In which L.A. TACO's Hadley Tomicki fills you in on the most exciting new restaurants, pop-ups, and food events cracking in and around Los Angeles.
BEVERLY HILLS
Rockpool California is now open in Beverly Hills from Osaka-raised sushi master Yasuhisa Ouchi, who is proud to strictly use fish from local fishers in L.A. and Southern California in the restaurant's sushi and sashimi.
At the moment, Yasu and his team are featuring local, wild black cod, halibut, sweet shrimp, yellowtail, rockfish, and Santa Barbara uni as he works on getting a wider variety for his three tiers of omakase (priced between $34 and $58) and a la carte items. Rockpool uses a variety of time-tested methods in recipes such as marinated tuna zuke, shio time, and seaweed-wrapped konbu-jime.
"So far, most sushi places in L.A. haven’t used local fish because many sushi chefs think it’s not suitable for sushi," Ouchi tells L.A. TACO. "This is why I haven’t had connections with local fishermen until now. When I tried local fish myself, it was surprisingly delicious. I’m excited to build a network with local fishermen and learn more about local fish."
265 S. Robertson Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90211
KOREATOWN
Bongu Garaetteokbokki opened yesterday in Koreatown, specializing in Korean tteokbokki rice cakes and other street food dishes. Tteokbokki variations include a rose garae tteokbokki made with a special rose sauce and tteokbokki covered in mozzarella cheese.
Other dishes include skewered fish cake and sausages, kim bap, udon, egg tempura, dumplings, blood sausage, and for dessert: ga tae tteok churros!
The restaurant will offer a two-for-one deal to every table through August 8 to celebrate its grand opening.
3524 W. 8th St. Los Angeles, CA 90005
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY
Dough Drop Pizza calls itself "the best underground pizza in Los Angeles." It makes two weekly drops of its sourdough crust pies, which include the "Hot Piggy" with spicy capicola, Savannah Bee Company honey, and pepperoni, plus a Hawaiian pizza with hot honey and peppers, and the "MOB" with mushrooms, onions, and black olives.
Orders for a meet-up can be placed via Instagram DM.
ECHO PARK
The problem with wine bars is that they are not butcher shops, and the problem with butcher shops is that they are rarely wine bars.
That particular problem is solved at Butchr Bar, a natural wine and beer bar that sells charcuterie and dry-aged meats from head butcher and charcutière Teresa Cabansag. It is now soft-opening in Echo Park.
Come by for a steak or some paper-thin Wagyu bresaola, a glass of Loire Valley Gamay from Domaine De La Petite Soeur, or a non-alcoholic Amalfi spritz. And go home with a fresh grain skirt steak, a bottle of bone broth, or something.
SANTA BARBARA
If you're heading to Santa Barbara for its annual Fiesta celebration this weekend, you'll need a great place to escape the madness.
Finch & Fork offers a quintessential taste of the region's terroir and sea inside of the stylish Canary Hotel in heart of the city's downtown.
Working with the likes of Kanaloa Seafood, S.B. Fish Market, and farms like Tutti Frutti, Bellwether, Regier Family Farms, and more, dishes include mushroom dandan noodles (from which $1 from every plate goes to Explore Ecology), poke with bourbon-aged shoyu, fried chicken with Weiser Farms potatoes, Hope Ranch mussels in coconut curry broth, king salmon with gigante beans, and a changing day boat catch, sharing lunch and dinner menus with local and global wines.
Of course, should you not want to escape the madness, check out our guide to Santa Barbara tacos, to which we'll add the excellent Maiz Picante and quite good Taquería La Unica.
31 West Carrillo St. Santa Barbara, CA 93101
