The House 1230 Grant Ave San Francisco, CA 94133 The House has been around for almost 20 years and had been serving Asian fusion even before it became cool to do it. Quite fittingly, its location straddles the border of San Francisco’s Chinatown and North Beach (Little Italy) neighborhoods. It’s one of the top restaurants on Yelp…
Leatherby’s Cafe Rouge Orange County Performing Arts Center 615 Town Center Dr Costa Mesa, CA 92626 I tend to think of Leatherby’s Cafe Rouge as a sort of “Patina of Orange County.” The Patina Restaurant Group runs the gamut between fast casual and fine dining, and both Leatherby’s and Patina represent the latter. Plus, they…
Mo-Chica 3655 S Grand Ave Los Angeles, CA 90007 Executive Chef Ricardo Zarate has been one of LA’s rising star chefs in 2010, most notably for frequently being in the kitchen at the recently-closed Test Kitchen. Zarate has developed quite a following and now has a couple of restaurants in the works; however, Mo-Chica’s humble…
Wayfare Tavern 558 Sacramento St San Francisco, CA 94111 Wayfare Tavern is Food Network star Tyler Florence’s first restaurant – opened in June. Florence has been on Food Network for a while, and the only restaurant I remember him being associated with is Applebee’s. Honestly, that didn’t inspire too much confidence. I do enjoy the…
Test Kitchen: Closing Night 9575 West Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90035 Over the past four months, there’s no restaurant I’ve been to more than Test Kitchen (well, outside my weekday lunch rotation). Since its debut in August with Red Medicine, the restaurant has been a wild success featuring a diverse array of continuously changing…
Flour + Water 2401 Harrison St San Francisco, CA 94110 Flour + Water opened last year and quickly became one of the hot restaurants in town for its homemade pizzas and pastas in a “neighborhood” setting. It has been awarded numerous accolades, including Best New Restaurant by SFWeekly and nominated as one of the best…
LudoBites 6.0 at Max 13355 Ventura Blvd Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 This past Sunday was the final night of LudoBites 6.0. I was happy to have a chance for a return visit, coming full circle from my first meal opening night. It was clear that this was a night to remember, as a professional photographer…
Zero Zero 826 Folsom St San Francisco, CA 94107 Zero Zero opened up in July of this year, adding to what I think is a pretty strong San Francisco pizza scene. While its most notable menu features are Neapolitan style pizzas and pastas using zero zero flour, it’s also become pretty well known for its fried…