LA Register's Brad Johnson Hits Orsa & Winston

A tad late to the party, Brad A. Johnson of the O.C. and Los Angeles Register, files a review of Josef Centeno's laudable Orsa & Winston. The former Angeleno Magazine critic is thoroughly impressed by the experience, especially at the "super omakase" chef's counter:

Yes, he serves a freshly baked bun that arrives straight from the oven, quivering and steaming like Japanese milk bread, but with the more familiar seasoning of Italian focaccia. And yes, there is plenty of raw seafood, like a refreshing Tasmanian sea trout tartare with yuzu.

The chef makes tagliatelle pasta as deftly as an Italian granny. And rice porridge is fastidiously stirred like risotto, then layered with raw, 40-day dry-aged Japanese wagyu beef. Japanese? No. Italian? No. Fusion? No. Labels are useless here.

Johnson doles out a lofty 3.5 stars for Centeno's fine dining venture.

Jonathan Gold was off this past weekend, as was Besha Rodell, but the week prior, the LA Weekly critic filed a review for Dia Del Campo in Hermosa Beach, awarding two stars for the seafood-centric Mexican restaurant:

From the large, almost unwieldy menu, you choose from all manner of familiar Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes, as well as a wide-ranging "ceviche-esque" section, which allows Vuong and Johnson to play whatever games they please with raw and almost-raw fish. It's this section of the menu that is most gratifying, and where the mix of chef-y, New American touches mixed with Mexican sensibility works best.

Hamachi and one small but brilliant piece of uni sit on the plate surrounded by a wild tropical salad — green papaya, mango, peanuts, with half a passion fruit to scoop it up. It's a crazily acidic and bright mash of flavor, but when you get a bite with all the plate's components, it's also pretty brilliant.

The Elsewhere: Darin Dines loves Yamakase in Palms, estarLA tries Eric Greenspan's Grilled Cheese, LA Mag endorses the $3 carnitas tacos at Carnitas Los 3 Puerquitos, and O Hei There! tries Q in Downtown.
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