In most places, fall is a time to slow down and take stock, but not in L.A.'s dining scene. New restaurants have been popping up at least once a week, and older places are regrouping and knocking down walls for expansion.
Bastide, which we'd been eagerly waiting for all summer, finally opened in early September and met our lofty expectations. Trend-wise, bakeries and gourmet markets are leading the pack, with Antigua Bread and Grateful Bread opening the same week on opposite sides of town, Joan’s on Third tripling its size, and the very similar but much less expensive FOOD opening up and adding a more competitive edge to the gladiator arena that is salads-and-cupcakes-to-go-or-eat-in.
While Katsuya opened a new Hollywood location, expanding SBE’s reach even farther, the real action is happening with Italian restaurants. L.A. has never had too many of those, but the season's crop added at least five more "Big Night"–worthy spots to the Italian-restaurant landscape. La Buca’ s expansion seems to have finally wrapped up and Shereen Arazm’s hotly anticpated Terroni opened, so L.A. might finally have a counter-argument to angsty East Coast imports. The next big thing to watch out for? Upscale Latin dining, spearheaded by Eva Longoria's collaboration with Todd English, Beso. There’s even more to come before winter, so check back for updates.
A tiny little space has appeared to class up Santa Monica between Third Street Promenade and the beach. Chef Joe Miller—of the famed Joe’s in Venice—has dedicated this 30-chair establishment to tapas and wine. Hot and cold items are available to complement the vast wine selection, which includes a couple dozen Spanish wines by the glass. The tapas will be as seasonal as possible, and home cooks will be able to pick up some ingredients to go.
This “sushi bistro” offers much more than just raw fish. The shrimp-heavy menu covers tempura, tofu, and tons of cocktails. Kula is actually a big chain in Japan, bringing its commitment to all-natural, seasonal and organic-when-possible cuisine stateside.
The former Westwood Bank, a huge two-story space filled with marble, has been home to a fusion restaurant before: Eurochow. Despite partially sharing the huge name of its owner Michael Chow (of Mr. Chow fame), the glamorous restaurant didn’t have a hugely successful run. Yamato hopes for more success with its fifth Southland restaurant. The menu is full of items Angelenos have come to expect, like spicy tuna on crispy rice, American-style rolls, croquettes and things on skewers. Ask nicely and they’ll probably steer you toward new culinary territory; the staff is quite accommodating.
One of the Farmers Market’s favorite restaurants has expanded to Santa Monica. Housed in a sliver of a spot smack in the middle of the Promenade, the menu of small plates is surprisingly extensive: Deli items, cheeses, salads and simple, classic French dishes are listed along with plenty of wine options. Proximity to the Santa Monica Farmers' Market not only ensures amazing produce but extended hours. The restaurant opens earlier on market days; the better to attract shoppers.
The Patina Group continues its reach across Southern California with this literally-named seafood restaurant in the late Maple Drive space. The specialty dish is snapper en papillote, a.k.a. fish in paper…a.k.a. paperfish. The menu is also completely sustainable. That may or may not be lost on diners as they devour seafood prepared raw, fried, sautéed, and marinated. If you need a bit of courage to tackle oyster shooters, the bar at Paperfish is also a point of Patina pride.
Take half of Tiger Lily's cavernous room, the folks who developed Figaro into an Eastside institution and a rustic patio perfect for a chillaxed afternoon along Vermont Avenue, and Mes Amis has all the components of the quintessential Los Feliz restaurant. It's French, yes, and right down the street from Figaro, but the spacious dining room and tufted banquettes invite patrons to stick around awhile and sample a menu of classics: steak frites, pan bagnat, bouillabaisse, cote de beouf. For Franco-phobes, there's also pizza—and an extensive wine and beer list that would make fast friends with anybody.
This Italian-by-way-of-Canada restaurant came with a built-in scene: it’s owned by Shereen Arazm, LA’s premiere nightlife doyenne. The food is all good: quality Italian classics with an emphasis on pastas and pizzas. The noodles are made in-house, and diners aren’t allowed to ask for substitutions. You’ll have it the way they make it, and you’ll like it. That’s an order. Be prepared for a wait, as the restaurant doesn’t take reservations.
