The Brief

What a year for food and drink in SoCal! I encountered so much excellence that narrowing it all down into one list was tough.

I ranged widely across the region, from Newport Beach to Bell Gardens, and Virgil Village to Chinatown. I had upmarket dishes, old school treats, European classics, and Asian comfort food. It was all tasty and all part of the L.A. mosaic.

In the end, I was able to distill it all into one list of my favorite eats, broken down by month. It may inspire you to make your own.

January: Paella at The Paella Concept

A plate from The Paella Concept, served backyard style.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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Mother-and-daughter team Natalie and Maria Curie of The Paella Concept

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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I have been privileged to eat paella since I was a child. My parents often prepared it for dinner parties, and when we moved to Madrid in 1999, we ordered it regularly from local restaurants. It meant I developed a special relationship with the dish that I still carry today.

In January, I got to sample The Paella Concept, a pop-up/catering operation from El Coraloense in Bell Gardens. The mouthwatering mix of the seafood, chicken and chorizo, cooked into sticky mounds of yellow, saffron-flavored rice, took me right back to those days in Madrid. It was a perfection concoction, and satisfied the cravings that often creep up on me.

February: Handwich at Disneyland

The chili cone queso features beef chili, cheddar cheese, and corn chips

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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I first heard of the handwich and its cult following after watching a YouTube documentary. The Cliff Notes version of the story is that in the late 80s, a concession stand food was introduced at Disney theme parks called the Handwich, a cone-shaped sandwich with a filling. It was seen as the future of theme park food. Enjoy a variety of fillings and still walk around the park!

It lasted until the mid-90s, when it was discontinued for being a commercial failure. In 2012, a revised version was introduced, renamed “Conewich” at California Adventure Park Cars Land's Cozy Cone Motel food stand.

So, on my family’s trip to Disney in February, I made it a point to stop by the Cozy Cone and pay my respects to the temple of the handwich…I mean conewich….whatever.

My family and I shared the chili cone queso, which includes beef chili, cheddar cheese, and corn chips served in a cone bun. Let me tell you: a cone-shaped bun turns out to be a perfect delivery system for getting food into your mouth. It isn’t messy at all and is pretty fun to eat.

As to why it initially failed to capture the hearts and minds of theme park goers, I suspect it was just a little too ahead of its time. I highly recommend it.

March: Smashburger at Mario’s Butcher Shop

The smashburger with added bacon at Mario's Butcher Shop in Newport Beach

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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For a while now, my friends living in Orange County have told me about an amazing, no-nonsense smash burger in Newport Beach. So, in March, I finally ventured out to try it.

The perfectly smashed patty maintained its shape, meaning it is not entirely flat, which was a nice touch. The burger’s juiciness paired well with melted American cheese, mustard, ketchup, pickles, and diced onions on a soft bun.

I decided to add bacon to my burger, as I have a general rule of thumb: always add bacon whenever it's an option. I'm rarely disappointed by this decision; that day was no exception. The melted cheese enhanced the dialed-in flavors of the patty's seasoning, and the smokiness of the bacon worked exceptionally well. I would easily go out of my way to try this again any day of the week.

April: BBQ Pork Arancini from Shins Pizza

BBQ Pork Arancini from Shins Pizza

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Gab Chabrân

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LAist

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In April, I had the pleasure of attending the second annual L.A. Pizza City Fest, which took place in the parking lot of L.A. Live in downtown L.A.. It was packed with virtually every pizza maker in the city under one tent for two days.

While I had a lot of great pie that day, my favorite thing I ate wasn’t pizza (apologies to all the stand-out pizza makers). Instead, it was the BBQ Pork Arancini from Chef Melissa Lopéz, who cooks at Shins Pizza, and Barra Santos, located next door to each other in Cypress Park.

It’s a fried rice ball stuffed with slow-cooked barbecue pork and seasoned with furikake, a Japanese seasoning. While it's a small bite, the flavors meld beautifully together, making it something memorable. Next time you stop by for a slice at Shins, where it’s on the regular menu, add one to your order. You won’t be sorry.

May: Dinner at Saffy’s

Roasted celery root made with burnt apple harissa, sauerkraut, allium cream, rose petals, curry leaves and cilantro

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis's restaurants have followed me through adulthood. Initially, Bestia was an all-out party that served as a last hurrah to my twenties. Then came Bavel, which felt like the next stage, a little more grown up and mature. It was my wife and I's last meal together before we discovered we would have our daughter and decided to move to Long Beach.

