At least thirteen months after opening, S. Irene Virbila writes a gushing love letter to Bradley Ogden’s “new” Root 246 in Solvang, raving about everything and letting him off easily with just one criticism of a vegetarian dish. [L.A. Times]
Merrill Shindler visits one of our old favorites, Torrance’s Hawaiian haunt The Loft. He reviews the large selection of everyday island standards and specialties, and finds the kalua pork one of “the better barbecue dishes in the South Bay.” [Daily Breeze]
Some dude wants to escape the baby blues with his wife so Mr. Gold suggests Chego, Lazy Ox, and a million other spots from the Langham to Bouchon. Sorta obviously, he picks Providence if you have the time and money. How about just dropping junior off at The Tar Pit? [L.A. Weekly]
Shelley Cooper “has some sweet tricks up her sleeve” at First & Hope, writes S. Irene Virbila, choosing Praise the Lard! as her favorite dish, apparently not convinced of Jonathan Gold’s assessment that those pig ears were cooked by a person who’s never eaten them. [L.A. Times]
Comparing Chego to a “hidden Tokyo jazz bar that can take three sets of cabbies to find” goes quite overboard, given the fact that it already looks a lot like average New Tokyo in West L.A., but Jonathan Gold is clearly enamored by Roy Choi’s joint (two raves in six weeks). He even suggests, rather randomly, that the rice bowls rival the invention of the loco moco. In any case, he puts us onto the pastry chef’s sriracha-spiked ganache candy bar. [L.A. Weekly]
Massive Mission 261 is back in the San Gab to serve dim sum and banquet dinners, but Jonathan Gold is not yet convinced it’s better than before. [L.A. Weekly]
