Keiko à Nob Hill 1250 Jones St San Francisco, CA 94109 Dining date: 12/1/13 My dad’s mentioned Keiko à Nob Hill a number of times in the past as a potential restaurant, but we didn’t try it until this most recent trip to celebrate some November birthdays. Chef Keiko Takahashi and partner Seigo Takei opened…
Orsa & Winston 122 W 4th St Los Angeles, CA 90013 Dining date: 11/9/13 Orsa & Winston is Josef Centeno’s latest venture in his growing lineup of downtown restaurants. The highly-acclaimed Baco Mercat came first, quickly followed by Bar Ama and now Orsa & Winston next door. All three restaurants opened up within a span…
b.o.s. 424 E 2nd St Los Angeles, CA 90012 Dining date: 11/12/13 b.o.s. is one of the newest restaurants to open in the Little Tokyo area. Inside the Honda Plaza next to the ever-popular Sushi Gen (and across the way from Men Oh Tokushima), the restaurant has a rather unique focus: beef nose-to-tail dining. Mainstream…
Hamasaku 11043 Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 Dining date: 11/7/13 Hamasaku’s been open for over a decade, although I feel like I only heard about it recently. The restaurant’s had a largely entertainment-based clientele (following its owner Michael Ovitz) and its most notable menu items are fusion sushi rolls, many named after celebrities…
Shunji Japanese Cuisine 12244 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90064 Dining date: 11/4/13 Chef Shunji Nakao has been around the LA sushi scene for some time now (greater than two decades) being a key plater in some well-known past ventures (Matsuhisa, Asanebo, The Hump). His eponymous and short-lived Shunji’s on Melrose opened a couple…
Maru 12400 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 Dining date: 8/15/13 Maru opened a couple months ago in Santa Monica (on the border of Brentwood), a relocation of a restaurant in Valencia. The man behind the food is chef Jason Park, who mixes the Japanese/Korean influences of his childhood into his classically trained cooking background. A wide…
Shibucho 3114 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90057 Dining date: 7/24/13 My friend and I decided to get dinner together with two particular stipulations: that it be sushi-centric and that it be a place neither of us had been to. Finding it difficult to find the ideal restaurant that fit these needs, we turned to…
Nozawa Bar SUGARFISH Beverly Hills 212 North Canon Dr Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Dining date: 5/18/13 SUGARFISH, the streamlined sushi concept from Nozawa, has been rapidly expanding across LA since opening its first location in Marina Del Rey five years ago. This Beverly Hills location is the 6th in the chain (a 7th in Calabasas…