Ikemen 123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St #108 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Dining date: 1/28/13 Ikemen is the latest ramen chain to open up shop in Little Tokyo (following other notables Shin-Sen-Gumi and Men Oh Tokushima). Located in Weller Court (the plaza shared with super-spicy Orochon), it kind of replaces the recently-closed Chin-Ma-Ya. Ikemen’s first…
Sons & Daughters 708 Bush St San Francisco, CA 94108 Dining date: 11/24/12 Sons & Daughters is a restaurant I’ve been wanting to try for some time. Since I spend a limited amount of time in San Francisco nowadays, it’s always been on my list of places to try but never high enough to the…
The Hart and the Hunter Palihotel 7950 Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA 90048 Dining date: 1/6/13 Formerly the pop-up Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, Brian Dunsmoor and Kris Tominaga opened The Hart and the Hunter last October. It’s quickly become one of the most talked-about restaurants in LA over the last few months for its hearty…
Alexander’s Steakhouse 448 Brannan St San Francisco, CA 94107 Dining date: 11/25/12 I’ve wanted to try Alexander’s Steakhouse for some time. I love a good steak and Alexander’s is one of the more highly regarded steakhouses on the West Coast (and perhaps country). The original location, in Cupertino, garnered a Michelin star in the inaugural…
Sushi Dai Tsukiji Fish Market 5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045 Dining date: 11/21/12 I’d heard much about Sushi Dai well before coming to Japan, the super-popular sushi shop at Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market. The stories are almost legendary, talking about the early mornings, long lines and exceptionally fresh fish mere yards away from the fish…
Cooking with Friends: Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood) Animal Restaurant 435 N Fairfax Ave Los Angeles, CA 90048 Dining date: 1/14/13 New for 2013, the team behind the ever-popular Animal began a series of dinners called “Cooking with Friends” in which a guest chef would join for one night and cook a collaborative dinner,…
As everyone probably knows, there’s great ramen in Japan. It’s seriously everywhere, and the breadth and depth of options is impressive. I can’t think of a food in the US that is matched with such passion (obsession?) as ramen is in Japan. There are countless restaurants specializing in the dish, and it really seems hard…
Ladurée Ginza Mitsukoshi Ginza Mitsukoshi 2F 4-6-16 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-8212 Dining date: various Ladurée Shinjuku Shinjuku Lumine 2, 1F 3-38-2 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022 Dining date: various I’ve posted before about the abundance and quality of sweet confections all around Japan; one of the places where I seemed to most consistently stop in was Laduree….