Tag: sherman oaks

Posted on

Weekend Events: Dec. 7th-9th

Now that “Festivus”  draws near, it is no better time to explore the city’s most joyous events this December. No matter your holiday of choice, there is something for all to enjoy. So throw on your tackiest sweater, take your spiced cider to go and venture out this holiday season!

With all the hustle and bustle of our weekday routine we bring you a curated list of the weekends top activities happening throughout the city of stars.

Discover your inner Angeleno!

Limited engagements taking place this Dec. 7th-9th

Friday, Dec. 7th

Yuletide Cinemaland

Location: Heritage Square Museum, Los Angeles

Street Food Cinema bring their signature brand of outdoor-screening magic to L.A.’s Heritage Square Museum with Yuletide Cinemaland. This festive celebration centers around a Charles Dickens-style town square.  Celebrate the nostalgia of classic holiday movies with Christmas carolers, food trucks, hot chocolate, mulled wine, craft beer and more. Explore picturesque Victorian-era homes dressed for the holidays, join piano sing-alongs and experience the Instagram-worthy Holiday Light Tunnel.  Click here for more info.

American Contemporary Ballet Presents: The Nutcracker Suite
The American Contemporary Ballet Presents: The Nutcracker Suite

Location: California Plaza, DTLA

Experience the wonder of The Nutcracker in this first person perspective showcase performed by the American Contemporary Ballet.  Witness this timeless tale  as you become the main character. Once the entertainment concludes, The Fairy will guide you to a celebration with champagne, live music and more! Click here for more info. 

Holiday Concerts in the Playhouse District
Holiday Concerts in the Playhouse District Presents: Little Brazil

Location: Vroman’s Courtyard-The Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena

Enjoy the sounds of the season along with the Pasadena Playhouses’ Holiday display this Friday. Little Brazil brings their signature Brazilian flavors with holiday classics to the Vroman’s Courtyard. Complimentary coffee from The Next Chapter will also be served to all patrons. Experience a new kind of seasonal tradition! Click here for more info.

Saturday, Dec. 8th

Santa Monica Pub Crawl
Santa Monica Pub Crawl

Location: Santa Monica

What better way to jumpstart the holidays than jingling all the way to SMPC’s 10th annual holiday event. Ok, maybe no jingling but certainly a fair amount of festive fun. With over 6,000 patrons having crawled until their hearts content last year, this years event is sure to be just as memorable. The fee to take part is $15 and proceeds from the Pub Crawl will go towards the Westside Food Bank to aid those in need during the holiday season. Click here for more info.

Festival of Carols
Festival of Carols-Disney Concert Hall

Location: Disney Hall, DTLA

Whether you love a classic holiday song or just the joy of the season, the Festival of Carols is sure to put you in the Christmas spirit. With over 100 classically trained carolers, this event is sure to warm the heart of even the most Grinch-iest of Grinches in your friend group. Click here for more info.

Snow Wonder
Snow Wonder

Location: Burton Chase Park

Ring in the holidays at Marina Del Rey’s annual Holiday celebration-Snow Wonder. Enjoy art, crafts, music, food and even real snow as Burton Chase Park is transformed into a Winter Wonderland. The event will also feature a fireworks display followed by the Marina’s Boat parade. Whether you chose to sled or sit in on the days fun, Snow Wonder is guaranteed to be a hit for the entire family. Click here for more info.

Sunday, Dec. 9th

Stevie Wonder’s House Full of Toys
Stevie Wonder-House Full of Toys Benefit Concert

Location: Staples Center

Stevie Wonder’s House Full of Toys returns for its 22nd year at the Staples Center in Downtown L.A. The event is hosted by the musician himself along with other special guest in order to raise funds to provide toys for thousands of children in orphanages, hospitals, and shelters. This year the show will also serve as a benefit concert for those affected by the recent California Wildfires. Concert-goers are encouraged to bring an unwrapped gift or toy. Click here for more  info.

Big Sunday’s 9th Annual Holiday Party & Sing Along
Big Sunday Annual Holiday Party and Sing Along

Location: 6111 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles 90038

Hosting their 9th annual Holiday party, Big Sunday is inviting all to join them and enjoy singing, food and fun with their guest of honor–the incredible kids from Ability First and other with disabilities large and small. In addition, volunteers are still needed to spread holiday cheer as they deck the halls and light a menorah along with loads of arts, crafts and festive treats. Click here for more info.

KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2018
KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas

Location: The Forum, Inglewood

Enjoy another year of KROQ’S end-of-year showcase with some of the best musical acts from around the country. Proceeds from the concert will go to benefit Para Los Niños and the Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center.” Sundays lineup will include Florence + the Machine, Death Cab for Cutie, Billie Eilish, Chvrches and more! Click here for info.

 

Posted on

LA Eats of the Week

With as many restaurants as there are Bird scooters, we’ve decided to simplify your options of the week by dishing out the best places to grab a bite from power lunches to elegant fare. Read below for our nosh worthy eats throughout L.A.

“Breakfast is the most important deal of the day…”

Ms Chi Cafe

Ms. Chi Cafe
3829 Main St
Culver City, CA 90232
(424) 361-5225

Visit Website

Top Chef contestant Shirley Chung has completed her LA move, after opening a smaller stall at The Fields and now this all-day contender in Culver City, serving breakfast through dinner (with a small break in the afternoon) serving reasonably priced, new school Chinese comfort fare. So far the results are pretty solid, making Ms. Chi one of the most compelling places to open in Downtown Culver City since Bacoshop.

Konbi

Konbi
1463 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 278-0007

Visit Website

Already clogging up Instagram with its delectable Japanese-style sandwiches, this coffee and daytime restaurant goes into a tiny slot in Echo Park from Akira Akuto and Nick Montgomery. Order the katsu sando, Japanese-style convenience store food, and see what happens when cooks use high-quality Duroc pork with plush milk bread. Prices are high considering the inspiration for these sandwiches, but the flavor is there to match.

Amara Cafe

Amara Cafe
55 S Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 744-1765

Visit Website

Amara Chocolate’s tiny interior is often mistaken for a Venezuelan cafe. And while the spicy cacao latte is worth it, so are the fluffy, yet crispy arepas. The kitchen stuffs these traditional Venezuelan pockets with shredded beef arepas with gouda, or fresh cheese, black beans, and ripe sweet plantains. Amara also has something unique to LA: cachapas, a Venezuelan crêpe made with fresh and roasted yellow corn.

“Lunch, Brunch, Second Breakfast!”…

Badmaash Fairfax

Badmaash Fairfax
418 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(213) 281-5185

Visit Website

This Downtown Indian restaurant has a new outlet in the heart of Fairfax District serving upscaled curry classics. Bring a crew and share the hyped (but delicious) chicken tikka poutine, spicy lamb vindaloo, and fresh naan.

Cosa Buona

Cosa Buona
2100 W Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 908-5211

Visit Website

Echo Park’s Cosa Buona is an eastside staple for a casual menu that goes beyond pizza to include a collection of droolworthy sandwiches. They all stay true to the Italian-American ethos of the place, from those mozzarella sticks to chicken parm or meatball sandwiches to a collection of simple salads.

Sichuan Impression

Sichuan Impression
1900 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803
(626) 283-4622

Visit Website

This second floor space looks unassuming from the street but inside there’s possibly the best Sichuan food outside of San Gabriel Valley and it’s deep in the Westside. Sure, there’s Din Tai Fung and Meizhou Dongpo at nearby Century City, but the real sichuan spice lovers will come to this Santa Monica Boulevard strip mall for one of LA’s top Chinese restaurants. Try the special noodles, cold chicken, and toothpick lamb.

“What’s for Dinner?”

 Alta

Alta Adams
5359 W Adams Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90016
(323) 571-4999

Visit Website

Highly regarded San Francisco chef Daniel Patterson has brought his Alta restaurant to West Adams, installing Watts native Keith Corbin as the chef. The fare and vibe is spot-on for what the neighborhood needs, a well composed dining room that doesn’t feel fussy with some “California soul food” to match on the menu. Corbin takes comfortable classics like fried chicken, oxtails and rice, and collard greens and puts a bit of finesse on them. Don’t miss the excellent wine list either.

