Another idea… The Restaurant at the Getty Center is open and apparently does have outdoor seating. I only ate there once > 10 yrs ago. I recall the food and service being “upscale-appropriate” but not a knockout.
On a bit of an unrelated note, they now do afternoon tea there!
Warrior: Now that’s thinking outside the box!
How about Spago? The photos were really striking of the new space, and the food has been solid for me. (Predemic)
Birdie G’s (entire outside plaza/walkway), Citrin (parking lot takeover), Ivy at the Shore (back parking lot mirroring indoor decor), Via Venetto (they take over the next door office building’s plaza) - those come to mind.
Cassia
second Phenakite.
Isn’t Cassia’s outdoor space a parking lot?
Thanks for all the suggestions. Definitely considering Citrin and Bel Air Hotel. I also completely forgot about Craft, which finally reopened, although I have always found the food at Craft to be workmanlike good, as opposed to amazing.
I also should have been clearer in my initial posting that for this particular outing I was actually looking for fine dining in the traditional sense – which was hard to find in L.A. even pre-pandemic – as in crystal wine glasses, sommelier hovering over you, etc. That was always hard to find in L.A. and then when not wanting to dine indoors and hoping for amazing food as well. A tall order.
about 1/2 their space is the same, pretty nice, outdoor space they always had and 1/2 is “new” parking lot (not as nice).
Good luck on reservations to Phenakite though! Chef said they’ve got thousands on the waitlist ever since they won restaurant of the year.
But yes, go to Phenakite 
Warrior: yeah, i gave up on phenakite. I don’t have time for that. They and many other restaurants should allow reservations further in advance.
They did though! They open up reservations for the season, and right after the award came out they got fully booked.
You’ll just need to watch for when they open up for the next round.
gucci osteria has one of the nicest rooftops and they just got a michelin star.
Ah, I forgot about the Gucci restaurant which I wanted to try before the pandemic. Not sure how easy reservations are to get. I hate it when you have to know someone to get reservations. Especially when I’m not among the cognoscenti with connections . . .
Edited - just went on Resy - no reservations available ever. Next. Too much trouble. Not worth it. Especially because I have heard the food isn’t all that amazing.
I mean, hasn’t the answer always been AOC (Original) even before Covid?
Spago.
I would say Kali
Warrior: I’ve had trouble getting a reservation at Gucci and no luck with the waitlist. I agree — too much hassle to try to figure out how to get a reservation.
So we have decided on Citrin. I had forgotten about that restaurant, so thanks to posters on this thread who reminded me of its existence. Seems to me to be the best combination of outdoor dining, “special occasion” food and available reservations (the Bel Air Hotel apparently has no reservations into the next millennium).
Citrin reservations were easy to get. Perhaps the restaurant is not jibing with the neighborhood? I think the menu looks fabulous. Has anyone had the truffled eggs there? Initially I had sticker shock when I saw the price ($115), but I’m guessing truffles may be part of the whole Covid supply chain problems that is raising prices with everything. The rest of the menu was really not crazy-priced for the type of food being offered and corkage ($50 a bottle) is on par with other upscale Westside restaurants. The Melisse corkage fee is $100! I assume the wine list is the same for both restaurants because only the Melisse wine list is accessible online – it’s one of the best lists I have seen in L.A. with a lot of half bottles, which is nice if you are just two people and want to have more than one kind of wine with dinner.
My brother went recently on a date night with his wife and really enjoyed it. Great feedback