Week in Reviews: No Miss Irene Today, But Lot 1 Bonus, Lemonade, Sako, Seven Restaurant and MORE

It looks like Miss Irene is MIA today as we have no official LAT review to link to. There's a nice "Find" by Linda Burum (Sako Mediterranean Cuisine) but no stars, no "S.", not the usual beat. (What, no fill-in reviews when she's on vacation any more?) Well, fine then. Today we're going to do something we never do on Eater and fill in the gap with a special bonus review/preview of Lot 1 sent to us by our Curbed cohort, Marissa. She checked out Josef Centeno's new Echo Park restaurant last night:

Ok, so the decor looks...hurried like they just wanted to open something quickly. And its WAAAAYYYYYY too bright, they need to lower the lights. Josef seems much more relaxed, baseball cap and facial scruff. Same open kitchen window as Opus, so he looks out on the action as he cooks. About three four-tops outside, no heaters yet; inside seats maybe 20 or 30 max. Almost every table was taken by the time we left around 9:30, so seems to be doing well for the first week. Very convivial atmosphere, everyone asking the table next to them about what they ordered.

Sure, we'll even let her talk about the food.

More Lot 1, plus Ingredients, Lemonade and the new M Cafe ELSEWHERE >>

Week in Reviews: Akasha, Amarone, Yum Cha Cafe, Father's Office Cocktails and MORE

We expected a total S. Irene Virbila love-fest for Akasha, Akasha Richmond's uber-green restaurant in Culver City, and everything is something: eco-friendly uniforms, great space, lighting is just right, noise level is "spirited but manageable," there's a pizza she's ordered more than once, her friend got all "dreamy-eyed" over a vegetarian bowl with Punjab beans, desserts are delcious. So what gives?

With the main courses, the difficulty of the stretch from caterer to full-fledged restaurateur shows most. The execution can be uneven, too. Roast Rosie chicken tastes like a real chicken but looks like something you'd get from an amateur cook who doesn't have experience in plating or making food look attractive. Asian-style short ribs are cloying. Lamb osso buco is a mess on the plate, braised too long and its flavor drowned out in a strong reduction. It's $30, incidentally, and the short ribs are $29. At that price point, Richmond is playing in the big leagues, competing with Lucques, or with Fraîche down the street.

Ah, so that's why Akasha gets one-and-a-half stars. Miss Irene is "confident" the "fledgling restaurant with a strong point of view---and big dose of soul" will pull through. Today the "S." stands for "straightforward." [LAT]

Amarone Kitchen & Wine, new dim sum in Chinatown and more ELSEWHERE >>

An Outpouring of Taco Truck Love

La Estrella from Great Taco Hunt, Flickr

The blogosphere is abuzz with news of the taco truck wars---YorkBlvd even launched a letter writing campaign directed at Supervisor Gloria Molina who penned the ordinance that will essentially run the trucks out of town---but one of the city's biggest fans of street vendors, a veritable King of Taco Trucks, Jonathan Gold, finally has his say:

Why would an ordinarily sensible woman wait 45 minutes outside a truck to secure the same plate of food she could nab in one-tenth that time at the related taquería next door? Sure, it’s the communal experience, the great brotherhood of the taco-eaters, but it is also the food. In tacos as in love, timing is everything, and if you’ve ever inhaled a taco of pork al pastor moments after the slivers of dripping meat have been hacked from the spit, you know: At that moment, desire and fulfillment are one. A great street taco is happiness translated into the language of warm tortillas, finely chopped onion and a hot sauce that bring you to your knees.

Gold doesn't editorialize much on whether Molina's law is wrong, but it's obvious where his loyalties lie. And really, if the taco trucks were obsolete, where would the man eat half the time? As for that letter writing campaign, an update: "The petition is working and your thousands of signatures are getting some serious attention. We’re receiving support from all over Los Angeles and all across the world...But we need to keep going, especially in the areas most affected...Let's shoot for 5,000 signatures by May 1st."
· Saving the Taco Trucks [~ELA~]
· Keep on (Taco) Trucking [LA Weekly]
· Good News Everyone [SaveOurTacoTrucks.org]

Week in Reviews: LA Mill Doubles, Father's Office Onslaught, Samurai Sam's, Dodgers Stadium, MORE

Alen Lin, 1/14/08

S. Irene Virbila will follow "the extraordinary" Michael Cimarusti anywhere, and this week she takes in the Silver Lake coffee experiment known as LA Mill. Sure, she's wowed by the ceremony of the siphon, the Chemex, or the one-cup Clover wonder, but it's Cimarusti's, and pastry chef Adrian Vasquez's, menu that really gets her:

In fact, there's nothing usual about the place. As an adjunct to its coffee and teas, LA Mill serves food that outclasses any other cafe in town.

