Email Author Besha Rodell
2013 Stories by Besha Rodell
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Petty Cash Review: Fancy Tacos and Mezcal in Mid-City
published September 26, 2013
Let's be honest: It's hard to get behind a purveyor of fancy tacos. This seeming contradiction goes against so many of tacos' sacred truths... More >>
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Bucato Review: Evan Funke's Helms Bakery Restaurant Triumphs
published September 19, 2013
Is there a bread in the world more abused than focaccia? Spongy, leaden, heavily oily versions plague everything from fast-food menus to... More >>
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Water Grill Review: New Santa Monica Outpost of the DTLA Classic Does Many Things Well
published September 12, 2013
For a city with a 100-mile coast, L.A. has a shocking lack of coastal restaurants. Places where diners might simultaneously eat and gaze at the... More >>
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Girasol Review: CJ Jacobson's New Studio City Restaurant Doesn't Always Succeed
published September 5, 2013
An appearance on Top Chef can do many things for "cheftestants" and their careers. If they stick it out beyond the first one or two... More >>
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Flores Review: The Food of the Moment, Prepared Expertly in Little Osaka
published August 29, 2013
During the Renaissance, there must have been some curmudgeon who, looking upon another resplendent painting detailing the Crucifixion,... More >>
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Connie and Ted's Review: Michael Cimarusti's WeHo Seafood Shack Is a Success
published August 22, 2013
Some chefs find inspiration in a certain cuisine or culture; for others, a particular class of ingredients stokes creativity. For chef Michael... More >>
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Little Beast Review: This Family-Friendly Spot Shows Eagle Rock What It Was Missing
published August 15, 2013
Eagle Rock, the mostly residential enclave sandwiched between Glendale and Pasadena, has a lot of neighborhood dining options. There are pizza... More >>
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COVER STORY
Sherry Yard's Sweet Independence: After 19 Years With Wolfgang Puck, She's Creating Her Own Empire
published August 8, 2013
Sherry Yard is large in personality and small in stature. Blond, Brooklyn-born, 5 feet 2 inches tall, Yard is one of the most... More >>
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Goldie's Review: Thomas Lim's New Mid-City Restaurant Delights
published July 25, 2013
Goldie's is one of those restaurants where even an outsider, having never been to Los Angeles before, could be dropped out of the blue onto its... More >>
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Valley Ho! Three New Restaurants in the SFV Show Some Weaknesses, a Few Surprising Strengths
published July 18, 2013
The wealthy northwest corner of the Valley has had its share of drama of late, what with the Biebs and his white Ferrari causing a menace and... More >>
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Fishing With Dynamite Review: New Manhattan Beach Hotspot's Food Is Hit or Miss
published July 4, 2013
On the trend of L.A. chefs opening New England–style seafood joints, my mother is incredulous. "Why would they do that?" she asks. "New... More >>
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Marugame Monzo Review: Udon Meets Italian Makes Delicious
published June 27, 2013
Behind the glassed-in kitchen at Marugame Monzo, a chef pulls and pounds a 3-foot-wide round of dough. With a long stick, he rolls out the... More >>
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Crossroads Review: Vegans Love This New WeHo Hotspot, and You Just Might, Too
published June 20, 2013
"Wanna go to a fancy vegan restaurant with me tonight?" I asked my friend, only to watch as a pained expression flickered across her face. The... More >>
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Outback Steakhouse Review: Please Don't Call This Food Australian
published June 13, 2013
Consider the Bloomin Onion. Two thousand calories. One hundred sixty-one grams of fat. More >>
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Trois Mec Review: Ludo Lefebvre Brings Bistronomie to Hancock Park
published June 6, 2013
Ludo Lefebvre doesn't like the music. "What is up with this fucking music?" he mutters to his cooks in his thick French accent. "I don't... More >>
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Paiche Review: Ricardo Zarate Opens a "Peruvian Izakaya" in Marina del Rey
published May 30, 2013
Eating at Paiche, the new Marina del Rey restaurant from Ricardo Zarate, is an exceedingly cheery experience. The entire enterprise is... More >>
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Rustic Canyon Review: Chef Jeremy Fox Makes a Good Restaurant Even Better
published May 16, 2013
It's the type of dish that might make a vegetarian weep: vibrant green, ultra-fresh stalks of late-spring asparagus, topped with a pert,... More >>
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Corazon y Miel Review: Craft Cocktails and Creative Cooking Take Up Residence in a Surprising Place
published May 9, 2013
Twenty years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that practically every small town in America would one day have an espresso bar. You could... More >>
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Bludso's Review: A Compton Classic Comes to Hollywood
published May 2, 2013
If acts of extreme eating hold some kind of (unfathomable) appeal for you, here's a meaty proposition I recently tackled in the line of duty:... More >>
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Hinoki and the Bird Review: The Sweet Smell of Success
published April 25, 2013
American cooking is a thing of brute force: Even at its best it relies on big, bold flavors to seduce us. Traditionally, whole senses go... More >>
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LYFE Kitchen Review: This Would-Be Chain's Heart Is in the Right Place, But Its Food Isn't
published April 18, 2013
It's hard to take seriously, this new wave of "healthy" fast food, these McWraps and Wendy's flatbread sandwiches. It's as if fast food chains... More >>
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Allumette Review: Miles Thompson's Echo Park Restaurant Is Outrageously Ambitious
published April 4, 2013
An entree of turnips and brown rice sounds vaguely like something you'd get for lunch at a very austere, vegan yoga retreat. It does not sound... More >>
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littlefork Review: If You're Craving New England in Los Angeles, Jason Travi's Restaurant Is the Place To Be
published March 21, 2013
You always want the thing you cannot have. This is the only explanation I've been able to come up with for the recent proliferation, here on... More >>
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Bar Ama Review: Josef Centeno Provides a Playful Mashup of Tex-Mex and Mexican
published March 14, 2013
See more of Anne Fishbein's photos from Bar... More >>
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Alma Review: This Downtown Restaurant May Be the One You've Been Waiting For
published March 7, 2013
See more of Anne Fishbein's photos of... More >>
