Andy Gavin's Blog, page 57
March 18, 2020
Going to Guelaguetza
Restaurant: Guelaguetza
Location: 3014 W. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90006. (213) 427-0608
Date: February 2, 2020
Cuisine: Oaxacan Mexican
Rating: Best black mole Ive ever had
_My brother got a couple recommendations recently as to good Mexican places in the city and so me and the family decided to try out this famed Oazacan joint:
Guelaguetza first opened its doors in 1994 by immigrant husband and wife Fernando Lopez and Maria Monterrubio. Since then, our goal at Guelaguetza has been to...
March 16, 2020
The Rooster Crows
Restaurant: The Rooster
Location: 2301 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404. (310) 264-0999
Date: January 31, 2020
Cuisine: Wood-fire grill and California / pseudo-Italian
Rating: Tasty, but too pricey for its vibe
_Continuing our streak of family dinners during my moms 75th birthday week, the gang of us headed off to the Rooster.
Bruce Marder, The Roosters chef/ restaurateur, lists Capo, The Brentwood, Coras Coffee Shop, and Marvin as his current successes. Renowned for his world class...
March 13, 2020
Reborn as Citrin
Restaurant: Citrin [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]
Location: 1104 Wilshire Blvd.Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 395-0881
Date: January 29, 2020
Cuisine: California French
Rating: Rebooted
_Iconic Santa Monica Melisse has rebooted as 2 restaurants in the same space. In the front, Citrin, in a (slightly) more casual (slightly) more shared format, and a small room in the back with Melisse as a $300ish a head tasting menu only spot.
For my Moms 75th bday 8 of us headed to Citrin to...
March 11, 2020
Mister Bossam & Cheese Pork Ribs
Restaurant: Mister Bossam
Location: 338 S Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 388-5379
Date: January 26, 2020
Cuisine: Korean Ribs
Rating: Awesome, but heart burn central
_On a chilly, quiet Sunday night where in the best of worlds we should have had a Chinese dinner going Yarom and I met up for a small Korean dinner.
Yarom saw this sign and we couldnt resist trying it out.
The interior is very small and casual.
The menu is pretty specific with just a couple variants on two main...
March 10, 2020
Back to Meizhou Dongpo
Coming back to Meizhou Dongpo for a 6-7 person dinner on 3/8/20 I had a vastly improved experience. Almost every dish was very good, some great. The peking duck was first rate. Really really good. Many of the appetizers were awesome too like the green chili chicken and cold mung bean noodles. Flavors were far less salty and much more balanced. Service was fairly good too and we had a nice large table outside on the terrace. On this particular night at least, this was as good as many SGV...
March 9, 2020
Mirko at Osteria Mamma
Restaurant: Osteria Mamma
Location: 5732 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90004. (323) 284-7060
Date: January 24, 2020
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: Great meal
_I’ve been eating at Mirko Paderno restaurants for years. He’s a super talented Italian chef, who’s been at a lot of places: Oliverio, the 4 Seasons, Berea (briefly), Estrella, Spring, and now Osteria Mamma.
I’m not entirely sure if Mirko is cooking here all the time or just using the kitchen for special dinners like ours — slipped in. Yarom...
March 6, 2020
Amphai – Northern Thai Food Club
Restaurant: Northern Thai Food Club
Location: 5301 Sunset Blvd #11, Los Angeles, CA 90027. (323) 474-7212
Date: January 17, 2020
Cuisine: Northern Thai
Rating: Small Space, Big Taste
_Asian Food Friday is always a good opportunity to try out some of the oddball and amazing corners of Los Angeles eating.
Which brings us to Amphai, or Northern Thai Food Club, which has been on my “to try” list for some time. Supposedly this is some of the best and most authentic Northern Thai in the country....
March 4, 2020
China Red by Day
Location: 855 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007.(626) 445-3700
Date: January 23, 2020
Cuisine: Chinese
Rating: A- dim sum
_Continuing our Lunch Quest series of random lunch visits we decide to check in on the China Red dim sum.
For some reason I’ve been on a run of places on the slightly more “Eastern” half of the main SGV. Slightly more annoying drive too as it’s 10-15 minutes further.
The outside.
The interior is typical midsized Cantonese. There is some DM...
March 3, 2020
Altered Carbon – Sophomore Slump
Show: Altered Carbon (seasons 1 & 2)
Genre: Science Fiction / Cyberpunk
Watched: Season 1 – February 2018 & 2020 / Season 2 – February 2020
Summary: Loved season 1 / Season 2 was a chore
_I loved Altered Carbon season 1, both when I watched it at release and during my recent “just before season 2” rewatch. It’s not perfect, but it’s seriously good Science Fiction for television.
Kovacs S1 is one big dude
The good: It’s sexy. It’s violent. It explores interesting technologies and the...
March 2, 2020
Parisian Pasjoli
Restaurant: Pasjoli
Location: 2732 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405. (424) 330-0020
Date: January 15, 2020
Cuisine: Bistro French
Rating: Really good
_Pasjoli is an elevated French bistro from award-winning chef Dave Beran. The restaurant pays homage to French cuisine utilizing the bounty of produce available in Southern California. Dave Beran is the guy behind Dialogue, which I didn’t love on my single visit (but I do need to try again). In any case, looking at the photos of Pasjoli...
