Where To Eat This Weekend: Boozy Fresas Con Crema, El Ruso’s New Flour Tostadas, Heritage Fire, and Hotville’s Fried Chicken-and-Chorizo Paella
Plus, where to go for Jordanian shawarma, mezcal-cured steelhead trout tostadas, powerful hash crackers, a local viewing of KISS's farewell concert, and L.A.'s most opulent Sunday brunch.
Chef Sergio Ortega's Aspeti, which calls its cooking "Michoacán cuisine with a California touch & viceversa," is popping up at Silver Lake's Tabula Rasa on Wednesday, December 6 at 5pm. Dishes include potato taquitos with Oaxacan cheese mashed potatoes, kohlrabi, and melted leeks, plus mezcal-cured steelhead trout tostadas, and chicken confit enchiladas with mole Moreliano. For dessert: Mexican key lime pie with Maria's cookies and guava jam.
5125 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90027. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 180, 206, and 217 - “Hollywood/Normandie” or Metro B Line - "Hollywood/Western Station."
Drips Cheesecake is now open in Long Beach, serving handheld, chocolate-dipped, candy-dusted and confection-drizzled cheesecake slices, as well as cocktails, draft beer, hot dogs, pastrami-and-carne asada-topped French fries, hot dogs, tacos, and boozy versions of fresas con crema and other desserts in a space meant for hanging out and snacking.
1950 Ximeno Ave. Long Beach, CA 90815. Closest transit lines and stop: Long Beach Transit Lines 91, 111, 112, 172, and 173 - "Ximeno/Atherton."
1647 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 4 - “Sunset/Echo Park.”
Heritage Fire, a live-fire cooking competition and tasting event, will be held this Saturday afternoon at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Downtown from 4-7pm. Attendees will eat dishes made from heritage breed meats cooked over live fire from a roster of talent including Simon chef-owner Francisco Aguilar, El Guero y La Flaca's Eduardo Osorio, American Beauty's Elisha Ben-Haim, A's BBQ, Hotville Chicken, and Intercrew's Johnny Tran. In addition, they can expect craft beer, fine wines, and spirits. Tickets here. Unless you're feeling lucky....
Kim Prince's Hotville Chicken will be at Gasolina Cafe in Woodland Hills tonight, collaborating with Spanish chef-owner Sandra Cordero on some intriguing dishes, including Nashville shrimp and chicken with piquillo aioli, Nashville hot oyster mushroom with avocado aioli, deviled eggs with chicken cracklings and fried capers, and a Hotville paella with andouille, chorizo, shrimp, corn, and fried chicken. Reservations here.
21150 Ventura Blvd. Woodland Hills, CA 91364. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Line 150 - “Ventura/Alhama” or Bus Line 161 - "Ventura/Canoga."
Tacos Neza, known for its cheese-enveloped tacos costras, has moved to Hollywood's Ovation, the new name for the recently made-over Hollywood & Highland complex. Drawing its recipes from Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, other items include picadillo, cochinita pibil, and asada, available in tacos, burritos, and quesadillas.
KISS fans may want to book a table at Rock n Brews this Saturday, as the restaurant's many locations will be live-streaming the band's "last-ever" show at Madison Square Garden that evening starting at 5 PM. A handful of locations will also hold KISS makeup contests.
To celebrate 15 years of existence, Sugarfish is offering a special menu of 15 items for 15 days, from Nov. 29-Dec. 13, at all locations. The omakase-style selection includes dishes and delicacies not normally experienced at the sushi favorite, including Japanese pink lobster sashimi, ankimo hand rolls, and iwashi nigiri.
Tempo Crackers has released its latest innovation in cannabis edibles. The LA-based brand is now making high potency Tempo Solventless Hash 2-Pack Crackers that come in three flavors, with 100mg of THC from a single strain of solventless hash distributed between two tiny savory 50mg crackers, powered by Punch Extracts. Find them around town at local dispensaries.
1808 E. Rte 66 Glendora, CA 91740. Closest transit lines and stop: Foothill Transit Lines 188 and 284 - “Route 66/Lone Hill.”
The city's most opulent Sunday brunch buffet is back for the first time since the pandemic. Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills is offering an unrivaled selection of morning dishes from exec chef Mitch Austin and team, including made-to-order omelets and Belgian waffles, carving stations with prime rib and leg of lamb, Italian oven-fired pizza stations, an enviable shellfish assortment of split king crab legs, shrimp, oysters, and mussels, as well as chicken and waffle sliders, brisket tots with cheese curds and Fresno chiles, avocado toast bites, and tableside tuna crudo. And that's just to start. Sundays, 10am-2:00pm.
One of L.A. TACO's co-founders, Hadley Tomicki is a critic and journalist whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, and many other places.
The products, with their festive packaging, tropical flavors, and colorful parrot mascot, are relatable and better yet, they taste great, are fast-acting, and strong.
After getting rained out, our new date promises to be our biggest and most fun festival to date. Come out and eat all the tacos, drink all the micheladas, dance to the best DJs in L.A., and support our independent journalism! Of course, L.A. TACO members get in for free. Tickets on sale now.
Plus an Roman chef veteran in a Hollywood apartment, chocolate Cuba Libres, Uzbeki plov with lazer rice, and cochinita melts in a Silver Lake yard. Here are the best things to eat around Los Angeles (and San Juan Capistrano!) this weekend.
Within the vast culinary landscape of Los Angeles, there are endless styles, techniques, and regional varieties of ramen available to the hungry Angeleno, from traditional Hakata-style tonkotsu to a shiitake miso-based vegan ramen.