Jonathan Gold Reviews Alma Downtown

As predicted, this week The Goldster tackles chef Ari Taymor's Alma, which started off as a pop-up though has settled into its Downtown home for at least a while. No words of criticism whatsoever, The Goldster is an eager fan:

You might see a spare salad, shreds of radicchio and curly endive interspersed with foraged chickweed, dock and oxalis, dressed with horseradish and a little crème fraîche, sprinkled with tiny bits of nuts and seeds. You are not quite sure what any one bite you are eating might be, but it tastes gloriously, of early California fall.

You may have seen dishes like this at Manresa or Coi in the Bay Area, but nobody is cooking quite like this in L.A. at the moment. This is a modest but sure step toward the cuisine most often seen in restaurants with six-month waiting lists and $145 tasting menus.

[Photo: Cookie Chomper]

Though she spots a few missteps, B-Rod is generally charmed by raw restaurant M.A.K.E. : "M.A.K.E. is about showcasing the tricks and discoveries Matthew Kenney has come up with, in presenting the raw-food recipes with the biggest wow factor. As a novelty, or a treat that's far healthier than much of what's out there in the dining world, M.A.K.E. displays the inventive and often delicious potential of raw food." [LAW]

The Elsewhere: Dig Lounge tests Slater's 50/50, Eat: LA files on Babette Bakery, Gastronomy hits Siem Reap, kevinEats at LudoBites 10, and Midtown Lunch test ROC Star.