LA Times Restaurants Coverage

Chef Evan Funke combines strong pungencies and seasonal vegetables with fresh pasta at Bucato in the Helms complex. Now, about his rule-breaking cacio e pepe ...

Critic’s Choice: Spago, Lucques and Bar Bouchon excel at bar food

Govind Armstrong has hit a peak at Willie Jane by blending Low Country cuisine with a garden-fresh California presentation.

Marugame Monzo in Little Tokyo is at its best with its traditional udon dishes. Its more modern varieties miss the point.

Allumette in Echo Park is chef Miles Thompson’s follow-up to his pop-up Vagrancy Project, which was in the same space.

Critic’s Choice: Il Grano and Lucques in L.A. and Marché Moderne in Costa Mesa are among area restaurants that can indulge a fresh tomato craving.

The Chinatown Business Improvement District executive director is helping bring a new breed of restaurateurs to the area, whose attractions include a deep sense of community.

One of Southern California’s most talented chefs opens a clam shack.

Counter Intelligence: Jonathan Gold reviews Connie and Ted’s. The West Hollywood clam shack conjures Rhode Island on the West Coast, be it with clams of all kinds, lobster cooked just right or oysters treated with reverence.

From simit to kofte to doner kebab to lokum, the city is stuffed to bursting with fantastic food finds. Here’s a platter full of Turkish delights.

Along with its many unique dishes, the acclaimed restaurant’s menu now features Diced Rabbit With Younger Sister’s Secret Recipe.

Once I had dinner at my friend Christine’s house in Paris. Three women and a big bowl of raw clams.

U.S. shopping centers are moving from fast food to fancy food. McDonald’s and Hot Dog on a Stick are out. Fig & Olive and Cucina Enoteca are in.

The taco is a perfect expression of time and place, varying in method and composition from region to region of not just Mexico but also Los Angeles, delicious in even mediocre incarnations, cheap enough for everybody to enjoy but violently flavored enough to feel a bit transgressive.

Roy Choi’s rice bowl joint has moved from Palms to downtown’s Chinatown and offers an almost user-friendly attitude in its new home, along with its usual elevated street food.

Michael Pollan may have spent a zillion pages examining the smoked whole hogs at North Carolina’s creaky Skylight Inn in “Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation,” and the legend of Kansas City’s Arthur Bryant’s is eternal, but the real story in barbecue in the last several years has been the gentrification of the genre: spareribs and long-smoked brisket repositioned as totems of the artisanal food movement.

Can great barbecue coexist with craft beer and a mixology program? It just might. LOCATION 609 N.

Jesse Barber’s Venice restaurant Barnyard offers fresh ingredients, grilled breads and plainly delicious assemblages.

AOC An old flame is all grown up, and doing quite well.

Counter Intelligence: Jonathan Gold reviews Trois Mec. Ludovic Lefebvre’s new restaurant is a collection of small revelations. The trick is getting in.

Paiche are enormous. Paiche have teeth on their tongues.

These banana and cream cheese-filled treats are a sinfully good way to cap a meal. Enjoy in public or in the privacy of your own home.

Counter Intelligence: Chef Suzanne Goin’s menu is still recognizable and delicious, whether you order meat dishes or just vegetables. But the larger space and big platters are a break from the past.

The Huntington Beach chain that specializes in deep-dish pizza and its own craft beer foresees growing to 425 sites from 132. It plans to add 17 this year.

Italian favorite Gino Angelini finds a bigger stage, but is that necessarily better? 9201 W.

“Corazón y miel,” your waitress wants it to be known, is the signature dish of Corazón y Miel.

Gino Angelini’s enormous new restaurant on the Sunset Strip has grand ambitions and occasional flashes of brilliance, serving precise versions of his Italian dishes in a streamlined international style.

The region immortalized during the Song dynasty retains its age-old enchantments, including its world-renowned green tea.

Tacos that aren’t tacos, cheese that isn’t cheese, but somehow it kind of works.

The best way to Hangzhou, ChinaFROM LAX, United, China Eastern Airlines and American offer nonstop service to Shanghai, and United China Airlines, Asiana, All Nippon, Korean, Air China, Cathay Pacific and Eva offer connecting service (change of plane).

Muddy Leek Because sometimes all you really need is a comfortable, stylish place that serves good food.

