Yes, there are Asian influences on these menus and Middle Eastern touches, too, but none of this is out of line with the cooking of the South, which in recent years has become increasingly international. There's no doubt Shook and Dotolo's restaurants are Californian, in part, but they're also shining examples of what Southern chefs are bringing to the culinary table.
Asked if he considers the cooking at his restaurants to be Southern, Dotolo responds, "Absolutely. Not just in the spirit of it but in the ingredients we try to incorporate, and also the kind of service we want in our restaurants."
PHOTO ANNE FISHBEIN
Rabbit leg with green beans at Animal
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This is something places like Sassafras could stand to learn — the term "Southern hospitality" is no joke, and it's the major difference I see between Southern bars and restaurants and those here.
Dotolo also talks about a feeling of kinship he has with Southern chefs, which is a major reason why he attended the Southern Foodways Symposium this year. He counts Linton Hopkins, the Atlantan given the James Beard award for Best Chef in the Southeast this year and the outgoing president of the Southern Foodways Alliance, as a kindred spirit and close friend.
As with all trends, the fascination with Southern food will likely fade. But great soul-food spots will continue to serve their neighborhoods, and great chefs will continue to take inspiration from all over the map, including the South. When trends come and go, they invariably leave a trace — the mark of a positive trend is that it affects cooking for the long term.
My wish for L.A., and the whole country, is that comfort, hospitality and a love and respect for American foodways are our takeaway, not false nostalgia and a simple, wrongheaded idea of what it means to be Southern.
See more of Anne Fishbein's photos of Southern cuisine.
