Three Stars For Lazy Ox Canteen, Lines at LA Street Food Fest

1) Obviously this one was bound to happen, today SIV drops in on Lazy Ox Canteen with a full three star rave: "Partners Michael Cardenas and [Josef] Centeno have made all the right moves. The place has an edgy energy, a cozy, casual interior...a seriously great wait staff and a wildly interesting crowd. Not to mention Centeno's deliriously inventive cooking, all at affordable prices...Centeno's cooking is so irresistible and gutsy, I haven't encountered a dish I haven't liked and mostly loved -- yet...His food is alive and vibrant -- and there are at least 20 things you'll want to order...This is one small-plates restaurant where you won't be bored after a couple of visits. Centeno constantly pulls new tricks out of the bag...A few items seem to have a permanent residence on the specials board, like the Ox burger, which, to my mind, is now the best burger in town." [LAT]

2) Today, Jonathan Gold recounts last weekend's Street Food Fest where "The day was short and the lines were long." Though he didn't get to try all of the food on offer, he enjoyed Ludo's friend chicken, which was "a golf ball of brined dark meat fried to a sandy crunch, intensely flavored with fresh rosemary, spurting juice nearly a foot when you breached it with your teeth."

Saturday was all about lines and not enough about food, though Gold apparently tried "stale" banh mi from Phamish, and "excellent" pastrami sandwich from Fressers. He ended up waiting two hours and 34 minutes in line at the Flying Pig Truck for "a really fine duck taco with mandarin segments" and he would "do it again in a flash." [LAW]

The Elsewhere: The Find discovers Hayat's Kitchen in North Hollywood, My Last Bite recounts the LA Street Food Fest, Gastronomy drops by Mozza 2Go, Exile Kiss dines at The Oinkster, LA and OC Foodventures tries Cafe Pierre, The Provender also hits up Lazy Ox Canteen, and Mattatouille visits The Raymond in Pas.