Results tagged “dinela”

              

Ports O' Call restaurant, which is in Ports O' Call Village in San Pedro, has an immediate strike against it. It is a common belief that restaurants with views always suck (cough Castaway cough). Even if in this case it is just a view of oil drums and tankers. Then to really make a seasoned diner nervous, they have weddings there. Like all the time. Sometimes two at a time. Would you like the pistachio-crusted chicken or the poached salmon with dill sauce? Stop running! It's OK. Come back. They have cake.

It looks like he got his point across, at least in our most recent meal there.

When is a week not a week? when it's two weeks. Err, make that three weeks. dineLA Restaurant Week is being extended Oct.18-23! The list of participating restaurants has also been reconfigured. It is much more readable now, and you are able to see which restaurants are offering lunch without having to click on their page.

       

Pinot Bistro on Ventura Boulevard has seen may chefs come and go, some of them spectacular and some of them so-so. Previous chefs include such notable names as Octavio Becerra, Miki Zivkovic and of course, Joachim Spichal himself. Even Suzanne Goin has worked in the kitchen. We were excited to see what the latest chef, Hugo Veltman, has been cooking up and jumped at the invitation to try their dineLA menu.

         

So, a coupla chicks walk into Ivan Kane's Cafe Wa s to check out their dineLA dinner...

       

Sometimes it's really nice to take a vacation all by yourself and treat yourself to a nice meal. Dining downtown at Zucca, with its high ceilings, Venetian paintings and chandeliers gives you that feeling of pampering yourself, if only for an hour. The dineLA menu at Zucca is nothing if not hearty. LAist was invited to try out their lunch menu yesterday and the blustery weathery made the soup and pasta options especially appealing.

      

It's always a little curious when you arrive at one of the many eateries participating in dineLA's popular restaurant week and they don't hand you the dineLA menu. As a diner there to check out a spot you've maybe never been to before this means things can get off to a rocky start when right out of the gate you have to wonder if you were mistaken, or if the dineLA crowd is really all that welcome where you are. (Baffling, right? After all, restaurants choose to participate, so why not pimp it?) You know that "new kid" feeling? Yeah, that's the one.

           

Walking into Nick and Stef's in downtown Los Angeles, your first impression is that it would be the perfect place for a business lunch, should you ever need to have a business lunch. The decor is unobtrusive and simple, but it is pristine. There is not a spot on a napkin, a mark on the banquette or a glass out of place. Service is charming and impeccable, bordering on the obsequious.

     

Our first taste of DineLA week(s) was really a matter of practicality. It was lunchtime in Pasadena. What was convenient? The menu at Cafe Bizou was varied, appealing and reasonable. We arrived just as they were opening and the first impression was not good. It was an empty FrancoDenny's with a disorganized staff.

It's dineLA week, are you checking out new restaurants? Some vegans felt their options were limited, but the bloggers and readers at Quarrygirl are calling all the restaurants, asking if they'll accommodate vegans. Most restaurants so far are agreeable, but two are not. There's nothing surprising about Chaya Downtown not offering vegan food, but La Grande Orange, the restaurant that promotes dishes made from fresh, organic and seasonal ingredients? That's just disappointing.

dineLA's second 2009 Restaurant Week got underway yesterday, and runs through the 9th, and from the 11th-16th. To see a list of the restaurants, prices, and menus, click here.

To celebrate USC Thornton School of Music’s 125th anniversary, Michael Tilson Thomas conductor and music director of the San Francisco Symphony, returns to his alma mater for a concert with the USC Thornton Symphony Orchestra tonight at 7 pm at Bovard Auditorium. The multimedia presentation includes historic photos of him with some of his mentors and fellow students while he conducts Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. Tickets are $18; seniors, USC alumni and non-USC students are $12; current USC students, staff and faculty are free with valid ID.

Some big players on the local food scene were on hand this past Friday to take part in a media event to get everyone ready for dineLA's second go-'round of Restaurant Week 2009. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa brought his appetite to the table...will you? dineLA runs October 4-9 and October 11-16, and has a list of many, many (over 200!) wonderful local eateries at which you can treat yourself to specially priced three-course menus.

You might live a recessionista foodie lifestyle, hunting for high-quality eats at low-rent prices. And while we do encourage dining at all price-points, sometimes the only way feasting is feasible is when there's a special deal going down. This is where dineLA's Restaurant Week comes in. From October 4-9 and October 11-16, 2009, you can treat yourself to specially priced three-course menus at over 200 restaurants from all corners of LA County.

The folks at DineLA take us on a quick look at the close-to-home vibe of Locali, the convenience store in Franklin Village that emphasizes consumer consciousness, locally-sourced products and ingredients, the spirit of community and environmentalism. Soon after they opened in January we were happy to report they carry vegan condoms, and with the mobile food trend and summer temps on the rise, we're even more happy they've put their unique frozen treats-mobile, the Icycle, on the street.

           

The Dakota is decorated in a style that harmonizes with the old Hollywood glamour of the Roosevelt Hotel, but without the creepiness. The rich chocolate tones keep the room hip and dark but much warmer than the usual black and white decor. The suede chairs are comfortable, although I am still pondering the leather tablecloths. The room is divided by large columns that break up the vastness and give each area a sense of privacy.

