California
- California Wine Country (43)
- Far Northern California (2)
- Orange County (12)
- Sacramento (1)
- San Diego County (37)
- The Big Sur Area (15)
- The Los Angeles Area (131)
- The Mendocino Area (8)
- The Palm Springs Area (15)
- The San Francisco Bay Area (105)
- The Santa Barbara Area (22)
- The Sierra-Nevada Area (11)
Read about U.S.: West
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”Ame, the wonderfully serene year-old restaurant in the St. Regis Hotel, combines Californian, European and especially Japanese ingredients and techniques....” MORE>> |
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”Thanks, though, to chef Alain Giraud's exquisite modern French cooking and co-owner Joe Pytka's insane infusion of cash, Bastide is...” MORE>> |
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”Young scenesters congregate at this bistro's raw bar nightly....” MORE>> |
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”Leary appears happy to be cooking—not a leisured happiness but the happiness of rock climbers and chess players, the happiness...” MORE>> |
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”The ultimate Hollywood experience. The tables at this celeb-filled restaurant inside André Balazs’s famed hotel must be reserved well in...” MORE>> |
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”using my campus-job earnings to splurge on dinners at Chez Panisse...” MORE>> |
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”Coi's chef (and F&W Best New Chef 1997) Daniel Patterson combines his passions for local ingredients and avant-garde experimentation. With...” MORE>> |
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”As the Ritz-Carlton finishes its $12 million renovation, chef Ron Siegel continues to serve his excellent modern French food, which...” MORE>> |
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”The newest incarnation of the pioneering 30-year-old restaurant at Domaine Chandon is Étoile. Executive chef Christopher Manning cooks with a...” MORE>> |
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”Fraîche owner and general manager Thierry Perez came away from stints at Daniel and Bouley Bakery in New York City...” MORE>> |
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”We ate the famous Hog Island oysters and had a bottle of winemaker Sean Thackrey’s stunningly original Pleiades blend from...” MORE>> |
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”The Great Pumpkin Bartender Tim Staehling thinks outside the pie plate: pumpkin purée, lemon juice, and simple syrup with bourbon...” MORE>> |
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”Although Salvatore Marino’s West Side Italian restaurant has actually been open since 1997, it was reborn last year with the...” MORE>> |
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”In a tiny, minimalist space with a tranquil garden out front, Choo sells the chocolates she painstakingly makes and paints...” MORE>> |
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”Perhaps the most influential Italian chef in Los Angeles, Gino Angelini is slowly expanding his empire with this second outpost...” MORE>> |
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”Melisse’s Josiah Citrin and JiRaffe’s Raphael Lunetta (the “lemon” and “moon,” respectively) join forces for this popular, upscale cafeteria, serving...” MORE>> |
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”Smash-hit Sunday Suppers featuring California-French cuisine ...” MORE>> |
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”In the high-ceilinged Barbara Barry–designed space, chef Michael Mina prepares luxe American cuisine—much of it served on platters that Mina...” MORE>> |
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”On his tasting menu, he serves a spectacularly tasty and simple dish made from a single egg encased in dough...” MORE>> |
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”This lively Italian restaurant from Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali, and Joseph Bastianich, is located next door to popular sister establishment...” MORE>> |
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”The Frank Gehry–designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, one of the biggest attractions to open in L.A. in the past decade...” MORE>> |
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”Two Italian chefs serve exquisite dishes based on specialties from their native regions of Marche and Abruzzo as well as...” MORE>> |
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”Supercrisp pizzas from Chez Panisse alum Charlie Hallowell....” MORE>> |
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”An ambitious collaboration between Italian-born Donato Poto—he’s the elegant maître d’—and the gifted chef Michael Cimarusti, Providence announces its serious...” MORE>> |
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”San Francisco chefs are fanatical about seasonality—Michael Tusk, a veteran of Chez Panisse and Oliveto, even more than most. He’ll...” MORE>> |
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”At restaurateur Drew Nieporent’s downtown bastion, chef Stuart Brioza prepares an impressive California modern cuisine menu, while his girlfriend, Nicole...” MORE>> |
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”...San Francisco’s vaunted Vietnamese restaurant...” MORE>> |
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”David Myers throws constant curveballs with his freestyle tasting menus. But his staff does an impressive job finding brilliant wine...” MORE>> |
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”A16’s sister restaurant, SPQR, opened in September 2007 and serves—as you might guess from its name, which refers to the...” MORE>> |
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”German riesling is very much the focus of the list created by Spruce partner and wine-and-spirits director Andrew Green. In...” MORE>> |