Jame Enoteca

Jame Enoteca
241 Main St
El Segundo, CA 90245
(310) 648-8554

Visit Website

This casual pasta and salad restaurant in El Segundo is a smash hit with locals, taking over a corner slot in a strip mall and filled with carb-loving diners. Chef Jackson Kalb, formerly of Factory Kitchen and NYC’s Union Square Cafe, takes a casual every day Italian-American approach to pasta, with some maximum flavor going into the handmade noodles. It’s the most exciting place to open in this main drag of El Segundo since the next door Sausal debuted a few years back.

Kismet

Kismet
4648 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 409-0404

Visit Website

Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson opened this sleek modern Middle Eastern restaurant in early 2017 with a commitment to refined, restrained technique and top-quality farmers market produce. The result is one of the most popular new restaurants in the city. The morning Turkish-ish breakfast is a solid daytime pick, while the mezzes and small plates rule the roost for dinner service.

Courtesy of Eater LA
Posted on

Rodeo Realty’s Randi Feilich feat. on HGTV’s House Hunters

Rodeo Realty Calabasas agent Randi Feilich featured on  HGTV’s House Hunters

HGTV House Hunters

Rodeo Realty’s Randi Feilich recently appeared on HGTV’s season 154 episode 8 of House Hunters.

The episode titled “California Dreaming in San Diego” and recently aired on HGTV network. The segment focused on Randi assisting a Utah married couple, Cassia and Brian for the perfect SD home on  a $900,000 budget.  Through the course of the episode Randi shows the prospective buyers, a range of homes from oceanside to inland. Although the couple had many wishlist features, Randi still excelled in providing them listing options that met the couple’s Real Estate goals.

Randi Feilich on Season 154 Ep. 8 of HGTV’s House Hunters

To view Randi’s current listings click here:  https://randifeilich.rodeore.com/

Watch the Full Video Here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWIZR0DiOQ 

Randi is a 2008 Executive MBA Graduate from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, and a licensed Real Estate Agent with Rodeo Realty, Beverly Hills and Calabasas. Randi will be featured this fall on HGTV’s HOUSE HUNTERS.
Randi’s early Real Estate experience began in 1988, personally managing her Real Estate investments, as a landlord and property manager. From her MBA schooling at Pepperdine, Randi integrated her studies of logic and analysis into her Real Estate career. Prior to that, Randi was an Executive Vice President and Partner in a large advertising firm. This extensive marketing background has proven both beneficial and crucial to developing her client’s marketing initiatives and plans.
In addition to Real Estate, Randi volunteers her time as a District Leader for Humane Society United States, and Southern California Representative for Project Coyote, a non-profit wildlife advocacy group. In doing so, Randi has appeared on Fox , KCET, ABC and NBC News and
featured in the Los Angeles Times, Daily News, Associated Press and hundreds of newspaper syndicates.

 

Randi strives to protect her client’s interests first, and in doing so, has proven successful in reaching her client’s goals.
Posted on

Weekend Events: Nov. 22nd-25th

Now that we’ve had our Thanksgiving feast and with the family still likely in town, it’s time for the real tinseltown fun. From Turkey Trots to Santa’s Christmas Tree lot, there is plenty of festive beats this holiday weekend!

With all the hustle and bustle of our weekday routine we bring you a curated list of the weekends top activities happening throughout the city of stars.

Discover your inner Angeleno!

Limited engagements taking place this Nov. 22nd-25th

Thursday & Friday nov. 22nd-23rd

Turkey Trot

Turkey Trot

November 22

Location: Downtown

If your looking for something to combine giving back and the exercise you’ll need alongside your festive feast, the Turkey Trot answers that call.  A charity race through DTLA benefiting The Midnight Mission, give thanks this season to your cardio incentive.

The Queen Mary 

November 23-January 6th

Queen Mary Christmas

Location: The Queen Mary, Long Beach

The Queen Mary is a graceful step back in time. Whether you opt to enjoy their first class dining on Thanksgiving(November 22nd) or prefer to savor an extra day until the annual Christmas celebration begins. Decked out in twinkling lights that nestle perfectly with the night sky is a months worth of live music, food & drink, and family activities to delight the all aboard the iconic ship.

STANLEY KUBRICK’S SOUND ODYSSEY (OPENING NIGHT)

Nov. 23rd-25th

Location: Walt Disney Concert Hall, DTLA

Combining film clips with live performances of the scores, we bring to life the iconic music chosen by late legendary director Stanley Kubrick – from Beethoven to Penderecki.

