Posts by Richard Foss

Sliced Out Of Hermosa: After seven years in business, The Cultured Slice cheese shop has closed, another specialty food store gone just a month after Grow in Manhattan Beach closed their doors. The Cultured Slice offered top quality products and made beautiful cheese and charcuterie boards, but was torpedoed by increasing food, staff, and insurance…

In an era when most restaurants seem to have been designed by focus groups, some stand out for quirky ideas and eccentric execution. They’re someone’s peculiar vision, their passion project, recreating an arcane place or time, or a visionary chef’s fusion of two cuisines that nobody has put together before. Sometimes they’re a commercial success,…

Casual restaurants in the South Bay tend to have a visual signature that is bright and cheerful – think of Good Stuff, Scotty’s, or the Ocean Diner as examples. Even the places that aren’t explicitly beach-themed look like a place you’d go on the way to or from the sand, colorful and welcoming. Compare this…

When I heard that the former Riviera Mexican Grill owners had taken over the former Samba Restaurant just north of the Redondo Pier, my first thought was that it was about time someone did something there. The Brazilian restaurant that occupied that space had been rudderless for years, making a prime waterfront location a low-energy…

I sometimes hear from former residents of Manhattan Beach who return after years away to find long-loved restaurants have closed. “Café Pierre is gone? And Darren’s and W’s China Grill? What is left that I’ll still recognize?” When they drive past Ercole’s, Shellback, The Kettle, and Hennessey’s, they breathe a sigh of relief. The prices…

Found In Translation: Zoku, a new izakaya, opened in Riviera Village, and if you headed for a translator program to find out what the name means, you may be puzzled. Zoku means “genus,” a scientific term but an odd restaurant name. There’s a story to it, though — the restaurant’s real name is Torikizoku, which…

Some places never go out of style, not because they are timeless, but because they were anachronisms the day they went into business. Hermosa’s Ocean Diner, which evokes a roadside dive of the 1940s in décor and music, is a good example. It’s enduringly popular despite the fact that few people now alive can remember…

It’s not too odd that a café could also be called a learning place, because plenty of people do their studying at local coffeehouses. Almost all of these establishments have free wifi, comfy chairs and tables, and abundant caffeine, plus baked goods for those moments when you need to nosh to keep that brainpower steady.…

Talk to a commercial realtor about evaluating a restaurant space and you’ll always hear something about curb appeal. Is it located on a street with at least moderate foot traffic, so people who aren’t looking for it will still discover it? Does the exterior have distinctive features that would catch the eye, so people notice…

In 1987 there were two Peruvian restaurants in Los Angeles, both located in unpromising strip malls. Mario’s, in a Hollywood strip mall, had been open for years. El Pollo Inka, in a Lawndale  strip mall, had just opened their doors. Both were serving a cuisine that was puzzling to most Angelenos, and El Pollo Inka…

I fondly remember the Beach Hut in Manhattan Beach, a happy little shack that was the introduction to Hawaiian food for South Bay locals. They were noted for giant portions of cheap food that was then regarded as exotic. This is where we first experienced loco moco, spam musubi, sweet fried bread, curiously addictive macaroni…

Steppes to the Beach: Thanks to a recent opening, Redondo has a curious distinction — it’s home to one of only two restaurants in greater Los Angeles serving real Mongolian cuisine. Ayan, which means “life” in Mongolian, is located in the former Denny’s at Artesia and Aviation. They opened last week, serving the dumplings, stir-fries,…

If you ask Beach Cities residents what our area lacks when it comes to restaurants, the answer is clear: casual family restaurants. Not fast-food, counter serve, of which we have plenty, but a place where people of all ages can relax and dine on the style of American food they might find in a classic…

The most critically acclaimed restaurant in the Beach Cities, the only one to win a coveted Bib Gourmand award from the Michelin guide, always looks closed. The windows in their small strip mall location are black, and often covered by a low awning that obscures them. The place has a sign that is difficult to…

Lunch and Learning: Artesia has been blossoming as a dining area lately. The latest opening is not noteworthy for the creativity of its menu but is inspiring for other reasons. Mychal’s Café is a breakfast and lunch café staffed by people with learning disabilities, who are gaining job skills as they make your food and…

Chinese dumplings aren’t a new cuisine in America. They’ve been available in California since the 1920s, when the Hang Ah Tea Room opened in San Francisco. That restaurant is still open and still good, but until a few decades ago the language spoken by diners was mainly Chinese. Few people outside that community were familiar…