Ricardo Zarate

Why Are L.A.'s Parks So Lacking in Good Food?

What began as a public-private partnership bidding process to find a food vendor for a beloved urban park launched a massively successful mid-market burger chain. Granted, any business gets a leg up when an already successful restaurateur such as Danny Meyer is at the helm. Shake Shack now has loc ... More >>

10 Best Octopus Dishes in Los Angeles

Cooking octopus can be tricky. But when done right, it's tender, delicious and loaded with health benefits (low-calorie, lean, vitamin-rich). Japanese and Mediterranean diets are swimming, as it were, with octopus options -- as is this town, where many restaurants have the dish on their menus. Accor ... 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 >>

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 >>

Los Angeles Chefs Get Behind Mayoral Candidate Eric Garcetti

It's common practice for politicians to call on their powerful friends to help raise money. Hollywood has long been involved in politics, and wealthy socialites and campaign fundraiser parties need one another to thrive and survive. But it's new for us to see prominent chefs in the city get involved ... More >>

8 Great Places to Drink on New Year's Eve

In the great tradition of the midnight countdown, L.A. has no shortage of ways to celebrate the end of the year, especially if you're looking to indulge heartily in beer, cocktails or a glass of bubbly. We've complied a list of some of the best options for those looking to get in their final drinks ... More >>

Test Kitchen Returns: Testing ... 1, 2, 3

Test Kitchen was born in August 2010. Located in the lower level of Townhouse, the restaurant that would become Sotto and Picca, it was a culinary experiment, a rotating pop-up that featured different chefs and menus every night. During its 2010 run, from August to December, Test Kitchen held dinner ... More >>

5 Picks for DineLA's Summer Restaurant Week

Next week kicks off DineLA's first ever summer-session Restaurant Week, which consists of discounted prix-fixe lunches and dinners at some of the city's most popular restaurants, available from July 16 to 27. For those who've never experienced Restaurant Week, over 300 restaurants from Santa Monica ... More >>

Grill Around the World in 8 Ways: Celebrating July 4th like an Angeleno

A proper Fourth of July feast probably begins at the grill. And in contemporary Los Angeles, this all-American meal is as likely to be comprised of yakitori and carne asada as hot dogs and hamburgers: Americans have been mixing and matching food traditions from our collective immigrant background si ... More >>

Downtown L.A. Chefs Discuss The Future of Flavor

The Library Association of Los Angeles rounds up a panel of chefs on July 17 which includes some of L.A.'s most influential downtown restaurateurs, including Ilan Hall (The Gorbals), Judy Han (Blue Cow Kitchen), John Sedlar (Rivera), Ricardo Zarate (Mo-Chica) and Patricia Zarate (HomeGirl Café). Ho ... More >>

L.A. Weekly Flickr Pool Photo of the Day: Choritos a la Chalaca at Mo-Chica

Our L.A. Weekly Flickr pool photo of the day is from photographer Darin Dines, whose photo of Choritos a la Chalaca, a dish of grilled and chopped muscles, prawns, squid and tomato choclo salsa, is on the menu at Mo-Chica. The new one, that is. Ricardo Zarate's original Peruvian restaurant, in the M ... More >>

11 New Restaurants for New Year's Eve

Anne FishbeinPicca​On New Year's Eve, restaurants celebrate with live bands, festive décor, theme dinners, exceptional ingredients, multi-course meals, tasting menus and endless glasses of bubbly. How to choose the best spot? We've selected 11 restaurants that opened in 2011 to represent a ... More >>

10 Food Predictions for 2012

​2011 was quite a year in the Los Angeles dining scene. If you had told us a year ago that we'd be eagerly wolfing down plates of alligator schnitzel, polenta sushi, and corned beef tongue sandwiches from a Michael Voltaggio shop with the word "sack" in its title, we wouldn't have believed you ... More >>

Sneak Peak: Osaka Opens in Hollywood [Photo Gallery]

