fine wine and spirits philadelphia south street

The mezze are familiar dishes done exceedingly well, from the light and salty falafel with a perfect fry to the babaganoush that is charred over a wood fire until it’s deeply smoky. Hayek is in the kitchen and touching tables almost every night, putting out excellent versions of modern Lebanese food. Fans of Top Chef will recognize Hayek as the winner of Top Chef Middle East and a breakout favorite of Top Chef All-Stars, but Ladyhawk is not a gimmick or a slapdash way to capitalize on celebrity. But at the new Ladyhawk in West Hollywood, Chef Charbel Hayek is proving he can do both.

The talent it takes to be a Top Chef on TV is sometimes different from the talent it takes to be an excellent chef in a restaurant inspiration under pressure is a different thing than repeated execution and steady improvement over time. Photo by Michael Aguilar, courtesy of Sushi Note Omakase And you can always put a beer in their hand and send them over to play Virtua Tennis at the arcade when the Lamb Neck hits the table.

Argoti has a penchant for unusual cuts of meat, which dot the menu, but this is also a place where vegetarians and the squeamish can happily eat. There is a Parker House Roll with Miso Honey, Furikake Duqqa, and Fresno Chile Butter that pulls apart just so the noodles in the Yellow Curry Bucatino are as good as you’ll find anywhere and come coated in a slick curry that zips with tomatillo zhoug and the Coconut Curry Chochoyotes turn out to be a wild flip on fondue, complete with mushrooms three ways and a fondue fork for dipping. Armed with a real kitchen instead of a couple of burners on the street, Argoti already has Poltergeist feeling tight, maybe not focused, per se, but cohesive in its eccentricity. For his next project, the new Poltergeist, Argoti has stepped indoors to the fun and boldly experimental retro-style bar arcade Button Mash. Estrano events trend toward chaos in the best way, with long lines that wind down barely-lit alleyways, thumping music, last-minute surprises, and a menu of inspired insanity centered on handmade noodles with a feral edge. If you’ve been following the LA pop-up food scene over the last couple of years, odds are you’ve heard of Estrano, the far-out pasta pop-up from chef Diego Argoti. The falafel are an early highlight, served in a corn tortilla with avocado salsa, a lovely crunchy-smushy rich-herby contrast. The combination just works, flour tortillas from Mejorado wrapped around marinated steak, toum infused with chile de arbol, all dusted with sumac and a sprinkle of Thai basil.

That’s exactly the right way to describe their food too, a pairing of tacos and khorovats that only sounds weird if it’s your first time in LA. It is a fitting work of art for the outside of MidEast Tacos, not only because it literally represents the fusion of Armenian and Mexican cooking at hand in Armen Martirosyan and Aram Kavoukjian’s new brick-and-mortar restaurant, but also because it is carefully thought out, bright and lovely and fun. There is a new mural on the wall at Sunset and Maltman, a jaunty aqua color painted over the bricks facing the 99 Cent Store, decorated with alternating symbols, Armenian kerkhach and traditional Mexican weaving patterns. And if you're looking for some new favorites, check out this list of the most exciting new restaurants in LA. Which is all to say, if you like a restaurant, make sure you support it. This city is a tough place to run a restaurant, but thankfully our brave and talented chefs and restaurateurs never stop. There are fantastic options across all categories, from taquerias to omakase sushi, casual izakayas to elegant Lebanese restaurants, regional Chinese cooking to Atlantic coast seafood and so much more.Ģ023 was yet another tough year for the industry across LA, with big closures from Chinatown to Orange County and Silver Lake to the Palisades, but into their shoes steps a whole new crop of great restaurants.

And yet there is no denying it-exciting new restaurants continue to open, and the chefs and teams behind them continue to blow us away with their creativity and execution. Writing about the best new restaurants in LA can feel a little predatory, youth obsessed like Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused.

Fine wine and spirits philadelphia south street