California Restaurants Archives

Motel Review: Cuyama Buckhorn, New Cuyama, CA

The 21-room Cuyama Buckhorn is a mid-century motel redux in the boondocks of California’s high desert, midway between San Luis Obispo and Maricopa. Nobody travels to this remote hideout by accident. You really must make an effort to get here.

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Quick Look: Hotel Cerro & Brasserie SLO, San Luis Obispo

Although its debut was inauspiciously timed (coinciding with the beginning of the pandemic), the 65-room Hotel Cerro and its beautiful Brasserie SLO have breathed new life into downtown San Luis Obispo on California's Central Coast.

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Closer Look: Stonehouse Restaurant at San Ysidro Ranch, Montecito

I don’t believe there’s a better restaurant in Santa Barbara than Stonehouse at San Ysidro Ranch. The food is truly outstanding. The service, impeccable. The wine list, world-class. And the…

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Hotel Review: San Ysidro Ranch, Montecito

San Ysidro Ranch is a world unto itself. It’s that unique place on the outskirts of Santa Barbara where Southern California merges with the European countryside. It’s where John and Jaqueline Kennedy honeymooned...

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Review: Addison, San Diego

Nine years had lapsed since my last visit to Addison in north San Diego County, so when the restaurant recently earned a second Michelin star, I wondered what has changed. I fondly remembered chef William Bradley as an absolute master of French haute cuisine. Apparently, a lot has changed since I was last here.

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Quick Review: Valle, Oceanside CA

Inspired by Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe where the chef first made a name for himself, Roberto Alcocer’s cuisine at the new Valle in Oceanside is intensely farm-to-table. It is uniquely Mexican, distinctly Californian and not always what it appears to be.

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Drink of the Week: The Bilbao at Fellow, Los Angeles

At Fellow in Los Angeles, The Bilboa is a modern riff on a gin martini made with rosemary-lemon-infused vermouth. It is herbal and citrusy and floral and fresh yet also surprisingly viscous and creamy, making it extremely enjoyable to sip.

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Hotel Review: Downtown LA Proper

The Downtown LA Proper is the fourth outpost of Kelly Wearstler and Brad Korzan’s Proper Hotel brand. (The first debuted in San Francisco in 2017, followed by Santa Monica and Austin.)…

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Photo of the Week: Rye Goods, Newport Beach

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Headfirst into the Dawn, Los Angeles to San Francisco on $700 a Day (a Memoir)

It's been 25 years since my first visit to California. This is the story of that incredible trip in 1995 when my editor sent me to Los Angeles and San Francisco to see what was happening in the restaurants there. It was the height of media extravagance, and a food revolution was underway...

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