The first thing you should know about Cut is that it is intended to be one of the greatest steakhouses in the world, a Richard Meier space, severe as an operating theater, whose pristine, exotically sourced steaks, some of them from Japanese cows, cost more than great seats to the opera. That is Tom Cruise sitting across the room, and that is Screaming Eagle the guy at the next table is pounding as if it were tequila. The man tenderly cradles what appear to be art objects — that's first-quality Japanese beef wrapped in ninja-black cloth. But Cut is large; it contains multitudes. It is a steakhouse whose strengths lie in things like warm veal-tongue salad and bone-marrow flan, in its potato “tarte tatin” rather than cottage fries, in its marvelous Austrian reds rather than its California cabs. It's Wolfgang Puck's most glamorous restaurant, but its sensibilities mirror those of Lee Hefter, filtered through the chef Ari Rosenson. And there's that A-5 Kobe steak: richness upon richness, smoke and char and animal dancing across your consciousness like sunlight rippling on a pond. 9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 276-8500, wolfgangpuck.com. Mon.-Thurs., 5:30-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5:30-11 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking a half-block south of Wilshire on Rodeo Drive. All major CC. California Contemporary.

99 Essential L.A. Restaurants 2011:

Jonathan Gold's Introduction
Anne Fishbein's Photos
The Google Map

The List:

A-Frame
Akasha
Alcazar
Angeli Caffe
Angelini Osteria
Animal
Antojitos Carmen
Attari
Babita
Bludso's
Border Grill
Bottega Louie
Bulgarini Gelato
Cacao
Campanile
Casa Bianca
Chang's Garden
Chego
Chichén Itzá
Chung King
Church & State
Ciro's
Comme Ça
Cut
Dae Bok
Din Tai Fung
Drago Centro
El Huarache Azteca
El Parian
Elvirita's
Euro Pane Bakery
Eva
Fab Hot Dogs
Father's Office
Fig
Gjelina
Golden Deli
Golden State
Good Girl Dinette
The Gorbals
Guelaguetza
Guisados
Huckleberry
Hungry Cat
Ink.
Jar
Jitlada
Kiriko
Kobawoo
La Casita Mexicana
Langer's
Larkin's
Lazy Ox Canteen
Le Comptoir
Little Dom's
Lou
Lucques
LudoBites
Lukshon
Mantee
Marouch
Mayura
Meals by Genet
Mélisse
Mezze
Mo-Chica
Mother Dough
Mozza
Musso & Frank Grill
Nem Nuong Khanh Hoa
Newport Tan Cang Seafood Restaurant
The Nickel
Night + Market
Oinkster
101 Noodle Express
Palate Food + Wine
Park's Barbecue
Picca
Playa
Pollos a la Brasa
Providence
Ray's
Red Medicine
Rivera
Rustic Canyon
Salt's Cure
Sapp Coffee Shop
Sea Harbour
Son of a Gun
Sotto
Spago
Spice Table
Street
Tacos Baja Ensenada
Tasting Kitchen
Terroni
Tsujita L.A.
Vincenti
Waterloo & City

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