Eating and Drinking in Los Angeles

Travel, Wine Tourism, and Restaurants Forum
1221

Two additions.

La Pharmacie du Vin - My friend Gareth Kanter used some of his downtime during the pandemic to open a wineshop in the space next to his restaurant Cafe Stella that used to house a cheese shop. Jessie Kiefer who ran the wine program at Cafe Stella is running the shop. It is a nice blend of classical and natural wine with a number of old vintages. You can buy a bottle and some cheese and drink out front. We ordered a bottle of 1993 Jadot Premier Cru that was on the shelves for $130 with some cheese and just hung out for and and hour and half. I also ran into a few LA wine community people hanging out. Caveat I am friends with both Jess and Gareth but I think this is a great addition to LA / Silver Lake.




Anajak - There are two types of people in the LA food and wine community. Those who say Anajak is great and you must go and have actually been and those who say that they have heard Anajak is great and you must go but have yet to make the trek to Sherman Oaks! I have tried a number of times and finally reserved far in advance of my trip. And it is absolutely great and you must go! The aged fish dish is one of the best things I have eaten in a long time and a perfect riesling dish! I canā€™t wait to go back.

Lastly LA has definitely come back to life we were shocked on our last trip in October at how dead it was compared to NYC.

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1222

Didnā€™t know theyā€™d opened up a wine shop there now, but thatā€™s good news. Was very sad when they shut down the cheese shop, as there arenā€™t that many good cheese shops on the eastside. I must hit them up.

1223

Not many indeed, but make sure you try Milkfarm in Eagle Rock. Very good selection and knowledgeable staff.

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1224

They have a small amount of cheese at the wine shop. Certainly nothing like the former Cheese shop. I l know you LAā€™ers hate to drive but my friends run DTLA Cheese downtown and are truly some of the most knowledgeable and passionate cheese people I know.

https://www.dtlacheese.com/

1225

Not LA but close enough to be useful. Vaquero Bar in Solvang just opened a few days ago. Fantastic spot with some really lovely food, a nice open patio, and a small but well curated list of local wines. Highly recommend the Pig Ear Cheetoz, The Burrata with tomato, strawberry and grapefruit, and the chicken liver mousse with rhubarb and pickled green strawberries.

Also went to Bellā€™s in Los Alamos. Iā€™m sure a ton has been written about them already, as they are very trendy, but the food was on point, exceptional even. Not a sore spot on the whole menu. The Uni and Caviar crepe was delicious and designed for instagram. The ā€œvitello tonnatoā€ veal sweetbreads with tuna sauce and the steak au poivre were both exceptional. Great wine list too. This has all the makings of becoming an institution in Los Alamos.

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1226

Heard great things about this.

1227

[cheers.gif] Winery is DTLA, so Iā€™m there all the time.

1228

Does anyone know where to get a good Italian-style tripe dish in LA/Southern California? Angelini Osteria used to have one but I tried calling them and they said they no longer have it on the menu (been 2-3 years since it was removed). Watching the Stanley Tucci Italian travel show and inability to travel the past year has really spurred on this craving in my wife and me.

1229

Wow, thatā€™s terrible! Loved their sandwich :worried:

1230

I think itā€™s Kantner as heā€™s Paulā€™s son and not without his own controversies.

1231

Yes sorry for the typo and yes

1232

Yup! Opened by a former Silverlake Cheesestore alum.

Had a nice outdoor lunch at Ototo today. I thought I was going light when I ordered the yaki udon, but it was so rich and soulful. Next time, I would like some wine or sake to go with it. And, though it seems like everyone has one, I also very much liked their take on the fried chicken sandwich.

1233

I just dined out for the first time in over a year and it was so nice! Inn of the 7th Ray is lovely as always.

1234

Please pardon the advertisement. I have no stake, other than helping to spread the word for some old college friends. Otherwise, Iā€™m a normal paying customer. I do like the cocktails, which is the main reason Iā€™m doing this, and the rotating food has been good (I ordered Superfine Pizzas). And a small bonus, cocktails are packaged in reusable Boston rounds (at least when I ordered 8 oz servings).
https://geneverla-store.square.site/

Cocktail Club
https://table22.com/genever

1235

This last weekend, I ate at AOC in the former parking lot turned patio. This space is actually really lovely and the food and overall experience was really good. The only thing that really disappointed me is that they currently arenā€™t allowing any BYOB and Iā€™d be embarrassed to own a ā€œwine barā€ that served the mediocre BTG Riesling I tried.

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1236

Not a huge fan of AOC and their food, I think they got rid of the wrong restaurant when the closed Lucques.

1237

I didnā€™t realize they closed Lucques (but obviously makes sense given the circumstances). My then girlfriend, now wife, had our first ā€œfancyā€ meal together there. I agree though, AOC isnā€™t nearly as good as Lucques was.

1238

I had a good time going out to a few places this weekend.

Mastroā€™s Malibu: I love going here for brunch, but this is my first time back since the pandemic and they do NOT have their typical full brunch menu. Fortunately, they still had the awesome lobster eggs Benedict that I went for, but did not have most of their usual brunch items (e.g., burger, crab cake, waffles, bagels and lox). Also, they raised their corkage to $50, which is generally more than what Iā€™m willing to pay, especially for brunch. That being said, the view was amazing as always, service really on point, and the aforementioned lobster eggs Benedict were awesome.

It seems that the lack of a full brunch menu is only temporary until they rehire more kitchen staff. I wonā€™t be going back until they have the normal brunch menu back and even then, Iā€™m not sure how often Iā€™ll be going with $50 corkage (although, I did have a very nice time on Saturday).

Augustine Wine Bar: Iā€™m sure many of you have been here, but if not, this is a great wine bar that always has a selection of older (sometimes very old) and/or rare wines by the glass. I ordered more food than usual when I went and was impressed with the quality. The soft shell crab was really great and the trio of fresh baked cookies went very will with some vintage port. My friend got the NY strip and raved about that as well.

The Brothers Sushi: This is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, sushi spots in town (although, it doesnā€™t hurt that I can walk there), and itā€™s firing on all cylinders. This is my first time dining in here since the pandemic and I dined on their new patio, which was a much nicer space than I expected. I was expecting something assembled last minute in the small parking lot during the pandemic, but itā€™s a really nice partially covered space that Iā€™ll likely return to sometimes even when Iā€™m comfortable dining indoors. I highly recommend checking this place out (and they have a reasonable $30 corkage).

Also, regardless of where Iā€™ve been going lately, itā€™s just so nice to be able to go out and share food and wine with friends :slight_smile:

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1239

Hereā€™s a nice little feature on Augustine from the LA Times: How much for a taste of history? At Augustine, vintage wine is worth at least a glass

1240

We had a very good dinner last night at Wife and the Somm in Glassell Park, including my first-ever glass of negrette, from Chateau Flotis ā€“ pretty mediocre tasting notes on CT, but I found it a delicious syrah-like experience that went with flat iron really well. The wines veer toward the natural, but that includes Balthazar and Aurelian Verdet. And I got my boundaries broadened, in that our cheese plate had a 5-years-aged Gouda that went with a pinot gris by Rootdown with the painfully cute name of ā€œEs Okay.ā€ Atmosphere reminds me a bit of Atrium. Thereā€™s a patio in the back with grapevines on a pergola that pre-existed the restaurant by, we were told, a hundred years or so. Itā€™s right next to Parsnip, on Verdugo. https://www.wifeandthesomm.com/

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