Pre-Concert Event: Drinks in the Garden
Come early on select Friday nights and enjoy complimentary drinks and a unique view of the DTLA skyline from the Garden. Then head over to the Upbeat Live pre-concert talk in BP Hall (select nights only).

Pre-Concert Talk: Upbeat Live
With Bernardo Rondeau – 7pm
Enhance your concert experience with a pre-concert talk starting at 7pm. Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned.

Saturday Nov. 24th

UCLA Football VS. Stanford

Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena

UCLA Football will wrap up the 2018 season by playing host to the Stanford Cardinal this Saturday, November 24, at the Rose Bowl Stadium with a 12:00 p.m. kickoff. In appreciation of their selfless service and efforts to keep our community safe, UCLA Athletics is proud to offer four complimentary tickets to Saturday’s game to all first responders. This offer can be redeemed at the Rose Bowl Stadium Box Office on Saturday by showing any valid first responder identification.

For UCLA vs. Stanford Gameday presented by McDonald’s, parking lots will open at 6:00 a.m. Fans are strongly encouraged to plan ahead and pre-purchase parking online here for $5 off on-site pricing.

SENIOR PET ADOPTION FAIR

Location: Wallis Annenberg PetSpace: Playa Vista

November is Adopt a Senior Pet Month and Wallis Annenberg PetSpace is devoted to finding forever homes for senior dogs and cats! We are proudly partnering with the County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control to offer senior dog and cat adoptions at this special event. Meet with experts at booths to learn about the amazing qualities of senior pets and how enriching life can be with one of these companion animals. Plus, discover products and nutritional offerings specifically geared toward older pets. Younger guests can join a very special Paws & Pages storytime session, as Lisa Wiehebrink will be reading her Gray Whiskers book and signing copies too. Face painting and refreshments will also be provided, free of charge. Be sure to bring the entire family to this heartwarming event!

Holiday Marketplace

Location: Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles

It’s a match made in artisanal, #shoplocal heaven at the return of the Craft & Folk Art Museum’s Holiday Marketplace. It’s a slightly more global take on the local makers scene, augmented by music and snacks, with the added benefit of taking in the museum’s current round of impressive mixed-media shows and installations. Tip: The faux-fur safe room by Uzumaki Cepeda might come in handy for weary shoppers seeking a calming respite. The jewelry, textiles, ceramics, and unique, sustainable home goods are not only irresistible but also cash and carry — so consider getting in on the Saturday morning preview brunch not only for early access to the goods but also fresh coffee and fancy treats. VIP preview brunch: Sat., Nov. 24, 10-11:30 a.m., $15.

Sunday nov. 25th

The Hollywood Christmas Parade

November 25

Location: Hollywood Blvd, Holllywood

Also, the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade is returning this month! The parade, which will be held November 25, will feature many performers including The Village People, Ruben Studdard, Tom Dixon, and many more! A great event to add to your things to do list! Also, attendees will enjoy a night filled with marching band shows, larger-than-life balloon figures, and even an appearance from Santa. A concert for ticket holders will be at 5 p.m., with the procession starting at 6 p.m. Tickets range from $32 – $85. More details HERE.

Langham Winter Festival

November 25th

Langham Winter Festival

Location: The Langham, Pasadena

The landmark Langham Hotel host their final Heritage with Heart event of the year. Already regarded as one of the premiere luxury resorts in southern California, the hotel will usher in the holidays stylishly. Enjoy the hotels tree lighting ceremony, a live performance by the Lythgoe Family, holiday food and of course Santa.

My Fair Lady

Location: Aero Theatre, Santa Monica

4K Restoration! MY FAIR LADY, 1964, Hollywood Classics, 170 min. Dir. George Cukor.

Domineering speech expert Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison, in his finest performance) transforms 19th-century Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle (the never-lovelier Audrey Hepburn) into a beautiful, swanlike lady, in director George Cukor’s sumptuous adaptation of the Lerner & Loewe musical classic. Winner of eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director and Actor. Co-starring Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Theodore Bikel and Jeremy Brett. With the song favorites “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?,” “The Rain in Spain,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Get Me to the Church on Time” and more! 

