Posts by Teri Marin

Beaches, palm trees, freeways, In-N-Out Burger. Few things are as emblematic of Southern California culture as its homegrown, family-owned burger chain – save for, perhaps, the drive-thru lines wrapping around the building, reminiscent of drive-time traffic. The company’s simple menu (which only recently added hot cocoa) and relatively low prices have helped ensure that the…

  Even in the fast-moving South Bay restaurant scene, some things don’t change. Phuket Thai has won or been a close second in this category for over a decade. It certainly isn’t their location, which is in a nondescript multi-use building and lacks the gaudy architecture of Southeast Asia. Their curries have the characteristic Thai…

We would like to inform our readers that people in the Middle East eat things other than roast chicken. We feel that this is necessary because the same two restaurants won in both of those categories, which we don’t think has ever happened before. The chicken at Poulet du Jour is, of course, worthy of…

We’re more interested in bright, accessible flavors than obsessive authenticity in the South Bay, which is why the Chinese restaurant co-founded by a steakhouse owner gets the nod. Paul Fleming of Fleming’s Steakhouse liked Chinese food and teamed with a famous restaurateur to help create modern Chinese fusion, and they are credited with creating some…

The cuisine of Goa, a former Portuguese colony in India, has been coming into the spotlight over the last few years because the Mediterranean-Indian fusion style is unique. We in the South Bay can proudly say we were first in the LA area to support it because we’ve been dining at Addi’s Tandoor for 15…

Chef Dominique Theval is the South Bay’s French treasure, a renowned culinarian who cooked in France and Asia before settling in Redondo. Nobody would have been surprised if someone with his resume had turned out ultra-fancy and fussy dinners with stratospheric price tags. Instead, he has championed country French ideas with Californian and Italian accents,…

The name says it, the menu promises it, and the kitchen delivers. The cooking here is all about subtly accenting the flavors of top quality produce, and they blend raw and cooked ingredients with skill and flair. A few items are always on the menu because things like furikake-dusted french fries and beer-braised pulled pork…

Everybody likes dessert, but there’s a special joy when you eat it as the Italians do. Don’t wait until after dinner, when your taste buds have already had a workout. The afternoon is a perfect time for espresso and dolci, like crisp, freshly made cannoli or a rich tiramisu that has the right balance of…