Eat at Joe’s (Everybody else does…) [restaurant review]

When my children were small we took them to an educational facility in Redondo, and as a treat afterward we would take them to their favorite cafe. My son was about eight years old but had the appetite of a teenager, and he was ordering full meals at Eat At Joe’s and polishing off everything […]

Hill hideaway [restaurant review]

The Cove Cafe offers a secret escape behind a wall of trees in Malaga Cove

While most people are being complimentary when they refer to a business as a “best kept secret,” the designation must make the owners sweat a little. They’d probably rather be known as “that place with the long line to get in.” As nice as it is to have a cult following, in restaurants as much […]

Angel City open, Redondo Cafe turns Hawaiian, mystery meals at Chez, and more dining news

A La Carte column for 26 July 2018

An Angel gets its wings… Yes, it’s rather summery for an allusion to a popular Christmas movie, but I have been saving that joke about the Angel City Grill for quite a long time. The little cafe on the Aviation curve in North Redondo has been under construction for almost a year. I mentioned that […]

High style, Zacatecas style [restaurant review]

Maderos Cocina in Redondo is both upscale and traditional

by Richard Foss Decor sets expectations, but not always in an obvious way. If you enter a restaurant and see a display of wines, walls painted in tasteful contemporary colors, and stylish indirect lighting then you might expect the bill to be a bit heftier than the place with the bright lights and Formica counter […]

Mysteries of the Chinese kitchen

Seashore brings regional cuisine from China to the beach

Dining trends have come and gone, but my readers keep asking the same question – why does every Chinese restaurant in the South Bay serve the same items? Where can I get the exciting, challenging stuff served in the San Gabriel Valley? I have an answer for that — the number 524,000. That’s the approximate […]

Fiorelli moves on, Sister’s Barn opens, new ramen shop on PCH, and more dining news

South Bay dining news for 12 July 2018

A Master Departs… The big news this week is the departure of Chef Michael Fiorelli from Love & Salt, the restaurant he cofounded four years ago. It’s an amicable split and he will be there until September, but his exit for a “new project in LA proper” still sent shock waves around the community. Fiorelli […]

Vietnam Central [restaurant review]

Pho Hue Oi is an offshoot of a popular restaurant in Orange County’s Little Saigon that also specializes in the food of central Vietnam.

If you created a cuisine from scratch to fit modern Californian ideas, it might look a lot like Vietnamese food. There are plenty of vegetables, fresh, cooked, or lightly pickled, sometimes all used in the same item. Meat and seafood are used sparingly but effectively, and fresh herbs enliven almost every dish. And while the […]

Late Night Delight [restaurant review]

The little restaurant by the corner of Crenshaw and PCH offers just about anything Japanese at just about any time

If you’re driving down Crenshaw Boulevard near midnight, you’ll pass row after row of bright but empty buildings flanked by vast, vacant parking lots. There are cars all around you, but no welcoming spaces promising life and human companionship at that moment. More importantly, at least for anybody who missed dinner, there’s a distinct shortage […]

Polly’s is still Polly’s on the Pier [restaurant review]

Polly’s on the Pier may have moved, but its people and food are as good as ever

Moving from one location to another is a challenge for any business. It helps to have an established clientele and an unusual product, or at least a specialty or two that nobody else in the neighborhood offers. Restaurants actually have some advantages over other businesses, because the good ones develop a bond with repeat customers […]

Rooted in tradition: Radici in Hermosa Beach [restaurant review]

Hermosa's newest Italian restaurant offers classics with style

Radici remains true to Northern Italian cuisine, presented in an urban Italian atmosphere