Muddy Leek, from Julie Retzlaff and Whitney Flood, is an inviting restaurant with an Earth-friendly bent.

Across the street from the Hollywood post office, a few short blocks from the 1930s complex that calls itself Crossroads of the World, Littlefork is an improbably rustic roadhouse in the middle of old Hollywood — a spare tavern, a slash of neon scrawl and a slender apron of parking lot you could imagine filling up with Packards instead of Lexus hybrids.

The Hart & the Hunter Go for the biscuits, stay for the Brussels sprouts.

The textures and flavors are familiar at Matthew Kenney’s Santa Monica restaurant, but is it enough to convince a hard-core carnivore to switch sides? Probably not, but it might make him reconsider.

The authentic menu and even the TV are tuned to Hunan tastes. Bring a sense of adventure and keep the water glass handy.

Alma Talented young chef Ari Taymor is making the transition from pop-up to real restaurant.

The atmosphere is dreamy, and when this Italian restaurant gets things right (the costicine), it gets them very right. But consistency is an issue.

The restaurant from Kris Tominaga and Brian Dunsmoor in the Palihotel on Melrose serves up notable Southern-style food (often in little bowls).

More restaurants are implementing measures to curb diners’ use of the devices, saying it disturbs other customers and slows service. But some are resigned this cell hell.

An Italian fantasy of California or a Californian fantasy of Italy?

Ori Menashe cooks food that is purely Italian, without ornamentation or needless complication.

Laurel Hardware In a former West Hollywood hardware store, chef Mario Alberto presides over a whirling entrepôt of strong drink and eclectic seasonal cooking.

Let’s start with that 42-ounce, $175 steak. Chef Chad Colby, in a space at Mozza, is obsessed when it comes to the ways of all flesh.

David Myers returns to fine dining, inspired by — what else? — Japan. LOCATION 10 W.

Ramen is still the rage in L.A., where no matter what your pick in regional or preparation style, they’re serving it your way somewhere in the Southland. Here’s a top 10 list.

Counter Intelligence: Chef Ori Menashe knows how to not go too far out with his hearty Italian cuisine.

It might not be a destination restaurant, but its glammed up dinner-party food and summer camp theme set the stage for a good time.

Storefront Deli Zak Walters and Chris Phelps reimagine the neighborhood deli, with house-cured bacon.

Cortez An Echo Park eatery where small plates are taken to an extreme.

In a modern, luxuriously designed Century City restaurant from David Myers that is part Bond-villain lair, part garden party, the pan-Asian cooking with high-end ingredients leaves an impression.

Dear SOS: Last summer, my girlfriend and I spent our vacation on Florida’s Amelia Island.

Wuhan? Who knew? Fiery “dry pots,” noodles in sesame sauce, shiu mai with sticky rice.

Chef Ari Taymor is cooking like no one else in L.A. at his downtown restaurant Alma, which started in pop-ups. And, oh, those butter-soaked carrots.

Chef Mario Alberto, lately of Lazy Ox and Chimu, brings an inventiveness to this late-night haven that sometimes hits, sometimes doesn’t.

Let’s say that a correspondent has asked if you have been to the new Wuhan restaurant in San Gabriel, and let’s say that you answer him, to save face, with the Internet equivalent of a smile and a nod.

Cortez in Echo Park is a small-plates restaurant that may divide diners, and its dishes, some delicious, may be difficult to divide among diners.

MessHall A summer-camp-themed restaurant, MessHall boasts important cocktails and glammed-up 1940s dinner party food.

The Parish Casey Lane reinvents the gastropub ... as a gastropub. LOCATION 840 S.

Have you ever had the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich at the new Storefront Deli in Los Feliz?

Palm Springs and environs are the most famous cities, with their tony shopping and midcentury splendor. Nearby are such timeless charms as date shakes and camel races.

Abstracted Italian from Jason Neroni that may sound like Rome but tastes more like Venice Beach.

Is Kang Ho-dong Baekjeong Koreatown’s answer to the Hard Rock Cafe?

Cabazon Outlets, 48750 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; (951) 922-3000, https://www.cabazonoutlets.com.

Starry Kitchen in Tiara Café One of Los Angeles’ favorite pop-ups pops up again — except when it doesn’t.

