LA - Setting Its Own Pace
My 12 favorite Los Angeles restaurants celebrate the city's culinary diversity
Dining in Los Angeles blurs the line between formality and informality without sacrificing a whit of culinary creativity, devotion to high quality ingredients or the chance to drink some good wines with the food. At least that's true at my favorite restaurants, whether the bill makes a big dent in my wallet or a small one.
My favorite restaurants take advantage of the elements that make L.A. special for food-and-wine lovers. Southern California's mild weather invites patio dining. Menus rely on the proximity of local farms for great raw ingredients. Chefs' innovations are inspired by the town's easy acceptance of Asian and Mediterranean cooking. Wine lists often snag some of the state's rarer finds.
My list of personal favorites includes some decidedly casual restaurants, where I can find a warm welcome and food with big personality without spending a fortune, and some big-deal restaurants, where inventive chefs deliver refined plates that push the boundaries of fine cuisine. The majority of my choices, however, give the option of scaling up or down, allowing me to indulge in multiple courses of elaborate creations for the whole evening, or to just order a dish or two—even create a meal of appetizers—drink some great wine and be out in an hour.
At heart, Los Angeles is not a formal city. At none of these restaurants will a man feel uncomfortable jacketless and in an open-collar shirt. The city has the easygoing-yet-luxurious approach down well.
Geographically, Los Angeles sprawls; it can take hours to cross the city by car. Fortunately, most of the best restaurants lie on the Westside, which includes Beverly Hills and West Hollywood in a swath that runs from downtown westward, to Santa Monica. You can find good restaurants in San Fernando Valley, Pasadena and Orange County, but as is the case anywhere else, the best tend to collect where there is a ready clientele. Convenient to the wealthy enclaves of Bel Air, Brentwood and Holmby Hills, the Westside is the L.A. equivalent of Manhattan to New York's boroughs, Paris to its environs, San Francisco to its suburbs. It is home to nine of the dozen restaurants on my list.
L.A.'s downtown, much of it downscale only 10 years ago, continues a revitalization that today includes the stunning Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall and a forest of luxurious new apartment buildings. Destination restaurants are blossoming there too, and several make my list.
A further indication of how good L.A.'s restaurant scene has become is that more than half of the restaurants on my list opened their doors just this decade. In a place where being new is almost as important as being good, that's saying a lot.
No one knows the value of innovation quite so well as Wolfgang Puck. L.A.'s most famous chef has been inventing genres since he opened SPAGO in West Hollywood in 1982 and traded in his chef's toque for a baseball cap to signify the restaurant's casual nature. Serving creative pizzas and melding American, Italian and Asian ingredients and ideas as if they had always belonged together, Puck paved the path for what we now know as California cuisine. Chinois on Main, where he introduced Asian-American fusion in 1983, is still going strong. Other Puck restaurants came and went over the years, but all were fun while they lasted. Anyone remember the long-gone Granita, overlooking the ocean in Malibu, or Eureka, an early brewpub?
Lee Hefter has kept the food vibrant at Spago since it moved in 1997 from funky West Hollywood to upscale Beverly Hills. There are some Spago regulars who never explore the menu past the famous smoked salmon pizza and the Cantonese-style roast duck, but I always start with the sashimi, as good as any sushi bar's, and then look to see what Hefter and his crew have come up with lately. On my last visit, it was pan-roasted king salmon fillet with eggplant-shallot masala, cilantro-mint raita and Indian spices, a phenomenal balance of flavors with the fish. A list of 850 wines bristles with lesser-known California wineries and discoveries from around the world, and pricing is not excessive. No one makes dessert taste quite so perfect as pastry chef Sherry Yard. Even the mignardises, or small bites of sweets, are memorable, including Yard's tiny, soft and creamy caramels.
