Bavel Receives Another Resoundingly Positive Review

Bavel’s critical dominance

LA Mag reviewed Bavel last week and the overall impression from food editor Garrett Snyder is very positive. Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis’s Middle Eastern restaurant, which draws from across the Levant, feels like a true passion project in the Arts District. There’s high praise for the sea bream and prawns, cooked with harissa over a wood grill while the lamb neck shawarma receives high praise as well. Perhaps the only negative words go for the cocktail, which are “fine.” [LA Mag]

A Good tribute to Bourdain

This week Good Food takes a retrospective of Anthony Bourdain, with long tributes to the traveling chef and food personality who died earlier this month. There’s a lot of heartfelt thoughts and stories, like how Bourdain inspired a producer to see beauty in every dish during a trip to Spain.

LA’s great bar scene

Time Out hosted their annual Bar Awards this week and Mar Vista spot Accomplice landed the Bar of the Year award. Other winners include NoMad’s Giannini Bar for best new bar, Covell for best wine bar, and Apotheke for “most stylish bar.” There’s a lot of awards to go around, and it celebrates LA’s excellent cocktail and drink scene at the moment. For some of LA’s hottest new cocktail spots, check out this handy guide.

EST’s meaty 4th of July

EST Steakhouse, a newish steak destination in SGV, offers a very reasonably priced $105 dinner (for two) with a 22 ounce ribeye, onion rings, and a strawberry tart from July 1 to 4. In all the meal clocks in at six courses, making this a solid deal for steak. Reservations required, book a table by calling 626-607-2012.

Highland Park’s continued restaurant development

Eastsider LA notices that a new building that used to be auto repair shops will be converted into a large commercial property with tons of space for restaurants. It’s a prime opportunity in one of LA’s hottest restaurant neighborhood, for anyone looking to get into the game there. The property is located on the 5000 block of Figueroa, which would be on the southern stretch of Highland Park’s main drag.

A great Bay Area burger at Gjusta

Chris Kronner of Oakland’s Kronner Burger is doing a one day pop-up at Gjusta on June 29, cooking his signature burgers and more starting at 5 p.m. It’s a rare chance to try one of the Bay Area’s most celebrated burgers, and it’s in conjunction with Kronner’s recent cookbook release.