After decades of restaurants from the Drago brothers, this one on the Sunset Strip gets the important things right.

Meet Kang Ho-dong.

A bar with modernist burgers — as re-imagined by a gearhead working solo, rather than a lab full of technicians.

With its pan-Asian specialties that include the popular Singaporean chili crab, the kitchen has set up shop as an evening pop-up at Tiara in the fashion district in downtown Los Angeles.

Ella’s, Joan and Sisters and Mar’s bring a breeze of multicultural influences to the L.A. restaurant scene.

Restaurants can be noisy, and most customers don’t want too much din with their dining. We do a sound check.

Ella’s Belizean Restaurant 3957 S. Western Ave, Los Angeles, (323) 737-5050. Open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Hannosuke LOCATION In Mitsuwa Market, 3760 S.

Osteria Drago on Sunset is a plainer version of Santa Monica’s Drago. Its short menu is fresh and clean.

Casey Lane’s no-substitutions gastropub in L.A. offers fish and chips, burgers, locally brewed ale, pan-fried chicken and more.

Plan Check Kitchen and Bar has a modernist take on the classic burger, engineering it to a different level. Other items on the menu are a mix of good and bad.

Hannosuke and Ramen Iroha, popular populist restaurants from Japan, open locations in Mitsuwa and Marukai supermarket food courts.

The cauliflower T-bone grabs attention, but the playful, flavor-sampling dishes hew Italian. Jason Neroni and Pitfire’s Paul Hibler are behind it.

The atmosphere at Sycamore Kitchen is relaxed, but make no mistake: The husband-and-wife team behind the restaurant obsesses over every detail of every dish.

Summer prix-fixe market menus can be filled with surprises, such as pumpernickel-crusted fried green tomatoes at Josie, duck breast with potato confit at Papilles, and bittersweet chocolate torta at A.O.C.

Mo-Chica Ricardo Zarate has moved Mo-Chica.

A Little Tokyo gastropub has a new chef, Perfecto Rocher, who has a few tricks up his sleeve, including a remarkable paella.

Have you been to the new Mo-Chica?

A kaiseki restaurant in unassuming environs, where chef Niki Nakayama prepares exhilarating Japanese tasting menus.

Dear SOS: Mucho Ultima Mexicana Restaurant in Manhattan Beach makes the best strawberry mojito I have ever had.

Monday is the day to go, for chef Perfecto Rocher’s paella. But any other day, a splurge on the slow-poached truffled egg is worth the trip too.

Los Angeles is flooded with grastropubs, but most of them aren’t really pubs in the true sense of the word.

N/naka’s Niki Nakayama reflects the cycles of nature and place in her exquisite kaiseki meals, far eclipsing the work of big-name chefs. It’s an unforgettable dining experience.

Txakolinas and pintxos in Pasadena? Ración is a revelation — some of its Basque-style tapas come close to those in San Sebastian, Spain, and that’s a good thing.

Pulling back from the whole gastropub scene, the Pikey offers three beers on tap, food kicked up a notch with fresh ingredients and a little imagination, and an atmosphere even an Iron Maiden roadie could appreciate.

The new Venice restaurant from the Kogi BBQ truck founder resides in a vaguely Jamaican world. Pass the rum and roast lamb, and groove to the reggae beat.

A wealth of imagination is on the menu at the multi-kitchen restaurant: Rethink that pastrami sandwich, a bourbon cocktail, the PB&J.

Umamicatessen Think Umami Burger with kitchens specializing in doughnuts, coffee, booze and pork.

What’s on the soundtracks at Short Order, Bazaar, Cut and Son of a Gun.

Sunny Spot A Caribbean-inspired joint from chef Roy Choi, with rum cocktails, tropicalia and a reggae soundtrack.

Reviewed: Valentino, Providence, Tierra Sur

How I learned to stop worrying and love the crab and pork bun.

Wang Xing Ji The first American branch of a popular dumpling house in Wuxi, a city just outside of Shanghai, offers giant pork dumplings bursting with flavor, as well as smoked fish, crab and pork buns, and spare ribs LOCATION 140 Valley Blvd., No. 211, San Gabriel, (626) 307-1188 PRICES Dumplings, wonton and cold dishes, $4.95-$8.95 DETAILS Lunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, dinner 5 to 9 p.m. daily.

