A Peaceful Place [restaurant review]

For nearly five decades La Paz has been El Segundo's place for Mexican comfort food

NOTE: This review was written before restaurants were closed due to the virus. La Paz remains open for take out. Most people have a restaurant that they go to almost by default. It’s that place like home, except at home people expect you to cook and do the dishes. Restaurants that fit that category aren’t […]

Vegan pub, Big Wok’s big move, TedX food in Redondo, and more dining news

In A Class By Itself… The downstairs space at 934 Hermosa Avenue has been many different restaurants, including an Irish pub, Italian café, and most recently Banzai Beach sushi and Japanese food. That establishment closed a few weeks ago, and the new tenant is serving a cuisine unlike any other in the South Bay. Veggie […]

Death and dining [restaurant review]

Mercado serves high style Mexican food in a space with stylish Day of the Dead themes

I am used to Mexican restaurants with a Day of the Dead theme, but still puzzled by them. Isn’t eating well a celebration of life? Why would I want to do that in an environment that reminds me that existence is fleeting, that my flesh will someday be stripped from my bones? Yes, there is […]

Dungeness destination [restaurant review]

Redondo Pier’s Pacific Fish Center is better known on the other side of the Pacific than locally for its seasonal Dungeness crab

I was talking with a friend by the name of Han about the lack of Korean restaurants in the beach cities, and he told me something surprising. “A restaurant on the Redondo pier was written up in a Korean travel guide, and it’s a regular stop for tourists from Seoul. It’s especially popular now because […]

Costa Manhattan Beach far from merely coasting [restaurant review]

Chef Josiah Citrin juices up dining in downtown Manhattan Beach

Some chefs come up with ideas so novel they seem outside of space and time, yet the flavors and textures are completely integrated. A more subtle art of the kitchen is when someone makes a familiar dish in a way that makes you feel like you had never really tasted it before. Most chefs gravitate […]

A Night in Tunisian culture – and cuisine

A traditional feast comes to Hermosa Beach with a little help from mom

The opening of Barsha restaurant  brought a unique set of flavors to the South Bay, as Adnen Marouani interpreted North African recipes for a California palate. At an event this coming week diners will have a rare chance to sample the originals, courtesy of a special guest chef. This is none other than Adnen’s mother […]

Brunch with a side of exercise [restaurant review]

My passenger knew we were going out for brunch, but as we drove past corporate hives in the Continental Park office complex he got more and more puzzled. “There’s a restaurant here?” he asked as I drove up to the corner of Douglas and Park Place. “How many business offices have you seen with fire […]

Art skulls and dining [restaurant review]

Day of the Dead-themed Kalaveras offers good food in huge portions

When I first heard about Kalaveras moving into Riviera Village, I wondered why they would name themselves after a county in Northern California famous for Mark Twain’s jumping frog. I still wondered that after seeing the decor, which included many pictures of Day of the Dead skull faces. The Internet revealed that both the restaurant […]

Ten for ’20 [dining feature]

The 10 best restaurants to open last year span the culinary and budget landscapes

Many fine restaurants opened in the Beach Cities in 2019 – but you probably already noticed that. Visiting all of them is an adventure that takes you from modest cafes to elegant, curated spaces, with coffeehouses, grocery store lunch counters, mini-malls, and office parks along the way. As always, it’s a struggle to compile a […]

Restaurant titans Chez Mélange, Abigaile announce closures

The two restaurants launched careers and trends, but both will soon shutter

Less than two weeks into the new year, South Bay diners were hit with not one but two bombshells: two restaurants that changed the area’s culinary culture were closing. Chez Mélange opened in 1982, Abigaile in 2012. Both launched trends that continue to shape the South Bay. When Chez Mélange opened the South Bay restaurant […]