We’re open! We’re closed! We’re confused!

A La Carte column for 02 July 2020

Bending Time And Space: The march of public dining into parking lots, parking spaces, alleys, and courtyards continues, sometimes on a grand scale and sometimes small. A stretch of Richmond Street in El Segundo has become an outdoor plaza, and restaurants everywhere are eyeing every possible space where they might be able to put a […]

Taking it to the streets

Downtown Manhattan Beach embraces outdoor dining

Manhattan Beach’s downtown has always had a different character than the other beach city downtowns, in part because of topography. Unlike Hermosa Beach and Riviera Village, which boast wide streets in a flat area, Manhattan’s roads are narrower and the ones leading to the beach are steeper. This has created the unlikely situation of a […]

Big change at Big Wok [restaurant review]

Big Wok Mongolian Barbecue has improved its popular self serve buffet with personal distancing

If you were trying to make a list of restaurants that wouldn’t be likely to survive in an era of personal distancing, Mongolian barbecues would be near the top. Part of the attraction of the experience is picking whatever you want from the raw items on the buffet and trickling your favorite combinations of sauce […]

Favorites fold, newcomers delayed, others are barreling ahead [dining news]

Like Moles In Bright Sunlight… We are all emerging from the spaces in which we have hunkered down to a new and strange world. The servers who greet us are smiling behind their masks, but we can see by their eyes that they are pleased to welcome us. They’re particularly happy to be at work […]

Small wonder on Artesia [restaurant review]

Thai Express is easily overlooked, but worth seeking out

Several years ago I decided to eat at every locally owned restaurant in the South Bay at least once. After over a decade, despite more places opening every year, I think I’m close. Even so, once in a while I run across a place that for some reason was never on my radar before. This […]

Distance dining, Mediterranean style [restaurant review]

The Malaga Cove Ranch Market offers a great meal for a socially distanced date night

One casualty of the pandemic is the death of spontaneous dining. Two months ago, seeing an old friend at a store might lead to lunch at a nearby cafe or an invitation to dinner that night. Now it becomes a short interaction through facemasks and a promise of a Zoom chat later. The connection has […]

New beginnings, new menus, old ideas [dining news]

A La Carte dining column for 21 May 2020

Signs Of Life: For two months the news has been all about closings, but a few entrepreneurs are bucking the trend. Little Simmzy’s just opened in The Point in El Segundo, an offshoot of the popular Manhattan Beach burger and beer joint. This highlights the unexpected resilience of this development – despite the fact that […]