#15 - Lucques

There's a reason that some restaurants last for a long time. Lucques opened in 1998 - that's 20 years ago, folks! The menu certainly feels fresh. The space is gorgeous and cozy, while still being open and inviting. Every staff member that we encountered made us feel that we were their number one priority without being overly pushy or at our table too often.

Danny and I came here during DineLA, and while I had it all chosen out before we got there, Danny threw me off my game when he decided that he wanted the lamb neck ragu. Oh well, next time I'll try the fish.

Honestly, everything was incredible and I can absolutely understand why this place is still in business after two decades. It really feels like a place that could have just opened as a new hot restaurant circa 2016.

Bread, butter, flaked salt, marinated olives and almonds? Fo free? Yes please!

Advance apologies for the horrible photos. The only bad part about fine dining for dinner is that it's usually dark and the candles are the only thing really giving you any light. In the case of Lucques: the candles are in near opaque holders, so my usual trick of holding one right next to the dish as I take the photo didn't help much here!

The was the persimmons with avocado, burrata, kumquats, mint and pistachio aillade (part of the DineLA menu)

roasted kabocha squash with fregola, mizuna, charmoula, pepitas and yogurt

Danny's lamb neck ragoût with ricotta gnocchi, swiss chard, tomato confit and feta salsa verde. This alone is a $38 menu item, so this with a starter and dessert for only $49?! Yeah, that makes Lucques the BEST DineLA value in town. I promise.

ricotta dumplings with wild mushrooms, cauliflower, pecorino and trufflebert farm hazelnuts

hazelnut praline crunch bar

#23 - Night Market Song

Prior to going down this path of eating my way through Jonathan Gold's 101 list, Night Market Song was a go-to anytime Danny and I found ourselves in Silver Lake, and even as a destination in and of itself. What I'm saying is, to date, I'm 24 restaurants deep, and Night Market Song is still my top. Now I've been to SQIRL and it's right up there. The other, A.O.C. was very impressive. But the nom khao tod (crispy rice salad) first up on our table served with a large, cold Singha or Beerlao gets me every time. Sometimes the heat from a birds eye thai chili literally gets me, as in, I'm in tears, can't really taste anything, gulping down the beer to try to make the pain go away. But it's good pain, the kind that when it finally subsides, makes you come back for more.

Danny and I are so enamored by this crispy rice salad, we attempted one at home. It was fun, but didn't come close to what they give us at Song. So we shall leave it to the experts.

It should be noted that we make this vegetarian - no pork in our nom khao tod.

But....that's not all!

Usually the adventurer, when it comes to thai food, I stick to the old favorites. Night Market Song doesn't have my typical curries, so I usually go with the khao soi jay which are mae sai curried noodles with tofu and mushroom. The entire dish is topped with pickled mustard greens, red onions, cilantro, bean sprouts, and chili jam. I always end up taking about half home and it makes for stellar leftovers.

the crispy rice salad. Beautiful & Tasty

curry noodle bowl!

ummm....no. just no.

#86 - The Bellwether

Let's just put this out there - this food made me feel pretty gross. I left there feeling like a salt lick. While a few things were quite good, overall I felt underwhelmed and over salted. Unfortunately, I won't bother driving to the Valley for The Bellwether.

The cheese plate was quite nice. The bread was blueberry bread and the jam in the middle. Winner with this, but if they messed up on the cheese plate, that would be terrible.

Eggplant and goat cheese terrine. This was good, except for the fact that it was WAY over salted. The frisee salad was super interesting as it was atop of sundried tomato sauce and topped with a mint sugar. The terrine itself was very tasty, if you can get past the salt!

The tempura cauliflower with Thai spiced dipping sauce was by far the best thing that we tried. Danny and I both loved it!

We both gravitated to the charred octopus on the menu and when we ordered it, the waiter told us it was his favorite item on the menu. So we thought we were going to score. Score we did not. This dish fell completely flat. The yogurt sauce had a very strange flavor that I could quite put my finger on and didn't pair well with the octopus. The octopus itself was rubbery and fishy. Overall, a terrible dish that we couldn't even finish because neither of us wanted to take the last bite.

Finally, the polenta with mushroom saffron ragu sauce. The polenta without the ragu was delicious. I ate it all up. But the ragu....man, I don't know what to do! I know I like mushrooms and I know I like saffron. But this ragu was really unappetizing. The flavor was off, the texture, bad. I was super disappointed. 

