Results tagged “Restaurants” from All Good Things

This is the classic no-brainer: you don't even need a skull to figger this one out. Whether 'tis nobler to the stomach to waste your appetite on a Carl's Jr. souped-up junkfood burger or to go the extra mile to Fleming's Steakhouse around happy hour and pay six clams to go sirloin-with-love? The Woodland Hills location near my hovel is offering a "5 for $6 'til 7" promotion that can't be beaten with a sharp stick. The Prime Burger with cheese and bacon tastes as good as its photogenic likeness to your immediate right. Salivate at will....

Not only does ya get to attack that brioche-enclosed beefy goodness, but there are some decent vintages and cocktails available for the selfsame six dollars -- and yes, that's for the top-drawer hooch, Ketel and the like. To boot, there's some fine Sweet Chili Calamari, Cajun Barbecue Shrimp and some creditable Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes on the menu for the same low price. Bless their recession busting souls.

If you are fressing to impress, there are fabulous selections on the legit menu too, of course. Four-week aged, corn-fed prime beef is the rule at Fleming's, surrounded by stellar sides like chipotle cheddar mac & cheese and some killer onion rings served with a smoked jalapeño aioli. Look for me at the six-buck smorgasbord looking at your porterhouse with envy. Consider me not unhappy in the least.

As all of our intercontinental (thanks, George W.) friends know, La Bistecca means steak in Italian, and the Biltmore Millennium has dibs on the name for their splendid beef-themed eatery in the dramatic Rendezvous Court downtown next to Pershing Square. Helmed by a pair of talented Italian chefs, both the setting and the menu scream elegance and rustic simplicity at the same time. Vaulted ceilings with copious and ornate chandeliers compete with the unfussy cuisine, adding up to an all-around aesthetic experience for the eye and palate.

The affable and articulate executive sous-chef, Orazio Parisi, explained that the menu owed its inspiration to Southern Italian and Sicilian roots, well exemplified by the luscious eggplant parmigiana that started the meal, as well as a toothsome selection of handcrafted salumi. Making it even harder to choose an appetizer, the Tagliolini with a lobster ragu "all'Amatriciana" was rich and delicately spiced, the lobster's sweetness nicely offset by tiny bites of salty guanciale (and I thought I was the only Wild Bore in the joint).

The steaks were nonpareil, cooked perfectly and with the right balance of firmness and fat (the 16-oz. ribeye was especially tasty). For the non-purists among you, the kitchen prepares a variety of condiments for the meat, including a divine Mascarpone-Horseradish Cream sauce. And the truffle parmesan fries are as sinfully delicious as they sound.

Confirmed Valleyites take note: a painless 20-minute subway ride from Universal City deposits you right at Pershing Square, a mere 60-second walk to the Biltmore, which is stuck in time in the most remarkable and admirable way. Nowhere else in Los Angeles has age been so kind to an historic structure, and rooms are both reasonable and as classic-looking and refined as they looked when the place went up in 1923. Some good things get even better by resisting the impulse to modernize. Make it a weekend -- steaks, symphony and sweet escape all in one.

The name of the restaurant is Dos Arbolitos, just off the 405 in North Hills, at the corner of Nordhoff and Woodley. Save gas and pick up some spare parts for that '74 Fiat of yours at the salvage yards down the road in Sunland while you're in the hood. Ah, the joys of valley living!

I've been a "Dos" junkie since they opened some 17 years ago, steered that way by the venerable food writer, Max Jacobson, a burrito gourmand if ever there was one. He spoke breathlessly of the legendary Chef Yayo, who has since passed on, but whose Mexico City training still informs the cooking at this clean and reasonable eatery.

They serve three meals a day here, and the lunch hour is brimming with egghead professors from nearby CSUN, who are at least smart enough to know where the best salsa resides. You have to ask for the green, but the red is flecked with fire roasted poblano chiles and packs considerable heat on a given day. The green is always fierce!

Must try dishes: In the morning, make it chilaquiles (ask if they have chicharrones first, an indispensably salty and crispy accompaniment); lunch might mean a couple of tacos al pastor (marinated pork); and at dinner, try the enchiladas suizas, done with juicy white-meat chicken and a delicate, green pumpkin seed sauce. ¡Caramba!

Everything is cooked consciously, and the proprietor, José Abugayda, is about the nicest person you could meet this side of the Rio Grande. His two sons help at the helm, one of whom is late of some culinary training at Le Cordon Bleu. Look for new menu items, but depend on a continuing tradition of quality and top-notch service. And dinner for two might run you twenty bucks, tops! I'm leaving now....