111 Broadway,
Santa Monica
There's pizza, and there's New York-style pizza, and then there's real New York-style pizza. Enter Joe's Pizza, the perennial Top 10 lister, the quintessential NY slice born on Bleecker Street in 1975. It's on Broadway and Ocean Ave in Santa Monica (how un-New York of them!) and already stopping up the already congested 3rd Street traffic. But fans and homesick ex-pats say that the pizza is totally worth it.
Situated on a quiet block of Melrose, La Buca may be the size of a Beverly Hills bedroom, but you and your neighbor will be savoring the house-made pastas and delectable pizzas too much to notice that you keep backing your chairs into each other. The restaurant recently began featuring wine on the menu, though you can still bring your own (for a corkage fee). The huge expansion is done, so the official unveiling should be right around the corner.
It's just a stone's throw east of Little Tokyo, but the tucked-away location is hard enough to find that many consider this beloved spot a destination restaurant. The tiny dining room—which doubles as an art gallery—has expanded. The paintings are still there, with the addition of twice as much elbow room and two private dining rooms. The kooky Frank Gehry chairs also survived the renovation. Now if we could just remember how to get there.
The Ivy’s baked goods now have their very own dedicated storefront. Muffins, cookies and made-to-order cakes and pies are available along with The Ivy’s famous scones. If you’re in the mood for something more savory, pick up a pizzetta or two, or ask them to whip up a sandwich. Might as well get some gelato—and a few jars of fudge sauce—to go with that
The elegant Parisian charm of Boule is evident from the first glance at its stylish pale blue and chocolate brown decor through the large storefront windows. Equal parts patisserie, confiserie (single-bean–origin chocolates and candies) and glacerie (sorbet and ice cream), Boule has display cases filled with artful creations like rose marshmallows and green-tea macaroons. All things sweet are celebrated here.
The destination brasserie has arrived in Los Angeles with David Myers' modern take on the Parisian way of life. The stylized interior is divided into several rooms like an aristocratic manse. Check out the chalkboard—the walls are covered with them—not only for the specials du jour but for ever-changing chalk graffiti of quips, quotes and caricatures. Oh, and the food is sure to be phenomenal—morning, noon and until midnight.
With gorgeous surroundings like these, you might be tempted to think the decor lapped up all the restaurateur's energy, leaving nothing for the menu and the cooking. You'd be oh-so wrong. Delicate, flavorful, refocused dishes are part of a recent remodel and revamp. New menu items run down a standards checklist, from steak salad to roasted chicken with baby veggies and garlic mashed potatoes.
Renowned designer Philippe Starck let loose on this modern yet sit-right-next-to-me cozy space. Between the visual stimulation (just whose lips are those?!), comfy sofas, robata skewers and unique cocktails, it feels more like the best house party ever than an upscale restaurant, which draws Hollywood types here in droves. There's an attached bar, too, in case you need even more decadence.
The IDG restaurant group seems to be on a mission to spread robata throughout Southern California. Katana in West Hollywood is the older sister to Robata Bar, a new, casual grill joint in Santa Monica. Robatayaki is a traditional Japanese style of grilling all kinds of meat, and Robata Bar imports special charcoal from Japan for the task. If you’re in more of a fishy mood, have some sashimi. One beer label here, Red Sun, is made specifically for IDG.
The Point is a refined entry into the burgeoning gourmet grocery genre. Salads and sandwiches—both cold and pressed—dominate the menu, and the desserts are not to be overlooked. The butterscotch pudding is a thing of wonder, and the peanut butter cookie sandwich—that’s right: peanut butter cookie, peanut butter, second peanut butter cookie—might change your life. There’s not much ambiance, but the make-your-own-salad station is pretty fancy.
Friends and lovers of Ugo need not call it a night so early. After a pleasurable meal of the cafe's solid and unassuming Italian dishes, they can while away the rest of the evening at Ugo's new "Italian Bar" around the bend. Peruse the menu's helpful explanation of "What is an Italian Bar?" before attacking the full selection of gelato, coffee, liquor—yes, we said liquor!—and gelato-coffee-liquor combinations.
We had thought the “cereal restaurant” trend had ended a few years ago, but it’s back, and it’s in Westwood. That’s the perfect location for it: A restaurant that serves nothing but breakfast cereal has special appeal to college students.