#59 - Jar

Jar had so many similarities to A.O.C. going into it, I imagined they would be just the same. (they are not!) Jar also opened in 2002, is very close in proximity to A.O.C., and is another that's been on my radar/list ever since I first moved to LA.

Other than that and their pretty extensive veggie side dishes, they don't have much in common.

Jar is a bit more "fine dining" than A.O.C. as the latter actually felt more casual (despite most people there being dressed up quite well.) Jar has the white table clothes, wood galore (actually an incredibly beautiful space!) The food was red meat heavy as far as main dishes go. We also weren't impressed with their DineLA menu, so much so that neither of us ordered from it.

I went with a salad, fried clams, and purple yams (after asking the waitress her choice between creamed spinach and purple yams) Danny ordered the Coq au Vin. He was in heaven from bite one. I enjoyed my food, but was a little wishful that the salmon had been available so I could have ordered that instead.

Salad with marcona almonds, dates, manchego, and arugula.

Butter lettuce salad with breakfast radishes.

Coq au Vin - whole chicken portion, on bone. cooked in red wine.

The purple yams with creme fraiche and chives - which were too sweet. A bit weird all around...

Fried Clams! Don't think I've ever had these outside of a Long John Silver's. They were good though! Especially dipped in the house made cocktail and garlic tartar sauces.

#65 - A.O.C.

The first restaurant I'll be writing about that opened well before I moved to LA (opened in 2002) and that's been on my radar/list since I moved into town (2009) but I didn't make it here until starting this JGold 101 challenge. So thanks, Jonathan!

I really enjoyed A.O.C. For many reasons, but one in particular was that it lacked pretension. Our server Alex started off by asking if we wanted sparkling water or "LA's finest" I really liked that he made the regular free water sound fancy and normal. Throughout the entire meal he was great about coming at just the right moment, not ever interrupting us, and being overall delightful and funny.

The inside to (covered) outside transition is really beautiful, with tables of two sitting in the open doors. Fireplace burning next to running old-style fountain, vines growing on the walls. Good vibes abound.

Oh, and the food is fantastic!  All sharing style. We did one DineLA menu which was four courses and added on a few other dishes. I would come back here for sure. Loved everything!

Three cheese plate. I let our server choose the cheeses. Top is a goat cheese which was very sweet and delicious. Middle cheese was a VERY stank sheep's milk cheese, but it grows on you and pairs really well with the dried apricot. The bottom cheese was a triple cream brie, super buttery.

Chicory focaccia. Was tasty, the only problem being that the chicory should be cut up into smaller bites so this dish would be easier to eat.

Black (squid ink) rice with squid. Much tastier than I imagined. I'm generally not a huge paella fan nor do I usually like squid ink. BUT this dish was made perfectly - not too salty - and the squid wasn't fishy. I barely noticed any flavor from the aioli though.

Seabees with beets. So many different kinds of beets, this dish was beautifully plated. The seabass had some of the best crisp to the skin and flakiness from the flesh that I have ever experienced. Fantastic flavor and probably my favorite dish of the night. I sort of wish we'd each ordered one since it was a very small fillet and we shared it.

The cauliflower was sauteed and quite oily - but I loved it!

Ahh, dessert. It was a toss-up between the chocolate torte and the butterscotch pot de creme. I now wish we'd had both (possible if each of us would have ordered from the DineLA menu instead of only one of us. But, we are trying for low sugar intake this year, so just one dessert is fine. The cake was super dense and a bit too much once I had finished off the coffee cream, hazelnut praline, and caramel. But those bites which had all of the elements were beyond pleasurable!

#9 - Mozzaplex

I probably haven't been to Osteria Mozza since 2012. I think what originally brought me was something I saw on Food Network, which I used to watch religiously when I had cable. Now, not so much.

Anyway, it was delicious and I actually think about the food and ambiance of Mozza quite a lot. Not sure why I haven't made it back in so long, but I'm probably due a visit.

Not to miss:

Anything from the mozzarella bar

Ricotta & Egg Raviolo

Pappardelle

Bambolini

Also, I swear when I went before, they also served pizza in the Osteria Mozza? But maybe I've also been to Pizzeria Mozza on separate occasions. I can't remember what I got, but trust me when I say you can't go wrong.

