Food Drink Guide
Angeleno - Modern Luxury
April 2006

Top 10 Hot Spots
1. Ford's Filling Station
After an extended abscence from the restaurant scene, Ben Ford has finally opened his upscale Culver City gastro-pub, where he's serving dishes like hand-chopped steak tartare, fish and chips and roasted leg of lamb, along with an extensive selection of regional American wines and artisanal beers.
9531 Culver Blvd., Culver City, 310.202.1470

2. Stonehill Tavern
This marks San Francisco chef Michael Mina's return to SoCal, in the same ocean-view space that used to house Aqua-albeit masterfully redesigned by Tony Chi. The menu flirts with casual "tavern" traditions, but this is, in fact, a serious fine-dining destination, featuring Mina's signature three-way preperations of a single item. At the St. Regis Hotel,
1 Monarch Beach Resort, Laguna Niguel, 949.234.3318

3. Citizen Smith
Designed by Thomas Schoos and Michael Berman, this long-awaited Hollywood restaurant has finally opened, and it's a gorgeous, sexy mix of dude-ranch chic(cow-skin booths and rugs) and city slickerness (fancy glassware, cool music and lots of celebs). The comfort-food menu (lots of fried food and carbs) still needs some tweaking.
1600 N. Cahuenga Blvd., L.A., 323.461.5001

4. Eat on Sunset
Restaurants with trendy lounge scenes are a dime a dozen in Hollywood these days, but this one from Patina Group might be the most grown-up of the genre to date. The dining room is glamorous yet jeans-friendly, while the menu (think slow-roasted rack of lamb and wood-fired steaks) is comfortable yet sophisticated.
1448 N. Gower St., L.A., 323.461-8800

5. Pecorino
In an extremely bold move for an Italian restaurant in Brentwood, Pecorino's chef has created an entirely original menu (no fried calamari, no pumpkin ravioli) of some of the best Italian food that's ever been served in Los Angeles, making us wonder why the heck it's taken so long for someone to finally break out of the mold.
11604 San Vincente Blvd. Brentwood, 310.571.3800

6. Ortolan
Chef Christophe Eme' (Formerly of L'Orangerie) and girlfriend/actress Jeri Ryan's swanky modern French retaurant with too many chandeliers to count is still white-hot. Prrrr.
8338 W. 3rd St., L.A. 323-653-3300

7. Bodega DeCordova
The kitchen doesn't have a functioning stove or even a toaster. This is a genuine old-fashioned tapas bar serving a limited selection of Spanish wines and sherries alongside simple cheeses, almonds and cured meats that don't require much fuss.
361 S. Fairfax Ave., L.A., 323.951.1969

8. French 75
The O.C.'s French 75 has spawned a sibling in Burbank, and this might well be the best thing to happen in the Valley in quite some time. The menu features bistro classics likke steak frites and croque monsieur.
3400 W. Olive Ave., Burbank, 818.955.5100

9. Petros
Finally, a Greek restaurant with some class! With a chef from Maple Drive and Spago, this might be the area's best Greek Restaurant yet.
451 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Manhattan Beach, 310.545.4100

10. Nine Thirty
A hot young chef from San Farncisco has completely revamped the menus at this updscale American hot spot inside the W in Westwood.