When GQ’s Alan Richman calls a rice pudding “deep and devastating,” he knows exactly what he’s talking about. After all, the men’s magazine resident food correspondent has won 14 coveted James Beard Awards for his work in journalism.
In his recently published article, GQ’s 25 Most Outstanding Restaurants of 2015, Richman scoured the country to find the most original, scintillating, mouthwatering new restaurants. Three restaurants in Los Angeles made the cut.
Alimento in Silver Lake, which comes in at No. 9, is commended for Chef Zach Pollack’s reinvention of Italian dishes. “His take on tortellini en brodo—in Italy, that’s ring-shaped pasta in soup—actually puts the soup inside the pasta,” Richman writes. “And that’s just the start of the innovations at this tiny spot in the Silver Lake section of L.A.”
Since opening in April 2014, smoke.oil.salt. (No. 14 on Richman’s list) has been a favorite weekend spot for Sunday Paella Night. But Chef Perfecto Rocher can compose dishes that extend much farther than rice, meat and veggies. Richman highlights the smoked grilled octopus over vinegary potatoes and calls the food “savory.original.startling.”
Dim sum restaurants, whether they’re contemporary and Americanized like The Church Key or traditional carted productions in the San Gabriel Valley, get lots of love in LA, but not so much on the country’s best-of lists. Number 25 on Richman’s list is Shi Hai dim sum spot in Alhambra. What Shi Hai lacks in carted service, it makes up for in artfully prepared dishes, including six types of slippery rice noodles.
With a new, delectable restaurant opening its doors every month, Richman’s selections are a great place to start sampling all the international deliciousness LA has to offer.
Find more dining options with the LosAngeles.com Restaurants Directory.
