Esquire seems to like Felix. I don’t know if they’re in any particular order, but Felix got the number one spot.
haha…who said this?
Gold, in his 101 blurb on that nasty place.
From his lunchtime chat:
Felix is the omission people seem to be taking the most exception to this year. It’s fun, and Evan Funke is good at manipulating flavors, but without going into it much farther, we have profound disagreements, mostly textural, on what a great plate of pasta might be. I’ll look at it again pretty closely for next year.
For me that translates to “I know nothing about pasta”
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I guess I have to try it but having just spent 3 weeks on my 2nd trip in Italy I can’t recall anything anywhere that is the texture J Gold is describing in Italy. They may need to cook the shit another minute for real. There’s texture variation all around Italy but never does it approach uncooked gritty middle… but i haven’t been to puglia/sicily
Had the mezze maniche and it was probably our favorite of the three we had (pappardelle & orecchiette).
When I lived in Rome, I knew a guy from Abruzzo who liked his pasta underdone like that, but I don’t think it was a regional thing, just a personal preference, maybe learned from his mom.
I learned to cook italian from an Abruzzese who taught me about oysters and how to fry veal and how to drink limoncelo and how to go to bars (he took me when i was 15) and how to chase chickens… but never ever do i recall him cooking a double al dente staff meal lol
Honestly it could just be a stylistic choice and him trying to stand out, which is fine. I’m super excited to try it and that factor alone will never make me write the place off.
In general i’m having a difficult week because i adore J Gold and i just dont know anymore
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We had that one last week, it was great.
I usually avoid cacio pepe, as it rarely “wows” me but Felix’s is so amazing.
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Why? Because he disagrees w/ how Evan Funke cooks his pasta? That’s quite the leap you’re making.
Sarcasm
Gold answering questions and also restaurants that almost made the list
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Haven’t been, but I think that may be the point. I predict that Vespertine doesn’t even make the list next year.
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“In the end, there was room for only one Korean barbecue restaurant”
What kind of terrible logic is this nonsense? Why apply this restriction to korean bbq but not italian or french or sushi?
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My mind is blown that, that was his reasoning for not including Dialogue. Easily my best meal in LA this year.
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If Dialogue is left out because it is too new, how old is Vespertine?
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This is a telling comment (from the “Restaurants Sad to Leave Off,” #7):
“Marugame Monzo. Absolutely splendid udon made to order and first-rate tempura. Why does ramen always snag the Japanese noodle slot? Habit, I guess.”
Why is there only one “Japanese noodle slot” and does the “habit, I guess” explanation strike anyone else as Gold expressing some level of boredom with creating the list? Sure reads like that to me: boredom, ambivalence, laziness…disinterest in the process and the results.
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But Dialogue! But MTN! But ink.well! But Sari Sari Store!
All of them are quite good — especially Dialogue, which has the potential to be one of the best restaurants in California. But they’re very new, and I’m not sure that any of them has quite caught their stride yet. Let’s talk again next year.
He may have encountered some inconsistencies or shortcomings you didn’t, or that you were more willing to excuse.
Compared to the other 101 restaurants, guess it’s something I won’t ever understand