The Orange County airport expansion is set to open Monday, with more parking, new restaurant choices, state-of-the-industry check-in and a third terminal.

What’s playing over the speakers is as vital as the menu, so restaurants are turning to ‘music sommeliers’ to create playlists to eat by.

Tar & Roses “Elevated bar snacks” and a busy wood-burning oven fuel Andrew Kirschner’s new gastropub.

Wolfgang Puck at Hotel Bel-Air gives the hotel a serious restaurant and the chef an ideal California spot.

The culinary architects at Chilenazo are building a savory base for the country’s treasures. Dagwood-style chacareros. Corn-crust pastel de choclos. Dig in.

Location: Chilenazo, 7238 Canoga Ave., Canoga Park, (818) 887-0269, https://www.chilenazo.net.

Wine is important at Andrew Kirschner’s new restaurant, but so is the food, starting with the lardon- and chile-laced popcorn appetizer. From there, it’s a serious but playful mix of wood-fired small-plate temptations.

Raw, fried or grilled, oysters from all over are the specialty of the house at the tiny Silver Lake eatery. But wait — you don’t like oysters? The menu takes care of you too.

Novo Restaurant shares its recipe for a rich and flavorful soup-like concoction.

Southern California’s one big bowl of noodles for anyone who loves Southeast Asia’s many incarnations.

The new burger spot near the original Farmers Market offers well-executed comfort food and a full bar in a relaxed, rustic setting, and it’s open late to boot.

The Strand House in Manhattan Beach aspires to inject some Hollywood hip into the laid-back beach culture of the South Bay.

The area has its traditions, including Craftsman homes, Old Pasadena and the Rose Bowl, its greenery including Huntington Library, its Asian flare with Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants, and its fun and funky side at Eagle Rock hangouts.

Hatfield’s, Mélisse, Patina, Providence, the Royce at the Langham Huntington, Saam at the Bazaar by José Andres and WP24 by Wolfgang Puck for special occasions.

Yamadaya, Mottainai, Shin-Sen-Gumi and Ikemen are among the best places for Japanese noodles.

Watch out, New York and San Francisco. This town has seen many impressive openings in 2011. Pizza. Omakase. Anticuchos. It’s all here.

Hearty dishes and full-bodied wines are on the menu as autumn descends on Southern California, and these eateries make the most of it.

WHERE TO STAY Hotel Erwin, 1697 Pacific Ave., Venice; (310) 452-1111 or (800) 786-7789, https://www.hotelerwin.com. 119 rooms in a lodging that was redone in 2009 by the trendy Joie de Vivre chain.

Reviewed: Ammo, A.O.C., Mezze, Marché Moderne, Tierra Sur

Tofu King has opened a second eatery in Arcadia, which is good news to those seeking the Taiwanese, deep-fried fermented dish.

After a year of being open only for breakfast and lunch, owner-chef Jeffrey Cerciello and his crew are turning out some of the best country dinners in the city.

Farmshop Rating: two 1/2 stars Location: 225 26th St.

A talented chef and a spacious remodel give diners new reasons to visit this Melrose Avenue spot.

Chef David LeFevre turns an old post office into a tapas bar with a global menu and communal tables, creating a ‘social restaurant.’

Nicola Mastronardi of Vincenti opens a new place where pizza is available every day it’s open. But the ambitious menu goes far beyond pizza.

WHERE TO STAY Beverly Garland’s Holiday Inn, 4222 Vineland Ave., North Hollywood 91602; (818) 980-8000 or (800) 238-3759, https://www.beverlygarland.com.

Joan Luther was a legend in the Los Angeles food world, helping promote nearly every major chef in L.A. over a career that started in the ‘40s at the Brown Derby.

Nothing is subtle at the Mexican restaurant. Just make sure you can survive the chips and cocktails first.

Restaurant hours, location and prices.

Father’s Office chef-owner Sang Yoon’s new Asian restaurant does much right, including short ribs, but it needs to improve its rice and noodles.

Florence, Italy’s central station is clean, police are more visible, tourists are encouraged to stay longer, traffic is improving and areas once closed are open to visitors now. The city has become more welcoming and open with help from its new mayor

Studio City’s new Italian restaurant isn’t the average neighborhood dining spot. With authentically fresh pastas and the personable chef-owner making the rounds, Ombra seems to have lasting power.

