Anne Fishbein

5 Great Chicken Liver Dishes in Los Angeles

Leading up to this year's Best of L.A. issue (coming out Oct. 3), we'll be bringing you periodic lists of some of the best things we've found to eat and drink around town. Ice cream sandwiches and bowls of tsukemen, fish tacos and dan dan mian, cups of boba and glasses of booze. Read on. It wasn't ... More >>

Labor Day Alternatives: 3 Great Restaurants That Feel Like a Vacation

Labor Day is around the corner, making it the last chance this season to take a proper vacation -- which in turn is maybe the best time to stay in town, given the less people and less traffic. It doesn't have to be extensive or too expensive, if you choose the city's food as your main mode of transp ... More >>

Little Beast Review: This Family-Friendly Spot Shows Eagle Rock What It Was Missing

10 Legendary Los Angeles Desserts, Then and Now

Check out our annual restaurant issue, which this year celebrates desserts, out this Thursday, August 8. A great dish can define a chef or a restaurant, can install itself in the collective consciousness or trigger happy memories (see: Proust, madeleines) in a way that transcends the meal itself. C ... More >>

5 Great L.A. Restaurants for House-Made Charcuterie

Leading up to this year's Best of L.A. issue (due out Oct. 3), we'll be bringing you periodic lists of some of the best things we've found to eat and drink around town. Ice cream sandwiches and bowls of tsukemen, fish tacos and dan dan mian, cups of boba and glasses of booze. Read on. The charcuter ... More >>

The 11th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational: DIY Panini, Costumes Who Got the Gold

Check out Anne Fishbein's slideshow of the 2013 GSI. The 11th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational, held this past Saturday, had something for everyone. It's almost impossible to express the level of silliness and the abject joy of people gorging on sandwiches at a seamlessly executed event, but we'l ... More >>

LYFE Kitchen Review: This Would-Be Chain's Heart Is in the Right Place, But Its Food Isn't

Cochon 555 Returns to Los Angeles

After Cochon 555 2011, we surrendered. Fattened up like one of the hogs that the crowds of attendees had, locust-like, swirled around, oily-faced and intoxicated, we swore the thing off. We were almost politically opposed to the maniacal level of indulgence that the event seemed to encourage. Thi ... More >>

Five Wines to Seek Out in L.A. Wine Bars That You Probably Won't Find Anywhere Else

Here in Los Angeles our embarrassment of riches wine-wise might sometimes lead to a forest-for-the-trees blindness, with too much to weed through on the shelves or the wine lists to actually find something you like. Fortunately area wine bars work hard to assemble lists that are highly focused and d ... More >>

5 Essential Italian Restaurants in Los Angeles

Our 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants issue came out last week, and we're highlighting a few categories drawing from the list. Today: Italian restaurants. This isn't every single Italian or Italian-influenced spot on the list, so make sure you check out the whole thing, but here are five of our favorit ... More >>

5 Essential Restaurants With Great Cocktails

As you may or may not have noticed, our 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants issue came out this week. Over the next few days we'll be highlighting a few categories drawing from the list. Today: Cocktails! There are a ton of restaurants on our list with fantastic cocktail programs, so make sure you check ... More >>

99 Essential L.A. Restaurants 2013 Issue: Now Out in Print

Today, as you may have noticed already, our 99 Essential Restaurants issue has landed at your newsstand, in your in-box, on your laptop or wherever you're reading this -- and hopefully, eventually, repeatedly, on your plate. This year, unsurprisingly, there are a lot of changes. A new restaurant c ... More >>

5 Food Trends We're Thankful For: An Antidote To Whiny Food Writer Syndrome

We food writers are a cranky bunch. Given today's blog cycle and demand for daily conversation, any small nuance of the dining world is fodder for essay-length dissection, usually of the negative variety. We don't like small plates. We don't like communal dining. We think wine prices are rising. We' ... More >>

10 Great Restaurants for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is almost here and you are going to need some reservations if you want to wine and dine your honey in style. So maybe stop procrastinating. Last year, we gave you a list of the most romantic restaurants in L.A. You could choose from one of those or go with something different. Turn ... More >>

Top 5 Menu Modification Nightmares: As Told By L.A. Chefs

You've ordered salad dressing on the side, extra veggies, no veggies, extra crispy fries, non-fat instead of low-fat milk, mozzarella instead of Swiss, tofu instead of chicken. The list goes on. But some people take it to another level. You know who you are. "It was a tall, half decaf-half regular ... More >>

The Food Rorschach Test: What Do You See in What You Eat?

