Jonathan Gold Names Taco Maria the LA Times Restaurant of the Year

Big news

Congratulations are due to chef Carlos Salgado and his team at Taco Maria in Orange County. The place was named the LA Times Restaurant of the Year by Jonathan Gold last night in the kickoff ceremony of the publication’s monthlong Food Bowl, which was held out in the ample open space of Downtown’s Rossoblu. Writing on Taco Maria, Gold says: “Salgado has propelled California-Mexican cooking into the jet stream of abstracted modernist cuisine.”

In related award news, Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken were similarly lauded for their important local restaurant work, receiving the Times critic’s eponymous Gold Award. Gold himself was also given some hardware in the past few days, winning a James Beard Foundation distinguished restaurant review award.

Bowl and bowls

Speaking of Food Bowl, one of the best tickets of the entire month is happening tomorrow night at The Spare Room in Hollywood. It features the “next generation” of cooks and chefs, from Eater Young Gun Rebecca Merhej of Love & Salt to Ria Dolly Barbosa of Paramount Coffee Project, Burt Bakman of Trudy’s Underground Barbecue, and more. Tickets to the party are $50 a pop.

Dinner is the party

Eagle Rock’s glamorous Red Herring couple is throwing a dinner party with, well, the Dinner Party Download podcast crew. The whole thing is done in celebration of the new book Brunch Is Hell, and will feature food, discussion, and a complimentary glass of wine. The dinner is on Tuesday, May 8 and costs $55.

No more Geezers

It looks like Geezers Public House has closed in Woodland Hills. The casual sports bar only opened back in April, but is now listed as fully shuttered, with tipsters writing in to say even the signage has been taken off.

Crustacean does lunch

Beverly Hills hotspot Crustacean is serving lunch as of tomorrow. Chef Helene An’s signature restaurant will do daytime service Tuesday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., offering options like banh mi, imperial rolls, surf and turf sashimi, and more.

Economics and beer

Food GPS has an interesting breakdown of the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild and its push to create a craft beer narrative in greater LA. So far, the group’s members have created nearly 800 jobs, pushed out $13 million in state and local tax revenue, garnered almost 2 million visitors, and brewed close to 100,000 barrels of beer. Not bad, LA.

Wine for the times

The Tippler Club is partying at Fundamental in Westwood on Thursday, with $25 wine flights and a chance to meet Joe Swick of Swick Wines.