtown. Travel further west and the luster begins to fade, but one culinary gem endures, A. Partamian Bakery. Abraham Partamian founded the locally famous Armenian bakery in 1948, and son Leon presided over the family’s legacy until 2006, when he passed away. Leon handed down A. Partamian to longtime bakers …
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January 19, 2010 at 9:30 am
Stone was San Diego County’s breakout brewery during the first decade of the new millennium. Still, if the current craft beer explosion in America has taught us anything, it’s that there’s room at the top. Looking forward, there are several San Diego candidates vying for next level status, perhaps none more promising than Ballast Point Brewing. The brewery was a 1996 outgrowth of the Home …
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January 18, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Route 78 has become one of the surest paths to great beer in North County San Diego, with destinations like Stone Brewing Co., Green Flash Brewing Co. and Churchill’s Pub and Grille. Still, it’s a San Marcos industrial park that makes the most beer geeks salivate. The facility in question was Stone’s original home, but since March 2006, it’s housed The Lost Abbey, Port Brewing …
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January 11, 2010 at 11:30 am
Mariscos Chente set the standard for Mexican seafood in Los Angeles, but owner Magdalena Garcia and chef/son-in-law Sergio Penuelas aren’t satisfied with a stack of accolades. They recently rolled out a new slate of winter-friendly dishes, and longtime Chente booster Bill Esparza arranged a complimentary sampling for a small group of food bloggers, including me.
To keep the seafood fresh, Nayarit native Magdalena Garcia frequently travels …
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January 11, 2010 at 10:30 am
When Karen and Quinn Hatfield announced plans to vacate their eponymous restaurant for larger digs on Melrose, the couple left a void in the Beverly Boulevard dining landscape. However, it didn’t take long for another accomplished chef to arrive and ensure that the kitchen’s quality level experienced little to no drop-off. Eva chef-owner Mark Gold previously worked at Water Grill, Café Pinot and Leatherby’s Café …
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January 11, 2010 at 9:30 am
A 2008 visit to Claremont seemed to coincide with a culinary renaissance that included the sleek mixed-use Packing House and a destination restaurant named Three Forks Chop House. Sadly, Three Forks was gutted by a fire just months after my visit. What I didn’t know at the time was that another point of excitement sprouted around the corner from the Packing House on June 10, …
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January 11, 2010 at 8:30 am
For years, San Gabriel Square was the crown jewel of the San Gabriel Valley, an open-air, double-decker mall with nearly a dozen enticing restaurants. However, turnover and attrition led to increasingly dim dining options. Henry Chang left Juon Yuan to open Chang’s Garden in Arcadia. Tung Lai Shun closed, leaving only one Chinese Islamic restaurant in the vicinity. Shanghai-style giant Green Village gave way to …
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December 31, 2009 at 12:48 pm
To watch the movie “Sideways,” it sure seems like The Hitching Post offers the Central Coast’s definite Santa Maria-style barbecue. While it’s good, my favorite spot in the genre is Far Western Tavern in Guadalupe, a town “where the pavement ends and the West begins.”
Rancher Clarence Minetti opened this Central Coast classic in February 1959 with wife Rosalie, her cousin Richard Maretti and his wife …
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