Food as art is an overwrought concept; so is food as therapy. But food as art and therapy? Now, that's more fun. And so, we created a little quiz similar to the inkblot test you might have taken during one of your early therapy sessions: Take a look at each photograph, consider what you're seeing an ... More >>

10 Best L.A. Restaurants That Closed in 2012: An Elegy in 10 Parts

The conclusion of every year is a time to catalog both beginnings and endings, to look back over what exactly happened in the twelve months now drawing to a close. Which means that we're getting a lot of lists -- thank you, David Letterman -- as we calibrate and recalibrate, and remember, or try to, ... More >>

M.A.K.E. Likes It Raw

And you might too, when you try Matthew Kenney's Santa Monica Place restaurant

15 Great Peruvian Restaurants in Los Angeles

You won't find "Perutown" or "Little Lima" in Los Angeles. The Peruvian and Peruvian-American population is spread out around greater L.A., and so are our Peruvian restaurants. So maybe you haven't noticed these eateries -- often small and unassuming spots, tucked in strip malls far from trendy rest ... More >>

Takatis Pollo a la Brasa: Sanguchon in the San Fernando Valley

If you wanted to rank L.A. courthouses by approximate distances to good food -- places to console your stomach before or after, say, dealing with a moving violation or outstanding warrant -- the monolithic Superior Court building in Van Nuys would easily rank near the top. Where else could a jury du ... More >>

The Pub at Golden Road Brewery: Liquid Gold

When the Union Pacific blows past the Pub at Golden Road Brewing, screaming its horn and rattling the building, the new customers look up, startled, midsip: Maybe Megatron has assembled himself out of all the propane and machinery in the neighboring industrial yards. The regulars, meanwhile, simply ... More >>

Jonathan Gold's 60 Korean Dishes Every Angeleno Should Know

See Also: A Google map for all 60 of the Korean dishes Jonathan Gold says every Angeleno should know, read "5 Koreatown Restaurants Open 24 Hours: Hangover Soup," learn about "5 Koreatown Beer Joints: Hite Requirement," or just look at more of Anne Fishbein's beautiful Koreatown food photography. I ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers Baco Mercat

This week, Jonathan Gold visits Josef Centeno's Bäco Mercat, the chef's recently opened bäco palace in downtown L.A. The ideal customer would be someone who knows what salbitxada is, but also doesn't get upset if she accidentally splashes a little on her shirt. If Bäco Mercat were any more of t ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers Shanghai No. 1 Seafood Village

This week Jonathan Gold considers the study in ambition, cuisine and magazine-worthy menu art that is Shanghai No. 1 Seafood Village in the San Gabriel Valley. Old Alley Pork. "Double tubes of squid." Jellyfish. Shark-lip casserole. One could go on. It is the Chinese restaurant menu equivalent of a ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers the Westfield Culver City Mall

In which Jonathan Gold heads to the mall, specifically the food court in the Westfield Culver City -- previously the Fox Hills mall -- and braves the traditional landscape of "Cinnabons and Chili's Toos and Wolfgang Puck Cafes." Is there hazard pay for restaurant critics? It feels almost illegal, e ... More >>

Got A Question for the Expert? Pretend You're a New Yorker Staff Writer & Ask Mr. Gold

Anne Fishbeinthe invisible restaurant critic​Got a culinary question? Ask Jonathan Gold. You'd think he'd get an avalanche of esoteric, pithy or just downright necessary questions, now wouldn't you? Not as many as you'd think. Send an email to askmrgold@laweekly.com, tweet him your question @t ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers the 10 Best Dishes of 2011

As 2011 clicks down, Jonathan Gold considers the 10 best dishes of the year, a list that reads like a hopscotch through the strip mall neighborhoods and stalled streets of this town. Marrowbones and tsukemen. Stuffed squid and bacon biscuits. Almost makes you hungry. Dan dan mian is at its best di ... More >>

