Blossom
You’ll like Blossom for its food, but you’ll love it for its owner, Duc Pham. Duc is a Swiss knife at Blossom, bouncing from chef, bartender, interior designer and sommelier: ask for a table in the basement and you’ll see...
Santa Monica
Pasjoli
There was a time when Auguste Escoffier ruled supreme. A time when pêche melbas graced tables from Paris to Pasadena and Le Guide Culinaire was akin to the chef’s bible. At Pasjoli, Dave Beran wants to turn back the clock...
Birdie G’s
When Jeremy Fox first burst out onto the culinary scene in 2008 he made his mark at Ubuntu, the vegetarian-only restaurant in Napa complete with an attached yoga studio and biodynamic farm. While creating satisfying vegetable-focused dishes with seasonal local...
Silverlake Ramen
Silverlake Ramen’s tonkotsu brings all the boys to the yard — so be prepared to wait in line. A rich tonkotsu broth cooked for 16 hours with thick cuts of chashu pork belly, green onions, spicy chili paste and super...
Andrew’s Cheese Shop
Andrew Steiner from Andrew’s Cheese Shop is a former Maitre Fromager, and keeps over 200 varieties of artisanal cheese in his little shop, along with wine and the usual accoutrements: jams, nuts, tapenades, etc. Beaufort d’été from Josef Paccard, triple-crème...
Cassia
Josh Loeb and Zoe Nathan are no strangers when it comes to making outstanding restaurants (Rustic Canyon, Milo & Olive, Huckleberry) and they’ve hit it out of the park once again with Cassia. This time around the duo has partnered...
Tallula’s
Tallula’s has been more publicized because of their unfairly low Yelp ratings than for their food. That’s a shame because with celebrated chefs Jeremy Fox and Mario Alberto at the helm, with Santa Monica’s most acclaimed restaurateurs (Josh Loeb and...
KazuNori
Sometimes, spin-offs happen to be better than the original version — that’s almost never the case, but KazuNori is an excellent example. Not that Sugarfish is bad, but there are sushi restaurants all over Los Angeles that deserve your attention...
Shunji
Shunji is an institution, just like the Venice Pier or a hike at Runyon Canyon. This is the restaurant of Shunji Nakao, the original Matsuhisa sushi chef — although a meal at Shunji may sometimes not offer sushi at all....
Sweet Rose Creamery
Ranking #2 after the Smurf flavor (which can be found in the best gelaterias in Rome), the mint flavor is probably the most hazardous choice one can make when ordering an ice cream cone. An After Eight taste which anaesthetizes...