Hard Target: Los Angeles

If you've paid attention to the 'In The Crosshairs' section of my A to Z Challenge, you might have noticed that I've had a few locations there for a couple of months now that require a bit of a drive. Neither Gordon Ramsey nor Jose Andres have a location in The City OR Vegas, which can only mean one thing: Road Trip!

Oddly enough, the impetus for said trip has little to do with food and more to do with...sports? Yes, for those of you who know me solely via the blog this will come as a surprise. Those of you who know me IRL, notsomuch. The Meat Guy graduated from and works for the University of Spoiled Children and while he spends well over one month of every year up here in the Bay Area with us, we pretty much never go to La-La-Land. Like, the last time we did was at LEAST five years ago and, even then, it was a one-night stopover with a trip to The Magical Kingdom. I did however tell him that when the A's (a.k.a. The Oakland Atheltics of Major League Baseball) played the Dodgers in L.A. we'd come down. This, however, happens less often than a presidential election: they play each other only once every three years and, even then, it's a fifty-fifty chance they play on the road, so once every six years. Well, this is that year. You can take your finger off the StumbleUpon button now, I'm done boring you with baseball scheduling talk...

It wasn't that long ago that The Meat Guy lamented to lack of decent eateries in Los Angeles. He wanted Mina and Keller to come to L.A. but, as I explained, there was no reason to go there. A restaurants 'hotness' often had more to do with who DINED there or what celebrity OWNED the place rather than who prepared the food. You think anybody really thinks the food at The Ivy or Mr. Chow's is the be-all-end-all of cuisine? If you were a chef and wanted to expand, you'd open a place in Vegas to prove your culinary mettle and pad your income statement. L.A. wasn't even in the conversation. This wasn't to say that there weren't any good places in L.A., just not as many as there SHOULD be for a city of that caliber. That, however, has all changed.

L.A. now HAS it's Mina (XIV) and, come this fall, will have it's Keller (BevHills Bouchon). It also has it's Andres, Ramsey, Colicchio, English and Batali, among others. The latest ZAGAT guide even proclaims that LA is the new Las Vegas, and it's hard to argue with so many high-value targets being added to the Los Angeles landscape.

As for the Road Trip, we're mixing in some of the touristy stuff with the haute cuisine. You see, The Hottie never really did any of the L.A. tourist stuff as a kid beyond Disneyland, so La Brea tarpits, Knott's Berry Farm (where everybody keeps telling her, 'You've gotta do the Chicken Dinner' – which we are), Venice Beach, Griffith Park Observatory and Pink's are all on the itinerary (plus the A's vs. Dodgers, of course). Culinary highlights include going to Jose Andres new place at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, trying the french dip at Philippes (the alleged birthplace of said sandwich), Sunday brunch at Joe's in Venice (26 ZAGAT rating) and, quite possibly, THREE MICHELIN STARRED RESTAURANTS IN ONE DAY!!!

Yes, gentle reader, on SAT we plan on going to Gordon Ramsey for high tea followed by Sushi-Zo for omakase and then the two-starred Providence for a eight-course dessert tasting menu. Now, I'm not 100% sure my stomach capacity will allow said adventure and, if there's an odd man out, it'll be tea. I love tea...I love fancy high tea even more BUT Sushi-Zo has an ungodly 29 ZAGAT rating and some argue it's even better than Urasawa. Personally, I seriously doubt it, but even going to the second best sushi place in, arguably, THE best sushi city in North America is good enough for me. And I've got reservations at the Sushi Bar on a SAT nite to boot, so no way I'm blowing that off. As for Providence, ZOMGWTF is all I could say when I saw they had a dessert tasting menu. Culinarily speaking, if that doesn't get you excited then you're at the wrong effing blog dude. Do a google search on 'Bobby' 'Flay' 'Fan' 'Fiction' - that'll prolly appeal to you more. /shudder

See you when I get back!