Got A Question for the Expert? Pretend You're a New Yorker Staff Writer & Ask Mr. Gold

Anne Fishbeinthe invisible restaurant critic​Got a culinary question? Ask Jonathan Gold. You'd think he'd get an avalanche of esoteric, pithy or just downright necessary questions, now wouldn't you? Not as many as you'd think. Send an email to askmrgold@laweekly.com, tweet him your question @t ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers Dal Rae

Anne FishbeinRichard preparing the bananas flambé tableside at Dal Rae​ This week, Jonathan Gold considers the Dal Rae in Pico Rivera, where there are enormous relish trays and people in ageless sweaters and sparkly pantsuits and where they still make the Caesar salad tableside, at least whe ... More >>

The Year in Food Photography: 10 of Anne Fishbein's Best

Anne FishbeinMaize cake Gambas at Playa​Food photography, as most of us who read food blogs these days know, is a lot harder than it sometimes looks. Restaurants so dim you need a flashlight to see your menu. Irate dinner companions who do not appreciate your Diane Arbus jokes while they're wa ... More >>

Got A Question for the Expert? Pretend You're a New Yorker Staff Writer & Ask Mr. Gold

Anne Fishbeinthe invisible restaurant critic​Got a culinary question? Ask Jonathan Gold. You'd think he'd get an avalanche of esoteric, pithy or just downright necessary questions, now wouldn't you? Not as many as you'd think. Send an email to askmrgold@laweekly.com, tweet him your question @t ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers Mariscos Chente, Now Called Coni'Seafood

Anne FishbeinThe snook at Coni'Seafood​This week, Jonathan Gold considers the moveable snook feast orchestrated by chef Sergio Peñuelas, whose Inglewood restaurant Mariscos Chente has recently been renamed Coni'Seafood. Same restaurant, same chef, even kind of still the same name (it hasn't b ... More >>

Got A Question for the Expert? Pretend You're a New Yorker Staff Writer & Ask Mr. Gold

Got a culinary question? Ask Jonathan Gold. You'd think he'd get an avalanche of esoteric, pithy or just downright necessary questions, now wouldn't you? Not as many as you'd think. Send an email to askmrgold@laweekly.com, tweet him your question @thejgold, or ask him via his Facebook page. Come on, ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers a Traditional Beefsteak at Vibiana's

Anne FishbeinBeefsteak 2011 at Vibiana​This week Jonathan Gold visits an old-style beefsteak dinner, in the manner of the regional gluttonous feasts (platters of beef, absence of vegetables, rivers of beer) of early last century New York. Was this a New York beefsteak circa 1939? It was not. ... More >>

Got A Question for the Expert? Pretend You're a New Yorker Staff Writer & Ask Mr. Gold

Got a culinary question? Ask Jonathan Gold. You'd think he'd get an avalanche of esoteric, pithy or just downright necessary questions, now wouldn't you? Not as many as you'd think. Send an email to askmrgold@laweekly.com, tweet him your question @thejgold, or ask him via his Facebook page. Come on, ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers Tsujita L.A.

This week Jonathan Gold considers Tsujita L.A., the newish ramen shop on Sawtelle. Tsujita is not exactly one of the crammed noodle closets that are the tsukemen shops in Tokyo -- 5 seats, Foo Fighters blasting, 15 minutes to slurp your noodles so the drunk guys outside can get in -- but it's a lot ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews MB Post

David LeFevre brings Manhattan Beach up to speed on L.A. restaurant trends

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers MB Post

In which Jonathan Gold visits David LeFevre's MB Post in Manhattan Beach, the chef's first restaurant of his own after many years at Water Grill. Nearby ocean. Volleyball on the sand. Bacon cheddar buttermilk biscuits. In other words, a very good reason to make that drive. The recession may be on ... More >>

Got A Question for the Expert? Pretend You're a New Yorker Staff Writer & Ask Mr. Gold