Dear SOS: The Palomino Restaurant has the yummiest tomato-basil-olive-feta-garlic topping for bread.

Yes, it’s suburbia. Yes, it’s inland from the beach. Still, the San Fernando Valley has attractions that date from the 18th century (Mission San Fernando) to the latest attraction at Universal Studios.

At the chef’s eponymous restaurant in Westminster, Chinese influence colors the lightness and clarity of Vietnamese food.

THE BEST WAY TO FLORENCE, ITALY From LAX, Alitalia, Air France and Lufthansa offer connecting service (change of plane) to Florence.

Craig Susser ensures that visitors famous and otherwise feel comfortable at the old-school-style party he’s throwing at his new restaurant. But where’s the attention to the food?

At Edmund Pettus Bridge, echoing footsteps tell a story of courage during the 1965 Bloody Sunday voting rights march.

WHERE TO STAY Bay Shores Peninsula Hotel, 1800 W.

Michael Cardenas and chef Hisaharu Kawabe deliver izakaya (Japanese pub fare) in a lively space in Little Tokyo.

With Kris Morningstar’s ambitious tinkering in the kitchen and a view of the Resnick Pavilion, the new Patina Group project at LACMA is a feast for the senses.

John Sedlar combines an inventive menu with artful presentation.

From his childhood home to his burial spot is just a few short blocks, yet Faulkner somehow managed to encompass all of humanity from his ‘little postage stamp of native soil.’

Five eateries that serve and satisfy way outside the box.

The food and the bay views are exceptional at Delancey Street Restaurant, but what’s most extraordinary are the people who run it: recovering addicts and ex-convicts.

You will never look at a falafel the same way again after dining at this nondescript Israeli spot in West Los Angeles.

John Mosca’s two-room roadhouse was famous for its Italian-style garlicky shrimp, oysters, chicken and marinated crab dishes, served on platters rather than individually.

Bar Agricole, 355 11th St., San Francisco; (415) 355-9400; https://www.baragricole.com.

Name chefs are finally discovering the affluent area, with a number of upscale restaurants either now open or on the drawing board for Torrance, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach.

THE BEST WAY TO OXFORD, MISS.

David Féau brings fine dining with a light touch to the Langham hotel in Pasadena.

Bryant Ng, once chef de cuisine at Pizzeria Mozza, is cooking up tantalizing contemporary Asian fare at his new Vietnamese-Singaporean restaurant in Little Tokyo.

The city sophisticate near Little Saigon ventures beyond the realm of the traditional with its intriguing spin on Vietnamese cooking.

From LAX, Korean, Asiana, Thai, China Southern, China Airlines, Malaysia and EVA Airways offer connecting service (change of plane) to Phnom Penh.

Plum, Cotogna, Commonwealth, Mission Chinese Food, Bar Agricole and Benu are on her itinerary. All prove noteworthy.

Julienne in Santa Barbara is a small American bistro with house-made charcuterie and pasta and other delicious fare. The simple décor and deft service give it a personal feel.

Jasmine Mediterranean continues a century-old family business of delicious Syrian dishes made lovingly from family recipes. The Anaheim location is a bit isolated, but the atmosphere inside is warm and bright.

Pizzaiolo Carlo Abarca gets the Neopolitan pizzas just right in this small and vibrant new restaurant that mixes well in the eclectic environment of Costa Mesa’s Camp complex.

The local landmark was founded in 1969 by his parents, who were transplants from New Orleans. Sports, entertainment and political figures dine on its gumbo, po’ boy sandwiches and seafood platters.

Veteran chef Jason Travi’s mission is to make the restaurant side of the operation as alluring as the lively bar scene, but his menu tweaks are still a work in progress.

Hostaria del Piccolo combines the feel of a contemporary Italian restaurant in the mountains with well-done authentic dishes.

The menu features many popular L.A. dishes, but chef Ben Bailly hasn’t yet put his signature on them.

‘Top Chef’ alum Jamie Lauren has helped the Venice eatery regain its panache by giving laid-back locals and beachy young trendies what they want — and more.

If you love caviar, you’ve come to the right place. This West Hollywood spot stays on track with casually elegant French food and a taste of luxury.

