Southern California is restaurant heaven. Where else can you find a strip-mall joint serving 28 kinds of chili, a tap-dancing sushi bar and an elegant cafe in a seedy parking lot? From inspired chefs and favorite dishes to the guy who makes the best cappuccino in town, here are 75 sublime reasons to dine out.
1. J.Z.Y. Cafe
J.Z.Y. Cafe, deep in a San Gabriel mini-mall, serves tea pastries that are considerably more exotic than traditional Cantonese dim sum. Try cassia flower cool cake, a sticky rice dumpling with a smooth red bean filling, or ai wo wo--steamed rice flour balls filled with ground rose petals, pumpkin seeds, crushed peanuts and sugar. J.Z.Y. Cafe, 1039 E. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel; (626) 288-0588. Tea pastries, $2 to $4.50.
For the Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday July 9, 2000 Home Edition Los Angeles Times Magazine Page 4 Times Magazine Desk 1 inches; 19 words Type of Material: Correction
In the Special Dining Out Issue (June 4), the name of the owner of the Beverly Hills restaurant Reign was incorrect. It is Keyshawn Johnson.
- MAX JACOBSON
2. The Grill
We love the Grill for its white-jacketed waiters, who have a professionalism seldom seen in L.A. restaurants. Slip into a booth, order a proper dry martini and study the day's menu under a green glass-shaded lamp. Not that the offerings change all that much. You can always count on the classic chopped lettuce Caesar, the superlative Cobb and the generous Dungeness crab Louie followed by a nicely marbled prime Porterhouse charred rare, the double lamb chops or, in season, the splendid soft-shelled crabs. And for dessert--the rice pudding. The Grill on the Alley, 9560 Dayton Way, Beverly Hills; (310) 276-0615. Entrees, $15 to $30.
- S. IRENE VIRBILA
3. Patina
Chris Meeske has been the sommelier at Patina for the past five years. (Before that he was at Charlie Trotter's in Chicago and the Highlands Inn in Carmel.) Under his care, not to mention his nose, Patina's wine list has gained admirable breadth and depth. The real treasure is his after-dinner drinks list, which includes such singular discoveries as the 1969 Coeur de Lion Calvados ($20 per glass) or Pappy Van Winkles Family Reserve, a 20-year-old burnished mahogany Bourbon ($13 a glass), and the '97 beerenauslese from Austrian winemaker Alois Kracher. Patina, 5955 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 467-1108. (Closed until late June for remodeling.) '97 Kracher beerenauslese, $6.
- S. IRENE VIRBILA
4. Leo's Bar-B-Cue
Leo's isn't much on atmosphere (or furniture--it's an all-take-out place), but it has survived for 36 years on the strength of its very smoky barbecue, served with a brusque, self-confident hot sauce that's intriguingly sour and bitter. Leo's Bar-B-Cue, 2619 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles; (323) 733-1186. Barbecue, $6 to $8.45.
- CHARLES PERRY
5. Bruddah's
In Hawaii there's touristy food, there's Pacific Rim food merging with French cooking and then there's "local food." At the popular Bruddah's--as in "bruddah's and sistah's'--a friendly staff serves from a menu that reads like Hawaii's immigration history: Korean ribs, eggs with Portuguese sausage, Filipino grilled inihaw carne, teriyaki everything and Sino-Japanese-style saimin noodles. Bruddah's Hawaiian Foods, 1033 Gardena Blvd., Gardena; (310) 323-9112. Entrees, $3 to $7.95.
- LINDA BURUM
6. The Standard
The juicy sirloin burger at the retro, 24-hour coffee shop/restaurant inside the Standard Hotel comes with slices of ripe tomato, Dijon mustard in a plastic squirter and a pile of excellent fries, hand cut with the skins on. It's but one item from the international comfort food menu that lurches from Italy to Alsace, Paris, Spain and Japan. The Standard, 8300 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; (323) 650-9090. Burger, $11.
- S. IRENE VIRBILA
7. Europane
Regulars at this tiny bakery in Pasadena develop cravings for Sumi Chang's rich cinnamon buns, enticing almond pastries with summer's stone fruit and, in season, her miniature puff pastry tarts filled with fragrant white peaches and blueberries. EuroPane, 950 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena; (626) 577-1828. Pastries, $1.50 to $4.95.
- S. IRENE VIRBILA
8. Atlas Sausage Kitchen
When it comes to making sausages, Austrian-born Fritz Thaller does it the way his father did it and that's that. You'll find at least 30 varieties of his German-style hams and sausages at Atlas Sausage Kitchen. Thaller can also put together a choice platter of smoked meats with German potato salad, sauerkraut and homemade seeded rye. Atlas Sausage Kitchen, 10626 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood; (818) 763-2692. Sausages, $4.98 per pound.
- MAX JACOBSON
9. Vermont
This warm and unassuming California-Mediterranean spot is just what the doctor ordered for the neighborhood, a place where you can drop in for a salad of mixed field greens, roasted pork loin and vanilla custard after work, dine with your parents, or meet up with friends before heading out to hear some music. Vermont, 1714 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz; (323) 661-6163. Entrees, $13 to $24.
- S. IRENE VIRBILA
10. Cafe Stella
