Loreto really impressed me!
What does âeast side of townâ mean? East of 405? East of La Cienega? East of downtown?
Rice and potatoes are fine, so that should help things âŚ
dunsmoor - $30/btl corkage. no limit. Very protein heavy. Be nice and order a btl or two off their list, very reasonably priced stuff.
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finally got to Sushi Inaba - south bay might as well be another country for me. 1 hour 45 minutes there and 1 hour 5 minutes back.
Definitely a hell of a sushi spot and I see why they get all the recognition that they do. Yasu is super friendly dude (Iâve had the pleasure of interacting with him outside of dinner, fun guy). The rice work is excellent - al dente - strong vinegar notes. If you like soft textured fish, his prep yields the silkiest cuts.
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Just realized I didnât update on Udatsu - I did a video on it for the gram - $50 corkage. 8 seats. Contrast in texture here is excellent, lots of use of crisp bites with a VERY aggressive rice which I love. No one really doing sushi like he is in LA right now
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Anyone checked out Rokusho yet? Based on the design and building history alone, I thought Robert would be into this place. https://rokushola.com/
I know the designers who did the space. They did some work for us in our LA spot. I will send you a PM.
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right downstairs from Udatsu - I tried a couple cocktails - they were good. didnât get a chance to eat. Same building
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I went to the Meteora x Borago collab last week. I was excited for this as I love Borago and Vespertine, and my wife and I were reminded of Borago when dining at Vespertine. This was my first time at Meteora.
Like Vespertine, Chef Jordan really put a lot of thought into the whole experience, and I love the vibe (made me think of the Green Place from Furiosa and the music was more upbeat than Vespertine and reminded me of Bonobo a bit). To my surprise, I found the âoutdoorâ area much cooler and more interesting than the interior, and itâs barely outdoors â more like indoors but with a large hole in the roof.
The dishes were very ambitious for the most part and they generally ranged from good/very good to excellent, with one Chilean mushroom ice cream dish kind of blowing my mind. Despite the ambition and some wonderful highlights, overall, the food certainly wasnât at the level of what youâd find at Vespertine where the rolled out hit after hit after hit. I was also very surprised there wasnât any seafood (except small amount of caviar); there was little meat as well.
Service was generally very good, but not as polished as Vespertine. The servers explained the dishes very well. The pacing, while not horrible, was off, but Iâm guessing that could be due to the one-off collaboration mixing things up.
The somm barely interacted with us, which isnât a big deal, but is in stark contrast to the enthusiastic somms youâll meet at Kato, Melisse, Vespertine, etc. (and my wife made sure to point this out to me 
)
Chef Jordan stopped by our table to present a dish and chat a bit. Heâs really lovely and the passion and warmth he exudes is immensely appreciated.
Good stemware. $75 corkage.
Brought a bottle of NV Dhondt-Grellet Roc Solare Champagne. Itâs excellent and paired well with most of the dishes.
For $150 for their standard 7-course tasting menu, Iâd be very happy to go back when in the mood for some creative cuisine in a pretty unique setting.
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Has anyone been to the Alexâs Lemonade Stand food festival? It seems promising and for a good cause, but Iâm not sure what to expect.
I saw that. Looked amazing. Want to try.
Yeah, I can never just get one either. Love love love their stuff, I keep trying to get them to open a branch in Solana Beach but our town wouldnât appreciate it (people here are satisfied with mediocrity, itâs so frustrating).
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Went to Leopardo today to try their lunch
Oh Banh A Mia (I took out the meat) was awesome - their herb salad is the best version of a pickled herb salad you can get on a banh mi. Seems like the bread is the same dough as the crust? maybe Iâm wrong, it kinda tastes like the pizza crust. Either way, pretty good bread.
The big griddle was pretty sick too sans sausage. That waffle is something tasty. Feels like it has a thin layer of maple syrup on it.
Washed it down with a nice iced brewed green tea.
Hit up Sams Place before dinner at Baroo. Cool concept. Counter service. Small all natty wine list. They have 6 or 7 dishes. Very good. It was absolutely packed!
And Baroo remains the most exciting restaurant in all of the U.S. for me!
Thanks for the note. I have friends that live just a few blocks from Samâs Place. Any German wine on the list???
No it is super natty. And mostly new producers.
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Sushi Sonagi opened a year ago and the quality keeps getting better and better every visit. Pretty wild how good it is a year in. Daniel doesnât rest on his laurels and is pumping out fantastic food
This black skipjack blew me away and was fantastic burgundy fodder with his sweet and lush shari and the sharp baby green onion
I know itâs not close unless you live in south bay but itâs definitely worth going to. Reservations are a little tough to get but they release every 30 days rolling
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I have to bring the wife and kid to the French Consulate near the Westfield Mall on Wednesday, any outdoor lunch recs nearby? I donât want to go too far (ie more than 1-2 miles) so I donât risk missing our 3pm appointment at the Consulate. I have an RSVP at Hinoki & the Bird, but figured Iâd ask here for any other recs. We eat everything, but prefer hole-in-the-wall delicious food to fancy places.
Thatâs really a dead zone, especially for outdoor dining⌠Apple Pan for burgers (or off-menu patty melt or tuna melt) and pie if you want super casual. But Hinoki is probably the best option.
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