Bavel was hit and miss for me. I’d much rather go back to Bestia.
I had the hummus (which I agree was excellent) and the lamb was excellent as well. I had the donuts for dessert which were only good, but I rarely even order dessert.
Sounds like we had pretty different orders!
Hayato, Providence, Kato, Sushi Ginza Onodera
For a restaurant more in the LA spirit - I would choose Gjelina.
assuming upscale implies white tablecloths and a dress code and high end means something along the lines of at least one michelin star, the choices are extremely limited. those specifications imply a european / continental tradition that has limited traction here. i find instructive to note that thomas keller has the french laundry (and other satellites to keep his staff in the family business, so to speak) in northern CA, per se in NYC & the surf club in miami (offering a modernized continental cuisine), but he only opened a bistro in LA (bouchon) - which eventually closed. LA won’t even support high end bistro food, much less continental cuisine.
european traditions in general have limited traction here due to significant influx of latin american and pan-asian immigrants which in turn has resulted in a fairly vibrant food scene here, but upscale and high-end aren’t adjectives typically used to describe it. and there are so many different cultural influences the word best is extremely equivocal.
Dreas code? Wouldn’t you have to leave town?
What’s a pan-Asian immigrant?
not a dress code, just I mean prices that are on the higher end for (hopefully) higher quality food.
In my personal experience I haven’t noticed an enforced dress code in LA regardless of stars. The only place I can recall was Somni in pre-COVID times. Maybe Vespertine will have one when they come back but its rather California to not have dress codes. People do dress nice but it’s personal preference more than anything.
Agreed though that the words “best”, “upscale high end”, and so on are rather subjective and not particularly useful without more context. I think here LA means just the geography rather than the culture. At least in price and taste, I personally think there are plenty of restaurants that fit what appears to be a prompt of “what’s your favorite non-tasting menu fancy food”. Many of them have been noted on this thread already.
It might help if we knew if additional things mattered like service, atmosphere/vibe, ease of reservations, etc. For example, I hear Holbox is very good (still need to go one day) but that’s in a food court. Maybe not the venue OP was thinking of. Alternatively, I had a nice meal at Kali a month or two ago and reservations are remarkably easy there (can be same day I think) vs. say Bestia/Bavel which are a month or so out. Not the most formal of services but a nice relaxing atmosphere, I enjoyed the food, and they have a star. Almost a casual atmosphere but with higher quality food.
@secretasianman I haven’t been to Bouchon, but where do you think a Bicyclette, Pasjoli, and Camphor would fit relative to the kind of experience at a Bouchon? I lack the experience to know where those fit. I wonder how much the food culture of LA has changed since Bouchon’s closure. Given how many nicer eateries that have opened in the last several years, I wonder if Bouchon had opened more recently (assuming economically viable conditions which might be tough) if they might still be around.
@robert At risk of speaking for secretasianman I’m guessing he’s trying to be inclusive of all Asians, not just the usual Chinese/Japanese/Korean but also including immigrants from Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, India, etc. That’s how I read the term at least.
3 Likes
For me things like service, atmosphere etc are irrelevant. Food come first.
Holbox is easily one of my favorite restaurants in LA, and even though I said, “upscale higher end” I think you could say Hotbox given their critical acclaim is at that level (not upscale, but higher end).
1 Like
Holbox post pandemic is the restaurant we’ve been to most. Don’t need to pay an arm and leg to get amazing food. I just wish we could drink a beer there that would be awesome.
9 Likes
It has been done. 
1 Like
Just look at their latest toys Happy Meal noice!
I want the red one with fish fins and mean face or the teal one with big wheels. None of the other restaurants give you cool toys 
1 Like