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”Southern French cuisine with Asian influences, by chefs Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani....” MORE>> |
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”Starting an all-vegetable restaurant in Napa Valley, a region famed for producing the ultimate steak wine (Cabernet Sauvignon), takes either...” MORE>> |
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”Hiro Urasawa, a protégé of Masa Takayama, is one of America’s most accomplished Japanese chefs. At his small Beverly Hills...” MORE>> |
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”At this upbeat neighborhood spot, young chef Jared Simons prepares creative comfort food....” MORE>> |
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”It’s hard to decide which dish at Zuni is most iconic. Some would argue for the whole-leaf, anchovy-spiked Caesar salad;...” MORE>> |
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”At his elegant place in the newly revived Fillmore Jazz District, David Lawrence serves Southern-inflected food, frying shrimp in a...” MORE>> |
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”Guests who manage to wedge themselves into one of 1550 Hyde's 42 coveted seats find that what the spare, mostly...” MORE>> |
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”Tim Goodell, an F&W Best New Chef 2000, recently opened a burger joint, 25 Degrees, in Hollywood. He uses organic...” MORE>> |
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”As the wine director and co-owner of A16, the standout Southern Italian restaurant in San Francisco, Shelley has built a...” MORE>> |
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”At the café’s noodle station, visitors can try Phan’s signature Vietnamese dishes, like a ginger-infused lemongrass pork with vermicelli. The...” MORE>> |
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”At her spacious outpost in Pacific Bell Park stadium, Traci Des Jardins (an F&W Best New Chef 1995) uses only...” MORE>> |
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”For a zeitgeist, post-dot-com dining experience, À Côté, a cozy little den with sponged ocher walls and vaguely Belle Époque...” MORE>> |
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”Addison’s wine director, Jesse Rodriguez, says his wine list is 'all about relationships,' referring both to his reunion with chef...” MORE>> |
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”There’s a different four-course dinner menu for each night of the week; Monday’s buttermilk fried chicken is the overwhelming favorite....” MORE>> |
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”Co-owned by Robert De Niro, Miramax honchos Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and Ridley Scott, Ago serves updated Tuscan fare, such...” MORE>> |
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”The Albion River Inn has the best local wine list....” MORE>> |
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”Jeff Smith, owner of Hourglass Vineyard, claims the best burge...” MORE>> |
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”...a 100-year-old white-and-blue-painted (former) boathouse...” MORE>> |
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”You'll learn more about sake only by sampling different types. Here, a few of our favorite sources in the United...” MORE>> |
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”A meal at A.O.C., in La Brea, is a must....” MORE>> |
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”Though the Gaslamp Quarter's Fourth and Fifth Avenues are lined with many sidewalk restaurants, Aqua Blu, is a standout for...” MORE>> |
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”The scotch-and-sirloin set flocks to the Parkway Grill for lobster-filled cocoa crêpes and to the wood-paneled Arroyo Chop House for...” MORE>> |
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”At Arterra, in the unfortunately sterile San Diego Marriott Del Mar, chef Bradley Ogden turns out smart, produce-driven (nearby Chino...” MORE>> |
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”It's in a strip mall, the best sushi I've ever had in my life....” MORE>> |
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”The fish taco once represented the culinary apogee in San Diego, but a flurry of openings has put the city...” MORE>> |
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”At the 21-year-old restaurant that became an inn and helped create Napa Valley's wine country cuisine, chef Richard Reddington continues...” MORE>> |
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”Christian Shaffer, chef and owner of Chloe in Playa del Ray, has a second restaurant, Avenue, in Manhattan Beach....” MORE>> |
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”Playing Alvy Singer in 1977’s Annie Hall, Woody Allen famously described Los Angeles as a place whose only cultural advantage...” MORE>> |
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”Pastry chef Cheryl Burr of San Francisco’s Bacar loves candy, as is obvious from her homage to the Almond Joy...” MORE>> |
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”Hey, squirt, how about some mac and mascarpone? It's on the kids' menu at the Bacara Resort's Bistro, along with...” MORE>> |
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”Unless you're a vegetarian, order the 40-day dry-aged Aurora Angus New York strip. Choose from among nine sauces—'housemade' Worcestershire, 'J.1.'...” MORE>> |
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”Chef Budi Kazali at the Ballard Inn in Ballard, California, tops tuna carpaccio with peppery wasabi sprouts....” MORE>> |
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”If you squint, you might think you were in a Cape Cod village. The chef himself constructed the faux facades...” MORE>> |
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”It's no surprise that a Moroccan-Spanish tapas restaurant would have a sultry vibe, but owner Jocelyn Bulow sets the mood...” MORE>> |