Healthful small plates are the order of the day at Yuta, a Studio City izakaya. The sushi is all made with brown rice, and the tofu is made in-house. There are a variety of vegetable dishes and Eastern salads, such as seaweed, as well as a wide selection of sakes.
It’s slim pickings for Italian food in L.A., so the rare ristorante is like a shining jewel. Amarone is one of the shiniest, with house-made pastas and biweekly shipments of products from Italy. The WeHo location notwithstanding, the scene here is pretty quiet—for now, at least—and understated. Most people are too busy scarfing down carbs to talk loudly and eyeball everyone.
Huge platters of California-influenced Mexican food fill this trendy beachside location in Manhattan Beach. The drinks menu is at least as long as the food menu, so it’s probably a good thing that the entrees are so enormous—the better to line your stomach. Fresh guacamole and handmade churros are menu standouts—just not together. The rest of the food will get the job done, but probably won’t knock your socks off.
The Bank is part of a grand project called The Bank Heist, a club/restaurant duo in North Hollywood. The restaurant serves three meals a day, with breakfast served all day. Fortunately for diners, the breakfast items seem the most playful and inventive: like a goat cheese, bacon and hash brown sandwich. The s’mores pancakes seem over-the-top unhealthy, but fun.
Good news for folks in Glendale: You’re getting an(other) upscale restaurant. The menu, according to the chef, is “new American,” which means oysters with an apple mignonette; trout with daikon, bacon and mushrooms; and an artisanal cheese plate. Bashan will make the most of local farmers’ markets as well, as is the custom with upscale restaurants now.
Here's yet another frozen yogurt shop, but this one does provide a little variety from the standard two flavors. People seem to especially enjoy chocolate and sour cherry. The ingredients are public information, and include organic dairy and juices.
After much waiting, this Japanese fusion restaurant has finally opened in the spot where Citrine used to be. With Michael Ovitz as a financial backer, it has quickly become a schmoozing spot, and the food is pretty but perhaps secondary to scene.
In what used to be Xiomara—a Pasadena institution shut down in favor of a Hollywood location—Mojitos has sprung up, promising a heightened Cuban culinary experience. Unsurprisingly, the mojitos are a point of pride here, as are all the rum-based cocktails. The menu tends toward huge plates of meat, starch and the occasional vegetable. First time going Cuban? Try the Creole Cuban fried rice, the Nicaraguan skirt steak or the roast pork.
This Palm Desert import serves up a pan-American seasonal menu with a number of fish specials from spicy tuna to cured salmon, as well as pastas and specialty pizzas. The wine list is quite impressive, with more than 550 selections, and the bar prides itself on its worldwide beer selection—though only two are on tap.
What happens when a restaurant brings five chefs on board? You get a restaurant with five types of cuisine. Hidden has pizza, Vietnamese dishes, Japanese specialties, tapas, and charcuterie. This menu isn't so much fusion as eclectic. The Japanese dishes (sashimi, tempura, black cod) have their own space, as do the pizzas, the Vietnamese dishes (pho, spring rolls, whole fish) and the rest.
Crumbs is bringing huge cupcakes and New York attitude to Beverly Hills: It takes a whole lotta confidence to put a cupcake shop only two blocks from Sprinkles. That said, these cupcakes are quite different from what we've grown used to in L.A. They're huge, gloppy, messy and filled with things like Snickers and Fluffernutter.
The age of the specialty dessert shop has perhaps reached its apex. In addition to all the gelato shops, and bakeries whose main loves are cupcakes, there is now Paulette, a shop in love with macarons. Not to be confused with macaroons, the soft coconut treats, macarons are crisp almond cookies with ganache filling— imagine a rather upscale Oreo. They make for a gorgeous display. Paulette offers classic flavors such as lemon and sweet almond, as well as nouveau varieties like chocolate-coconut, peach, and New Orleans praline.
Eagle Rock has a new contender in the endless—and endlessly tedious—pizza wars. (It’s the warring that’s tedious, not the pizza.) The paper-thin, crackery Neapolitan crusts are popular among those who like New York-style pizza. There’s not much in the way of ambiance, but most patrons are in too much of a food coma to notice.