We might be a foodie nation these days, but we're also a nation on a budget, which is probably why many of the restaurants participating in this year's DineLA promotion have agreed to extend the event until February 28th. Several of the eateries will continue to offer fixed-price lunch and/or dinner menus at a discounted price for three weeks beyond the original event's scheduled dates.

              

Asia de Cuba in the Mondrian is one swank spot. The table wasn't ready, as we were being squeezed in, so we hung out in the bar. My nephew said, "I don't know if I've ever felt quite this cool before." After trying to seat us in a cramped spot between a hilariously large potted plant and the bussing station outside, we were given a table by the window with a stunning view of the city. The room is light and clean with an open feel. The stark white interior is offset by warm accents like earthtone pillows and throws.

      

Locanda del Lago sits on a prime piece of Santa Monica real estate, at the corner of 3rd and Arizona, with a patio and floor to ceiling windows looking into the heart of the eternally bustling Third Street Promenade. And just as shoppers and looky-loos alike keep the street humming with vibrancy, the atmosphere inside the cozy and inviting Locanda del Lago is just as vibrant, and even more welcoming. LAist was invited to try their DineLA menu a few days before the event began, and to experience their hospitality and the cuisine of Bellagio and the Northern Lakes region of Italy.

      

Compared to the crowd at Simon LA the night before, Campanile was packed. After a short wait in the bar we were seated in an overflow room upstairs. Compared to the high ceilings and open space of the main dining hall, the room was cozy and uncluttered. In spite of the age of the historic building, there is a pristine cleanliness about everything. Even the butter that arrives with the famous La Brea Bakery bread is clean and fresh, sprinkled with a delicate touch of salt.

     

Simon LA was chosen as the first stop on our Dine LA blitz because of the impressive appetizers we sampled at the Behind the Unseen event held there. Simon Kerry, who is known as the rock and roll chef, stood in the kitchen staring intently at the dining room, which was not empty but definitely not bustling. The servers were bursting with enthusiasm and friendliness. They responded to our bad jokes by adding their own quips, and their positive energy was contagious.

It's a robust Monday with interesting events around town:

                           

It was standing room only at the wildly succesful launch of DineLA yesterday at SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. More than 100 of Los Angeles' finest chefs filled the rooms of The Bazaar, chef Jose Andres restaurant in the brand spanking new hotel. The building is dazzling with blinding white walls and lots of shiny shiny chrome; the interior design accented is by unusual and exotic pieces.

It's baaaaaaa-aaack! DineLA's Restaurant week, the twelve* days devoted to special pricing and menus in many of the city's top eateries is poised to return from January 25th-30th and February 1st-6th.

We can't all be vegans, right? Some of us still appreciate meat. That's why this shot of some tempting ribs by neonspecs from our LAist Featured Photos Pool makes the perfect bite for our Eye Nosh series. Our foodie photographer explains where this plate came from:

oh man. so good. but the best part was the little salad on the side. At Chinois on Main as part of the DineLA Restaurant Week(s), we ordered the Barbecued Baby Pork Ribs with Sweet and Sour Teriyaki Sauce as one of our appetizers. Super delicious, but could have been more tender.

We've spent the last two weeks critiquing the DineLA restaurants. Last week I just happened to run into a restauranteur who was participating in DineLA. Being the ever-prepared girl reporter that I am, I whipped out my digital recorder and did an on-the-spot interview. It seems only fair that the restaurants get the last word.

I like to think of myself as a person who does what they say they’re going to do when they say they’re going to do it. So it was that, two days after spending the afternoon in the bathroom with the stomach flu, I found myself walking into Ugo: An Italian Café to partake of their DineLA menu. I’ve been there before, and generally Ugo is a solid though not particularly creative Italian option in the Culver City area (though in the interest of full disclosure, I’ve not yet tried the gelato place they opened next door.)

I love DineLA week. All these great restaurants at almost affordable prices. I wish I had more time to hit up all the great places! DineLA YEAR, I say! Bring it back now!Useless and completely unrealistic rant aside, Harold and Belle's came highly recommended from my friend Sharon, "Our favorite place, so much food!" she says. I can't say no to that! So here we go:

Many of LAist's contributors have been checking out L.A.'s dineLA Restaurant Week -- and we've discovered that some experiences definitely offered more value than others. I decided to close out my own Restaurant Week experience with a casual lunch and a more upscale dinner: for the former, I took LAist editor Zach out to lunch at eat. on sunset, while I saved the fancy hotel dinner at Circa 55 for my special guy. Both restaurants offered exactly what I was looking for in a Restaurant Week experience: tasty, unique dishes for reasonable prices in a beautiful location. And did I mention good service? When it comes to dining in this city, nothing sets apart a fine meal so much as excellent service.

Vermont was my favorite neighborhood "upscale" joint when I lived in Los Feliz. Not only was the food outstanding, but the service was attentive to the point of obsequiousness. Once during a particularly romantic meal, a waiter casually dropped a large cloth napkin on my table and gave it a few pats, then continued on his way with great aplomb. I was confused by the intrusion until I realized that I had set the table on fire. Talk about sang-froid!