In 2006, Puck redefined another genre with CUT, which ranks among the best of the new, chef-driven steak houses sweeping the country (see "The New American Steak House," Aug. 31, 2007). The open kitchen and the clean lines, shiny hardwood floors and white walls of the bright dining room, designed by architect Richard Meier, feel more like an indoor veranda than the clubby interior of a typical American steak house. The entrée choices include several types of beef delivered with no frills, including insanely rich, true Kobe from Japan, but also feature whole fish and other options. The appetizers and side dishes show what a creative chef can bring to a classic steak house. The ever-changing five-way appetizer plate is a must-order; in one instance, burrata and prosciutto dressed a first course of figs. In a side dish, a sunnyside-up egg was cut into creamed spinach.
The wine lists at Spago and Cut don't bowl you over with deep verticals, but they vary widely enough to include some blue-ribbon options and even some older California wines not available in many other places. A who's who of California Chardonnay, Burgundy whites, Austrian whites, Rhônes and Syrahs typify the Spago offerings, and 1997 California Cabernets, including Dalla Valle, Harlan and Caymus Special Selection, cap Cut's steak-friendly list.
For something more elaborate, I could turn to Mélisse in Santa Monica, where chef Josiah Citrin honors the modern wing of French cuisine, or to Patina, Joachim Splichal's Grand Award winner at Disney Hall. (XIV, from San Francisco chef Michael Mina, opened too late for review for this story.) But for me, the nod goes to two of L.A.'s most adventurous chefs.
At SONA, David Myers gears his hypermodern cooking to dovetail with the Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning wine list, which exceeds 2,000 options. The otherwise downscale stretch of La Cienega Boulevard belies the elegance and sophistication of the restaurant's cool interior, and of the food. Myers uses foams, emulsions, gels and other artistic touches but doesn't overdo them. He ranges far and wide for ingredients, and his plates look stunning. But what really matters is how subtle and fine everything tastes, and how it cozies up to great wines. Trust sommelier Mark Mendoza to make great pairings.
I especially like what Myers does with vegetables and herbs. He smokes eggplant to make a puree; dresses roasted beets with candied Meyer lemon peel; sneaks a kaffir lime leaf into a lobster emulsion. His wife, Michelle, brings a similar outside-the-box approach to desserts, often slipping in a haunting chile-hot or savory note into her sweets.
Michael Cimarusti brings a similarly modern perspective to sustainable seafood at PROVIDENCE, which occupies the old Patina space on a remote, anonymous block of Melrose Avenue. He frames the sweet natural flavor of halibut with a delicate basil crust and tomato compote studded with tiny fried clams. But he also knows when to keep it simple, as when he cooks Santa Barbara spot prawns by burying them in hot salt. During my visit, a waiter deftly carved them tableside and drizzled on a peppery Spanish olive oil as a final touch. The plates always look like they're ready for an art book.
Providence's wine list of 400 includes easy-on-the-checkbook options such as fresh Spanish whites and Australian Rieslings, while some blue-chip white Burgundies and California Chardonnays can put a serious uptick on the credit card balance.
Three more fish restaurants that reflect L.A.'s cultural mix rank among my favorites: one a traditional American seafood house, another a phenomenal sushi bar and the last a family-owned restaurant that dresses up fish with spicy Mexican flavors.
At WATER GRILL, the clubby downtown restaurant where Providence's Cimarusti first came to prominence, chef David Le-Fevre takes the traditional American seafood house up several levels. Tile floors, vaulted ceilings, polished wood paneling and brass rails—not to mention an impressive display of seafood on ice—present a classy picture.
LeFevre upgrades classic fish house fare, filling his sensational crab cakes with both blue and Dungeness crab and very little breading, serving them with harissa to spice it up and lime-yogurt-cucumber sauce to cool things off. He echoes the creamy texture of bigeye tuna with green tea-flavored noodles and sets it off with a citrusy sauce. Dishes like these, plus a smart, 800-selection wine list, a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner with plenty of offbeat picks to consider alongside the classic choices, would make this the best fish restaurant in town in most other American cities.
