Andy Gavin's Blog, page 6
July 26, 2025
Divine Damien
Restaurant: Damian
Location: 2132 E 7th Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90021. *unknown*
Date: December 29, 2024
Cuisine: Mexican
Chef: Jesús “Chuy” Cervantes
Rating: Surprisingly good
_Damian opened in October 2020 at the height of the pandemic, the long-anticipated West Coast project of celebrated Mexico City chef Enrique Olvera and his Casamata partners Santiago Pérez and Jesús Durón (the team behind Pujol, Cosme and Atla). Guided day-to-day by chef de cuisine Jesús “Chuy” Cervantes, the kitchen pursues...
July 24, 2025
Shin Beijing Years Later
Restaurant: Shin Beijing [1, 2, 3, 4]
Location: 3064 W 8th St, Los Angeles, CA 90005. (213) 480-1977
Date: December 27, 2024
Cuisine: Korean-Chinese
Chef: Jae-hoon “Simon” Lee
Rating: Solid, but caught between Korea and China
_It’s been years since we went to Shin Beijing so we decided to see how it was doing…
Shin Beijing opened in 1986 in a modest strip-mall arcade on Western Avenue, at a time when Koreatown’s landscape was still dominated by barbecue parlors and after-hours pubs. Its founder...
July 22, 2025
Foodie Kusano
Restaurant: Kusano
Location: 10726 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA 90230. *unknown*
Date: December 16, 2024
Cuisine: Omakase Sushi
Chef: Yuto Kusano
Rating: Great
_Kusano opened its doors on Jefferson Boulevard in 2018, the project of husband-and-wife team Yuto and Mariko Kusano, both second-generation Angelenos whose families came from Fukuoka. After years in Michelin-starred kitchens—Yuto on the sushi line at Mori, Mariko as a pastry sous-chef at Providence—they pooled modest savings and took...
July 20, 2025
Lofty Sichuan
Restaurant: Sichuan Street Food
Location: 91 E Green St, Pasadena, CA 91105. (626) 204-6333
Date: December 8, 2024
Cuisine: Chinese
Chef: Yucheng “Tony” Li
Rating: One of the better Sichuans, but annoying table layout
_Sichuan Street Food opened its doors on bustling Green Street in Old Pasadena in May 2024, the brain-child of Chengdu-born chef-owner Tony (Yucheng) Li and his wife, general manager Lynn Zhang. After years cooking at heavyweight San Gabriel Valley kitchens such as Chengdu Taste a...
July 18, 2025
Charming Chelsea
Restaurant: The Chelsea
Location: 3110 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404. (310) 393-6633
Date: December 5, 2024
Cuisine: New American
Chef: Mark French
Rating: Very good
_Opened in 2019 on the steadily reviving stretch of Wilshire Boulevard, The Chelsea was created by longtime Santa Monica residents Katie and Mark French, a front-of-house/chef partnership that had cut its teeth in celebrated kitchens from Napa to New York before deciding to build something of their own in their home nei...
July 16, 2025
Gamer Roccos
Restaurant: Dinner at the Borgese’s [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]
Location: Santa Monica
Date: December 3, 2024
Cuisine: Italian influenced gourmet home cooking
Rating: Awesome
_Dinner at the Borgese’s is a special house dinner in Santa Monica cooked by the stunning pro-level home chef Borgese couple. Tonight’s dinner was a “game guy” dinner.
Lovely night out on the patio.
The menu.
The Borgese’s in the kitchen.
Meat!
Crudi. Seafood Crudo.
Risotto ai Frutti di Mare. Seafo...
July 14, 2025
Bazaar Thanksgiving
Restaurant: The Bazaar by José Andrés
Location: 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. (202) 695-1100
Date: November 28, 2024
Cuisine: Spanish
Rating: Great of course
_The Bazaar by José Andrés finally touched down in the chef-humanitarian’s home city in August 2023, taking over the soaring atrium of the newly minted Waldorf Astoria in the Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue. Like its sibling locations in Los Angeles, Miami, and Las Vegas, the restaurant is owned and ope...
July 12, 2025
Eating Tysons – Wren
Restaurant: Wren
Location: 1825 Capital One Dr S 11th Floor, Tysons, VA 22102. (703) 429-4365
Date: November 27, 2024
Cuisine: Japanese
Chef: Yo Matsuzaki
Rating: ???
_Opened in September 2021 on the 11th floor of the Watermark Hotel at Capital One Center, Wren is the flagship restaurant of B.F. Saul Company Hospitality Group’s newest property. The name, drawn from the Japanese word for “love,” hints at the guiding hand of Executive Chef Yo Matsuzaki, who melds the convivial spirit of a Tokyo i...
July 10, 2025
Salon at I-Naba
Restaurant: Inaba Restaurant (secret sushi) [1, 2]
Location: 20920 Hawthorne Blvd Ste 110, Torrance, CA 90503. (310) 371-6675
Date: November 22, 2024
Cuisine: Japanese Omakase Sushi
Chef: Hiroshi Takahashi
Rating: Awesome
_Tonight’s dinner at I-Naba was at their special “secret” new sushi bar tucked away behind the restaurant. I was invited last minute by my friend Andrew for an all Salon dinner.
Inaba Restaurant opened on Hawthorne Boulevard in 1998 as the first mainland U.S. outpost of a smal...
July 8, 2025
Taberu Time
Restaurant: Taberu LA
Location: 806 E 3rd St Unit 140 Los Angeles, CA 90013.
Date: November 16, 2024
Cuisine: Japanese Comfort Food
Rating: Decent
_Bovon organized this fun but giant dinner.
In a neighborhood thick with ramen joints, French bistros and tasting-menu destinations, Taberu Shabu Shabu has carved out a niche as the area’s go-to spot for communal hot pot and late-night comfort. Food writers credit it with helping to normalize premium Japanese near Little Tokyo, and local chefs are k...