Guzzle & NoshThe sushi bar at Osaka.​Adolfo Suaya's (BoHo, Surly Goat) newest restaurant, the Peruvian-Asian concept Osaka, officially opens tomorrow. Given the wave of new Peruvian restaurants like Picca, which offers Ricardo Zarate's spin on Peruvian-Japanese fare, and Chimu, which features ... More >>

A June Roundup of Restaurant Openings and Closures

Guzzle & NoshPollo with rocoto sauce from Ricardo Zarate's new restaurant, Picca​ With June gloom finally behind us, we begin to kvetch about the heat. Those living in the Valley with no A/C will soon be fleeing to the nearest restaurant, bar, and grocery market ice box. With the emergence of ... More >>

Local's Jason Michaud to Open 2 New Restaurants: Chimú & Red Hill

Guzzle & NoshChimu, slated to open next to the Grand Central Market in downtown LA.​Jason Michaud doesn't do things by half-measures. Deep into the arduous and expensive process of securing a liquor license for Local, his two-and-a-half-year-old Silver Lake cafe, he's opening two new restauran ... More >>

Q & A With Gilberto Cetina: Chichen Itza, His New Cookbook, The Scoville Scale The Happiness of Chowhound Guys

Facebook/Gilberto CetinaGilberto Cetina​Anyone who loves cochinita pibil, the Yucatecan dish of pork roasted in banana leaves, knows the well-traveled route to Chichen Itza in the Mercado La Paloma near USC just south of downtown, which also houses Ricardo Zarate's Mo-Chica. Chef-owner Gilbert ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Mo-Chica

Staff Meals: 10 L.A. Chefs/Restaurateurs Recall the Best and Worst

Picasa user KeithChefs eating​"I never had a bad staff meal," said former Palihouse chef Gary Menes. "I'm very grateful for all the chefs I've worked for. They don't have to do it. It's not mandated by law that they have to feed us, or the waiters. That's their generosity, and I humbly accept ... More >>

[Updated] The Gold Standard 2011: So Much Food, So Little Time

​ Update: The Weekly just announced a special presale for this year's Gold Standard tickets, starting today. Save $10 on both regular and VIP tickets. Enter promo code GOLD 11 when purchasing online or calling 1-888-878-9651. Discount available only until 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 20. The ... More >>

Your Walter Manzke Update: 4 Days at Test Kitchen, El Bulli, Chicago, Etc.

A. ScattergoodSanta Barbara prawn with brown butter, lemon and capers​ As you will know if you read Jonathan Gold's most recent review, the Test Kitchen has been up and running for a few weeks now, featuring a rotating group of chefs like guest performers in a how-do-you-get-reservations-for- ... More >>

Test Kitchen: Never-Ending Experiment

Invented anew every night

Test Kitchen Opens Tomorrow: Red Medicine's Chef Jordan Khan Is First Up

Test Kitchen​Have you ever been to a restaurant and left wondering, for good or bad, "What was the chef thinking with that menu?" Well, now you can find out. Test Kitchen, a new restaurant concept by Bill Chait (Rivera, Spark Woodfire Grill) and Brian Saltsburg (Boyz Night Out Supper Club) is ... More >>

Profits for Peace: Dine Out To Support Human Rights

Program for Torture Victims​ All this month, certain LA-based restaurants will be donating their proceeds to Profits For Peace, a program that raises funds for the Program for Torture Victims. If you mention the Program for Torture Victims, or present a coupon at participating restaurants -- ... More >>

BreadBar's Hatchi Mix Series: Tequila in Three Magic Acts

Steve JulianJulian Cox, Mixologist at Rivera​ Julian Cox, Mixologist at Rivera, is popping up this Thursday as the latest participant of Breadbar's Hatchi Mix Series. Cox will be sharing his Tequila in Three Magical Acts menu tonight, July 1st, only from 6 p.m. to close, serving up eight tequi ... More >>