(Gerry Furth-Sides)  “what are your favorite dining spots” is the question I’m asked most often.  And I love to answer with an ethnic surprise, whether it is a new place or a timeless classic.  Answers are based on the overall experience that naturally includes memorable, delicious food; hospitality; ambiance and originality.  This year’s “worth the drive” are Whittier Chophouse, Pinot Bistro, Cleo & Mizlala, Preux & Proper and Chaya Venice.  Each has the address of a wonderful walking street so there is plenty to see and do to while away the time before and after a meal.   Yes, Chaya Venice, which created our favorite meal  is gone although M Cafe and Chef Tashibe are still serving similar food.

Whittier Chophouse

Executive Chef, Mexican-Japanese American Katsuji Tanabe at the NIXON CHOPS & WHISKEY is key in helping Whittier’s Uptown Whittier restaurant District,  live up to its new billing as the “new foodie hub of Southern California,”  for “I need to go back” service, food and atmosphere.  Chef Katsuji Tanabe partnered with Whittier based Inspired Dining Group to create a classic neighborhood steakhouse “with a slight Mexican accent”.  The small-squarish restaurant corner dining room has a little bar taking up the back plus two more bar areas open to the street down a back corridor.  And it all works, with with the buzz of guests of all ages wafting through the air an hour after it opens for dinner.

]Ironically, much as Chef Tanabe made his mark with kosher, pork stars here along with beef.  A  server casually carves an mouth-watering Iberico ham in the middle of the room.   Shavings gaily passed along to curious guests proved it as the world’s best.

Lucy brings out the head-turner (no pun intended) Confit Half Pig Head for Two, which arrives intact at the table.  The Head is taken back to the kitchen to be shaved up and crisped in the oven.

Tortillas that accompany classic pickled vegetables and Chimichurri accompaniments are crisp, yet buttery as brioche.  And they serve as a tasty reminder at home the next day, heated.

Other must-try  dishes are the Ponzu Fried Chicken with Serranos, Habaneros, Lime and Cucumber and Mexicanized Broiled Lobster.  Next time we’ll make a day of it.

Whittier Chophouse, //(www.Whittierhouse.com)13033 Philadelphia St., Whittier, CA. 90601, Phone:   562-698-3355

Preux & Proper

Preux & Proper’s is in a sweet two-floor version of the iconic (22 stories) New York flat-iron high-rise built in 1902, where  founder-owner Joshua Kopel, partner-Chef Sammy Monsour beautifully realize Kopel’s mission to “bring a little bit of authentic Southern food and hospitality to Southern California.” It is his modest Southern way of saying, “we moved mountains to bring it about.” 

Chef Sammy Monsour is a man who traveled down many culinary roads, and he will readily explain how this works.  His Lebanese heritage shows up in the middle eastern flavors threading their way through dishes, infusing a sunny, cool Mediterranean light among the more earthy heat of New Orleans ingredients.  He fondly recalls his grandmother cooking dinner for the family every night, and we suspect he may be channeling her talents.

Chef Monsour, first of all,  cures my heart, here a SMOKED BEEF HEART PASTRAMI TOAST, hummus, lemon, and shaved trinity.   A surgeon would be proud of this precisely-sliced heart, evenly laid onto a bread roll spread with hummus and rancho Gordon Domingo Rojo beans.  A novel shaved a layer of New Orleans Holy Trinity (onion, garlic and bell peppers) on top transforms it into an instant, natural classic.

In the SOUTHERN fried section, SQUASH BLOSSOM CHILE RELLENO arrives as an outrageously colorful blooming Squash Blossom, hides under a crazy quilt of Humboldt fog, midnight bean & corn succotash and epazote, with pumpkin seed mole rivulets to seal in all the flavors.

The FRIED WHOLE GAME HEN, one of my top five favorite dishes of 2018,  will make you forget about fried chicken forever. The secret is the crunch of crushed pecans and the honeycomb on top.  Add it to the buttermilk biscuits with serrano jelly taste for pure decadence.

CHARRED OCTOPUS in the Fresh OFF THE HOOK section refers to the most tender yet firm, scintillating octopus dish ever prepared.

