Jonathan Gold Waxes Poetic on the Meaty Fare at Salt's Cure in Hollywood

This week, Jonathan Gold writes a review of Salt's Cure, the neighborhood restaurant that recently relocated from West Hollywood to larger digs over on Highland. The restaurant by Chris Phelps and Zak Walters (who "occasionally seemed less like chefs than like butchers") is aptly described by the Goldster as a rather meaty place. He cites as evidence items like the "plate of chewy "pork ham confit" dominated by a tangle of pickled vegetables and rowdy herbs [and] the strips of porky bacon that are apt to show up almost anywhere."

While the critic extols the virtues of most of the dishes, the star of the show is the city's best pork chop:

It is probably easier to find a great pork chop in Los Angeles than it has ever been, from the char siu pork chop at Jar to the fennel-crusted chop at Sotto, to the racket-size tomahawks at Chi'Spacca. But the best pork chop in town is the one at Salt's Cure in its new Hollywood digs: a full pound of sustainably raised Marin Sun Farms pork from Northern California, lightly marinated, and cooked slowly, so that the thin rim of fat crisps while the juices concentrate in the meat and the pork tastes intensely, gloriously of itself. It's a pork chop, but it is also a tour de force. [LAT]

Salt's Cure walks away sounding like a winner for its meat mastery and grapefruit pie dessert, complete with "a lingering bittersweet hint of peel that finishes the rich meal like a kiss."

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Meanwhile, LA Mag's resident critic Patric Kuh takes a look at Chris Oh's Hanjip, the restaurant Kuh describes as "a talented chef's intention to provide Korean barbecue that holds its own against the best in the city."

Kuh lauds the restaurant for sticking to the essence of Korean barbecue:

What Oh is doing with his Culver City restaurant is introducing Korean food to a wider audience without trying to adapt, adopt, revamp, or reconfigure. The kimchi is as fiery as any near Western Avenue; the brisket, as rosy and as fragrant when dropped on the grill. Down to its last crisp shards, the pan-jun, a seafood pancake thick with scallions and rock shrimp, is on par with the archetype that has been luring Angelenos to Kobawoo House near Vermont and 7th since 1983. [LAM]

The critic concludes by recommending Oh's BBQ Ribs, cumin-spiced lamb, marinated pork belly, beef tongue, and L.A. gal-b, and awards the restaurant three stars.