Sandwiches? We're not talking tuna fish or egg salad. Michael Cimarusti, the extraordinary chef behind Providence in L.A., devised the menu for LA Mill owner Craig Min. The deceptively casual food he's come up with makes LA Mill a destination not just for the exceptional coffee...The prosciutto panino is made with Reblochon, a cheese that takes well to warming in the panini press. And although $12 or $14 for a sandwich may sound outlandish for this once-funky neighborhood, the fact is, for what you're getting, it's a great value. The quality is there, and that sandwich is large enough to share.

She highlights soups, the frisee salad with coffee vinaigrette, the new dinner menu, Vasquez's passionfruit gelee with basil seeds, and doles out two stars. The Rubbish design, the presentation, the clientele with their MacBook Airs and designer baby carriages are just the things to make any non-local feel comfortable in "scruffy" Silver Lake. Today the "S." stands for "so boho." [LAT]

NEXT: Father's Office 2.0, The Waffle, Canter's at Dodgers Stadium, More Elsewhere >>

Week in Reviews: Bond Street Zeroes Out, Providence, Fraiche, Noodle Shops, Little Cambodia and More

Alen Lin, 1/22/08

The Los Angeles Times got our attention on the homepage: "Something's fishy in Beverly Hills. No stars for Bond Street." We can't say we're surprised. Sushi in trendy settings isn't S. Irene Virbila's forte; plus, she's on quite the tear these days. In a city where good sushi doesn't need stellar decor and designer uniforms, and the trendoids already have plenty of places to coo over, Jonathan Morr and the Bond Street chefs would really have to step it up. Oh how they did not impress:

After several evenings at Bond Street, I have a radical suggestion to make: Stay away from the raw fish and stick with salads, vegetables and main-course seafood and meat dishes. Your meal won't be inexpensive, but you won't come away as outraged.

This is a restaurant where sashimi comes two slices per order and where truffle butter, foie gras, pork belly, tarragon oil and other tricks of the new sushi chefs' trade embroider many dishes. Scallop carpaccio, for example, arrives looking very like an albino apple tart on an icy granita. "It's calamansi citrus granita," the server whispers as he sets the plate in front of us. This sounds as if it could be very delicious. Until I take a bite and find the raw scallop slice is funky and the granita is achingly sweet. I want to scrub off my tongue.

Right there we know this isn't a restaurant Miss Irene would normally even bother with, but she felt compelled. There are a few dishes that worked (seaweed salad, steak), so maybe that's what the crowds who flock there are eating. Maybe they're not eating at all. Maybe that's not the point. We don't know the last time Miss Irene doled out no stars (damn new LAT search), but there it is. Today the "S." stands for "scorched." [LAT]

NEXT: Fraiche, Providence, Little Tokyo and Little Cambodia, more >>

Week in Reviews: Citrus at Social Triples, The Waffle, LA Mill, La Buca and MORE

Photo by Alen Lin, 2/08

Today we have S. Irene Virbila's semi-glowing review of Citrus at Social, otherwise known as the Michel Richard/Jeffrey Chodorow show. Citrus is Richard's big return to Los Angeles, although "return" is relative since the chef mainly lends his menu and cleverly named dishes to the capabable hands of an on-the-ground team led by chef Remi Lauvand. In her eyes, Chodorow is brilliant for bringing in a chef who's name "has resonance in LA" and creating "the most glamorous room in all of L.A. at the moment." But is it enough?

Cuttlefish carbonara is another tour de force, which makes Nobu's famous squid "pasta" seem clumsy in comparison. No noodles are involved. Instead, it's tender, sweet cuttlefish cut to resemble fettuccine -- a subtle ode to texture. Escargots is so rich it's better to share than eat all yourself; it's something like an escargots crumble, with the earthy nuggets disposed in three small crocks, each topped with mixed chopped nuts in a parsley sauce.

Lauvand is turning out very polished food at Citrus at Social. Big question: Will the coterie of fine diners from the Westside make it this far east on a regular basis? And will the condominiums and the W Hotel going up in Hollywood be built in time to save the day? From the looks of it, they don't seem to be turning the tables much, even on the weekends.

Miss Irene gives Citrus three stars, but it seems to be more a direct homage to Richard and his menu than the restaurant itself. Service is genial, but the hosts made her wait at the bar when she was on time and gave her the "worst table" in the house---automatic star dockers anywhere else. (She did get the best table on her second visit. Shocking.) And the crowd is as mixed as expected, with both a parade of "metrosexuals with cocky hats" and older diners, AKA the Richard fan club. Today the "S." stands for "social experiment." [LAT]

The Waffle isn't as bad as everyone says, brunch at Murano and more >>

Week in Reviews: The Hall at Palihouse, The Waffle, The Hungry Cat, Creperie by Jack 'n Jill's and MORE

The Hall at Palihouse probably isn't one of the places S. Irene Virbila's readers put at the top of their must-do list, but she braved the stylish brasserie to tell them: Don't bother. It's not that people aren't going---actors, actresses, those who aren't really eating the food, are there. And it's not that chef Stephanie O'Mary's menu is all bad; there are a few hits. It's just that Miss Irene is generally disenchanted:

Chef O'Mary's handmade agnolotti have a delicious, deep-flavored kabocha squash filling. And the thick-cut baby lamb chops -- two of them -- served with a little olive tapenade make a strange first course, but order them as a light main course. They're beautifully cooked a true medium rare and very tender.

