Damn, i didn’t realize they didn’t make the list. What a travesty! Takeout Otium and replace it with Shunji.
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i think it started happening a year into them expanding to a lot of locations.
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I suspect Addison just capped the number of $$$$ places at ten. Similar story for Japanese / hyphenated Japanese. The publisher and/or editors insist on the word “best” but Addison explicitly rejects that:
With apologies to my editors, I don’t really believe in the idea of “bests” when it comes to the 101 project. Yes, this is a guide to excellence. It also is meant to capture, as much as a finite number can, the overall breadth and spirit of dining in L.A.
Have you been to Otium recently? In his 101 capsule review, Addison says:
The Otium I experienced around the time of its 2016 opening and the Otium I’m enamored with in 2021 feel like two different restaurants.
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bladdison gave you a shoutout
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Lol the copy ain’t his though.
Where was this?
I was kinda surprised that Howling Rays was ommited… but it’s been more than a year since they stopped doing whole chicken and just focused on Sandwiches and Wings. So I’m thrilled Hotville which didn’t stop this whole pandemic… if anything they pivioted beautifully despite BIG odds, was recognized for that. Once HR opens up and starts their full menu again… then there would be no argument.
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Kim Dao and Hong Pham, the married pair behind the Ravenous Couple blog, urged me to try the version at 5 Stars Hue, a small but growing chain of restaurants located throughout the SGV. Sure enough, the bánh ram ít were powerful in their crisp-soft contrasts, and liberal splashes of nuoc mam took the flavors to fresh, pungent extremes.
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Ahh I follow them on Instagram but didn’t realize they were on the boards! Hi!
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Howlin’ Ray’s was on last year’s 101 and Addison mentions it in the Hotville blurb. He had to drop something to make room for new places.
Publishers love arbitrary numbers, they think it drives sales. Reviewers, not so much, since it means making arbitrary choices and leaving places off the list that are just as good as the ones that made the cut.
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I think Fishing with Dynamite should be on the list instead of The Arthur J, but what do I know…
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Addison says in his newsletter today that he ate at each restaurant on the list between July and October, so that cutoff date might explain why some places are missing.
warrior: our dinner at otium this year was excellent and memorable and much better than dinners at otium in past years. better than our dinners at majordomo and rossoblu this year.
warrior: another restaurant that i noticed is not on the list: bicyclette. has it lost its luster so quickly?
another disappointing omission: angelini osteria.
too new
Addison put 9-1/2 Italian places on the list and I’m sure Angelini just didn’t make the cut. I enjoyed a good meal there at in August, but it wasn’t in the same league as Bestia, Bari, Gjelinia, Chi Spacca, or Osteria Mozza. Maybe the food was better before they quintupled the number of covers by adding the huge sidewalk seating area.
Last Wednesday, I finished my final bit of writing for this year’s 101 Best Restaurants in L.A., and then I met a friend for dinner at Bicyclette in Pico-Robertson. … Spoiler: Bicyclette is not on the list. The latest project from République’s Walter and Margarita Manzke is really two restaurants: a downstairs bistro that opened in June, and a more formal dining room upstairs that will likely debut in the first half of 2022. I’m waiting to write a full review until both elements are up and running.
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warrior: is Golden Delight really Vietnamese? It seems they have a small Vietnamese menu and others mostly Chinese dishes.
yes, it’s actually vietnamese own by a vietnamese family… many vietnamese are also teochew and identify as both. i didn’t inquire to see if they were chinese vietnamese. but that’s what sorta makes them unique --not that they have both chinese and vietnamese food, but that they do both really, really well.
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warrior: thanks. people on yelp talk about long lines. if we went there at 6:30 or so, how long do you think the wait would be?
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