I could happily eat sushi daily, and in a city where sushi bars dot the landscape as coffee shops once did, I could have easily filled my list of favorite L.A. restaurants with a dozen sushi bars, or turned to some of L.A.'s groundbreaking Japanese fusion restaurants. Nobu Matsuhisa, who launched his far-flung restaurant empire from Beverly Hills, now has three restaurants here. Hokusai ranks among the best of the Asian fusion restaurants he inspired, but nothing can compare with URASAWA. To eat at this hidden-away, 18-seat sushi bar, you must ride a private elevator to the second floor of a Beverly Hills shopping mall and pay $300 for Hiro Urasawa to craft 20 to 30 tiny courses for you. Imagine having a three-star chef personally prepare your dinner before your eyes.
It's easy to forget how a great practitioner of this Japanese specialty can take your breath away with simplicity, quality and sheer artistry. Urasawa worked with Masa Takayama here when the space was the legendary Ginza Sushiko, before Takayama moved to New York in 2004. Urasawa might start you off with eight or 10 appetizers, such as a golf ball-sized serving of hairy crab from Hokkaido, delicately flavored with a yuzulike citrus; or nuggets of sweet shrimp and diced matsutake mushroom suspended in a silky egg custard, topped with caviar and a fragile square of gold foil. A block of carved ice serves as a plate for sashimi artfully rolled into a rose shape, the fish a revelation for its clarity of flavor and impeccable texture. Slices of toro tuna cook on a hot stone set before you. Then comes a succession of nigiri sushi, with the recommendation to eat each one within 10 seconds of its delivery for the best effect.
Poles apart from the Beverly Hills exclusivity of Urasawa, LA SERENATA DE GARIBALDI occupies a stucco building in Boyle Heights, east of downtown. The family-owned restaurant extends a welcome as generous as the portions and celebrates the diversity of California seafood with brilliant sauces and preparations from south of the border. Chef-owner José Rodriguez's vivid, clean flavors emphasize the unmistakable taste of spanking-fresh fish and shrimp, and preparations favor olive oil over lard.
You can choose how you want your fish prepared. Grilled and served with pico de gallo, olive oil and lime? In a fresh sauce: spinach, cilantro, chipotle or garlic? Oaxacan style, with chunks of vegetables and a zap of chile de arbol? Then there are Rodriguez's creations, such as salmon bathed in salsa verde with a serious chile kick and served over squash. Don't forget to start with sopes, thick corn cakes topped with shredded beef in a peppy guajillo sauce.
Neither Urasawa nor Serenata lists more than two dozen wines, but the choices transcend the usual options found at Japanese or Mexican restaurants. Serenata offers some good mid-priced bottles, including Duval-Leroy Champagne NV, a repeat visitor to the Wine Spectator Top 100. Urasawa focuses on high-ticket white Bur-gundies and Champagnes, but you can always bring your own, or indulge in a fine sake.
Good Italian restaurants abound in Los Angeles, probably because the informality of the cuisine and emphasis- on freshness fit completely with local preferences. The up-to-the-minute ideas at Drago, the crudo at Il Grano, the old-school vibe at Madeo, and the soulful roasts at Vincenti have serious fans, but my three choices represent very different aspects of Italy, and of Los Angeles itself.
One is a true Italian trattoria, a style prevalent in L.A., and the only restaurant on this list in the hip Melrose Avenue-Beverly Boulevard-Third Street restaurant district that emerged in the 1990s on the Westside. Another restaurant not only has unusually fine Italian food but represents something more, with both a bar dedicated to mozzarella and a pizzeria next door that rates among America's best. The third has been around for three decades and offers one of the world's great wine cellars.
