Andy Gavin's Blog, page 78
November 7, 2018
Aleppo Style
Restaurant: Esso Mediterranean Bistro [1, 2, 3]
Location: 17933 Ventura Blvd. Encino, CA 91316. 818-514-6201
Date: September 22, 2018
Cuisine: Syrian
Rating: Really delicious and authentic flavors
_One of my first couple Hedonist dinners was an epic Armenian / Syrian dinner at Esso and while I’ve gone a couple of times myself, I was very excited for the group’s big return (my third time with the Hedonists). Esso Mediterranean Bistro is a hole in the wall in an Encino mini-mall right next doo...
November 5, 2018
Elite Wines at Elite Restaurant
Restaurant: Elite Restaurant [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Location: 700 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 282-9998
Date: September 17, 2018
Cuisine: Cantonese Banquet
Rating: Elite!
_Elite is well known as one of great LA’s top dimsum places, but less well known is how great a Cantonese banquet place it is. On this particular night I met Paul R and a bunch of his friends out here for Burgundy night — sure it was a week night and 2 hours in traffic, but great Burgundy and Chinese is worth i...
October 31, 2018
Luigi al Teatro
Restaurant: Luigi al Teatro
Location: 5406, 3116 2nd St, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Date: September 14, 2018
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian
_Luigi al Teatro is an upscale Italian seafood restaurant by Michelin Star Chef Luigi Fineo. Located in a 100-year-old historic Santa Monica building, the menu features contemporary seafood dishes reminiscent of southern Italy’s coastal cuisine.
It’s located in a Venice theater which is weird (no front door) but kinda cool. It’s loc...
October 29, 2018
Rustic Canyon Long After
Restaurant: Rustic Canyon [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Location: 1119 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, Ca 90401. 310-393-7050
Date: September 12, 2018
Cuisine: Farmer’s Market Californian
Summary: Excellent Seasonal New American
ANY CHARACTER HEREAs a seasonal market driven California restaurant Rustic canyon can be counted on to mix up the menu a bit fairly frequently. It’s a friday night favorite for us, and we return every two months or so. Many of the specific dishes change, but the overall types and cat...
October 26, 2018
Robata Bar
Restaurant: Robata Bar
Location:1401 Ocean Ave a, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 458-4771
Date: September 7, 2018
Cuisine: Japanese Robata
Rating: Just ok
_We actually came here by accident. I won’t go into it, but we had a bunch of people and no reservation and just ended up here. They always have availability.
Robata Bar, right next to Santa Monica’s Sushi Roku and owned by the same (not so) Innovative Dining Group. I’ve never loved their places. Style over substance. And the style is a bi...
October 24, 2018
Great Whites at Napa Rose
Restaurant: Napa Rose
Location: 1313 Disneyland Dr, Anaheim, CA 92802 (714) 635-2300
Date: August 30, 2018
Cuisine: Californian
Rating: Unimaginative but solid
_With Foodie Club key member Fred moving to Florida soon he’s been pulling out all the wine stops. So, given that he lives in OC and so does another guy, we decided to bring some crazy wines all the way down through 2-3 hours of traffic to:
The “iconic” flagship restaurant of the Disney empire set in the Grand Californian.
They have...
October 22, 2018
NBC Seafood – Best Ever?
Restaurant: NBC Seafood
Location: 404 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 282-2323
Date: August 26, 2018
Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese
Rating: Really excellent
_Tony Lau’s Cantonese dinners are some of the best Chinese dinners of the year. He always manages to get the best out of these old school Cantonese kitchens.
And check out this vintage 90s giant dining room at NBC!
We had the world’s largest single table private room. Quiet, cushy, and tons of space.
Sauces on the table.
...
October 19, 2018
Burg at Kagura
Restaurant: Kagura
Location: 652 Cabrillo Ave, Torrance, CA 90501. (310) 787-0227
Date: August 24, 2018
Cuisine: Japanese
Rating: Really awesome place with many great hearty dishes
_Foodie Club key member Fred is moving to Florida. Cry 
October 17, 2018
Back in the USA – Dha Rae Oak
Restaurant: Dha Rae Oak
Location: 1108 S Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90006. (323) 733-2474
Date: July 20, 2018
Cuisine: Korean BBQ / Duck
Rating: The pastrami duck was awesome, others so-so
_Los Angeles’ Korea Town is a gold mine of interesting Korean restaurants.
And I’ve wanted to try Dha Rae Oak and its famed “stuffed duck” for years. And so even though I returned from China only 20 hours ago I head out to meet the guys.
A very unassuming frontage on Western.
The inside is a bit nicer,...
