A neon crown hangs in the doorway of the East L. A. institution that serves the king of the spicy torta, or Mexican sandwich: breaded carne asada, cheese, avocado, and jalapeños on a toasted roll glistening with grease. Dip it in one of the homemade salsas. (3701 East First Street; 323-264-0678)
PATRIC KUH
Restaurant critic for Los Angeles Magazine
Los Angeles I like to go to Teresita's, a family-run restaurant in East L.A. The owner, Teresa Campos de Hernandez, opened the modest place in 1983. She's still cooking and greeting customers in the front, but her son Antonio runs the restaurant now. Their chilaquiles are great--fried corn tortillas drenched in homemade red or green salsa and strewn with cotija cheese. And on Wednesdays, they have costillas de puerco en chile negro, pork ribs cooked in a black chili sauce and finished with Ibarra chocolate. It's sort of like a braising juice. 3826 E. 1st St., 323/266-6045, chilaquiles $8.
Mark Bittman
Los Angeles Dumpling 10053 has dumplings with this amazing chili sauce. It's like an Asian-Mexican fusion, but there's nothing pretentious about it. The thing to order is the pork or the shrimp. 10053 Valley Blvd., 626/350-0188, shrimp dumplings $6.
Dominique Crenn
Abode Restaurant & Lounge, Santa Monica, California
The three reasons you should go to Abode are that Crenn is very talented, very French, and very attractive. Her outsize creativity is inspired by an insistence on organic and artisanal ingredients, a hallmark best appreciated by sampling an array of small-plate dishes -- pear-and-parsnip "cappuccino" soup with truffles and coffee, perhaps, or her surprisingly satisfying eight-course vegetarian tasting menu. Large plates succeed, too, especially the jaw-dropping osso buco slowly cooked in apple cider.
Tagzania
