SIV at Bradley Ogden's Root 246; Gold at Roy Choi's Chego

1) Root 246: Today SIV travels north to the Central Coast and samples Bradley Ogden's Root 246 which she deems a two and a half star breath of fresh air from the Solvang kitsch factor. Immediately, she exclaims, "the restaurant is seriously worth your consideration." Apparently, Ogden can be found at the restaurant all the time, perhaps explaining why SIV is so smitten with the food.

"It's intelligent and well-conceived, with lots of dishes you won't see elsewhere. His take on wine country cuisine is just what it should be: delicious and wine-friendly. Beautiful ingredients plus excellent technique equal one jewel of a restaurant. The place is lively and fun.

2) Chego: Meanwhile, for those wondering about Roy Choi's (Kogi) new west LA eatery Chego, The Goldster clears the air: "Choi isn't elevating Los Angeles street cuisine to the level of fine dining; he's using the language of fine dining to exalt the food of the street...The aesthetic here, which you may recognize from Kogi's specials, is on the maximalist side, which is to say, Choi never relies on one flavor where seven or eight will do. So a plate of charred asparagus, which would be fine with maybe a few drops of olive oil and a flake or two of salt, undergoes a flurry of squirted sauces...Chego is not a place to show restraint...What is Choi's dish for the ages? Probably his Hot Buttered Kimchi Chow... a dish that tastes like every element of a 1 a.m. Korean meal compressed into a single bowl of glop, a dish that some chef from the future is going to reconstruct with foie gras. [LAW]

The Elsewhere: The Find discovers Malaysian at Manja, Diana Takes A Bite eats dumplings at Kingburg Kitchen, Food Je T'AIme hits up the final night of Ludo Bites 4.0, Kung Food Panda visits Petrossian, Eating LA revisits La Cabanita, Exile Kiss dines at RH at the Andaz, and Mattatouille stumbles upon The Dim Sum Truck.