Posted on

10 Best Happy Hours for Fall

While it’s warm as ever in LA, there’s no better way to cool down than with a cocktail at one great happy hour or another in Los Angeles. All over the city, bars and restaurants are offering great options for full-on dining, grazing with friends, or just grabbing a beer solo on the way home.

Luckily there’s no shortage of great options for happy hour dining and drinking right in one’s very own neighborhood. Here now are the best places to slip in for an early evening (or all night long) happy hour bite, presented from west to east.

Tallula’s

Talulla’s
118 Entrada Dr
Santa Monica, CA 90402
(310) 526-0027

Visit Website

This beachy entrant by the Rustic Canyon group was meant to host happy hour crowds. The menu available weekdays from 4 to 6 p.m. offers steep discounts on favorites like the nachos sencillo, alongside new dishes like steak tostadas and a variety of tacos. Of course, there’s a requisite $8 margarita.

Tumbi

Tumbi
115 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 829-7200

Visit Website

This modern Indian restaurant just steps from the beach in Santa Monica features happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. on weekdays with mini kabob burgers and two kinds of dosas either stuffed with fried chicken or mozzarella, tomato, and basil chutney. Burgers or dosas come with a beer for $11.

E.P. & L.P.

E.P. & L.P.
603 N La Cienega Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 855-9955

Visit Website

E.P. & L.P. have a new rooftop happy hour on weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. with $8 cocktails and $5 Asian-inspired street snacks. Bites include fried chicken sliders, szechuan fish tacos, and soy caramel popcorn to go along with a drink called Pineapple Skies, with tepache pineapple liqueur, ginger beer, and lime.

Yardbird Southern Table & Bar

Yardbird Southern Table & Bar
8500 Beverly Blvd #112
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 250-8034

Visit Website

This Southern-inflected restaurant has all the mores of a chain restaurant, which it is, but with an expansive Beverly Center dining room and a wide menu of comfort dishes, it’s hard not to recommend as an after work hangout. It serves $7 bites from 3 to 7 p.m. such as brisket biscuits, barbecue shrimp, and disco fries, plus cocktails like a Frenso watermelon mojito for the same price.

Connie and Ted’s

Connie & Teds
8171 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 848-2722

Visit Website

There’s a new late night happy hour for West Hollywood denizens at Santa Monica Boulevard mainstay Connie & Ted’s, with $1 oysters Sunday to Thursday evening from 9 to 10 p.m. Connie & Ted’s also has an afternoon happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m., but the late night is the only time to get those dollar oysters. Afternoon happy hour features $5 beers, $6 wines, and a $7 margarita, too.

Gusto

Gusto
8022 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 951-9800

Visit Website

There’s a new happy hour at this high-ceiling Italian restaurant on West Third from 5 to 7 p.m. daily with $10 pizzas, 6 oysters for $12, and the excellent polpette al forno for $8. Nab an Aperol spritz or Negroni for $7, which makes a post-work hangout pretty darn affordable.

Gesso

Gesso
801 N Fairfax Ave #101
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 544-6240

Visit Website

West Hollywood locals have a new after-work go-to thanks to Gesso’s weekday happy hour. From 5 to 7 p.m., an eclectic set of everything from hummus plates to anchovy toast to pate banh mi is all on the menu for $10. Specialty cocktails and wine by the glass also float around the $7 mark.

Spartina

Spartina
7505 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 782-1023

Visit Website

This Melrose standby encourages diners to get social with its extended “Social Club,” available all day Monday and at the bar Sunday through Thursday. It’s surely a pleasant way to bring people together over $8 classic and specialty cocktails and $5 antipasti.

The Mermaid

The Mermaid
428 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Visit Website

This intimate cocktail lounge in Little Tokyo has a low key bar bites menu that’s even more reasonably priced during happy hour. Running from 5 to 8 p.m. daily, drinks are $1 off while the kitchen churns out some snacks like nori guac and pickled eggs. For something more substantial, there’s tangy chicken wings at just $1 each.

Bone Kettle

Bone Kettle
67 N Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 795-5702

Visit Website

With a sleek dining room and welcoming bar, Bone Kettle prepares Indonesian-inflected bites from 5 to 6 p.m. in Pasadena with $7 drinks. Food includes the highly regarded oxtail dumplings, steak tartare, bone marrow with scallion confit, and chicken wings.