PREUX & PROPER 840 S. Spring St., downtown | (213) 896-0090 | preuxandproper.com

Cleo & Mizlala

Culinary mastermind, Chef Danny Elmaleh, shines with his award-winning sharable middle eastern plates at  Cleo on Third Street  in Los Angeles, by sbe.   Every refined Japanese-Moroccan dish makes a statement, yet feels effortless and satisfying.

A cocktail bar anchors the 6,000 sq. foot Cleo (named after the sultry Cleopatra), with posh middle eastern decor,  and a vertical, wine list.  Patio dining is enclosed.

A long list of stand-alone shareable, and compatible “miza” or small plates ($9-10) Chef Elmalah’s incomprable hummus, feta & Lebanahen, Babaganoush, Greek Salad, Freekeh Salad here.  Laffa bread, with its puffed up pita look, (upper right corner) scoops up every bit of the delectable sauces.

(www.sbe.com) Cleo Third Street, 8384 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA  90048, (323) 579-1600. Cleo,  L.A. Live, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, 424-888-7818.

Pinot Bistro

Café Pinot’s secret garden cleverly tucked into a pocket on the westside of the main Los Angeles Public Library.  Executive Chef Phillip Martin’s adds his own carefully Latin touch to classics, reflecting the care craftsmanship that has always gone into this DTLA treasure in the Maguire Gardens, thoughtfully  (named after the developer who helped preserve the library after the 1986 fire.  The second of Joachim Splichal’s portfolio, it has been my favorite since it opened.  Warm wood and earth tones add to the organic, hushed feel of the 1920’s craftsman interior.  Glass walls allow the restaurant to fall away into the park itself.

The wine list is reasonably priced with many California and French labels.   Cocktails hold international lure.  The Copper Pot in its Moscow Mule copper mug translates into more of a romance language with a Casa Noble tequila base and , grand mariner, honey, watermelon cubes, fresh lime, basil, and cilantro.

Happily, each engaging dish begins with the same class French technique since Café Pinot opened, graced with evolving inventive touches.  The menu includes shareable small and large plates.  Crispy Lamb Sweetbreads with cumin Rojo, leeks, cucumber roll-up, yogurt and mint, our favorite bite of the evening, reflects both middle eastern and Latin inspiration.   Confident, adventurous Chef Martin’s sweetbread is perfectly smooth, tender and moist with a crispy outside complementing the mild, creamy flavor of the inside with the sweetbreads beautifully interplaying with the rich, more acidic flavors of the spice and yogurt.

All the pasta are made fresh in-house daily using cage-free eggs.  Spaghetti Alla chitarra, known as “guitar spaghetti,” gets its name from being pressed into long strands using a stringed chitarra cutter, which seems to make a guitar sound as you mold them.

Nothing seems too much to ask for here, and I was brought a little bread basket of “ends” or heels.

Café Pinot, www.patinagroup.com/cafe-pinot, 700 West 5th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071, four hour complimentary parking available at the adjacent Library lot,   Tel. 213-239-6500

Chaya Venice

My perfect meal of this year or any year.  And sadly, in LA, a final note that proves that great food, great history, great service, great concept (Izakaya) and a great location off the beach are not staying power.  The inspired brightness, dishes by the evolved menu by chefs under the direction of Executive Chef, Yukon Kajimo.  His whole fish becomes the star of the table, served a couple of times a week when extraordinary fish is available.  Bream is a stellar example.  Unrivaled Mediterranean gilt-head Bream is considered the tastiest. The chefs love to work with this fish for its succulent, white flesh that is ideal for grilling, baking or frying whole.

The whole fish is split horizontally with one half grilled and served with daikon, ponzu and chimichurri sauces to bring out a different element of flavor with each one.  Sushi and sashimi are prepared out of the other half.

The new element to the whole fish is its traditional  binchotan grilling. White Binchotan Charcoal is a type of Activated Charcoal, nearly 100% carbon so it is smokeless, has been traditionally made for over 300 years by charcoal makers in the Kishu province of Wakayama in Japan.

Please visit www.TheCHAYA.com for other Chaya locations.

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