Mario Batali at the Beach Coast Restaurant Shutters on the Beach 1 Pico Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90405 Dining date: 1/28/12 Mario Batali needs no introduction. As one of the most famous chefs in the country, I’m sure he draws crowds whenever he’s doing a food event. When I heard he would be hosting a…
Tsujita LA 2057 Sawtelle Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 Ramen Yamadaya 11172 Washington Blvd Culver City, CA 90230 Dining date: 1/16/12 I first tried Tsujita over the Veteran’s Day holiday. Trying to fit two lunch spots into one larger meal, Tsujita happened to fall into the second slot where a humongous line awaited us. Sadly,…
Lexington Social House 1718 Vine St Los Angeles, CA 90028 Dining date: 1/8/12 I first took notice of Lexington Social House during last year’s Taste of the Nation, where their fried chicken was one of my favorites of the afternoon. My second encounter with the restaurant was at The Taste where, again, the fried chicken…
Angelini Osteria 7313 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90036 Dining date: 1/12/12 Angelini Osteria has been on my “want to try” list for years. I’ve gotten a taste of Gino Angelini’s rustic Italian cooking at various food festivals over the years and they’ve made a positive impression. For any number of reasons I never got…
LudoBites 8.0 Lemon Moon 12200 W Olympic Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90064 Dining date: 1/18/12 With every successive LudoBites, it seems to get more popular. The story is very familiar now: chef with fine dining background starts casual pop-up restaurant; pop-up becomes incredibly successful, garnering critical acclaim nationwide and spawning TV show; demand for reservations…
SPQR 1911 Fillmore St San Francisco, CA 94115 Dining date: 12/28/11 SPQR is a neighborhood restaurant in the Lower Pacific Heights area of San Francisco. A sister restaurant to also-notable A16, the cuisine is “Italian-inspired;” that is, Italian food based on seasonal, local produce. It’s sort of a merge of Italian and Californian cuisines. The…
Nopa 560 Divisadero St San Francisco, CA 94117 Dining date: 12/22/11 I’ve wanted to try Nopa for a while, a consistently highly-regarded restaurant since opening in 2006. The food is rather comfortable modern American and reasonably priced with starters between $5-15 and generously-sized mains in the $13-27 range. The food, combined with a trendy bar…
Dining date: 1/2/11 A meaty ragu (with pasta) is one of my favorite foods. If there’s one on the menu, there’s a pretty good chance I’m ordering it. One of my favorites is an oxtail ragu commonly served with a wide, flat pappardelle pasta. There’s just something about the beefy, meaty oxtails imparting their flavor…