As Valentine’s Day approaches, we are reminded to show appreciation for our significant others in ways such as taking them out to dinner. But with the multitude of eateries in Los Angeles, finding the right spot is no easy feat. When diners think of the trendy L.A. restaurant, there is the stereotype of the darkly lit palace, where producers green-light films and models air-kiss each other. Or perhaps it’s the nameless restaurant on a forgotten side street, its reservation book always mysteriously full. None of these stereotypes include anything about delicious food. Yet looking now at a few of the restaurants with the most buzz, we find some of the most exciting food. Here are four of the most buzzworthy restaurants in Los Angeles. And they happen to serve some of the best food in the city.
– Andrew Froug
Bouchon Beverly Hills
235 N Canon Dr.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310-271-9910
Perhaps no restaurant is more talked about than the latest outpost of super chef Thomas Keller’s restaurant empire. The Michael Jordan of chefs, he forever changed the worldwide perception of American fine dining when Restaurant Magazine proclaimed his restaurant the French Laundry to be the best in the world, in both 2003 and 2004. The reason why restaurants across the country are serving prix fixe menus, 12 small courses of butter-poached lobster and sous-vide beef filets? Thomas Keller. Bouchon is his more casual French bistro concept, but even steak frites and quiches become magic when Chef Keller is at the helm.
Gjelina
1429 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291
310-450-1429
From Mozza’s location on Melrose to Gjelina’s spot in the middle of Abbot Kinney, high-end retail and delicious pizza seem to go hand in hand. This, too, is pizza done-up: thin, dressed in beautiful produce, all ingredients in perfect proportion. It’s the Gisele Bundchen of pizzas. A few bites in, and it’s easy to realize why Gjelina’s patrons ““ always impeccably dressed ““ will mill around in front of the restaurant, waiting for a seat to open up. Reservations will make life considerably easier here, and the open-air lounge area in the back is perfect for a swanky lunchtime date. Share a pizza and grab anything else on the menu. Gjelina’s credo is that if it’s fresh, they’ll serve it.
Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-297-0101
If Thomas Keller is this city’s newest restaurant king, Los Angeles has long had its queen in Nancy Silverton. She was the pastry chef for Wolfgang Puck’s haute cuisine standard Spago, she opened local institution Campanile with then-husband Mark Peel, and she made bread-making glamorous with the equally famous La Brea Bakery. Now she’s slinging pies and taking names. These pizzas are of the incredibly thin variety, charred on the edges, the middle seemingly only a few molecules thin, while the crusts are chewy, satisfying, and a testament to her mastery of dough. Silverton’s more formal restaurant next door, Osteria Mozza, gets raves as well. But when a craving sets in for something melty-hot, Pizzeria Mozza delivers. And with rich, luscious versions of chicken liver crostini and butterscotch budino ““ think Italian pudding ““ available to bookend a meal, that delicious pizza is in good company.
The Tar Pit
609 N. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, 90036.
323-965-1300
We can all give thanks that mixology doesn’t suffer from the same East-West feud that plagued gangsta rap in the ’90s. Audrey Saunders is the Biggie Smalls of New York City libations; her superbar Pegu Club helped redefine the bar industry since its 2005 opening. That means house-made bitters and infusions. That means specifically chosen ice cub sizes. That means now that Saunders has opened the Tar Pit with L.A. chef icon Mark Peel, Angelenos can now experience the wonders of the finely-crafted drink. Though its name ““ a reference to its location and 1936 film “My Man Godfrey” ““ may give off the impression of a dumpy dive, its 1940s old Hollywood interior is anything but. Add Marcos Tello to the fold, previously of the Varnish and Edison, and the Tar Pit now has a Super Friends of mixologists. Sipping slowly on a Jamaican Firefly or a Gin Gin Mule, it’s easy to see why they take drinks so seriously. How else could it taste so good?