Lesley Bargar Suter from Los Angeles Magazine recently released her picks for the Top 10 Best New Restaurants in Los Angeles. What I love about this list is that it guides you to a unique restaurant for several completely different areas of this enormous county. One for every weekend for the next ten weeks…if you’re truly ambitious! Save them for your weekly “cheat day”.
1. Sotto (West Los Angeles)-The Must-Have Dishes: Thick-cut bread with lardo, pork meatballs, any pizza.
The Drinks: A great selection of Italian amaros are made into top-notch cocktails by barman extraordinaire Julian Cox.
2. The Royce (Pasadena)-The Must-Have Dishes: Salsify, cheese course.
The Drinks: The bar down the hall makes some lovely cocktails, but sommelier Eric Espuny is one of the best around when it comes to choosing and explaining wines.
3. Red Medicine (Beverly Hills)-The Must-Have Dishes: Congee (rice porridge), tamarind-glazed lamb, coconut bavarois.
The Drinks: The excellent wine list is designed to pair well with Vietnamese flavors, but the cocktail bar is a destination in itself.
4. Picca (West Los Angeles)-The Must-Have Dishes: Ceviche, chicharron de costillas, miso-glazed kabocha, churros.
The Drinks: As at Sotto downstairs, Julian Cox creates Latin-inspired cocktails with a focus on pisco.
5. The Spice Table (Little Tokyo)-The Must-Have Dishes: Laksa, chicken livers on toast, banh mi.
The Drinks: There’s a decent selection of local beers from Craftsman as well as a tightly edited wine list.
6. Mezze (West Hollywood)-The Must-Have Dishes: Poached egg shakshouka, bone marrow, lamb belly.
The Drinks: Middle Eastern ingredients like sumac, pistachio, and baharat milk go into inventive cocktails; the wine list is equally adventurous.
7. Son of a Gun (Los Angeles…from the guys that brought us Animal)-The Must-Have Dishes: Shrimp toast, spot prawns, the chicken sandwich.
The Drinks: The mixologists know what they’re doing—let them make you something new. A reasonable wine list heavy on whites changes often.
8. Ink (Los Angeles)-The Must-Have Dishes: This menu changes so often, it’s hard to say. We loved the lamb neck dish with chickpea poutine, the kale-burrata salad, and the octopus, but there are no guarantees that any of those will still be on the menu when you go. Stick with what’s seasonal.
The Drinks: The cocktails change by season as well. Winter is all about hot bourbon with citrus, ginger, honey, and cinnamon, and rum with house-made horchata. Josh Goldman doubles as sommelier, and a chalkboard lists his picks.
9. M.B. Post (Manhattan Beach)-The Must-Have Dishes: The menu changes frequently, but try the bacon-cheddar biscuits, softshell blue crab, Moroccan BBQ lamb belly, and Vietnamese caramel pork jowl.
The Drinks: Cocktails can skew sweet, but the wine list is fun, with many offerings by the glass.
10. Ray’s (Mid Wilshire)-The Must-Have Dishes: Wood-roasted chile stuffed with chorizo and dates, young chicken, squid ink pasta with chile, mint, opal basil, and bottarga.
The Drinks: Stark bar supplies innovative cocktails. The full wine list is fabulous, if daunting. We like the by-the-glass offerings, which come in 3- and 6-ounce pours or in a 12-ounce carafe.
Although I have not yet visited many of these restaurants that are on the list, I can attest to the fact that MB Post in Manhattan Beach is absolutely ah-mazing! I’ve had all but one of the “must-have” recommendations. Believe me, I will be returning for the bacon-cheddar biscuits! Cannot believe that I missed that one.
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