#los-angeles-restaurants

#los-angeles-restaurants

East Coast sensation PopUp Bagels opens its first Los Angeles location in Brentwood this week. The viral chain plans to open 35 locations throughout Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego, and debuted its first West Coast location in La Jolla on November 21. Starting Friday, December 19, Angelenos can start plotting a visit to try PopUp's bagels with a rotating selection of schmears for dipping.

I grew up in Arcadia where the very first U.S. location of Din Tai Fung opened in 2000. Despite this, I've always been a bit of a Din Tai Fung skeptic (it's hard not to be when your hometown arguably has some of the best Chinese food not just in Los Angeles, but in the states - especially at the many mom-and-pops in the SGV). Nevertheless, especially with its huge expansion, I see the appeal of Din Tai Fung now.

One of Los Angeles's most popular underground dinners has finally landed a home after years in limbo. Chainsaw, which took off as a dinner pop-up/party in Karla Subero Pittol's Echo Park garage, is opening a cafe in the Melrose Hill neighborhood on November 13th. Expect the pies and ice cream Chainsaw is famous for, as well as arepas, pabellón criollo, and golden empanadas.

Maydan Market, a new culinary compound in Los Angeles's West Adams neighborhood, has proved itself worth the 6-year wait. D.C. restaurateur Rose Previte's food hall and market feels like an Avengers lineup of the city's best operators, with stalls from already-iconic Los Angeles restaurants such as Holy Basil (which introduced Yhing Yhang, a Thai barbecue counter); Poncho's Tlayudas (running Lugya'h, a crowd-drawing tlayuda joint); and Tamales Elena (whose Maléna slings tamales, weekend barbacoa, fried fish tacos, and more).

Spago in Los Angeles is the flagship in Wolfgang Puck's international empire a vital part of the city's culinary history, and represents possibly the greatest vibe shift ever in American restaurants. I went back several times because I wanted to see how this restaurant that, both influenced and anticipated some major American food trends over 40 years ago, fit into the scene it helped shape today.

I loved the mie tek tek (also known as mie goreng), a dish my wife and I would order regularly, but prepared much sharper and elegantly here on floral plateware and a tangle of microgreens garnish. The wok-fried noodles are well-sauced, seared ever so slightly, and tossed with fragments of tender chicken. Crunchy cabbage and chopped greens add additional texture, resulting in something sort of like chow mein but more dimensional.