Earlier this year, it came full circle when we visited Saffy’s in East Hollywood with our now 6-year-old daughter and another couple with their son, who’s around the same age.

Since Saffy’s is named after Menashe and Gergis's daughter, it felt like the perfect opportunity to bring a few little kids. While they mostly consumed rice and bread, we adults dined on the roasted celery root dish made with a burnt apple harrisa, sauerkraut, topped with rose petals, curry leaves, and cilantro.

The dish was a merry wallop of fresh flavors. containing sweet, tart, and floral notes, highlighted by an earthy creaminess.

We also had the wood-fired shawarma plate, made with lamb and wagyu beef served with tomatoes and cooked onions seasoned with sumac and drizzled with tahini. The harmonious dish danced across your palette with each bite. It was all truly delicious, marking yet another phase in my life.

June: Sandwiches at The Pie Room

Confit duck leg ragu sandwich from The Pie Room in Beverly Hills

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Courtesy The Pie Room

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There’s something to be said about a great sandwich, and the offerings at The Pie Room in Beverly Hills are just that. They're typical deli sandwiches, but small and thin, with great care having been taken over their assembly and contents.

You can choose from confit duck ragu pancetta with fennel pollen, arugula, tarragon and parmesan gremolata, or braised beef and mushroom, or slow-cooked chicken.

My favorite was the confit duck, containing decadent and savory flavors with a hint of sweetness. The fresh herbs cut through some of the richness of sandwich, making it extremely well-balanced.

My favorite part about these sandwiches, however, is that you can order them online for delivery. We’d be hard-pressed to think of anywhere else in L.A. where you can get a sandwich from a Michelin-starred restaurant delivered to your door. What are you waiting for?

July: Seiro Soba at Otafuku

Seiro soba and udon noodles with a side of grated Japanese mountain potato and fried shrimp egg rolls

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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I received an invite from my friend Luca Servodio, who hosts the LA Food Podcast and the social media account, the LA Countdown, where he documents his food adventures with Herculean challenges, such as eating one hundred noodle dishes, as he did this year.

We met for lunch in Gardena for his number 56 entry on his noodle crawl, where we visited Otafuku, a family-owned Japanese noodle shop known for its fresh homestyle soba and udon. We had their signature Seiro soba, a traditional cold buckwheat noodle dish cooked to a perfect level of al-dente with just the right amount of chew, something I’m always searching for when it comes to noodles.

You also get a side if you order the combo, so we opted for grated Japanese mountain potatoes, known as tororo in Japan, a type of yam. It makes for a starch-on-starch affair as you dip your soba noodles into the grated potato seasoned with soy sauce and shredded seaweed.

The flavor was exceptionally subtle, with the slightest hints of earthiness and umami. However, this was one of the few times on my list where the flavor took a backseat. Instead it became all about the texture: a lush creaminess paired with the slight pliability of the noodles. It was fascinating, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it all this year.

August: Taco Hell Burger at Terrible Burger

The Taco Hell burger from Terrible Burger, a Long Beach pop-up.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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Oh, the friends you make along the way. During LAist's Tournament of Cheeseburgers this year, I learned about the Long Beach pop-up operation Terrible Burger, run by husband-and-wife team Ryan and Nicole Ramirez.

The pair started their burger pop-up during the Hollywood strikes in 2023, which left them both out of work (Nicole works as a caterer on film sets, Ryan is a teamster). Their burgers feature fun, pop culture-inspired takes, like recreating the Big Kahuna burger from Pulp Fiction, not to mention their ongoing series “Will It Burger?” where Ryan takes various odd-ball ingredients such as Slim Jims and Popeye’s Fried Chicken to both horrifying and hilarious results.

All party tricks aside, Terrible Burger makes a great burger. I tried their Taco Hell burger with a packet of Taco Bell hot sauce. It’s made with double patties seasoned with taco seasoning, shredded cheese, lettuce, sliced tomato, and Mexican crema. The spicy, creamy burger delivered just the right amount of Taco Bell aura while still maintaining a well-made burger's character. The quality of the burgers at Terrible Burger superseded my expectations, making them worth the drive the next time they pop up in Long Beach.

September: Dinner at Olive & Rose

Aged rib cap with frites & au poivre from Olive & Rose in Long Beach

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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I wrote about Heritage, located in Long Beach, earlier this year. The small restaurant won big at the Michelin Awards for California in 2023, earning both a star for its excellent food and a green star for its sustainable business practices and zero-waste cooking style.

Still, the pre-fixe of $150 without the wine pairing can feel a bit steep. So in September, Chef Phil Pretty and his sister and business partner Lauren opened Olive & Rose inside City Center Motel in downtown Long Beach. It has an a la carte menu perfect for when you don’t want to drop big bucks on a meal.

I enjoyed the Iberico pork presa plate, a beautiful mosaic of thin slices of cured Spanish ham, and the aged ribeye cap with fries served in an au poivre sauce . That, with their burnt marshmallow ice cream served with honeycomb, would make for a damn near perfect meal next time I'm there.

October: Lil Tony sandwich at LaSorted’s

The Lil Tony only available at the LaSorted's in Chinatown is city of L.A. in sandwich form.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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Somehow, owner Tommy Brockert timed the opening of his second location of Dodger-themed pizzeria LaSorted’s in Chinatown perfectly as the boys in blue were crushing their way through the post-season.

I was lucky enough to snag a table the night we beat the New York Mets 10-5. That night, there was magic in the air across Los Angeles, as well as inside the restaurant, where every table was packed and every inch of the wall covered in the team’s memorabilia.

While the pizza at LaSorted’s always hits, one new item stole my heart that night: the Lil Tony sandwich. Currently only available in Chinatown, the sandwich features a sesame seed bun piled high with fried mortadella, drizzled with hot mustard from Philippe’s, located just down the street.

The name itself is a double entendre worthy of a Kendrick Lamar lyric. The name Lil Tony references Anthony Bourdain's favorite sandwich, as noted in his 2016 cookbook, Appetites. But it’s also an homage to Little Joe’s, the Italian American restaurant built in 1897 in Chinatown that was a hangout for Hollywood stars and Dodgers fans before a baseball game. This is L.A. food history at its finest.

November: Korean Army Stew at Yuk Dae Jang

LAist Food editor Gab Chabrán enjoys his bounty at Yuk Dae Jang in Koreatown

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Brian De Los Santos

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LAist

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When that slight chill hit the air in L.A. last month, it could only mean one thing: soup season. That’s why I decided to visit Yuk Dae Jang's Koreatown location for some Korean Army Stew, in my view one of the best in the game.

First, there was the large helping of soup, and yes, it could feed an army, a spicy broth packed with Spam, tofu, instant noodles, rice cake, and their signature sausage, served with various banchan dishes. Then there was the bossam, a thinly sliced pork shoulder dish, which you're encouraged to pile high with tofu topped with sesame seeds, purple rice, a variety of kimchis and other assorted accoutrements. It all made for a wonderful mouthful of greatness.

December: Dinner at Budonoki

Naem, made with thai pork sausage, crispy rice, and herby slaw

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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I can’t say exactly what my expectations were when I visited this Virgil Village neighborhood restaurant. I try to enter a new place without knowing too much about it, for the same reason I don’t like watching film previews — sometimes it can give too much away.

Pretty much all I knew was that it was an izakaya restaurant, a Japanese word meaning “stay-drink-place.” Izakayas usually serve bar snacks that can be enjoyed with beer and cocktails.

That’s precisely what Budonoki does, through a lens that leans more Thai. It's a nod to chef Dan Rabilwongse's upbringing, who grew up in nearby Echo Park in a Thai immigrant household.

Snacks included the DIY spicy tuna rolls over crispy rice with freshly toasted nori to wrap it up in, richly textured agedashi tofu and naem, a Thai pork sausage, served with crispy rice balls, and herby slaw.

The food was excellent, thoughtfully creative, fun, and interactive — I love using my hands in a dining experience. But beyond that, it’s a great hang, with good service and a well-curated playlist. Everything was on point. I hope to be back soon.

A years-long effort to bring fast, reliable internet to Catalina Island cleared a major vote today after the California Public Utility Commission awarded $37 million to install subsea fiber internet infrastructure between Orange County and the island.

