Owners of Chili John’s, a Burbank staple since 1946, say they’ll have to close the restaurant if business doesn’t increase. (Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times) After an onslaught of recent restaurant closures, one of L.A.’s longest-running restaurants might join the ranks. Owners of Chili John’s, a Burbank institution since 1946, say they’ll have to … Read more
This chef knows the secrets of Paradise Dynasty’s popular radish pastries. How he makes them Tomas Saldaña started his job as a line cook more than three years ago at Costa Mesa’s Paradise Dynasty, the Singapore-based restaurant group best known for its xiao long bao. But it wasn’t the restaurant’s famous soup dumplings that most … Read more
I tasted 394 wines in one day. Here’s what I learned Tasting wine can be hard work. Really. I’m not talking about a weekend with friends tooling around wine country in a fun bus. I am talking about the high-stakes analysis of hundreds of wines in a single sitting: 144 Chardonnay, 125 Cabernet Sauvignon, 80 … Read more
Pujol’s world-famous mole madre, now more than a decade old, will be served in L.A. next month. (Pujol) At Mexico City’s Pujol, Enrique Olvera makes what could be the world’s most famous mole, and next month, Angelenos can taste it at a pop-up he’s planning for the restaurant’s 25th anniversary. From April 22 to 30, … Read more
On the job with a restaurant utility worker: Rarely noticed by customers, essential to the business In the back kitchen of Chapter One, a neighborhood gastropub in downtown Santa Ana, the restaurant’s chief busser and utility worker, Alfonso Lira, is in constant motion. He takes out the trash. He cleans a prep station. He refills … Read more
The X-Cabuloso burger from Pedroca’s Burguer in Lawndale comes stuffed with a patty, cheese, corn, “special sauce,” ham, bacon, a fried egg, potato sticks, fried sausage, lettuce and tomato. (Pedro Carvalho) At Pedroca’s Burguer in Lawndale, the burger pendulum has swung from the lacy, gossamer patties of the smashburger to a creation so thick, you’ll … Read more
(Betty Hallock / Los Angeles Times) Newsletter You are reading our Cooking newsletter Sign up to get a taste of Los Angeles — and the world — in your own home and in your inbox every Friday Enter email address Sign Me Up You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Yoshoku … Read more
In Long Beach, modern Levantine restaurant Ammatolí is offering a four-course dinner during Ramadan. (Ron De Angelis / For The Times)
Nipsey Hussle’s legacy lives on with Marathon Burger, a new Melrose diner You can smell the char of the Wagyu burgers from down the block, which is coincidentally how far the line often stretches. But at Melrose Avenue’s newest diner, the food isn’t the only draw. Marathon Burger is an ode to late community activist … Read more
San Francisco-founded Boichik Bagels now operates a storefront and bagel factory in Los Feliz. (Stephanie Breijo / Los Angles Times)