Roy Choi of Kogi Korean BBQ truck fame channels the modern barbecue at his restaurant in Culver City

The 27-year-old French-Japanese restaurant has a fresh interior and a new chef. Now is a good time to rediscover this reliable eatery.

These Southern California restaurants are offering special menus and deals on and around the holiday.

The curried slaw at Napa’s Mustards Grill restaurant is a simple recipe that pops with bold flavors.

A trio from Down Under delivers French-Italian comfort food and savvy cocktails, California style.

The Italian chain has opened two locations in L.A malls.: at the Beverly Center and at Westfield Century City. Standout offerings include fresh bufala, salumi, salads and pasta.

It’s well worth the drive to the Old Place restaurant near Agoura Hills for the hearty and good fare, featuring well-priced steaks and a lively, unforgettable scene.

Alex Sarkissian’s offers a fresh take on eastern Mediterranean cuisine, as well as a warm welcome.

For a moderately priced fine-dining experience to cap the weekend, try Lucques, Eva Restaurant, Ammo, Noir Food & Wine or Dominick’s.

Xiomara shifts from Cuban to budget-friendly California cuisine.

THE BEST WAY TO BODIE HILLS From Los Angeles drive about 350 miles north on U.S. 395 to California 270 and turn east toward Bodie State Historic Park.

The food world has been buzzing about Red Medicine refusing service to S. Irene Virbila and posting her picture on the Internet. Here are a few things to know about our reviews.

Five years after its opening, Michael Cimarusti’s Melrose Avenue restaurant continues to make its mark in fine dining. Seafood is its strength.

Times critic S. Irene Virbila was waiting for a table at Red Medicine when the manager snapped her photo and told her to leave. It sparked a debate over whether modern critics can — or should — remain anonymous.

The original family restaurant was founded downtown in 1927 and lives on in Echo Park.

A Hillstone Restaurant Group entry in Beverly Hills offers a polished take on straight-ahead American fare — with a slightly upscale concept — in darkly polished surroundings.

Menus, pricing and more.

L.A.-area high schoolers are volunteering and interning at restaurants such as Campanile, Melisse, Real Food Daily and Mama’s Hot Tamales Cafe. Some hope for a future in the business; others just think it’s a cool job.

The flavors of Emilia-Romagna and the warmth of Alessandro Polastri create a little corner of Italy on a gritty stretch of Sunset Boulevard.

LOCATION 250 W. Valley Blvd., Suite B2, San Gabriel; (626) 570-8598.

This, after all, being Hollywood, if SBE’s Sam Nazarian is going to name a restaurant for the queen of Egypt, it’s obligatory to vamp it up a little.

So far, it’s largely been business as usual for the city’s famed eateries thanks to careful monitoring of its usual suppliers and ongoing searches for new ones.

The restaurant’s Uighur cuisine is a mesh of Chinese elements and Central Asian nomad cooking. Mutton kebabs and a Xinjiang meatloaf sandwich are among the highlights.

Thanks to chef Bradley Miller, the Topanga hideaway now offers cuisine to rival its idyllic setting.

Chef Kris Morningstar’s food at the Hollywood restaurant is bold and delicious.

Bann Restaurant & Lounge Rating ✭ 1/2 Location 623 S.

Restaurant recruiter Brad Metzger gives a whole new meaning to home cooking. He has opened up his kitchen to top chefs trying out for prospective employers.

Liuzhou meets Harbin in a happy marriage of regional Chinese flavors.

The Santa Monica Mountains institution has upped its game. It still feels historic, but now its cuisine tastes contemporary.

The Choi family’s newest Korean dining venture is a mix of traditional dishes and trendy modern fusion. Highlights include the cold and warm small plates.

Rick Bayless brings his Mexican cuisine to Los Angeles from Chicago. You’ll need a reservation to taste it, but it’s worth it.

Fine dining is alive but a bit fragile at Joachim Splichal’s downtown spot, where the economy and changing tastes have put a dent in business. But not on the Patina experience.

The Lobster Rating: One and a half stars Location: 1602 Ocean Ave.

At 25, the Boyle Heights Mexican institution has lost some consistency but can still delight.

The downtown supper club impresses first with cocktails and then keeps things interesting with its Southern-accented comfort food.