this is gonna blow up but good for them. It’s close to our office so we go fairly often. Like Jenn said - better than the gold standard in LA Pollo de la Brasa. Their chicken is incredible
Not cheap for a whole chicken, but it is great.
What is the corkage scene! Is this a thermos spot!
How much?
$38
1 Like
Ha! That is a half chicken in NYC.
1 Like
Come with very large sides tho!
Not sure. Never tried. Only eaten lunch here and takeout
Best roast chicken I’ve eaten in LA is Josiah Citrin’s Dirty Chicken for two (including sides) at Citrin. $86 and worth every bite!
2 Likes
I finally made it to Vin Folk in Hermosa. Absolutely loved the place, from the spectacular food and service, ambiance and business model (most staff are chefs/servers with a stake in ownership). We were a four top, which is about the limit for groups (the place is small). Glassel stems, $40 corkage, somm on site. Highly recommended. Easily my favorite meal of '26 so far, but I have 3 weeks in Spain coming…
4 Likes
Do you recall specifics on their policy. Including bottle limit. Finding L.A. places that are good for our frequent 6-8 people dinners is tough. Very few good places have reasonable policy for 3+ bottles. Two max is a new, disappointing, stated policy for many places.
1 Like
Had a great week of dining in LA…
Noma - We have a special relationship with this restaurant and this was an extremely special experience. Having said that it was my least favorite of the residencies. We have attended all except the first shorter one in Tokyo - Sydney, Kyoto and Tulum. It was interesting to see their take on California ingredients. Every dish worked but the sum total did not wow us. Interestingly we did two restaurants the following day that do California cuisine extremely well and it gave us a lot to think about in terms of what IS California cuisine.
RVR - Not much more to say about this place other than we absolutely love it and it is a joy to return to as much as we can. It is solidly in the rotation.
Jacaranda - We are really burned out with tasting menus. It was refreshing to read about their approach to making a tasting menu less formal and creating a small room that feels more like a dinner party. Although only the first night this was exactly what it felt like. We knew about 1/3 of the room and by the time we left we had met other people. The food was excellent. I loved COI and this is similar in style but yet feels very fresh. The smaller courses e.g, Yuba or Tofu dishes were both inventive and satisfying. The duck was outstanding. And the Chocolate and Kelp dessert was one of the best things I have eaten this year. We can’t wait to go back!
We tried to go to Holbox on Sunday, there must have been 200 people in line. We pivoted to Majordomo and had a wonderful lunch of simple greens, pea shoots alongside fried chicken and riesling!
We wanted to try something new for dinner prior to going to see Mike D perform so we thought we would give Bar di Bella a try. The pasta dishes were very good. Wine list and not so interesting but we found and absolute under-the-radar gem from La Colombera Derthona Timorasso…a stunning floral, perfumed, mineral wine brought it by @Oliver_McCrum The Chicken Milanese came highly recommended and it was as promised. I liked the experience but not sure this will be going into the regular rotation as it feels like it wants to be more of a scene than restaurant. I would happily go back and especially if I need a late night meal.
Incidentally Mike D’s performance was great! We share some Keller Hubacker with him.
I had to do a quick trip to San Fran where I was able to fit in an insanely great meal at State Bird, lunch at Bread Belly, Breakfast at Tartine Manufactory and a German Chardonnay dinner with the BARS gang!
Upon return from SF we picked up where we left off with a meal at Lielle. We know Chef Marcus Jernmark from his stint in NYC and we have dined at Frantzen. That plus lots of raves from people we trust had us pretty excited for this meal. It delivered on all levels. Just wonderful. It is exactly how we like to eat. Nordic inspired with California ingredients is a great combination. I believe the wine list is the same from the prior restaurant Bicyclette. We found a couple of nice bottles that paired well Yvon Metra Fleurie and Wasenhaus Mōhlin. I would note it is billed as a $150 four course meal. However they do have several supplements. I think one would be very hungry if you just stuck to the base meal. Our bill shot up pretty fast. We absolutely loved the food and will definitely be back.
We did lunch at Little Fish in Melrose Hill. It was overall very good. A like the small and mostly natural wine list. The portion sizes were very small and clean, even the Fried Fish Sandwich. The real start was the cornbread and honey ice dessert!!! And the 2004 Vergé Vire-Clesse which is a very unique and stunning wine.
We needed a place for a large group after the Prince Be preview event on Friday so we went to our standby Majordomo. After having a couple of subpar meals at LA institutions this week we could just marveled at how great every single dish is and how much we love the entire experience at Majordomo. Great news for them a new live music venue opened next store and our friends tell us they are 15-20% busier on nights when there is a show. It was packed on both of our visits (admittedly it was USC graduation and Mother’s Day) but still…
And now for the Finale!!! Nanban Kan where have you been all my life!!!
We had heard about Nanban Kan from one of my favorite Chefs in the world. I did my usual research and discovered it has been around for 40 years and it is extremely difficult to reserve because you have to either call or go in person. My wonderful wife went in-person to make the reservation while I did a quick trip to San Francisco. She also had dinner while she was there and loved it and was extremely excited to return which is not like her. It is primarily a Yakitori restaurant with non Yakitori specials everyday. The entire meal was excellent. We brought two wines that showed extremely well. I love Yakitori with older Spätlese so we brought a 69 Benedict Loosen-Erben Urziger-Würzgarten Spätlese that opened up wonderfully and was the perfect pairing for the food. The tail was outstanding. Our Chef friend said to get the Japanese Hot dogs these were super fun and delicious. The Black Cod was excellent. We LOVED this place so much!!! It is absolutely going into the rotation and we already made a reservation to return….and I was floored when the bill came…
Rushing back to NYC for dinner at ODO East Village with Chef Atsushi but I am still thinking about LA. As you have all heard me say over and over again I think Los Angeles is the most exciting city in the U.S.!
5 Likes
I think we brought two bottles. I did not ask about a limit. I think they could be flexible especially if it is earlier in the week but I am just guessing.
I adore the La Colombera Timorasso (both bottlings), and the project’s backstory is at least as compelling.
Jonathan
1 Like
Going to look into it. Did not know anything about the producer. Always loved the grape.
1 Like
RE: Nanban Kan, Sure, it’s very good and have been going for many years. For me it is not a destination, but it certainly scratches the itch for Yakitori. Getting them to answer the phone is the hardest part, but it’s not like getting a resy at Hayato. You just need to keep calling them. As far as Yakitori goes, the southbay has a number of very good spots, some I like more than Nanban Kan, such as Shin Sen Gumi Yakitori or Torimatsu (both old school). That said, and while not really a Yakitori, you or others may be interested in Yakun
Thank you! I will try them all.
Hi Robert, I’d be interested to hear more about your perspective on this. What piqued inquiry, what was being bandied about, and did you come to any conclusions?
Another classic yakitori I’d recommend is Torigoya in Little Tokyo (they have corkage, I think ~$30?)
Thank you!