Courtesy of Eater LA
Posted on

L.A. Eats of the Week

With as many restaurants as there are Bird scooters, we’ve decided to simplify your options of the week by dishing out the best places to grab a bite from power lunches to elegant fare. Read below for our nosh worthy eats throughout L.A.

“Breakfast is the most important deal of the day…”

Spring Place

Spring Place BH

Location: Beverly Hills

Chef Mirko Paderno has a new gig at the fancy culinary edition to the BH dining scene. There’s only one hook: It’s not open to the public.  Spring Place restaurant is part of a private co-working/art community of the same name (sort of like a Soho House) which recently debuted it’s west coast outpost in 90210. The cuisine will offer the same rustic Italian cuisine those familiar with Chef Paderno are used to(think Estrella). Still, the place is rather upscale with some 200 seats indoor and out, so apply for membership and call it your new business go-to.

Little Ruby

Little Ruby

Location: Santa Monica

Breezy Australian import Little Ruby has all the friendly vibes that makes it a morning meal go-to. Thankfully it serves “brekkie” daily, which means the restaurant’s airy ricotta hotcakes layered with honeycomb-inflected butter and fresh bananas can be had on the regular.

 

Destroyer

Destroyer

Location: Culver City

Destroyer, whose name references a comet, is a tiny, 16-seat breakfast and lunch space in the Hayden Tract, an industrial zone turned design district known mostly for its experimental architecture. The café is counter service only, with a menu that changes daily. For breakfast you might have a slice of Icelandic rye with cultured butter and preserves, or a bowl of oatmeal — which looks more like a Scandinavian snow globe than a bowl of porridge — studded with wild foraged currants and topped with a frozen disc of skyr.

“Brunch, Lunch, 2nd breakfast?!”

Uovo

Uovo

Location: Santa Monica

This reasonably priced pasta destination in Santa Monica takes a lot of inspiration from Italy’s greatest restaurants and puts them in a casual, bar-like setting. Using pasta hand made by artisans in Italy then flown in weekly, Uovo serves tonnarelli al arrabiata, tortellini in brodo, and ragu around $16 to $18 a serving when they can go for nearly twice as much in other restaurants.

Mizlala

Mizlala

Location: Sherman Oaks

Sherman Oaks option Mizlala has taken the Valley lunch scene by storm. Owners Danny and Justine Elmaleh are turning out Middle Eastern fare that competes with the best that LA has to offer, and all from one very colorful space.

Hasiba

Hasiba

Location: Los Angeles

Right in the heart of Pico-Robertson’s predominantly Jewish neighborhood, the Lodge Bread team has opened up Hasiba, an Israeli cafe with hummus, pita sandwiches, and more, in a casual, reasonably priced storefront. Everything’s vegetarian too, with a few vegan options as well, which makes it a great pick for those avoiding meat.

“Whats for Dinner?”

Michael’s

Michael’s

Location: Santa Monica

Chef Miles Thompson is steering a pretty big boat these days with Michael’s in Santa Monica. The long-standing restaurant has been in the hit-making business for decades, helping to launch the career of countless well-known chefs, but it’s all now in the hands of the eager wunderkind who navigates between classic menu items like foie gras and all-new interpretations like hamachi collar with fish-sauce caramel. Add in the gorgeous leafy patio, the always eclectic crowd, and the fun-loving Michael McCarty himself working the room, and it’s smooth sailing at one of LA’s most iconic restaurants.

n/naka

n/naka

Location: Los Angeles

Niki Nakayama’s phenomenal California-Japanese kaiseki might possibly be the most impressive restaurant to visit in Los Angeles. If the Michelin Guide were still rating in LA, n/naka would be a strong contender for three stars. The hidden-in-plain-sight building in Palms hosts one of the warmest, loveliest dining rooms, with fantastic wine pairings and pristine seafood prepared with a master’s touch. Reservations required, often weeks in advance.

Shaanxi Garden

Shaanxi Garden

Location: San Gabriel

There are so many phenomenal restaurants in San Gabriel Valley, but this one has a great mix of hand pulled noodles, stir-fried specialties, and regional Shaanxi favorites with plenty of space to bring a crowd. Order the biang-biang noodles, lamb “burgers”, and more.

Proudly powered by WordPress