Ocean Star

with umami. In the center bobs a generous ball of steamed Dungeness crab meat; twin stems of mitsuba (Japanese parsley) rest atop, bound in a sailor’s knot. The flavors are purity itself: sweet, minerally, oceanic. But this dish, the fourth in 12

years he spent staging at temples of modern Japanese cooking such as Tokyo’s three-Michelin-starred Ishikawa. Similar to Niki Nakayama’s n/naka, another extraordinary restaurant that builds on kaiseki traditions, a reservation at Hayato has become the

lemongrass. And I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a hunk of ocean trout as perfectly cooked as the one from this kitchen, its naturally salty crust as crisp and brittle as a French tuile.   “We have white truffles tonight,” a waiter announces one night at dinner

restaurant doesn’t open for dinner that night. However, they do cap off the weekend with a spectacular Sunday afternoon tea. This is where pastry chef Biotteau plays a starring role. Every one of his desserts, at lunch or dinner, is spectacular. And for tea

car. I shook out the strands and the mass mystically expanded to fill a bowl, precisely al dente and almost too hot to eat (the only time I’d had that experience with takeout pasta, honestly). The food excels beyond pasta: smoked ocean trout with

pizzas that highlight a star ingredient: the Aglietta perfumed with roasted garlic but not overtaken by it, for example, or the Diavola with spicy salami that gives off far more barnyard funk than stock pepperoni. Pickup or delivery. 4359 Tujunga Ave

snob, the chefs lobs serious stuff for his omakase: uni cracked fresh from its live, writhing spiky shell; fish so sparkling it seems to still have the glint of ocean water. Cost: Omakase starts at $50-$75 per person for about 15-20 pieces of sushi with

of kobe beef, rock shrimp tempura, and the okaki-crusted asparagus—a Hamamori signature. The chef’s tasting menu also includes some sushi, but the star of the meal is actually a main course dish that might be a perfectly cooked lamb chop, black cod

Pacific Ocean, you’d have to be on a cruise ship. The wide windows are as tall as masts. Off in the distance, you see the glassy ripple of the ocean as it reflects the colors from the sky at dusk. Closer to shore, the tiny figures of surfers ride the

-starred restaurant called Commis in Oakland, chef and owner Carlos Salgado returned to OC a few years ago to sling tacos and burritos out of a lonchera he named after his mom, Maria. But the truck, as great as it was, turned out to be just warm-up to this

The restaurant at the Standard is slamming, an ocean of untucked shirts and minidresses crammed into a barely reconstructed diner, sparklers jammed into cakes, frothing bottles of Champagne. A “whoomp whoomp” from a DJ somewhere in the hotel cuts

can be — The Times ranked it 12th in its list of the 101 best Los Angeles restaurants, and Bon Appétit named it the best new U.S. restaurant of 2013. Taymor was chosen as a Best New Chef by Food and Wine, and as a Rising Star Chef finalist by the James

pepper-seasoned hot oil and doused with a shake that boasts no less than 30 spices, among them cumin, star anise, fennel, cinnamon, mushroom powder and green and red Sichuan peppercorns. The rigidity of the crust, a result of Lin double frying the chicken

myself unconsciously ignoring the thin, chewy noodles, navigating my spoon around the various toppings in the bowl, trying to collect every last drop of the broth. Seafood, in all forms, is the star at Saso, whose name is a nod to the Basque word “itsaso

The British are coming. The British are coming. And they're bringing Indian food. Tamarind, a Michelin-starred London restaurant that also got kudos from none other than Gordon Ramsay, is opening at Crystal Cove Promenade in Newport Coast. In the

Mastro's Ocean Club, Bluefin and, yes, Javier's. ] And from the looks of how the cuisine is presented at the London restaurant, this sister location will do single-plated meals, garnished to be photogenic, not apt for family-style sharing. The roster does

that seafood-restaurant sweet spot between the California Fish Grills of the world and the Scott's Seafoods and Mastro's Ocean Clubs. Krajacic offers a flawless grilled artichoke, the leaves gently charred and served with a thimble of lemon aioli for

characteristics of the fish; while others, such as the bitter arugula-almond pesto for the swai, are better left untouched, lest they overpower the dish's star. All the meals in this part of the menu are served in a cake pan lined with parchment paper, the fish

. He lists Thomas Keller's and Ferran Adrià's cookbooks as essentials. And when we asked him where he sees himself in five years, he answered, “Working hard to earn a three-star Michelin.” You shouldn't be surprised, then, that Godinez makes crêpes as

in a hotel not near the ocean. No dish costs more than $16, and the wait staff is overly attentive. Plus, during Sunday brunching hours, parking is less frustrating here than at the original Anepalco's, which gives you more time to ponder what vintage