#55 - Sotto

I'll admit, the first I had heard of Sotto was when I began sorting through everything on Jonathan Gold's 101 List. It's a cute little underground space on Pico, near Beverly. I really enjoyed the space and I was happy to kick off DineLA week with a delicious and thoughtful dinner here.

These restaurants are all about the marinated olives. I'm not complaining! These were marinated in lemon and I think parsley. Very tasty.

House smoked trout spread with grilled bread and house made pickled onion and baby carrots. This was delicious but I felt too much for an appetizer. Danny and I halted this and the carrots below and we were both stuffed by the time the main course came.

The roasted carrots might have been my favorite dish of the evening. They were perfectly roasted so as to be sweet and caramelized on the outside without being mushy inside. They were topped with a light sauce made of super thinly sliced red chili, walnut, and thyme. Totally delicious.

The rigatoni with mushroom and chestnut ragu. So tasty! Nothing more needs to be said.

The Branzino! One of the most delicious and definitely the most interesting branzino I've ever had. The skin was so light and crispy while the flesh was juicy and flaky. It was served over a flavorful bed of fregola sarda (kinda like Israeli couscous), fennel, raisins, pinenuts, and saffron.

Finally, a light dessert to end the meal. This was not exactly what I expected by a "cake" BUT I really enjoyed it. Parsnip, date, and hazelnut cake with Meyer lemon glaze.

#11 - Rustic Canyon

For a restaurant basically just down the street from me, it took me long enough to make it here. It's actually quite a small place, with easy to obtain open bar seating, even on a Friday night at prime time. But luckily I made a reservation. Same day too... so despite this being one of those kinda annoying places that requires everyone in your party to be present before they will seat you, it worked out in my favor with some help from the very kind hostess.

Now on to the food!

I will say while delicious, it's a bit expensive for what it is. It's all meant to be eaten family style, but at a minimum $17 for one small dish, this is a bit unattainable for most budgets. So you likely won't be stuffed unless you drop a pretty penny. But I don't personally have a problem with that!

Some really tasty, herbaceous olives and that delicious Milo & Olive Bread to start

Rapini Malfatti. Did not know what this was until looking it up after my friend ordered it. Turns out it is a dumpling-esque ricotta pasta that was said to have been created in Napa, though there is some dispute. It was really tasty. Looked kinda like a tortellini.

Grist & Toll Polenta. I thought it was a bit too rosemary-forward, but otherwise I enjoyed the texture and other flavors going on.

The black cod.

100% the best thing on the menu, hands down. (at least of the items I tried...And the item I had been eyeing on the menu days leading up to my reservation!) Toasted squash seed spaetzle with delicata squash, brown butter, and sage. I am now dying to learn how to make spaetzle and try my best to recreate this. It was superb. All of my guests thought so and I think they should have waited to try this dish until they had finished off their own, so as not to be disappointed.

#17 - Bestia

When I first heard of Bestia back in 2012, I knew I had to get a reservation for Danny's birthday because he loves Italian food and I had been depriving him of it, as I hadn't yet discovered good Italian food. It took a lot to secure the reservation, but I got it. We were both pleasantly surprised at our first meal and went there countless times after. It's currently been a year or two since we've been back, as we no longer live in the neighborhood, but I'm sure we will return soon!

Food items not to miss:

Genevieve's Little Gems salad
Farro Salad
Burrata Salad
Any of the pizzas
Casarecce al Pomodoro
Agnolotti all'Agnello - Danny eats this every time and thinks it is the best thing in the world
Whole Branzino
Chocolate Budino Tart - I get this without fail every time

#4 - Lukshon, #8 - Cassia

LUKSHON
I ate at Lukshon as a meal with my former employer. We ordered family style passed dishes and I thought everything was good, but nothing was spectacular. I think I had one cocktail and then switched to wine. I do recall them having a nice wine list as well as beer, which is what most of my colleagues were drinking.

Looking at their dinner menu, I believe I had some of the following:

Tea Leaf Salad - good, to be expected of a tea leaf salad. I'd previously had the famous one from Burma Superstar in San Francisco, and I would say that one left more to be remembered than the one at Lukshon.
Cold Sesame Noodles - good, basic, vegetarian dish
Heirloom Black Rice with fried egg - pretty good, this is what I ended up eating the most of as no one else was eating it and they all had plenty of meat-filled options to dine on
Chinese Eggplant - really good. Honestly, probably my favorite only because Chinese style eggplant is about the only Chinese food that I enjoy eating.

