Did they really just lump GCM as one restaurant?
Yes they did.
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Centenoplex, Mozzaplex, and Grand Central Market. Kinda cheating.
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At least the other two have same operators. Lumping GCM into one is laughable.
" The crowds at Los Angeles’ century-old food hall are a microcosm of downtown life: Office workers stand in line for the marvelous carnitas at Villa Moreliana; under-caffeinated locals sip espresso shots at G&B Coffee; weekend tourists, phone cameras aloft, document everything from Sari Sari Store silog bowls to drippy ice cream cones from McConnell’s. You can practically hear the whoosh of Instagram hashtags in the ether. Grand Central Market is more popular than ever; an estimated 2 million people now pass through its neon-lit aisles every year. You can’t blame everyone for wanting to be here — this is the culinary nucleus of the city, a place that preserves the past (China Cafe’s beloved wonton bowls) and telegraphs our latest twee food obsession (designer peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at PBJ.LA). As downtown L.A.’s complicated renaissance gentrifies Grand Central Market, some of its oldest tenants struggle to hang on. For now, at least, there are still steam trays of cabeza and lengua at Roast to Go, the market’s oldest tenant. This is the best place to survey the flavors of Los Angeles, past and present."
I don’t agree that Tsubaki is horrendous. I think it has pretty good, reasonably authentic Japanese food. But I don’t like it enough to recommend anyone go there.
I just noticed Maude is not on the list. That’s pretty outrageous to me. The more I read this list, the more I’m annoyed. It’s like: let’s celebrate burritos and diversity and thumb our nose at many of the best restaurants in LA.
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To be fair, my one and only visit was about a year ago and I was thoroughly disappointed. And in the interim I has some excellent snacks at Ototo. So maybe I would like it more now.
Don’t you all think that “controversial” or “questionable” choices are purposely put on lists like this to generate discussion? What’s a list if everyone agrees and no one talks about it?
Though for Redbird to be the host and not have placement is totally not cool. Not that I’ve been, but it’s like asking a friend to host a party you’re throwing and then disinvite them and not allowing them to be in the house while you’re throwing it.
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I thought the exact same thing. Do they think they’re Rolling Stone Magazine? Whose lists are intended to stir up controversy. It’s a list of places who serve the best food. Stirring up controversy smells like jumping the shark. And the Redbird thing isn’t controversial, it’s foul. F them. 
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Very similar to San Francisco Chronicle’s Top 100 restaurants list every year in terms of surprises, no surprises, shouldn’t be on the list, glad someone is on the higher ranking and well deserved etc. Nonetheless, a good starting guide to see what’s out there, then do your own research (or recommendations by the esteemed on this fine board) and just go to town and be your own judge jury and executioner (and sommelier if need be).
Bulgarini Gelato is not on the list but that’s ok more for us!
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This is true (although I disagree about Langer’s)! What is the Kobee Factory doing on a list of LA’s 101 best restaurants? Its an okay Middle Eastern spot. Nice people but too much cinnamon in the kobees. Nowhere near the quality of Skaf’s or Joe’s Falafel - and they are just nice neighborhood joints.
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Why doesn’t FTC make their own top 100 . You know the truth.
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I think this is a very good list. I also feel that LA’s food scene has become such a tour de force that it feels way too short. And I also think that the first 10 rankings really matter and that the rest could be in any order.
That’s what the list has been for its entire existence. IIRC, Kogi was #1 once. I like it this way better, rather than the list of the best fine dining restaurants in LA that you appear to prefer, as I think it’s a much more accurate encapsulation of the LA dining experience.
No.
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Also, Somni/The Bazaar.
Vespertine at #101 reads almost like an honorable mention. Seems to me Addison & Escárcega are acknowledging the experience is like nothing else in LA, but also saying that it doesn’t connect with them the same way it did with Jonathan Gold. Looking at it that way, the placement makes sense, as a statement of their preferences/change of the guard. For what it’s worth, JGold’s review & placement of Vespertine at #1 in 2017 persuaded me to eat there, and I enjoyed that meal more than Kato (which was also excellent).
Jonathan Gold’s take on Vespertine wasn’t that different.
I would say that a meal at Vespertine is mandatory for a certain kind of diner, but mandatory in the way that the James Turrell show at LACMA a couple of years ago was mandatory, or Berg’s “Wozzeck,” or the current season of “Twin Peaks.” It’s not dinner; it’s Gesamtkunstwerk .
Why is Vespertine No. 1 on the 101 list this year?
Because Jordan Kahn is playing with modes of dining that have never before been articulated. Because months after your meal, images and juxtapositions will flash through your thoughts, as vivid as they were the evening of your dinner. Because Verspertine is in its way perfect.But isn’t the experience alienating? You tend to spend half of everything you write about a Kahn project explaining why most people are unlikely to enjoy it.
This is true — I do spend a lot of time thinking about how a young couple from Tarzana might save up for a nice night out and end up not just confused but angry about the fruit leather, dried kelp and clouds of smoldering frankincense. If you’re going to Vespertine — and of course, I encourage everybody to visit Vespertine — you should know what you are getting into, just as you would before seeing “Lulu” at the L.A. Opera.
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