Andy Gavin's Blog, page 14
October 16, 2024
Zany Zozo
Restaurant: Zozo at Maison Midi (closed or moving?)
Location: 148 S La Brea Ave Los Angeles, CA 90036. (323) 746-4700
Date: February 21, 2024
Cuisine: Nuevo Latino / Southwestern
Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian
_After several meals out of the state, I was excited to try the new place by esteemed Southwestern style chef John Sedlar. Last time he was in LA was with Rivera.
Growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, John Rivera Sedlar had his first taste of Latin cooking in the kitchens of his mot...
October 14, 2024
White Burg Crustacean
Restaurant: Crustacean Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
Location: 468 N Bedford Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. (310) 205-8990
Date: February 18, 2024
Cuisine: Vietnamese Fusion
Rating: Awesome as always
_Crustacean is one of our regular haunts and one of the few places with the stems, food, and service to handle a serious wine dinner. This was a return to Hedonist form with a White Burgundy Dirty Dozen of all new traditional Vietnamese food inspired Crustacean creations.
Back in our “us...
October 10, 2024
Second New Year
Restaurant: Sea Harbor Seafood Restaurant [1, 2]
Location: 3939 Rosemead Blvd. Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 288-3939
Date: February 12, 2024
Cuisine: Cantonese
Rating: Good, but very expensive
_After many many dim sum visits to this SGV Cantonese classic I finally make it for dinner banquet — and this time on Chinese New Year.
I think Sea Harbor has been around for a long time and is one of the mainstays.
The interior is pretty typical.
The private room at Sea Harbor. I have been here countless...
October 8, 2024
Endless New Year
Restaurant: Indian, The Tavern [1, 2]
Location: 633 S San Gabriel Blvd #105, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 287-0688
Date: February 10, 2024
Cuisine: Chinese
Rating: Longest Chinese meal ever!
_It’s hard to describe this particular SGV restaurant. But Andrea organized this special Chinese New Year’s banquet.
From the outside it looks like most of them.
But then inside it has this weird western saloon theme. Presumably it was some kind of “Indian bar” back in the 50s. The decor has partially st...
October 6, 2024
Eating Napa – Glen Ellen Star
Restaurant: Glen Ellen Star
Location: 13648 Arnold Dr, Glen Ellen, CA 95442. (707) 343-1384
Date: January 7, 2024
Cuisine: New American
Rating: Lots of food
_Third in this photo series — with a mega set menu designed for about 12 when we have 6! Getting here was a challenge, with 40 minutes winding over a mountain on a dark and rainy night.
Remembered to photo the menu this time.
No Sweet Milk Gelato!
October 4, 2024
Eating Napa – The Charter Oak
Restaurant: The Charter Oak Restaurant
Location: 1050 Charter Oak Ave, St Helena, CA 94574. (707) 302-6996
Date: February 6, 2024
Cuisine: New American
Rating: Quite Good
_This was a work retreat in Napa, so I didn’t bother to take notes — but I figured I’d post the mobile phone photos for completeness.
These Northern California New Americans tend to blend together.
October 2, 2024
Eating Napa – Compline
Restaurant: Compline Restaurant
Location: 1300 1st St #312, Napa, CA 94559. (707) 492-8150
Date: February 5, 2024
Cuisine: New American
Rating: Good
_This was a work retreat in Napa, so I didn’t bother to take notes — but I figured I’d post the photos for completeness.
September 30, 2024
Quick Eats – Chiang Mai
Restaurant: Chiang Mai
Location: 12510 Burbank Blvd, Valley Village, CA 91607. (818) 452-9891
Date: February 2, 2024
Cuisine: Thai
Rating: Seemed just pretty good Northern Thai
_I read somewhere that they had the best Khao-soi in town, so when I had a work recording session end nearby I had to try.
The menu.
Interior.
Sai Oua. Spicy ground pork sausage with thai herbs. Serverd with vegetables and Side Nam Prik Noom. Very good sausage. Chili paste was great also.
Chiang Mai Larb. Northern ...
September 28, 2024
Awesome Ospi
Restaurant: Ospi Venice
Location: 2025 Pacific Ave, Venice, CA 90291. (424) 407-1957
Date: January 30, April and May 9, 2024
Cuisine: New (slightly southern) Italian
Rating: Delicious!
_Part modern Italian, part classic Italian, Ospi (short for ospiante or “host” in English) is our version of a casual lunch trattoria, familial dinner restaurant, or a fun recovery brunch spot on the weekends.
Ospi is located in the heart of Venice, right near the water.
The chic interior.
The menu.
Crisp...
September 26, 2024
MK BBQ
Restaurant: MK Bbq Cafe
Location: 18406 Colima Rd D, Rowland Heights, CA 91748. (626) 616-1826
Date: January 28, 2024
Cuisine: Southern Chinese BBQ
Rating: Casual, but tasty
_This is a new place run by our friend Derek, formerly of Elite. It’s basically a hong kong BBQ shack that used to be in the supermarket in this same mall. We actually went there in 2022. I was pretty skeptical because it’s hyper casual — and because it used to be just a shack inside the supermarket in this plaza.
The glam...
