Restaurants

"So what are you having for breakfast this evening?" asked the waiter, while pouring Sauvignon Blanc into tiny white ceramic cups typically used for hot tea. As I reviewed the menu, I could feel the stranger next to me at the communal table leaning over my left shoulder. "You should really try the Burmese fish stew," said the woman with bright bleached blond and pink hair. "It's absolutely to die for." Welcome to one of the latest quirky restaurants to hit the dining scene in San Francisco, a city known for its culinary excellence and a style all its own. Of course, you can always visit the usual spots such as the Slanted Door.

With fall comes a slew of openings, and the last couple of weeks have been busy ones for restaurateurs. Thomas Keller's Bouchon, slated to open in November in Beverly Hills, may be the most anticipated, but the dining public can't live on bistro fare alone -- can we? Here, some very-recently opened restaurants and news of others in the works: Umami Burger opened its second location Friday in Los Feliz, an Adam Fleischman-Steve Arroyo collaboration in the former Cobras & Matadors space on Hollywood Boulevard.

The recession continues to take a bite out of eateries. The National Restaurant Assn. reported that the industry's performance continued to decline in August, the latest period for which it has data. The association's restaurant performance index -- which tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry -- stood at 97.9 in August, down 0.2% from July. It's the third decline in the last four months, the trade group said. The group's index is based on responses to its survey about such indicators as sales, customer traffic, labor and capital expenditures.

It was in rural Kansas, near the geographical center of America, that David Sax hit rock bottom in his search for the perfect deli sandwich. It happened innocently enough, in an Arby's. He had ordered a Reuben. "What I got was this horrible abomination of plasticized cheese that tasted like it had come from a napalm plant," he says. "Meat that had been pressed and pumped and vacuumed and torn apart to increase its yield in water but had no flavor. Bread that was just white bread painted a dark rye color.

Gordon Ramsay has opened an informal addition to the London West Hollywood, just inside the front dining room of his eponymous fine-dining restaurant. It's called Boxwood Cafe by Gordon Ramsay and it features a streamlined menu of simple comfort fare created using seasonal ingredients and local produce. Prices are lower too, with the average entree hovering around $16. Executive chef Andy Cook helms both restaurants. Boxwood serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu includes organic egg dishes, waffles, hot cereal, fruit and yogurt for breakfast; and pizettes and salads alongside more involved dishes such as sake miso-marinated Pacific black cod, steak au poivre with pommes frites and baked artichoke tarts for lunch and dinner.

A raw, vegan and organic restaurant called Mooi is being built in the corner space of the Jensen Rec Center at Sunset Boulevard and Logan Street in Echo Park. Party promoter Stephen Hauptführ began a raw, vegan catering company after hosting dinner parties and realizing that his talents were in demand. It wasn't long before he began contemplating opening a restaurant. Mooi is set to open by the holidays. The ground floor and main dining room (there will be private dining on the mezzanine)

The story of Los Angeles can be told through its food. Neighborhoods, cultures and history come into focus through a bite of bread, a nibble of cheese or a sip of tea. But it's impossible to learn all this through a speeding (or barely inching along) car window. Like most of the world's great food cities, L.A.'s gastronomy is best experienced on foot. That's where a new food tasting and walking tour company called Melting Pot Food Tours comes in handy, not just for tourists, but for Angelenos looking to learn more about the splendid flavors of the city they love.

Diners at California Pizza Kitchen last week found some enticing new offerings such as white chocolate strawberry cheesecake, Baja-style tacos with sautéed mahi-mahi, and a Moroccan-spiced chicken breast salad. But gone from the menu are those often-revealing calorie counts that the restaurant has listed for each item since July 1. The Los Angeles-based pizza and pasta chain dropped that data when it printed new menus last week, in part because customers just didn't like it much.

As a Washingtonian who lives close to many of the spots you highlighted in the Jan. 11 piece "D.C. Like a Local," just wanted to say thanks for highlighting these spots and to make some additions. As an alternative to the oft-crowded Amsterdam Falafel, check out Old City Cafe, 1773 Columbia Road N.W. The falafel and extensive toppings bar are better, the prices are equivalent and the place is much bigger. As an alternative to Dukem, which is large and touristy, walk a couple of more blocks down U Street, then south on 9th Street N.W. There are several smaller, delicious Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants to enjoy.

Every once in a while, a guidebook comes along that is so hyper-local it instantly claims a place in die-hard Angelenos' hearts. "L.A. Bizarro," the 1997 guidebook to all things obscure, absurd and perverse in L.A., is one such book, as is "Counter Intelligence," Jonathan Gold's indispensable guide to "Where to Eat in the Real Los Angeles." Now, a new book appears poised to grab the coveted local-lore mantle: "Eat: Los Angeles." What distinguishes it from a host of other L.A. restaurant guides, including Zagat and Gayot, is its emphasis on mom-and-pop restaurants, specialty stores, hole-in-the-wall coffee shops, caterers, street food and juice bars.