[But]…

If you've ordered the skate wing or loup de mer, you're bound to be sorely disappointed. My skate wing is tired when it should be pristinely fresh. Whole loup de mer is a tiny fellow, overcooked, and with a funky taste. For another main course, a trio of seared scallops sits on top of shredded short ribs. The whole thing is just awful.

She assumes the crowd isn't that much into the food anyway ("Guests pick at their plates desultorily, but they're mostly talking.") because the room and patio have a nice ambience, the lighting is good, the staff "endearing" and "affable." It's just not enough: The Hall gets a half a star. Today the "S." stands for "shot down." [LAT]

Creperie, the Hungry Cat, Waffle and more ELSEWHERE >>

Week in Reviews: Little Dom's Does Little, FOOD, Tomato Pie and MORE

Alen Lin, 1/31/08

S. Irene Virbila likes just about everything about Little Dom's in Los Feliz---the decor, the vibe, the capable, confident service, the eclectic crowd---she's just not that into the food. But Warner Ebbink and chef Brandon Boudet's Dominick's off-shoot is "barely 3 months old," so she's hopeful:

Little Dom's comes on strong with its look and old-school Italian vibe. And with its moderate prices, this Los Feliz newcomer is poised to become a lively neighborhood hang. But the food at this Dominick's spinoff isn't quite there yet. Dominick's shows it's possible to turn out lusty Italian American fare at this price point. The kitchen here may just need some time to pull it all together. Meanwhile, there's the rice balls, the grilled artichoke and that wood-grilled burger. And for plenty of hipsters, that's quite enough.

We thought restaurants didn't get reviewed until after three months, so, sure, Little Dom's probably needs more time. But the constant crowds really don't seem to mind. One star for Little Dom's. Today the "S." stands for "too soon." [LAT]

FOOD, Tomato Pie, Hatfield's, Roy's and more ELSEWHERE >>

A Week in the Stomach of Jonathan Gold

It's a proven fact LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold has a stomach of steel. Did you ever wonder how much he dines out in a week and where? He probably doesn't even write about three-quarters of what he eats, until now: Gold opens his dining diary:

Tuesday: Irish whiskey lunch at Cafe Pinot
Wednesday: Spicy beef noodles at Mandarin Noodle Deli
Thursday: Mole and insects at Guelaguetza
Friday: A Lenten feast at La Casita Mexicana
Saturday: Afternoon paella at La Española, dinner ramen at Asah
Sunday: Deflate
· A week in the life of Jonathan Gold's stomach [LAW]

Week in Reviews: The Range Near SLO, STK, La Fonda, Luckyfish and MORE

We're all for finding new restaurants in Central Coast wine country, but even S. Irene Virbila surprises us with this random pick. She heads way north---Santa Margarita, a few miles north of San Luis Obispo---to try The Range, a good country restaurant with cowboy sensibilities. Nothing revolutionary, just good:

On a weeknight, the place is half full, yet the chef and owner, Jeff Jackson, isn't cutting back. The waitress recites the four specials that night with real appreciation in her voice. She knows they're good. But I've already spotted crawfish cakes on the menu. Steak with red-eye gravy? For sure. A homey tomato bisque, wild arugula salad and seafood risotto. Sounds good. It all sounds good.

Everything's just so darn good, it's about the only adjective she can find (at least 10 times) to describe many things, from the French onion soup to the beet salad to the wine list. The tucked-away, mostly locals-only restaurant is so good it gets two stars. Today the "S." stands for "strange." [LAT]

NEXT: Akasha, Luckyfish, Big Sugar Bakeshop and more ELSEWHERE >>

Week in Reviews: Bar Pintxo, The Waffle, Craft and More

Alen Lin, 1/25/08

S. Irene Virbila feels the need to school all the detractors about Joe Miller's Bar Pintxo: Tapas are single servings to nibble on, not big portions for multi-course dining, and just drink the Spanish wines. This all said with a heavy dose of "quit your bitching" sensed between words. As much as Miss Irene appreciates Miller's attempts at running an almost traditional tapas bar, she has her quibbles with portions:

His seem oversized compared with Spanish versions. It's as if he wants to pile enough stuff on top that he can charge $4 or $5 each. (He's got serious overhead, more probably than a typical tapas bar in Spain has to float.) And it's these real tapas -- pieces of bread topped with chorizo, tuna salad or tomato -- that are the least satisfying items on the menu, oddly enough, though I do like the simple and classic grilled bread rubbed with fresh tomato and topped with serrano ham.

If you must eat a meal, get the paella, a seat at the bar and sip and nibble. And by the way, the bar stools inside are indeed uncomfortable, but they weren't designed for marathon dining. Bar Pintxo gets one-and-a-half stars. [LAT]

Checking in at The Waffle, Craft, Aunti Em's and more ELSEWHERE >>