Michele StuevenCharming and colorful new Thai restaurant La La Rice has popped up in an unexpected spot in a strip mall on the westside that is slowly turning into its own food court. Located at the intersection of Ocean Park and Gateway, known as the Boulevard area, it’s a fresh and welcome sight to the immediate neighborhood that has few Thai options.
Crisp and crunchy, the green papaya salad is one of the best on the westside, and like all the dishes at La La Rice, it offers varying degrees of heat and is presented with thoughtful and detailed touches. The menu offers a wide variety of curries, noodles, salads, and enticing hot pots like the Tom Yum seafood soup. Try the beef satay tacos with crisp cucumber vinaigrette and peanut sauce or the coconut shrimp cakes. And when it comes to fried chicken, they do crispy well with their cutlets and wings. There’s also a variety of premium specials highlighting salmon, mahi mahi and ribeye steaks, as well as vegan options on the extensive and authentic menu. Wash it all down with a butterfly pea lemonade.
Crispy chicken wings and beef satay tacos at La La Rice (Michele Stueven)
Moo’s Craft Barbecue will smoke Matu’s First Light Farms Fred Flintstone-sized Wagyu beef ribs, which can be ordered as the main event in the three-course Matu + Moo’s Collab dinner or a la carte with house-made slaw. The three courses include Matu’s little gem lettuce and a portion of the steakhouse’s rich 24-hour bone broth. The partnership between the two local carnivorous sensations, resulting in the most tender fall-off-the-bone ribs in Los Angeles, runs through Sunday, March 26, from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., in the dining room and at the bar. Dinner reservations can be made at matusteak.com. Walk-ins welcome.
In honor of Women’s History Month, Gracias Madre‘s Executive Chef Dian Briscoe will team up with Maciel Bañales Luna of Maciel’s Plant-Based Butcher Shop for a collaborative pop-up dinner at Gracias Madre on Tuesday, March 28, at 7 p.m. The chefs will present a plant-based Mexican-inspired tasting menu featuring Bañales’ house-made plant-based meats. The four-course tasting menu will feature dishes like Corn Salad with bacon, peas, baby tomatoes, chile poblano, lettuce, Maciel’s Queso, crema de hierbas y limón and roasted cipollini onions; Crab Cakes with whipped avocado, micro arugula, chipotle aioli and fresno chiles; Mexican Ribs with roasted garlic mash potato, salsa chimichurri, cabbage salad, roasted asparagus, cilantro and red onions; and for dessert, Maciel’s Mexican Chocolate Mousse with whipped coconut cream and berries.Tickets are available on Eventbrite for $125.
Moo’s Craft BBQ beef rib (Eddie Sanchez/ @hungryinLA)
The Wayfarer DTLA will team up with female-founded Sipsong Spirits for a “Meet the Makers” experience featuring gin cocktails and canapés on Friday, March 24, on The Rooftop. The 21+ event will feature three cocktails made with Sipsong Spirits Indira Gin, a selection of chef-curated bites, and a take-home souvenir. Guests will have the opportunity to meet the makers behind the female-founded brand and dive into the history of Sipsong Spirits’ floral-inspired gin. Tickets are $65 per person + 18% gratuity and can be purchased here.
The Ecology Center, a 28-acre Regenerative Organic Certified farm and education center in San Juan Capistrano, has released a full schedule of Community Table dinners for the Spring 2023 season. Every Friday from March through May, guests will be able to enjoy a multicourse dinner under the stars featuring a rotating roster of guest chefs who will design an ecological meal utilizing ingredients from the farm cooked over fire for an intimate, family-style feast.
Each ecologically chef-designed Community Table dinner menu encompasses ingredients from four categories of produce grown on the farm based on the four seasonal rotations of the land.
- “Market Garden” includes herbs, vegetables, lettuce and flowers.
- “Milpa” encompasses corn, heirloom beans and squash grown on the land.
- “Fruit Forest” includes fruit, seeds and berries grown on the farm.
- “Cover Crop” is derived from plants that restore nutrients and structure to the soil such as grains and legumes.
And speaking of the season, there’s a new spring menu over at Grandmaster Recorders from Executive Chef Blake Shailes that includes caviar cannoli; grilled Arrowhead squid with Meyer lemon and hot chili oil; beef carpaccio made with CreekStone sirloin, anchovies, capers and pepperoncini verde; whole wood roasted Murray River cod in dashi brown butter; and award-winning Westholme wagyu with kumquat koshu and house-made mustards.
Beef carpaccio made with CreekStone sirloin, anchovies, capers and pepperoncini verde at Grandmaster Recorders (Michele Stueven)
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