At ANGELINI OSTERIA, on Beverly Boulevard, Gino Angelini serves traditional Tuscan trattoria food, such as down-home pastas and a great rendition of bistecca alla Fiorentina, to diners who rub shoulders at closely spaced tables. Calamari retains its creamy texture inside its crunchy fried shell in a fritto misto that includes fennel and lemon slices. Duck ragù cooked to a heady essence makes a great foil for pappardelle, and the freshness and simple vitality of whole branzino is a reminder of how comfortably the Italian approach to seafood fits in California.
The compact wine list often has some nice surprises on it, including good Chianti and Brunello from the mid-1990s. Prices are moderate. The cozy space vibrates with spirited conversations.
A few blocks from Providence stands the two-year-old OSTERIA MOZZA, the partnership of local heroine Nancy Silverton and New York stars Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich. You can book a table in the main part of the restaurant for upscale Italian cuisine, or take a seat at the mozzarella bar where, from behind the counter, Silverton dolls up plates of great fresh mozzarella with savory garnishes. Next door, at Pizzeria Mozza, the wood-burning brick oven provides the final touch to pizzas that taste like classics even though you probably never had these particular combinations elsewhere: I swoon over the version with wild nettles, salame and cacio di Roma cheese. Fennel sausage with cream (and no cheese), anyone?
Osteria's wine list bulges with mature Barolo, Barbaresco and Tuscan classics, perfect for chef Matt Molina's gentle updatings of traditional Italian dishes such as maccheroni alla chitarra with guanciale and tomato, striped bass Livornese, and beef brasato with polenta. Silverton being a peerless baker, this is one Italian restaurant where you want to save room for dessert. I favor the torta della nonna, a ricotta pie with pine nuts and several different honeys.
At VALENTINO in Santa Monica, owner-host Piero Selvaggio can match his kitchen's refined specialties with apt choices from the far corners of Italy off his Grand Award-winning wine list. The list, numbering more than 2,500 labels, overflows with insider favorites from every region on the boot, and if Selvaggio is in the house, he can reach into the cellar to find a whole meal's worth of unexpected wine hits. The list also addresses California and the rest of the world impressively. Or you can get a glass to go with a bowl of spaghetti at the casual wine bar out front.
In recent years, the kitchen at Valentino has had its ups and downs due to a succession of chefs, but it seems to have found its footing again with chef Tomasso Tarantino. After working under Luciano Pellegrino at Valentino Las Vegas until 2007, Tarantino spent six months in Sicily immersing himself in Selvaggio's native cuisine. On a recent visit, the Sicilian dishes sparkled with freshness and delicacy. Creations such as thinly sliced eggplant with olives and lemon, tuna with blood oranges, and spaghetti in red chile pepper oil with tiny onions won me over anew.
For Chinese food, which L.A. has always done well, I could have gone with any number of bustling Hong Kong- or Shanghai-style restaurants east of downtown, where fish and shellfish swim in big tanks until you order. But none of them so much as pays lip service to wine. At YUJEAN KANG'S in Pasadena's Old Town, inventive, deftly prepared Chinese cuisine meets a surprisingly savvy wine list, and for me that tips the balance. On a recent visit, a remarkably tender stir-fry of silken squash and chicken brought out the best in a dry, minerally, seven-year-old Stony Hill Riesling, one of the unsung heroes of Napa Valley and hard to find anywhere. Kang's operates out of a modest storefront, and on Saturday nights it does a resounding takeout business, which can slow down the dine-in service early in the evening. But it's worth the trip to be reminded of how smoothly wine and Chinese food can coexist.
French restaurants are conspicuously absent from my list of favorite L.A. restaurants, although not because L.A. lacks good ones. Aside from the aforementioned Mélisse, you won't find a better evocation of a classic French brasserie anywhere in America than Comme Ça, opened last year by Myers of Sona. I have been impressed with Christophe Emé's modern touches at Ortolan and with Michel Richard's return to L.A. with Citrus at Social. Bastide at times has looked as if it might challenge the best French restaurants in the United States, but multimillionaire owner Joe Pytka keeps changing chefs and revamping the place. At this writing it is closed, awaiting another remodel. (Bastide's first chef, Alain Giraud, recently opened Anisette, a French brasserie in Santa Monica.)
