Food - latimes.com

Critic's Choice: Chicken dinners that entice you to leave the roost

By S. Irene Virbila — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Roasted, wood-roasted or jidori style, these delicious dishes come with diverse flavors and are served in different settings.

Funny how the chicken has become our most beloved bird. My neighbor is raising some exotic chicks, but even those of us who don't go to that extreme have our own favorite named chickens to buy — Rosie, Rocky, Mary or the more exotically named Jidori. Roast chicken is the go-to dish for every chef I can name. And chicken is a perennial favorite on most restaurant menus — fried, pan-fried, rotisserie-roasted, in tagine , salad, soup, pot pie, curry and every which way. Here are three of my favorite chicken dishes in L.A.

Enjoying flatbreads from many culinary angles

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Three restaurants around L.A. that serve fantastic flatbreads.

Pizza may be the best known and best loved flatbread in the world, but there are plenty more delicious additions to the flatbread canon. Just pick up a copy of Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Daguid's "Flatbreads & Flavors" to learn more. Or head into any Middle Eastern or international market to find an array of locally baked flatbreads, from hand-sized pita to examples easily 2 feet long. Those you have to garnish yourself. Or why not step out and try some fully realized versions at restaurants around town.

Critic's Choice: Three divine chocolate creations

By S. Irene Virbila — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Remember when you couldn't go to a restaurant without coming across yet another flourless chocolate cake? And when that trend finally passed, the chocolate fashion became precious, over-elaborate tastings of this and that. I'm glad that's finally passé. When something is good, you want more than one bite, no?

Jonathan Gold | Restaurant review: Hunan Mao for fish heads and fire

By Jonathan Gold — Sat, 9 Mar 2013 00:00:00 PDT

The authentic menu and even the TV are tuned to Hunan tastes. Bring a sense of adventure and keep the water glass handy.

When you tell somebody about a Hunan restaurant, always begin with the steamed fish head. The fish head will be large, probably from an enormous carp or similar freshwater species, thus comical, and it will be frosted with the chopped blend of dried, fresh and fermented chiles that give Hunanese cooking its reputation for head-snapping heat.

Critic's Choice: Cool, creative ceviche

By S. Irene Virbila — Sat, 2 Mar 2013 00:00:00 PST

Is ceviche poised to become as popular as sushi or sashimi in L.A.? It could happen. I'm thinking Ricardo Zarate is onto something as the Peruvian chef (Mo-Chica, Picca) gets ready to open a ceviche concept called Paiche. Raw seafood marinated in lime juice with chiles and cilantro and other elements suits a Southern California palate. It's cool and refreshing, packs in vibrant flavors and is light on the calories.

Counter Intelligence: Stylish, deluxe Japan-inspired cuisine at Hinoki & the Bird

By Jonathan Gold — Sat, 2 Mar 2013 00:00:00 PDT

In a modern, luxuriously designed Century City restaurant from David Myers that is part Bond-villain lair, part garden party, the pan-Asian cooking with high-end ingredients leaves an impression.

Hinoki is a fragrant cypress most Japanese associate with extremely expensive bathtubs, popular with the wealthy because the wood is used to build the soaking tubs at onsen , Japanese hot springs. Hinoki wood is also used to build the counters of the most prestigious sushi bars; long, smooth planks that are sanded every day and given weekly baths of milk.

Critic's Choice: Carpaccio as a blank canvas

By S. Irene Virbila — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 00:00:00 PST

According to my "Grande Enciclopedia Illustrata della Gastronomia," carpaccio is the "celebrated preparation based on raw beef sliced as finely as prosciutto di Parma and variously garnished," and was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani at Harry's Bar in Venice. A regular there, Contessa Amalia Nani Mocenigo (of Venice), was given a strict diet by her doctor. One of the few things she could eat was carne cruda — raw beef. To make her diet less monotonous, Cipriani presented her one day with a dish of finely sliced raw beef scribbled over with a mayonnaise spiked with mustard and a dash of Worcestershire. He named it "carpaccio" after the painter Vittore Carpaccio, whose paintings were showing in Venice at the time. Cipriani was particularly taken with his use of red.

Critic's Choice: Appealing to real mussel heads

By S. Irene Virbila — Sat, 2 Feb 2013 00:00:00 PST

Little Fork, Marché Moderne and M.B Post serve tasty mussel dishes.

Brittany, on the Atlantic coast of France, is famous for its shellfish. The most prized oysters come from Cancale, and the bouchot mussels, just an inch or so long, are tender and sweet. One bowl of those dainty mussels steamed in white wine and shallots turned me into a lifetime mussel lover. Here, Carlsbad Aquafarm in San Diego County sells bags of mussels grown off the California coast at the Hollywood and Santa Monica farmers markets. You can also find some wonderful mussel dishes at restaurants.

Critic's Choice: Neighborhood pizza pros

By S. Irene Virbila — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 00:00:00 PST

Some 30 years after Wolfgang Puck introduced a wood-burning oven and his sophisticated pizza at the original Spago, we're enjoying a pizza renaissance. And many of the newer pizzerie and restaurants are turning out pies better than typical neighborhood joints in Italy — and by a long shot. Though Pizzeria Mozza gets the lion's share of attention and remains one of the toughest reservations in town, there are plenty of other chefs making great pies at places that are easier to get into at the spur of the moment — Steve Samson and Zach Pollack at Sotto, Jeff Mahin at Stella Rossa Pizza Bar in Santa Monica, Travis Lett at Gjelina and Gjelina Take Away and Nicola Mastronardi at Pizzeria il Fico. But there are other simpler places to find exceptional pizza too. Here are a few that fly under the radar, but maybe not for long.

You're in for a treat with these top dogs in town: Critic's Choice

By S. Irene Virbila — Sat, 5 Jan 2013 00:00:00 PST

OK, we've all had our holiday fun and feasting. And somehow another roast turkey or standing rib roast doesn't sound as appealing as it did on Day One or Two or Three. At this point, it's hold the gravy, the rich desserts and the bubbly and get down to basics. Just about now I'm craving a great hot dog with a squirt of mustard and not much else. Here's where to find a few good dogs around town: