Because of its sheer size and the diversity of its cuisine, Southern California is a challenging place for a diner seeking to find the best of the best. This daunting task requires a skilled navigator, and that's where Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold comes in: He has been creating the ultimate list of where to eat in SoCal for years (formerly in the LA Weekly, now in the Los Angeles Times).
Gold's latest list — the 101 Best Restaurants in SoCal — came out Thursday in the Los Angeles Times. His top picks:
- Providence in Hancock Park
- Urasawa in Beverly Hills
- Spago in Beverly Hills
- Mozza in L.A.
- The Kogi BBQ truck
In last place? The Apple Pan in West L.A. was No. 101.
In the rest of the list, you can see that Gold's passion for everything from classic, five-star WeHo restaurants to Boyle Heights taco trucks to San Gabriel Valley xiao long bao soup dumpling joints has made him the foremost voice on Angeleno eateries.
We take a peek behind of scenes of how the list is compiled, which new restaurants made it this year, which eateries failed to make it, and how to decide who finishes No. 1.
View Jonathan Gold's 101 Best Restaurants on latimes.com
Did your favorite restaurant make Gold’s list? Do best-of lists inspire you to explore or is it all just white noise?
Guest:
Jonathan Gold, Restaurant Critic, Los Angeles Times
