Jonathan Gold on the Vegan Glory of The Gadarene Swine; Besha on Wexler's Deli

It seems like its every cool chef's dream to open a vegetable-based restaurant, let alone a vegan one like The Gadarene Swine, and Phillip Frankland Lee is no different. Today Jonathan Gold doles out a review of the new Studio City restaurant, with mostly high praise for the young chef's aspirations.

Instead of Squid in a Box you will find Vegetables in a Box - that tiny crate of crisped potato plunked into a drift of blackened eggplant purée and filled with thin disks of asparagus, kernels of sweet corn, pickled shimeji mushrooms, and whatever happens to be on hand that day. The effect is basic yet complex, depending more on the delight of the presentation than on the mash-up of flavors...

At the Gadarene Swine, uni isn't the new kale,; kale is the new uni, served as crisp baked chips with a bit of lemon, or fried and served over a bewilderingly rich purée. [LAT]

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Besha Rodell at LA Weekly finally files on Wexler's Deli, the new-school deli by Micah Wexler inside Grand Central Market.The stand gets a solid three stars from the critic, who praises the pastrami the most:

At its best, the pastrami at Wexler's rivals any in this city or any other: deeply rich, slightly smoky, sweet at its edges with a prickle of pepper and clove. I've also had here it a little too fatty, and once it was just plain dry. But more often than not it's a thing of wonder, needing only a smear of mustard to achieve perfection [LAW]

The Elsewhere: Caroline on Crack tries Caña's new cocktails, Eating LA tastes the new Plan Check in Downtown, GastronomyBlog digs Roy Choi's new lunch at POT, Noms Not Bombs loves the cheap prices at The Corner Place in Koreatown, and Oh Hei There! dines at Kokekokko.