So for now it's clear that French cuisine peaked here in the 1970s, when several now-defunct French restaurants dominated the fine-dining scene. That group included Ma Maison, where Puck made his name as a fancy French chef; Le Dôme (now the site of a BLT Steak); l'Ermitage; and L'Orangerie, the last of this group to go, in 2006. In a telling changeover, Nobu Los Angeles recently opened on the site of L'Orangerie, but the turning point actually came much earlier. When Puck got into a dispute with Ma Maison's owner and left, in 1981, to start Spago, he turned L.A. dining in a whole new direction.
Puck's mix of casual and sophisticated elements has become the most prevalent style of L.A. dining today. The model makes a fetish of market-fresh ingredients and clear-eyed preparations, lifting the idea of neighborhood cafés to an art form. Suzanne Goin has three fine examples: her glorified wine bar on Third Street, A.O.C.; her husband's pared-down seafood café in Hollywood, the Hungry Cat; and her flagship, the casually elegant Lucques on Melrose. At his similarly refined but comfortable Joe's in Venice, Joseph Miller is making great unpretentious dishes. Meanwhile, Eric Greenspan, once executive chef of Patina, upgrades good neighborhood fare with unexpected balances at the Foundry on Melrose.
At CRAFT LOS ANGELES, however, New York chef Tom Colicchio does them one better. His food starts with the same local-local-local idea and opens it up into something even more vibrant. This outpost of his original Craft in New York occupies a low-rise, modern, freestanding building set among the tall, anonymous structures of Century City. Chef Matthew Accarino's unflagging devotion to ingredients is apparent in the à la carte menu, which lists dozens of dishes based on what's best and freshest in the market. That leaves it up to us to make dinner out of one or two dishes, or to expand it into a tasting menu. I love that flexibility.
An example of Craft's creative approach is the salad of baby romaine, tender and sweet as butter lettuce, with whole fresh anchovies fried in a light batter and scattered on top. It's a knockout. Fifteen or 20 vegetable dishes offer a veritable farmers' market tour. Pastas compare with those of the best Italian restaurants in L.A. The wine list of 400 selections focuses on discoveries from Austria to Australia, including some nice verticals.
Despite his New York roots, Colicchio gets what L.A. dining is all about: a menu full of great choices that focus like a laser on ingredients, presentations that rely on color and freshness rather than architectural structure, and a friendly wine list. The view gazes upon greenery—you can see the sky from your table—and service is buttoned-up but still relaxed.
There was a time when dining in L.A. seemed derivative. It was either trying to outdo its intrastate rival San Francisco or make dining glamorous in a kind of Hollywood version of New York or Paris. Today, it has a style all its own, good enough to attract outsiders. In addition to Colicchio, empire-building chefs such as Mina, Batali, Gordon Ramsay, José Andrés and Laurent Tourondel (of BLT Steak) are currently wooing Los Angeles diners. As long as they can deliver the relaxed but elegant food and wine experience that makes L.A. special, they can count on me as a patron.
LOS ANGELES
Here is an alphabetical guide to more than 70 restaurants that offer outstanding wine lists in the Los Angeles area, including all those that earned a Wine Spectator restaurant award in 2008. Harvey Steiman's 12 favorite restaurants are highlighted.