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”The first restaurant for Jessica Bonecutter...” MORE>> |
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”Bar Lubitsch has an army of vodkas 200-strong and a dance floor appropriately named Red Room. Co-owned by Sean MacPherson...” MORE>> |
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”Light-flooded and tranquil by day, Barndiva (231 Center St.; 707/431-0100; dinner for two $70) roars to life at night, when...” MORE>> |
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”The watering hole local oenophiles were waiting for...” MORE>> |
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”'I was having brunch on the rocks once with a friend, watching the dolphins go by, when a wave crashed...” MORE>> |
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”Chef Kazuto Matsusaka spent nearly a decade at Wolfgang Puck's influential Chinois on Main beginning in the '80s. Now he's...” MORE>> |
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”Bracken's sense of whimsy shows on the plate—a welcome twist in a pretty-but-staid dining room. Bluefin tuna 'lollipops' consist of...” MORE>> |
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”Need a foie gras fix? Bistro 45 will fit the bill with stellar goose liver, escargots, and bouillabaisse in an...” MORE>> |
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”A Sonoma stalwart with a small but appealing wine list; it's been turning out solid bistro food for 11 years....” MORE>> |
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”Kathman makes a wonderful rabbit terrine with celery-root salad; his miso-and-sake salmon is an inspired take on the Nobu classic....” MORE>> |
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”An unexpected perk along a lonely stretch of warehouses in Culver City, this bakery's shaded patio and turquoise window frames...” MORE>> |
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”The Blue Bottle Café's halogen-powered Japanese coffee siphon is the only one of its kind in North America. ...” MORE>> |
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”As settings go, it's hard to beat the Mid-Century Modern poolside patio at Blue on Blue in the Avalon Hotel...” MORE>> |
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”The Blvd gets so packed, and the hotel has just upgraded its room-service menu, I eat in. I have a...” MORE>> |
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”Grilled meats and marinated seafood in Mini Me portions and rotund sandwiches known as bocadillos make for relaxed, elbows-on-the-table eating...” MORE>> |
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”San Diego’s 70 miles of coastline has always lured visitors, but in the past several years, the urban landscape has...” MORE>> |
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”A clone of a stylish Japanese restaurant in downtown Manhattan, housed in Beverly Hills’s trendy new Thompson Hotel....” MORE>> |
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”The Boonville Hotel restaurant is a favorite of the valley's winemakers....” MORE>> |
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”For his latest project, slated to open this month, Thomas Keller, superstar chef-owner of the French Laundry and Bouchon, stole...” MORE>> |
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”The silky cheesecake is made with fromage blanc...” MORE>> |
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”Like a quaint culinary lab, this small open kitchen in the Ferry Building produces sauces, crèmes, and stocks for discriminating...” MORE>> |
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”Brothers Restaurant at Mattei's Tavern Jeff and Matt Nichols opened Mattei's Tavern two years ago, and it's still the hottest restaurant...” MORE>> |
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”The stylish ristorante Buon Appetito is known for its grilled quail over lentils....” MORE>> |
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”Rustic European dishes such as broiled Bahia Falsa oysters and rabbit ravioli are among the offerings at Café Cerise, located...” MORE>> |
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”Steak frites and sole marinière are the prime plats at Café Chloe....” MORE>> |
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”A small chain of restaurants specializing in raw vegan cuisine. ...” MORE>> |
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”At lunchtime the closet-sized kitchen serves chic sandwiches on Acme baguettes and unimpeachable piatti di giorno, such as a super-Tuscan...” MORE>> |
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”The inexpensive and Zin-expansive wine list make this worth a try....” MORE>> |
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”Dishes from the hearth might include roast pork with sorrel gratin and grilled artichokes with wild greens...” MORE>> |
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”Raised in Gascony and apprenticed at Paris's Taillevent, chef Laurent Manrique makes the most of the Californian cornucopia in dishes...” MORE>> |
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”The Italian restaurant features a large live tree inside. ...” MORE>> |
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”At Chez Papa Bistrot, Swede Ola Fendert cooks stellar Provençal seafood....” MORE>> |
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”An art-filled loft space in an industrial alley is the site of one of the city's most daring new bistros....” MORE>> |
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”The regional dishes, carefully prepared according to the recipes of the owner's mother, are a welcome change from the standard...” MORE>> |
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”The house specialty—fried chicken with toasted chiles—arrived radiating an aroma of smoky capsicum that reminded us of Mexican mole....” MORE>> |
