Category: American

  • Superba Food + Bread

    Superba Food + Bread

    Venice’s Superba Food + Bread has had an interesting year so far, shuffling nearly all key back-of-house staff in the last couple of months–check Eater LA for the blow-by-blow details.  Having an unexpected Saturday evening free a few weeks ago, I decided to see whether the food was worth all the backroom drama. Pain d’Epi:  […]

  • Umami Burger’s Tasting Menu

    Umami Burger’s Tasting Menu

    Last month, I was invited to try Umami Burger‘s 9-Course Tasting Menu challenge!  I gathered up three poker buddies and descended on Umami’s Hollywood location on a cloudy Saturday afternoon.  Two and a half hours later, we had worked our way through 3 appetizers, 8 burgers, 3 full-sized cocktails, and 2 small pours each of […]

  • Sweetfin Poké

    Sweetfin Poké

    Poke is “having a moment” in Los Angeles, with no less than five restaurants specializing in the popular Hawaiian dish opening recently.  Of this new wave, the closest to me is Sweetfin Poké in Santa Monica, which opened just two weeks ago.  Anticipation has been high for this bright, modern space, fittingly next to the […]

  • Michael’s Santa Monica

    Michael’s Santa Monica

    One of the mainstays of fine dining in Los Angeles, Michael’s in Santa Monica is a 36-year-old institution.  Through the years, its kitchen has been the training ground for some of the best chefs in the city, and the country. A 1997 L.A. Times article titled “The Six Degrees of Michael McCarty”—the online archive of […]

  • Barlo Kitchen + Cocktails

    Barlo Kitchen + Cocktails

    I’m not sure how I came across it, but I recently “discovered” Barlo Kitchen + Cocktails at the Hotel Irwin in Venice, just a block from the beach.  Like Fork in the Road in Santa Monica, Barlo is one of those places that’s pretty much flown under the radar of most food publications–a few “now […]