California Restaurants Archives

10-Second Review: Belcampo Meat Co., Santa Monica

I first fell in love with Belcampo’s burgers several years ago at their butcher shop inside the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles. And now at their Santa Monica butcher-shop cafe, the burger is next-level…

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Dish of the Week: Laksa at Uncle Fung, Buena Park

The laksa at Uncle Fung in Buena Park is legit. They make their own egg noodles, or mee, and the broth is rich and creamy, a mildly spicy curry thickened with coconut cream.

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Dish of the Week: Oxtail pho at Pho 101

This is the best oxtail pho in Orange County. Period. Well, actually, there is one other that’s exactly the same…

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Dish of the Week: Torta at Playa Mesa, Costa Mesa

When the waitress sets it on the table with a thud, I immediately assure myself that I’m not crazy enough to eat this entire sandwich. I’ll just eat half of it, at which point I will assert self control. Somewhere along the way my plan goes awry…

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Dish of the Week: Yellowtail Ceviche at Central, Laguna Beach

This ceviche at Central in Laguna Beach is extraordinary. Chef Michael Campbell weaves ribbons of yellowtail into a beautiful tapestry with cherry tomatoes, red onion and fresno chiles in citrus-coconut broth…

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O.C. Review: Southern Spice, Irvine

Dining at Southern Spice will test your threshold for chaos. You’ll wish you had swallowed a Valium before leaving the house. But you will eat very well.

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Just Announced: 60th Annual SoCal Journalism Awards!

The Los Angeles Press Club just announced the winners of the Southern California Journalism Awards, and I’m thrilled to have won Best Food Criticism for my reviews in the Orange County Register for the second year in a row. Here are two of the reviews that got me into the competition this year.

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The Great Burger Debate: Lettuce or No Lettuce?

A chef on Instagram recently launched a debate by posting a picture of a cheeseburger beneath which he posed a simple question, “Lettuce or no lettuce?”

I didn’t weigh in, but I silently screamed, “Lettuce!”

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Quick Look: Bar Crenn, San Francisco

Chef Dominique Crenn just opened her (long awaited) French wine bar next door to her flagship Atelier Crenn. Conceptually, this is meant to be a casual little wine bar where…

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O.C. Review: El Coyotito, San Juan Capistrano

I stuff a few dollar bills into the machine and scroll through the CDs: Banda Machos, Gerardo Ortiz, Juan Gabriel, Julio Iglesias, Enrique Iglesias, Christina Aguilera … and settle on the younger Iglesias, plus The Eagles, The Cars and Eric Clapton. The Eagles’ 1979 hit “I Can’t Tell You Why” begins to play, and everyone in the dining room seems to approve, even the two guys in the corner who are wearing dusty cowboy boots and sharing an ice-filled bucket of beer.

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