Besha Rodell

Credit: B. Rodell

Best Romanian Restaurant

Besha Rodell
We can now add Romanian food to Highland Park's ever-growing array of international cuisines. Parsnip, a tiny cafe on York Boulevard, is a great value, even in a part of town with a lot of wonderful, inexpensive food. A $9 bowl of chicken paprikash, a mild and creamy stew served......
Credit: Danny Liao

Best Multipurpose Restaurant

Besha Rodell
Because the Rose Cafe has such a breezy patio, such a leafy, appealing bar area and the sunniest disposition, it sometimes gets mistaken for a pretty face without much substance. It's true that the atmosphere at the Rose is lovely, but its true talent is its utter usefulness in a......
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Best New Restaurant

Besha Rodell
Felix, the Venice restaurant from pasta maestro Evan Funke, has it all. The space is wonderful in the way that only restaurants built in old houses can be, outfitted in warm brown leather booths and green botanical wallpaper that feels both modern and vintage. The service is lovely. The cocktails......
Credit: Jacqueline K./Yelp

Best Australian Cafe

Besha Rodell
Australia, you may have heard, is known for its cafe culture; its cities are full of sunny, casual spots that serve great coffee and creative breakfast and avocado toast by the ton. L.A. now has a cafe culture of its own that borrows a lot in spirit and taste from......
Credit: Anne Fishbein

Best Dinner Without a Reservation or a Wait

Besha Rodell
If you've ever tried to grab a Saturday afternoon meal at Gjusta, Travis Lett's Venice deli and restaurant, you'll know that it's entirely possible to wait an hour in between taking a number and having that number called so you can place an order. After that comes the seat-hovering game,......
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Best Restaurant

Besha Rodell
Sometimes I take notes on my phone while dining out, in order to remember later how something tasted or how it made me feel. From my last meal at n/naka, I have only one entry. It reads, "Sushi course: This is what fairies eat. On their birthday." In addition to......
Credit: Anne Fishbein

Best New Alta California Restaurant

Besha Rodell
Mexican chef Diego Hernández is best known for his restaurant Corazón de Tierra in Baja's Valle de Guadalupe, which has racked up admirers and accolades, including a ranking of No. 39 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants of Latin America. Hernández recently made his much-anticipated L.A. restaurant debut with Verlaine,......
Credit: Anne Fishbein

Best $20 Ramen

Besha Rodell
At MTN, Travis Lett's new Abbot Kinney izakaya, the ramen is almost a thing unto itself, so much a product of its time and place that it's hard to compare it to other ramen. Lett and his crew have managed to make something based in Japanese tradition but rooted in......
Credit: Anne Fishbein

Best Use of Fresh Veggies

Besha Rodell
Josef Centeno is doing something slightly different at P.Y.T., something that makes this newest venture relevant in its own right. Where all the food at his Bäco Mercat — meat and meat-free — is aiming for maximum flavor and contrast and excitement, the food at P.Y.T. is more focused on......
Credit: Anne Fishbein

Best Up-and-Coming Chef

Besha Rodell
The recent reinvention of Michael's, the 38-year-old Santa Monica mainstay that helped to define modern Californian cooking, rests mainly on the brilliant decision to hire Miles Thompson, the young chef who used to run Allumette in Echo Park and then left town for a couple of years. Thompson's cooking was......