This unfortunately-named grocery/restaurant—finding any info on Google is an endurance test—is much in the same vein as the older, famous Joan's on Third: an upscale deli counter with entrees, salads and desserts, as well as a wall full of high-end packaged goodies. Items can be taken to-go or eaten right at the store's tables. The desserts, though not all made in-house, are a highlight.
Joan's on Third manages to pack a lot into a little space: platters of variously iced cupcakes, a selection of cheeses and throngs of hungry customers. The seating is limited, and even if you score a table you'll probably spend a lot of the meal being bumped by take-out patrons. But the freshly-made sandwiches and salads are more than worth a few "excuse mes."
Lift is a place that hasn't quite figured itself out yet, but at least it has good food. Eventually it will be open 22 hours a day, but for now it's open for brunch, lunch and dinner. The tiny space on the ground floor of a refurbished apartment building is simple, with an even tinier, simpler kitchen. Said kitchen turns out high-quality food, highlights of which are the spicy tuna, the roasted squash soup, most breakfast dishes and the tiny, perfectly decadent butterscotch Napoleon.
Every neighborhood needs an independent coffee shop, and this is Highland Park’s. Coffee drinks are available all day, as are pastries. The menu includes breakfast burritos, croissant sandwiches, regular sandwiches, burgers and fries. There is both indoor and outdoor seating, and a friendly, helpful staff.
This quiet shop with a smiling slice of bread for a mascot is every bit as laid back as you'd expect from a place named Grateful Bread. Pastries, sandwiches, salads, soups and smoothies make up the eat-in menu. Loaves of bread are also available for very reasonable prices, and the bread menu includes challah, faille, baguette and two types of ciabatta. Another section of the bakery is given over to cakes such as banana cream, red velvet, chocolate raspberry and carrot.
Feeling carnivorous? This extension of the ShinSenGumi chain focuses heavily on yakitori, which encompasses a wide range of meats, grilled on skewers. There are also many different sizes and flavor combinations of shabu shabu, a style of hot pot involving mixed veggies and tons more meat. If you’re in the mood for something else, sashimi, salads, tofu and fritters round out the extensive menu.
This latest incarnation of Bastide is in the running to be L.A'.s most elegant restaurant. The chef, Walter Manzke, is not all that well known, but we suspect that will soon change. The extremely high- quality menu manages to be quite playful, with deconstructed tacos, oyster shooters and chocolate milk all liable to show up. Said menu is prix-fixe with paired wines, so each night presents a different experience.
Though there is no shortage of Latin food in Los Angeles, there is very little Spanish food. According to the owners of Tinto, even the many tapas bars springing up aren't particularly authentic. Tinto aims to bring Spanish cuisine to Angelenos, and we may be surprised by how foreign it seems: Not many places around town offer duck with pears or squid with potatoes.
The concept behind FoodCourt L.A. is the classic mall collection of many different restaurants in one place, with an upscale twist. This is a sit-down restaurant, though the prices are pretty reasonable for this stretch of Third Street, with an eclectic and lighthearted menu. The fish and chips are done with Japanese panko and sweet chili sauce, there are banana blueberry spring rolls for dessert, and the tacos may come filled with pancetta.
Pacific Palisades residents are excited about the appearance of Il Carpaccio, which many are hailing as the best thing to hit the Palisades restaurant "scene" in…ever. The menu is full of Italian classics in the pizza/pasta/chicken realm, plus some unusual dishes such as tortelloni with potatoes and figs, and rolled tuna and swordfish.
Monterey Park has officially entered the pizza wars. Bollini's has a unique take on pizza, at least for L.A. Every crust from the oven is done Neapolitan style, which means extremely thin. No, thinner than that. Some people think it’s too cracker-y, others think it’s bliss.
Christopher and Kristine Bocchino, who have worked in L.A. restaurants such as Whisper Lounge, Dry Creek Inn and Josie, decided to open their own restaurant. The result is Terra, a Malibu space with outdoor seating. The food is classic California, with top-quality ingredients and straightforward preparation.
A barbecue-takeout place (with a couple of tables) featuring pork and beef ribs, chicken, brisket, sliced pork roast and incredible beef links. Sides include collard greens, baked beans and corn bread, but the mac ’n’ cheese is best. Catering is available.
Katherine Spiers is contributing editor for Metromix Los Angeles—and is ready to chow down on fresh pasta all season long.