It's a good outdoor seating environment and the interior is pretty unique. I probably won't return because the menu is just not really for me, since I'm not so into Chinese food and it seems heavily Chinese influenced.

CASSIA
I used to live right next to Spice Table before it shut down and it was one of my favorite intimate date spots to eat with Danny. So I was incredibly excited to hear about Cassia opening. We've gone there at least three times and I'm always happy with my decision during and after the meal.

Some of my favorite dishes from Cassia:

Kaya Toast - you CANNOT leave this restaurant without partaking. I was ecstatic to discover that they were continuing to serve this popular and unique dish. The first place I'd ever had it before was at Spice Table and I could definitely eat multiple servings of it.

Cucumber & Mizuna Salad - I remember it being a really yummy salad and quite large

Black Cod - HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend. I clearly didn't read the description throughly, so when it came as a soup looking dish, I had questions. Then I dug it and O.M.G.... It was fantastic. The black cod melts in your mouth. The anchovy broth had enough salt to help the dish balance out without being overpoweringly fishy. It's really an outstanding dish.

*apologies for no photos, apparently I was not taking many photos of my food during this period...or I have lost them, either way, my Photos map is not showing me anything from either of these locations, despite my many visits to Cassia.

#47 - SQIRL

Before ever stepping foot inside the small, Silver Lake adjacent cafe, I already knew everything about it. I could almost taste the dishes, basically had the menu memorized, and should have already attempted some of the recipes on my own, since I own Jessica Koslow's book. But alas, I'm sad to say that it took me until the first week of 2018 to have my first bite of SQIRL's toast.

After my visit around 9 am on Saturday, January 6th, I began wishing I too was an East Sider, living close enough that SQIRL could be "my place" that I could be friends with Jessica and all the other cooks in the kitchen. I imagine myself strolling in there multiple times a week, sometimes just for a drink (and ok, probably a biscuit with jam), waving to the busboy; the girl working behind the counter cheerfully greeting me by name - but never assuming she knows what I want, because I never get the same order twice.

But that's not my life. Yet. This year is about getting as far through Jonathan Gold's 101 list, so it's unlikely I'll return to SQIRL as often as I dream. But enough about my silly dreams, here's what I ate.

For my drink, I would normally go for the house coffee, but I felt compelled to ask the guy taking my order what he recommended to drink. He said his go-to is the almond cappuccino. "A cappuccino?!" I thought to myself before immediately agreeing with him that I would take one. Of course they make their own almond milk. And of course this cute little drink was delicious. The top was more foamy than I'd before encountered in an almond milk latte. Danny went with the coffee which they fill into a small cup and little glass carafe. It's cute and the coffee is solid. Definitely worth an order, and also goes perfect with the famed Ricotta Toast, below.

I'm glad we decided not to order a third dish. This toast is a beast! Yes, it's big, but it's also rich. The light creaminess of the ricotta is equally balanced by the sweetness and acidity in the Blackberry Meyer Lemon jam and the Brioche toast is perfectly buttered and toasted so as to add the salt that's required to balance it all out while maintaining the perfect level of sweetness you might expect from a brioche. Jessica Koslow really shows off her knowledge of Salt, Fat, Acid, & Heat. (Shout out to the book by Samin Rosnat that I'm currently reading!)

Ah, the Sorrel Rice Bowl with avocado. I loved everything about this. It was incredibly complex, with ingredients ranging from the Sorrel (where the heck can you find that stuff anyway?!) to the lacto-fermented hot sauce (what does that mean?!) The egg was poached to perfection, I am at a loss for words to further describe how this dish makes me feel. I need this in my life at least once a week. SQIRL, until we meet again.

#32 - Otium

My mom has always said I was born under a lucky star. Sometimes it feels true. Like the fact that I win a lot of contests. This time, I got a call from KCRW that I had won a pair of tickets to Yayoi Kusama's "Infinity Mirrors" at the Broad and $75 toward dinner. Well, our dinner at Otium was a little bit more than that, but it ended up much less expensive than it would have been otherwise!

one mezcal and one yuzu drink, please!

Snapper crudo was tiny, but packed in a ton of complex flavor

Squash AND mole? Sign me up.

I'm still reeling at the amount of flavor & texture in this seemingly simple cauliflower dish

Seared scallops and fennel