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Thank God for the New York Times and its latest scintillating trend piece, which bravely goes out on a limb to inform readers that as crazy as it may sound, Koi and Republic aren’t the only two restaurants in Los Angeles.
What? A New York publication writing arrogantly and stupidly about some aspect of Los Angeles culture? Stop the presses!
In her New York Times regional trend essay Los Angeles: Where Stars Are in the Kitchen, Janelle Brown contends that one humble block of Beverly Boulevard tucked between West Hollywood and the Fairfax District is "reinventing the Los Angeles dining scene." She explains that was once "a culinary no man’s land" has "become the foodie center of Los Angeles" with "modest restaurants" that are "single-handedly raising the city’s culinary reputation."
Yeah… I guess that might be true… IF YOU IGNORE 99% OF THE RESTAURANTS IN LOS ANGELES. Sure, if you're heir to a Greek shipping fortune and never travel east of La Cienega, then this article might be a real eye-opener. But the rest of us who eat, live and work in Los Angeles without benefit of a padded expense account know that this city is bursting with amazing eateries representing nearly every cuisine* and catering to every income strata.
It’s not that the restaurants mentioned in the article are bad. They're not. BLD, Grace, Hatfield's, Ita-Cho, Angelini Osteria, Jar, Mozza, et. al. all offer delicious food. But they're about as close to being the center of Los Angeles' culinary universe as George W. Bush is to being an ordinary citizen.
To add insult to injury, Brown quotes Neil Fraser, the man behind BLD and Grace, as saying, "Los Angeles has had too many of those places [celebrity restaurants], and not enough little jewels in small neighborhoods." I'm sorry, did I read that right? It's one thing for a New Yorker to spout off with idiotic assertions like that. It's another thing to hear that bullshit coming from an Angeleno.
The true braised, smoky, beating heart of Los Angeles cuisine lies not in its yupster eateries but in its abundance of mouthwatering neighborhood restaurants. This city is peppered with late-night Korean barbecue joints, comfort food cafés, Thai noodle emporiums, vintage steak houses, ramen restaurants, creperies, homemade pasta restaurants, hamburger stands, barbecue huts, sushi houses, Peruvian seafood, gelaterias, soup dumpling specialty shops, Cuban chicken joints, about a thousand varieties of Central and South American cuisine and the best taco trucks anywhere in the country if not the world. But I guess ethnic enclaves like Little Ethiopia on Fairfax Blvd., Little India in Artesia and the Chinese food mecca of Monterey Park don't merit serious culinary consideration, since hip industry types are now flocking to Beverly Blvd.
Contrary to the theme of this condescending, obnoxious, ill-informed article, there are loads of "little jewels" in Los Angeles. They're just tucked away in the kinds of neighborhoods and strip malls that are too déclassé for upscale chefs and smarmy New York Times writers to bother noticing.
*Except maybe Hungarian. I have yet to find a great Hungarian restaurant in Los Angeles.
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No Hungarian? What about Hortobagy on Ventura Blvd.?
Elina,
THANK YOU. You pretty much summed it up.
Rico A
So, are you gunna send off this rant directly to those fine fine fine folk at this specific publication, Elina?
As usual, discussions about restaurants are so white-patron oriented. The mexicans, southeast asians, I guess don't count as having a restaurant scene .
there should be a law against new yorkers writing about los angeles. the last time i read a similar piece of trash it was absolutely horrendous. not only was is a totally pitiful piece of writing, which was hilarious considering the east side's high opinion of its intelligentsia voidoids, but it was an infantile exercise in minutia. the entire article (which was for the fashion/style section of the new yorker) consisted of the author feeling intimidated in her outdated designer jeans in the face of our outlandishly extraverted city, and crying about how she couldn't navigate silver lake.
style, fashion, and restaurant reviewers from l.a. should go the goddamn lobby of the empire state building and write 5 reviews each...maybe then we'll be even.