LA has more great options for Pizza than almost any other city (don’t @ me NYC / Chicago). Pizzana, the late great South End. Tons of options. But Fiorelli is up there with the best. Simple and perfect - the crust is not too thick but crispy and holds the sauce and toppings without sogging. They load it with toppings too - think Chipotle before the pandemic. Everything is fresh with most of the ingredients coming from the garden it occupies (the Cook’s Garden appropriately named). Highly recommend for the food and atmosphere.

Second time at Felix - first off the atmosphere and location is great for entertaining guests especially on the back patio. For some reason they have these hostesses with almost comical attitude who have decided being aloof and rude is part of the experience- this thankfully didn’t include the waitstaff. The one dish everyone most get is the focaccia it might be the best bread in California. Decadent, fluffy, light and easy to tear with a crisp top and rich flavor, enhanced with salt herbs and olive oil. I also highly recommend the blue prawns (cooked crisp but with the flesh still moist) and squash blossoms (light and crisp very addicting). We also had prosciutto with melon. Anytime I can go out and get restaurant quality melon I order it - the dish reminds you how a quality ripe melon just melts in your mouth. The pizza for me is just not worth the price ($30) and you can walk down the street to The Cook’s Garden and get one of the best pizzas in LA from Chef Michael Fiorelli. We had two pastas - the Tagliatelle ragù which transported me to Italy and the Mezze Maniche alla Gricia - the flavor was nice but the pasta itself didn’t work for the dish (it was the one dish the table barely touched). Not pictured was the heritage lamb loin t-bones, spring onions, mint & salsa verde which was served almost like a steak. The lamb was rich and flavor and the accompaniments served it well. Would definitely recommend this restaurant but be prepared it is not cheap.

Fun summer wines - Rose edition. Les Sarrins is a classic Cotes De Provence Rose that is crispy, dry with a hint of melon/honeydew and light citrus.

The roasted tomato tartine with smoked brisket. The bread was toasted perfectly and the roasted tomato and sauce was a perfect compliment. crispy chicken schnitzel,crumbed free-range chicken breastsauce of dried chilies and seeds,shredded kale,heirloom cucumber,basil,labne vinaigrette- perfectly cooked, moist and delicate. Highly recommend.

Went for a friends dinner with a prefix menu / usually wary of set menus for a large table but everything came out perfect. Not pictured we also had “LA QUESADILLA // 19*corn tortilla filled with huitlacoche, quesillo, spicy guacasalsa”, not my favorite was too far away from a quesadilla for me. - “KAMPACHI CEVICHE AHUMADO // 24 smoked tomatillo nuoc cham, sunomomo pickles, chiltepin”- loved the flavor but the fish got lost in the dish it needs less of the nuoc cham Kampachi is a very delicate fish. The carrots were perfect as was the fish (we got one without sauce and one with - again the fish was a bit over sauced for me. Less is more with fish). Overall great service and atmosphere and the food is delicious even if I didn’t love how all of it was prepared.

Dinner for three - starting with fresh live Uni and Lobster, Hamachi Belly and Otoro. The live Uni was a bit more of a hassle than it was worth. The flavor was fresh but not as delicate as Japanese Uni. The lobster was cooked perfectly and the Trader Joe’s brioche buns pan toasted with butter made amazing lobster rolls (using Kewpie mayo for the base). I seared the toro and paired it with aged soy sauce and truffles. The hamachi was served with sea salt, olive oil and ponzu and the lobster claw was done two ways - one with truffles and the other simply ponzu and salt. I would season each dish with either Yuzu pepper or Fresh Wasabi.