More than 4,000 residents on Catalina Island don’t have reliable internet. That’s because the rural island doesn’t have fiber broadband infrastructure, and large communication companies don’t serve the area because of high costs.

“We currently operate off of a microwave tower, and it’s time that Avalon had nothing better than the rest of the mainland, but the same,” Avalon City Councilmember Lisa Lavelle said during public comment.

Lance Ware, CEO of AVX Networks, the telecom company tasked with building Catalina Island’s broadband infrastructure, said this project is significant to the quality of life for island residents.

“No one thought Catalina really was worthy,” Ware told LAist. “It really took a long time to convince the grant makers that this is a very much underserved community … not only digitally red lined, but forgotten about from an infrastructure perspective, and I mean that beyond communications.”

The impact to the community is almost immeasurable, he added.

“The access to that technology, workforce development, economic development and just the potential outcomes change massively for everybody involved,” Ware said. “Our ability to deliver world-class health care and public safety is huge.”

What we know about the project

The commission distributed more than $96 million in federal grant funds during Thursday’s meeting to five groups for high-speed broadband projects, including AVX Networks.

The planned proposal includes building a fiber-optic network above and underground from Catalina Island to the Orange County coast.

When it comes to internet connection, the entire island is unserved, according to the commission’s agenda report. That means it has zero access to broadband internet.

According to records, the undersea cables will run under the San Pedro Channel from two points on the island to landings near Huntington Beach. Those cables will then connect to the Middle Mile Broadband Network in Stanton.

The grant will cover 100% of the project costs, records show.

What’s next?

Grantees are required to follow a set of rules to receive funds, and that includes committing to providing internet service at affordable rates.

Ware said AVX Networks will have a low-income plan at $40 a month at 100/100 Mbps — this is the download and upload speed of the service.

“We chose to go symmetrical, which means the upload is the same as the download,” Ware added. “For people doing video streaming or telemedicine or FaceTime, even, or e-learning, it's really important to have symmetrical bandwidth.”

AVX Networks also has committed to maintaining those rates for at least 10 years, the commission agenda reported.

Next, the company needs to get permits for building out the project and surveying a route on the sea floor for the cables.

The city of Anaheim spent around $17 million on credit card purchases from places like Target, Walmart and Amazon over the past two years, recently obtained records show, but the system hasn't been audited since 2018.

Anaheim spokesperson Mike Lyster, who along with city leadership did not answer detailed questions about the purchases, confirmed the lack of audit.

The absence of audits was a central issue former purchasing agent Kari Bouffard included in a tort claim in June alleging she was fired for raising concerns that the city’s top finance official, Debbie Moreno, was enabling fraud, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars and lying to the City Council.

In the legal claim, Bouffard says when she raised concerns over the lack of an audit with the city’s audit team, which then wanted to audit the credit card program, she alleges Moreno told her: “Do not let them in the door.”

“I found her response unprofessional, dismissive, and deeply concerning, particularly given her role as Finance Director and her responsibility to support accountability and internal controls,” Bouffard wrote.

In October, Lyster confirmed an external legal team is conducting “an independent outside review” of the allegations in the tort claim. But he did not answer questions about who the firm is or how much that contract has cost the city.

LAist requested and reviewed credit card monthly billing statements for all city-issued credit cards for the past two years. The statements show city employees spent tens of thousands of public money at places like Target, Walmart and Amazon on “food, office and other operational supplies for city business purposes,” according to Lyster. The statements do not show details about specific purchases.

The Amazon purchases totaled around $1.7 million of public money over the two years, according to the data. Anaheim provided a breakdown of the Amazon purchases that did not include details about what was bought at the online marketplace.

Lyster said Anaheim monitors credit card purchases appropriately.

He confirmed credit card purchases were last audited in 2018 by the city’s Internal Audit team.

“There was no larger concern with any of the findings, and we reject any mischaracterization and misinformation about oversight of the city’s purchasing cards,” Lyster said in a statement.

Lyster told LAist the city’s purchasing agent, who until recently was Bouffard, can “pursue audits at any time,” but one has not been done recently. In the tort claim, Bouffard said she raised concerns with Moreno over “lack of time and staffing within the Purchasing Division to adequately manage and audit the program.” Moreno’s solution, she said, was a temporary staffer — “an insufficient solution given the scope of responsibilities,” Bouffard wrote.

Lyster also said the financial firm KPMG conducts an annual audit of a sample of credit card transactions. LAist asked Lyster for a copy of the KPMG sample audit, but he did not share it.

Anaheim’s credit card spending amounts to about $800,000 a month.

The city of Irvine, also one of OC’s most populous cities, spends around $500,000 on credit cards every month, according to city spokesperson Kristina Perrigoue. Those purchases are audited monthly, Perrigoue said. Irvine’s purchasing staff randomly selects one department per month to audit and they audit a sample of purchases.

“We take the five users with the highest number of transactions and audit all their transactions for the prior month,” Perrigoue said.

Why it matters

Earlier this year, Anaheim grappled with how to close a $60 million budget shortfall after spending more than they were generating in revenue. City leaders closed the deficit with proceeds from capital bonds and by pulling money previously set aside to repay debt. The City Council recently declined to put a gate tax at its entertainment venues, including Disneyland, to voters. Instead, the majority of the council decided to meet at a future date to discuss revenue generating ideas. At that meeting, Mayor Ashleigh Aitken called for “tightening our belts” to boost revenue.

LAist review of the credit card purchases showed significant spending at vendors — some with which Anaheim has cooperative agreements with.

Cooperative agreements allow agencies like the city of Anaheim to pre-negotiate pricing so they get the best deals.

Anaheim’s credit card policy states that the credit card can only be used for the small dollar purchase of supplies or off-site services. Typically, for bigger purchases, cities turn to cooperative agreements.

“The vast majority of city purchasing — most purchases more than $10,000 — is done by purchase order or contract,” Lyster told LAist.

Credit cards, Lyster said, “provide an efficient, cost-effective way of making smaller purchases, rather than use of petty cash, direct payments, cash advances and check requests, which can be more cumbersome, administratively costly and bring their own risks of misuse.”

“There are cases where a purchase order or contract would be unnecessary and excessive, adding time and cost and impacting timely service to our community,” he continued.

LAist has shared our findings with Aitken, City Manager Jim Vanderpool and all council members. We have also reached out to Moreno for an interview. We will update this story if we hear back.

Here are some of our key findings from Anaheim’s credit card purchases:

• Over $800,000 spent on restaurants

City employees spent more than $800,000 on restaurants in Southern California and elsewhere over two years including around $60,000 at K&A Restaurant and over $20,000 on In-N-Out. Some restaurants from the credit card statement include Aloha Steakhouse in Ventura County, Tacos 1986 in Pasadena and BaBaLoo Lounge in Palm Desert.

Lyster told LAist the restaurant spends “are catering expenses for events or meals for special work operations.”

He said the city also provides meals when they “bring together a large contingent of our own police officers and those of other agencies to work demonstrations, high-profile dignitary visits or other occasions,” especially for work in the evening or on weekends.

Lyster added that the council meetings are also catered and the city hosts community events where they cater food for the public.

• Around $650,000 spent on hotels

LAist’s review of the credit card purchases showed thousands of dollars spent at hotels, including the Grand Hyatt in Nashville, Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and a pet hotel in Oxnard.

“The vast majority of this spending is for employee development to ensure our people are continually learning and aware of best professional standards,” Lyster said about the hotel charges. “This is an investment in our workforce that brings better service to our community.”

• Around $40,000 spent at Costco, close to $120,000 at Sam’s Club, around $120,000 at Target and around $57,000 on Walmart purchases in two years

Lyster attributed this spend to “food and supplies.”

The Community Services Department, he said, buys “food and crafts and other supplies” for the city’s Fun on Wheels program, the Mobile Library and family resource centers.

He declined to answer questions on whether employees submit a request for the purchase of goods and services and how the city tracks if these purchases are used for public benefit. The requests, called requisitions, are typical first steps in the purchasing process detailing quantity, description and use, Bouffard told LAist. When she worked at the county, all purchases went through this “checks and balances process,” she said.

• Over $600,000 spent at Home Depot, more than $550,000 at Office Depot and over $340,000 at Grainger

Lyster didn’t confirm if the purchases at these vendors were made using a purchase order.

He confirmed Anaheim has accounts with Grainger, Office Depot and others, but not if the city’s credit card purchases at the vendors are made through the dedicated account.

LAist correspondent Jordan Rynning contributed to this report.