ALL'ANGELO RISTORANTE
7166 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 933-9540
Web site www.allangelo.com
Award of Excellence
ANGELINI OSTERIA
7313 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 297-0070
Web site www.angeliniosteria.com
ARNIE MORTON'S, THE STEAKHOUSE
735 S. Figuera St., Los Angeles
Telephone (213) 553-4566
Web site www.mortons.com
Award of Excellence
BASTIDE
8475 Melrose Place, Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 651-5950
Web site www.bastidela.com
Best of Award of Excellence
THE BELVEDERE
The Peninsula Beverly Hills, 9882 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 551-2888
Web site www.peninsula.com
Best of Award of Excellence
BOA
The Grafton Hotel, 8462 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 650-8383
Web site www.innovativedining.com
Award of Excellence
BOA
101 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 899-4466
Web site www.boasteak.com
Award of Excellence
CAPO
1810 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 394-5550
Web site www.foodcowest.com
Best of Award of Excellence
CARLITOS GARDEL RESTAURANT
7963 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 655-0891
Web site www.carlitosgardel.com
Award of Excellence
CHINOIS ON MAIN
2709 Main St., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 392-9025
Web site www.wolfgangpuck.com
Award of Excellence
CICADA RESTAURANT & LOUNGE
617 S. Olive St., Los Angeles
Telephone (213) 488-9488
Web site www.cicadarestaurant.com
Best of Award of Excellence
CIRCA 55
The Beverly Hilton, 9876 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 887-6055
Web site www.circa55beverlyhills.com
Award of Excellence
CRAFT LOS ANGELES
10100 Constellation Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (310) 279-4180
Web site www.craftrestaurant.com/craft_losangeles_style.html
CRUSTACEAN RESTAURANT
9646 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 205-8990
Web site www.anfamily.com
Award of Excellence
CUT
The Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 276-8500
Web site www.wolfgangpuck.com
Award of Excellence
DRAGO
2628 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 828-1585
Web site www.celestinodrago.com
Best of Award of Excellence
ENOTECA DRAGO
410 N. Cañon Drive, Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 786-8236
Web site www.celestinodrago.com
Award of Excellence
FARFALLA TRATTORIA
1978 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 661-7365
Web site www.farfallatrattoria.com
Award of Excellence
FOGO DE CHÃO
133 N. La Cienaga Blvd., Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 347-4668
Web site www.fogodechao.com
Award of Excellence
GRACE RESTAURANT
7360 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 934-4400
Web site www.gracerestaurant.com
Award of Excellence
THE GRILL ON HOLLYWOOD
6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood
Telephone (323) 856-5530
Web site www.thegrill.com
Award of Excellence
THE GRILL ON THE ALLEY
9560 Dayton Way, Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 276-0615
Web site www.thegrill.com
Award of Excellence
HOTEL BEL-AIR
701 Stone Canyon Road, Los Angeles
Telephone (310) 472-1211
Web site www.hotelbelair.com
Best of Award of Excellence
I CUGINI
1501 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 451-4595
Web site www.icugini.com
Award of Excellence
Il FORNAIO CUCINA ITALIANA
301 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 550-8330
Web site www.ilfornaio.com
Award of Excellence
Il FORNAIO CUCINA ITALIANA
1551 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 451-7800
Web site www.ilfornaio.com
Award of Excellence
IL GRANO
11359 Santa Moncia Blvd., West Los Angeles
Telephone (310) 477-7886
Web site
www.ilgrano.com
Best of Award of Excellence
JAR
8225 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 655-6566
Web site www.thejar.com
Award of Excellence
JOE'S RESTAURANT
1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice
Telephone (310) 399-5811
Web site www.joesrestaurant.com
Award of Excellence
JOSIE RESTAURANT
2424 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 581-9888
Web site www.josierestaurant.com
Award of Excellence
L.A. PRIME STEAKHOUSE
The Westin Bonaventure, 404 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles
Telephone (213) 612-4743
Web site www.westin.com/bonaventure
Award of Excellence
LA SERENATA DE GARIBALDI
1842 E. First St., Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 265-9732
Web site www.laserenataonline.com
LAWRY'S THE PRIME RIB
100 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 652-2827
