My Return to LA

[gfron1]

I scored 4 seats at n/naka in July, and so now i'm trying to round out the trip. Last time I was wined and dined by @RJWong who took me to all the hotspots with a focus on Providence and Hatfields (Report HERE). But this time, my life is a bit different. The focus of this trip is to go to restaurants doing interesting things that might inspire my next restaurant. I'm also doing a private workshop with Pascal Bauder since his foraging book just came out and my foraging cookbook is just around the corner. 

Right now I'm considering:

Republique

Night + Marketsong

Bestia

Trois Mec

Orsa & Winston

 

I haven't done more than a quick glance at any of them and generally trust my eG friends first, so your suggestions are appreciated. I don't really care about price (cheap or expensive), locale (hole in the wall of uber fancy), but won't have a car so will need to be somewhat accessible. I'm not sure where I'm staying yet - I'll try to find a place central to my meals. Also, as always, any exciting chocolate shops are appreciated.

[gfron1]

I had some time to dig a bit further on these restaurants. I went ahead and booked Orsa - seems right up my alley. Republique seems worth more consideration. Bestia is probably out unless someone tells me I can't miss it. Trois Mec seems interesting but reservations aren't taken until 2 weeks out. N + M seems okay, but I've had some good Thai in my life and wouldn't want to be disappointed.

[FrogPrincesse]

Not sure what type of food you are looking for, but a few of my favorite places are AOC (small plates and great wine selections), Son of a Gun (mostly seafood, surprisingly refined in a super casual setting), and Terrine (French-Californian bistro, house-made chacuterie, good cocktails). 

Edited June 12, 2016 by FrogPrincesse
Typo (log)

[gfron1]

Someone suggested ink. Looks interesting.

[FrogPrincesse]

8 hours ago, gfron1 said:

Someone suggested ink. Looks interesting.

Yes it does, but it seems very hyped as well! 

I tried its casual branch, ink.sack, and wasn't exactly blown away...

 

[gfron1]

A friend of mine in LA who is joining me at n/naka said the same thing. She pushed me toward Gjelina, which I know is great but not sure if it will inspire me.

[Honkman]

Your list covers already some good restaurants - a more unusual one is Ma Maison from Chef Quenioux. Chef had for some time a great restaurant with Bistro LQ in LA which was sometimes too far out and too creative for many people. But after he closed it he it started to have dinners at his house now. Bistro LQ was unbelievable creative cooking on a three star level with a very small kitchen crew (2-3 people). For more than two years we drove on very regular basis from San Diego to LA to have great tasting menus at Bistro LQ. He continuous these tasting menus in his home with produce from his garden or foraged from the neighborhood incorporating influences from all over the world. Here is a link to his FB page with future dates - highly recommended

 

https://m.facebook.com/lquenioux/

 

Edited June 15, 2016 by Honkman (log)

[gfron1]

6 hours ago, Honkman said:

Your list covers already some good restaurants - a more unusual one is Ma Maison from Chef Quenioux. Chef had for some time a great restaurant with Bistro LQ in LA which was sometimes too far out and too creative for many people. But after he closed it he it started to have dinners at his house now. Bistro LQ was unbelievable creative cooking on a three star level with a very small kitchen crew (2-3 people). For more than two years we drove on very regular basis from San Diego to LA to have great tasting menus at Bistro LQ. He continuous these tasting menus in his home with produce from his garden or foraged from the neighborhood incorporating influences from all over the world. Here is a link to his FB page with future dates - highly recommended

 

https://m.facebook.com/lquenioux/

That sound exactly like what I'm looking for and what I'm looking to do. Hopefully I can grab a seat. Thanks.

[chefmd]

@gfron1 How did you get reservations at n/naka?

[gfron1]

12 hours ago, chefmd said:

@gfron1 How did you get reservations at n/naka?

Ha! I'll carry that secret to my grave. It wasn't easy, and it took over 4 months of work. I will say that if you put in for your date, and then click the option to have them notify you if something opens - I've had 3 notifications for this week, so openings do happen.

 

btw, the better story is how I got 4 seats when I asked for 2

[gfron1]

Just back from the oppressive heat that rolled into LA this past week. Great week of dining and I learned the ease and magic of Uber!

 

Lazy lunch at El Rio Bravo around the corner from my Culver City airbnb

The first night my AirBnb hosts took me to their favorite neighborhood place - La Dijoinaise

Coffee down the street at Cognoscenti 

Dinner at Orsa & Winston: Standard tasting menu stuff. A bit loud and dark for my taste, but the food was solid and well priced for the experience. It was very quiet so go earlier in the week for a calmer experience.

Donuts at Primo's Donuts: I was told to get the buttermilk donuts and was not let down - so good!

Dinner at n/naka: I have had so many tasting menus in my life that at this point most bore me. I can almost always find something inspirational at any of them but quite frankly they often feel overly formulaic. But as I chart the meals that impact my life and my cooking this meal will be as lasting as Alinea (when placed in the context of time and life experience). You won't be able to get a seat, but if you do Chef Nikki will not let you down. Absolutely spectacular, and when I say the homeade tofu was the highlight of the meal, that should give you some idea of what it was like - all of the fancy ingredients were amazing, but the humble tofu stole the show for me.

Santa Monica Farmers Market Wednesday

I cooked a private dinner up near Tujunga canyon after foraging the Hanson Dam area

Snack at La Moreliana in Grand Central Market: Plata de carnitas - good and they tricked me into eating tripe, which is not my favorite thing.

Coffee at Alfred in Silverlake

Dinner at Night & Marketsong: I wasn't expecting to get one last meal in, nor did I think I could just walk in to this place at 6 pm on a Friday night, but I did and they were empty. The crowd started rolling in closer to 7:30 so an easier seat to grab earlier or at the bar. I had the crispy rice salad so I could compare it to the same at Lotus of Siam and they certainly held their own. along with some fun cocktails.

[blue_dolphin]

11 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

Just back from the oppressive heat that rolled into LA this past week. Great week of dining and I learned the ease and magic of Uber!

 

Thanks for the update. Sounds like a great visit.  I was thinking of you on Thursday as I think that's when you said your foraging session would take place and it was hot, hot, hot.  I hope you went out early!

[gfron1]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Thanks for the update. Sounds like a great visit.  I was thinking of you on Thursday as I think that's when you said your foraging session would take place and it was hot, hot, hot.  I hope you went out early!

Oh it was so hot, and it made me feel like such a wimp. Coming from the mountains I'm just not used to that terrible heat, and on my own I forage at 6 am. We started at 10 and ended around 1. Pascal tried to keep us in the shade but it didn't matter. So glad I had my sunscreen on. I spent most of the week thinking about where to get my next air conditioning.