By Larry Levine –
Ask 10 people in to name their favorite restaurant for a celebration dinner and you’ll get at least 20 recommendations. Big city or small town, west coast, east coast or in the middle, people everywhere will be passionate about the places they like to eat.
Tell someone where you get your favorite pizza and instead of expressing interest they are more likely to tell you about their favorite place.
I get that often. If I’m paired with a stranger on a golf course, the moment will come when he or she asks what I do for a living. If I say I edit and publish a food magazine, it’s certain I will quickly hear about their favorite restaurant and be asked if I’ve been there. Odds are I haven’t been and it’s a sure bet they will tell me I need to try it.
Jennifer and I are pretty much like most other people we know. We have our favorite Italian restaurant close to where we live (Panzanella) as well as favorites in San Diego (di Medici Cucina) and Sacramento (Biba). We have our favorite sausage house (Brats Brothers), rib joint (Gus’s), French (Le Sanglier), Thai (Kinnara) and Middle Eastern (Kebab Halebi) restaurants, a few sushi places (Murakami, Asanebo, Sushi Gen) and some miscellaneous others.
For as long as we’ve been together family tradition has said the person whose birthday it is gets to pick the restaurant. Jennifer and our son John were born the first week of January. That often meant a big restaurant tab to start the year. One year it was Scandia and Perino’s by Jan. 7.
This year for the first time nothing really jumped out as a place to celebrate our anniversary. We wanted something special, not one of our regular places or one at which we’ve eaten before.
So, I did what any self-respecting editor and publisher of an online food magazine would be expected to do. I asked our readers to tell us of places they would recommend in the greater Los Angeles area. Of course, that encompasses a vast chunk of territory and a potentially staggering number of restaurants.
In the end we went to Bouchon in Beverly Hills, a Thomas Keller gem. We had been there before on one of the restaurant’s fried chicken nights and promised ourselves to return to eat off the regular menu.
Here in the order in which we received them are some of the suggestions our readers in the Los Angeles area sent our way. Many look interesting enough to have been added to our futures list.
Bashan
bashanrestaurant.com
3459 N Verdugo Rd.
Glendale, CA 91208
(818) 541-1532
French technique California, Mediterranean and Asian practices.
Bacchus’ Kitchen
bacchuskitchen.com
1384 E Washington Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 594-6377
Check the website for special events.
Brandywine
www.mikepillarandsons.com
22757 Ventura Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
(818) 225-9114
French restaurant that we went to years ago and decided to never return.
Shiro
restaurantshiro.com
1505 Mission St.
South Pasadena, CA 91030
(626) 799-4774
French and Pacific Rim menu
Vincenzo’s Terrazza Ristorante
www.vincenzosterrazza.com
232 S Citrus St.
West Covina, CA 91791
(626) 332-2969
Italian of course
Redbird
114 E 2nd St,
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 788-1191
In the rectory of the historic Vibiana Cathedral
MB Post
http://eatmbpost.com/
1142 Manhattan Ave.
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
(310) 545-5404
A “social house” – food and more.
Fabrocini’s
http://www.fabrocinibeverlyglen.com/
2960 Beverly Glen Circle
Los Angeles, CA 90077
(310 475-7404
Traditional and creative Italian
The Factory Kitchen
http://www.thefactorykitchen.com/index.php
1300 Factory Place 100
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 996-6000
Traditional trattoria in the arts district
Musso and Frank Grill
http://www.mussoandfrank.com/
6667 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 467-5123
Oldest restaurant in Hollywood
Rao’s
http://raosrestaurants.com/
1006 Seward St.
Hollywood, CA 90038
(323) 962-7262
New York comes to L.A.
The District by Hannah An
http://thedistrictbyha.com/index.php
8722 W. 3rd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 278-2345
Traditional Vietnamese in a Manor House
Chablis Food + Wine
http://www.chablisca.com/index.php
18588 Ventura Blvd.
Tarzana, CA 91356
(818) 343-9100
Sophisticated French bistro
Girasole
girasolrestaurant.com
11334 Moorpark St.
Studio City, CA 91602
(818) 924-2323
From local farms to your plate
The Villa
http://www.villawh.com/
22160 Ventura Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
(818) 704-1185
Food and jazz
Mr. C’s at the Mr. C Hotel
http://www.mrchotels.com/
1224 Beverwil Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310) 277-2800
Fourth generation Cipriani
Barnyard
http://www.barnyardvenice.com/
1715 Pacific Ave.
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 581-1015
Eclectic menu
Gyu-kaku
13 L.A. Locations
Check the website
Cook it yourself – Not for me
The Depot
http://www.depotrestaurant.com/
1250 Cabrillo Avenue
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 787-7501
Eclectic with an Asian flair
Yang Chow
http://www.yangchow.com/
3 L.A. Locations
Chinese
Been there. It’s good
Saddle Peak Lodge
419 Cold Canyon Road
Calabasas, CA 91302
(818) 222-3888
Game meats
Bouchon
http://www.thomaskeller.com/beverly-hills-california/bouchon-bistro/info-directions
235 North Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, California 90210
(310) 271-9910
A Thomas Keller gem
Mastro’s Steakhouse
http://www.mastrosrestaurants.com/
246 N Canon Dr,
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 888-8782
It’s a steakhouse
Manuel’s El Tepeyac
http://manuelseltepeyac.com/
812 N Evergreen Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90033
(323) 267-8668
A Mexican classic
