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,…
LudoBites 10 Gram & Papa’s 227 E 9th St Los Angeles, CA 90015 Dining date: 12/10/12 Last week LudoBites returned in its 10th incarnation, dubbed a sort of “Best Of” celebration bringing back many dishes from previous iterations of the pop-up. Adding to the hype, it was also announced that this would be the last…
Return of Test Kitchen: Rocco DiSpirito 9575 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90035 Dining date: 10/1/12 It’s been almost two years since Test Kitchen ended its run, something that I thought was one of the most interesting things to happen to the LA dining scene in recent years. Quite frankly, I’ve kinda missed it….
Le Comptoir Tiara Cafe 127 E 9th St Los Angeles, CA 90015 Dining date: 3/29/12 Le Comptoir has been sort of a longer-term pop-up, occupying the Tiara Cafe space in downtown’s fashion district for a number of months now. For three days a week (Thurs-Sat), Gary Menes cooks his version of seasonal farm-to-table food. What…
Dan Moody Pop-Up Batch Restaurant & Bar 8631 Washington Blvd Culver City, CA 90232 Dining date: 3/1/12 Dan Moody is probably best known in the food world for being sous chef to Ludovic Lefebvre through LudoBites 6.0. Since then, he’s been doing his own thing, showing up here and there with his own iteration of…
LudoBites 8.0 Lemon Moon 12200 W Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064 Dining date: 2/15/12 My first trip to LudoBites 8.0 was a pretty good meal, and a very promising start to this iteration. While much attention has been spent on the reservation system and the scarcity of a seat, I didn’t think it was…
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…
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…