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”The enchiladas at Cielo, at Ventana Inn & Spa in Big Sur, with perfectly smoky mole sauce and just-made guacamole...” MORE>> |
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”Fire-breathing statues are no competition for the creative Australia-inspired cuisine at Santa Monica's trendiest restaurant....” MORE>> |
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”Haute-comfort food maven Cindy Pawlcyn's most personal restaurant yet....” MORE>> |
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”Half-restaurant, half-pâtisserie, Citizen Cake is the perfect spot to refuel: try a crisp Cuban sandwich or a chocolate cream-filled cookies...” MORE>> |
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”Playing Alvy Singer in 1977’s Annie Hall, Woody Allen famously described Los Angeles as a place whose only cultural advantage...” MORE>> |
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”Conveniently located next to a liquor store, this BYOB tapas place stays open past midnight. On the walls: sepia photographs...” MORE>> |
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”Chef Loretta Keller's beloved Bizou has been transformed into this snazzy new spot....” MORE>> |
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”David Myer's (of Sona fame) channels the Left Bank at his new brasserie. The menu has all the classics, including...” MORE>> |
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”Bachelor star Andrew Firestone has created a buzz with his sexy-chic Confidential, serving inventive tapas such as Indian lamb sliders...” MORE>> |
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”The Cal-Med menu changes frequently but has some signatures: calamari with grilled lemons; eggplant Parmesan in creamy béchamel sauce; and...” MORE>> |
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”A camera-ready greasy spoon with only a few counter stools. A tented patio has enough room for surfboards, a feature...” MORE>> |
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”The old-time candy shop is a sweet-lover's inspiration. ...” MORE>> |
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”Design-your-own organic burgers....” MORE>> |
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”Power lunchers adore this outpost of New York celebrity chef (and Top Chef host) Tom Colicchio, whose daily-changing menus are...” MORE>> |
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”Steak lovers should check out Wolfgang Puck's Cut for the Japanese Wagyu rib eye and the prime filet mignon carpaccio...” MORE>> |
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”And the perfect complement to a vineyard-hopping day? Dinner at newcomer...” MORE>> |
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”Caterers Bill Dertouzo and partner Susan McAlindon sell cupcakes in striped boxes with inner rings to hold the confections in...” MORE>> |
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”At Deco, restaurateur Norbert Furnee has created his own cuisine, a marriage of French and SoCal styles that he calls...” MORE>> |
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”Japanese entrepreneur Kozo Iwata opened Delica RF-1, his sleek Tokyo-style delicatessen, to pay homage to his idol, Alice Waters, and...” MORE>> |
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”Not many Angelenos know him by name, but Craig Strong, the young and unassuming chef-de-cuisine of the Dining Room is...” MORE>> |
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”We watched through plate glass as a crew of chefs composed the golf ball–sized dumplings in a spotless kitchen, rolling...” MORE>> |
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”Doña Tomás offers something else altogether: dutifully researched regional recipes, elevated by terrific ingredients. Pescado Veracruzana, where you'd normally expect...” MORE>> |
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”While in town, Haggis enjoys both, from hole-in-the-wall joints such as Dottie's True Blue Café to the haute cuisine of...” MORE>> |
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”At Dry Creek Kitchen, chef Palmer serves only Sonoma County wines—650 of them—and spotlights regional purveyors in dishes like chestnut-glazed...” MORE>> |
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”This restaurant near the Mexican border serves an impressive 875 tequilas, and more than 500 are 100 percent agave. Chef-owner...” MORE>> |
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”There are cool pictures of Mexican wrestlers along the wall, an empty booth in the corner and music we don’t...” MORE>> |
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”Hillcrest's best-kept secret: amazing tacos in an unassuming storefront....” MORE>> |
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”Sonoma's sleepy town square has a sophisticated new bistro, where Ryan Fancher, a former French laundry sous chef, prepares straightforward...” MORE>> |
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”For an even later Mexican food fix, taco aficionados, including Jar's Suzanne Tracht, hit the no-frills El Taurino, which is...” MORE>> |
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”Pastry chef Gary Rullispecializes in crisp biscotti and almond paste rolled in pine nuts at Emporio Rulli Gran Caffè....” MORE>> |
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”On weekend mornings you might wait two hours for a table, watching through floor-to-ceiling windows as an army of waiters...” MORE>> |
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”Chef Robert Riescher's dream résumé (he's worked for Gray Kunz and Ferran Adria) leads to creative tinkering: white bean soup...” MORE>> |
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”Try the lomo saltado (steak with yucca fries)....” MORE>> |
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”Grab soulful barbecue | ||





