Besha RodellWhere The Chefs Eat is an ongoing series in which we ask a local chef to give us his or her favorite dining options. This week, we check in with Red Medicine's chef, Jordan Kahn.
Jordan Kahn says he hasn't taken a regular day off since October. And since his restaurant is open until 2 a.m., that means not a lot of eating out. The eating out he does do often takes place late at night (or, more accurately, very early in the morning), after that 2 a.m. closing time. We spoke to him about the places worth visiting during those precious moments when he isn't in his own kitchen.
5. 101 Coffee Shop:
“This place is near my house, so I'm there a lot. It's this really cool, weird spot, everyone in there is super weird. It's open 'til 3 a.m., so if I get the kitchen scrubbed down real quick I can make it over there after work in time. This disgusting thing I love there is the waffle brownie sundae. They take brownie batter and cook it in a waffle iron, then cover it with god-awful low quality ice cream and chocolate sauce. It's awesome. I have made every single one of my cooks eat it. I mean, it's diner food. But it's the best diner food open that late.”
4. Sea Harbour:
“We were closed on Easter, and I took my girlfriend out to San Gabriel for this epic Chinese meal. It wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be — we spent about $150 and we got all this seafood — Dungeness crab and spot prawns. It's that classic imperial Chinese restaurant where they have $20,000 bottles of Bordeaux on the menu and that kind of nonsense. They give you four different menus and it makes no sense, figuring out why things are on all these different menus. I loved the Dungeness crab with fermented black beans, ginger and scallions. I'd eat there over most high end restaurants in L.A.”
3. Pollo A La Brasa:
“Don't eat any of the sides. But the chicken might be the best chicken in the world. If I had to decide between this chicken and a chicken roast with truffles under its skin made by Alain Ducasse himself, it would be a hard choice. I'm not sure how I'd choose.”
“It's this Korean dumpling shop, and no one is ever there. My girlfriend and I had our first date there. It's a terrible place for a first date. But the dumplings are amazing. They make them to order by hand. Imagine going to an Italian restaurant and having some grandma making the pasta by hand to order; that would be in every magazine in the country.”
Bloody ceviche at La Cevicheria; Credit: G. Snyder
1. La Cevicheria:
“They serve the most delicious, clean ceviche, and the fish tacos are my favorite in L.A. The owners are really sweet, they eat at Red Medicine at least once a month with their kids. One day they came in for dinner and one of them, the wife, walked by the kitchen and saw me. She was like, 'what are you doing here?' She'd known me as a customer for years and had been coming in for ages but had no idea it was my restaurant. Everyone should try their bloody clams at least once. I think they're … well, they taste like hemoglobin shellfish.”
See also:
Where The Chefs Eat: 3 Favorites From BierBeisl's Bernhard Mairinger
Where the Chefs Eat: Sotto's Steve Samson
Where The Chefs Eat: Animal's Jon Shook
– 96: La Cevicheria's Bloody Clam Ceviche
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