Where 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, Steve Samson, chef (along with Zach Pollack) at Sotto, tells us his favorite spots to eat these days.

Although he's known for his unflinchingly Italian cooking at Sotto, on his days off chef Steve Samson heads south (geographically) and east (culturally).

“I love to venture down to the South Bay for great, and inexpensive, Japanese pub food,” he says.

“Torihei in Torrance offers $10 Sapporo pitchers plus amazing oden, yakitori and a boiled chicken skin salad that I'm strangely addicted to.

“Shin Sen Gumi in Gardena serves a delicious chawan mushi and killer yakitori, with unlimited heaps of their housemade yuzu kosho to rub all over everything. An ice cold Okinawan Orion beer will help get rid of the sting.”

See also:

Where The Chefs Eat: Animal's Jon Shook

The Chef's Library: Steve Samson + Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well by Pellegrino Artusi

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