Got a culinary question? Ask Jonathan Gold. You'd think he'd get an avalanche of esoteric, pithy or just downright necessary questions, now wouldn't you? Not as many as you'd think. Send an email to askmrgold@laweekly.com, tweet him your question @thejgold, or ask him via his Facebook page. Come on, ... More >>

Got A Question for the Expert? Pretend You're a New Yorker Staff Writer & Ask Mr. Gold

Got a culinary question? Ask Jonathan Gold. You'd think he'd get an avalanche of esoteric, pithy or just downright necessary questions, now wouldn't you? Not as many as you'd think. Send an email to askmrgold@laweekly.com, tweet him your question @thejgold, or ask him via his Facebook page. Come on, ... More >>

Got A Question for the Expert? Ask Mr. Gold

Anne Fishbein​Got a culinary question? Ask Jonathan Gold. You'd think he'd get an avalanche of esoteric, pithy or just downright necessary questions, now wouldn't you? Not as many as you'd think. Send an email to askmrgold@laweekly.com, Tweet him your question @thejgold or ask him via his ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers Sotto

Anne Fishbein​Our wide-ranging restaurant critic Jonathan Gold returns to the Westside to take another bite out of Sotto.Sotto is a different kind of Italian restaurant, a shrine to the awesome heat of its oven, a place where the hot, fresh bread can come with pureed lardo instead of olive oil ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers Night and Market

Anne FishbeinPla Pao with Japanese sea bass at Night and Market​ In which Jonathan Gold ventures down Sunset Boulevard to Night and Market, the Thai market attached to Talesai, to find -- in a rather unlikely place -- street food. Pork belly? Of course, flavored with fish sauce; sweet, fried ... More >>

Got A Question for the Expert? Pretend You're a New Yorker Staff Writer & Ask Mr. Gold

Got a culinary question? Ask Jonathan Gold. You'd think he'd get an avalanche of esoteric, pithy or just downright necessary questions, now wouldn't you? Not as many as you'd think. Send an email to askmrgold@laweekly.com, tweet him your question @thejgold, or ask him via his Facebook page. Come on, ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers Beijing Pie House

Anne FishbeinBeijing Pie House​ This week, our intrepid critic ventures again into the San Gabriel Valley. Why? Because he can. Because you perhaps should. No, not noodles, but xian bing, little stuffed pies that explain the name of the restaurant. No counters of apple pies and lemon meringue ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers Mozza's Whole Hog Dinners

This week Jonathan Gold stops by the Scuola di Pizza to appreciate the whole hog dinners that chef Chad Colby orchestrates every Saturday, or pretty much every Saturday, within the inner sanctum of Mozza. One pig and the fruits thereof. Imagine. A 10-hour roasted pork shoulder falls into shreds on ... More >>

Got A Question for the Expert? Pretend You're a New Yorker Staff Writer & Ask Mr. Gold

Got a culinary question? Ask Jonathan Gold. You'd think he'd get an avalanche of esoteric, pithy or just downright necessary questions, now wouldn't you? Not as many as you'd think. Send an email to askmrgold@laweekly.com, tweet him your question @thejgold, or ask him via his Facebook page. Come on, ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers Guisados

Anne Fishbeincochinita taco sauce on a spoon at Guisados​ This week Jonathan Gold heads to Boyle Heights to visit Guisados, where he finds chiles torreados, tortillas made at the bakery nextdoor from large basins of nixtamal, and, it would seem, some fairly decent tacos. It is a taco that c ... More >>

Got A Question for the Expert? Pretend You're a New Yorker Staff Writer & Ask Mr. Gold

Got a culinary question? Ask Jonathan Gold. You'd think he'd get an avalanche of esoteric, pithy or just downright necessary questions, now wouldn't you? Not as many as you'd think. Send an email to askmrgold@laweekly.com or tweet him your question @thejgold. Come on, pretend you're Dana Goodyear fo ... More >>

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers Picca

Anne FishbeinPicca​ This week, Jonathan Gold considers Picca, Ricardo Zarate's bright red new restaurant on Pico Boulevard (the alliteration is purposeful), the state of Peruvian cuisine and -- albeit briefly -- the culinary dream team recently assembled in Lima. Any good chef in town is lik ... More >>