Web site www.lawrysonline.com
Award of Excellence
LOCANDA DEL LAGO
231 Arizona Ave., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 451-3525
Web site www.lagosantamonica.com
Award of Excellence
LUCQUES
8474 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 655-6277
Web site www.lucques.com
Award of Excellence
MADEO
8897 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (310) 859-0242
Web site www.madeoristorante.com
Best of Award of Excellence
MASTRO'S STEAKHOUSE
246 N. Cañon Drive, Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 888-8782
Web site www.mastrosteakhouse.com
Award of Excellence
MÉLISSE
1104 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 395-0881
Web site www.melisse.com
Best of Award of Excellence
MICHAEL'S
1147 Third St., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 451-0843
Web site www.michaelssantamonica.com
Best of Award of Excellence
MONSOON CAFÉ
1212 Third St. Promenade, Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 576-9996
Web site www.monsoon-cafe.com
Award of Excellence
MORELS FRENCH STEAKHOUSE & BISTRO
189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 965-9595
Award of Excellence
MORTON'S, THE STEAKHOUSE
435 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (310) 246-1501
Web site www.mortons.com
Award of Excellence
NICK & STEF'S STEAKHOUSE
330 S. Hope St., Los Angeles
Telephone (213) 680-0330
Web site www.patinagroup.com
Award of Excellence
OCEAN AVENUE SEAFOOD
1401 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 394-5669
Web site www.oceanave.com
Award of Excellence
OSTERIA MOZZA
6602 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles
Telephone (323)297-0100
Web site www.mozza-la.com
THE PALM
1100 S. Flower St., Los Angeles
Telephone (213) 763-4600
Web site www.thepalm.com
Award of Excellence
THE PALM
9001 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (310) 550-8811
Web site www.thepalm.com
Award of Excellence
PALMERI S.P.A. RISTORANTE
11650 San Vincente Blvd., Brentwood
Telephone (310) 442-8446
Web site www.
Award of Excellence
PATINA
141 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles
Telephone (213) 972-3331
Web site www.patinagroup.com
Grand Award
PORTA VIA
424 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 274-6534
Web site www.portaviabh.com
Award of Excellence
PROVIDENCE
5955 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 460-4170
Web site www.providencela.com
Award of Excellence
THE RESTAURANT AT THE GETTY CENTER
1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles
Telephone (310) 440-6810
Web site www.getty.edu
Award of Excellence
RUSTIC CANYON WINE BAR AND SEASONAL KITCHEN
1119 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 393-7050
Web site www.rusticcanyonwinebar.com
Award of Excellence
RUTH'S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE
224 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 859-8744
Web site www.ruthschris.com
Award of Excellence
SONA
401 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (310) 659-7708
Web site www.sonarestaurant.com
Grand Award
SONORA CAFÉ
180 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles
Telephone (323) 857-1800
Web site www.sonoracafe.com
Award of Excellence
SPAGO BEVERLY HILLS
176 N. Cañon Drive, Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 385-0880
Web site www.wolfgangpuck.com
Best of Award of Excellence
SPRAZZO CUCINA ITALIANA
1389 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (310) 479-3337
Web site www.sprazzo.net
Award of Excellence
TOSCANA
11633 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (310) 820-2448
Best of Award of Excellence
URASAWA
218 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills
Telephone (310) 247-8939
VALENTINO
3115 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica
Telephone (310) 829-4313
Web site www.valentinorestaurant.com
Grand Award
VIBRATO GRILL, JAZZ ... ETC.
2930 Beverly Glen Circle, Bel Air
Telephone (310) 474-9400
Web site www.vibratogrilljazz.com
Award of Excellence
VINCENTI RISTORANTE
11930 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles
Telephone (310) 207-0127
Web site www.vincentiristorante.com
Award of Excellence
WATER GRILL
544 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles
Telephone (213) 891-0900
Web site www.kingsseafood.com
Best of Award of Excellence
YUJEAN KANG'S
67 N. Raymond Ave., Old Town Pasadena,
Telephone (626) 585-0855
Web site www.yujeankangs.com
ZUCCA
801 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles
Telephone (213) 614-7800
Web site www.patinagroup.com
Award of Excellence
