Results tagged “dinela2009”

              

Ports O' Call restaurant, which is in Ports O' Call Village in San Pedro, has an immediate strike against it. It is a common belief that restaurants with views always suck (cough Castaway cough). Even if in this case it is just a view of oil drums and tankers. Then to really make a seasoned diner nervous, they have weddings there. Like all the time. Sometimes two at a time. Would you like the pistachio-crusted chicken or the poached salmon with dill sauce? Stop running! It's OK. Come back. They have cake.

It looks like he got his point across, at least in our most recent meal there.

When is a week not a week? when it's two weeks. Err, make that three weeks. dineLA Restaurant Week is being extended Oct.18-23! The list of participating restaurants has also been reconfigured. It is much more readable now, and you are able to see which restaurants are offering lunch without having to click on their page.

       

Pinot Bistro on Ventura Boulevard has seen may chefs come and go, some of them spectacular and some of them so-so. Previous chefs include such notable names as Octavio Becerra, Miki Zivkovic and of course, Joachim Spichal himself. Even Suzanne Goin has worked in the kitchen. We were excited to see what the latest chef, Hugo Veltman, has been cooking up and jumped at the invitation to try their dineLA menu.

         

So, a coupla chicks walk into Ivan Kane's Cafe Wa s to check out their dineLA dinner...

       

Sometimes it's really nice to take a vacation all by yourself and treat yourself to a nice meal. Dining downtown at Zucca, with its high ceilings, Venetian paintings and chandeliers gives you that feeling of pampering yourself, if only for an hour. The dineLA menu at Zucca is nothing if not hearty. LAist was invited to try out their lunch menu yesterday and the blustery weathery made the soup and pasta options especially appealing.

      

It's always a little curious when you arrive at one of the many eateries participating in dineLA's popular restaurant week and they don't hand you the dineLA menu. As a diner there to check out a spot you've maybe never been to before this means things can get off to a rocky start when right out of the gate you have to wonder if you were mistaken, or if the dineLA crowd is really all that welcome where you are. (Baffling, right? After all, restaurants choose to participate, so why not pimp it?) You know that "new kid" feeling? Yeah, that's the one.

           

Walking into Nick and Stef's in downtown Los Angeles, your first impression is that it would be the perfect place for a business lunch, should you ever need to have a business lunch. The decor is unobtrusive and simple, but it is pristine. There is not a spot on a napkin, a mark on the banquette or a glass out of place. Service is charming and impeccable, bordering on the obsequious.

     

Our first taste of DineLA week(s) was really a matter of practicality. It was lunchtime in Pasadena. What was convenient? The menu at Cafe Bizou was varied, appealing and reasonable. We arrived just as they were opening and the first impression was not good. It was an empty FrancoDenny's with a disorganized staff.

It's dineLA week, are you checking out new restaurants? Some vegans felt their options were limited, but the bloggers and readers at Quarrygirl are calling all the restaurants, asking if they'll accommodate vegans. Most restaurants so far are agreeable, but two are not. There's nothing surprising about Chaya Downtown not offering vegan food, but La Grande Orange, the restaurant that promotes dishes made from fresh, organic and seasonal ingredients? That's just disappointing.

dineLA's second 2009 Restaurant Week got underway yesterday, and runs through the 9th, and from the 11th-16th. To see a list of the restaurants, prices, and menus, click here.

Some big players on the local food scene were on hand this past Friday to take part in a media event to get everyone ready for dineLA's second go-'round of Restaurant Week 2009. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa brought his appetite to the table...will you? dineLA runs October 4-9 and October 11-16, and has a list of many, many (over 200!) wonderful local eateries at which you can treat yourself to specially priced three-course menus.

       

Circa 55, our first DineLA lunch, was pure serendipity. After covering the Oscars luncheon at the Beverly Hilton, I wandered downstairs to my old standby, Trader Vics. But my commitment to DineLA soon lured me over to the classy yet casual Circa 55. The design is reminiscent of a mid-century modern living room, uncluttered and airy, with sunlight streaming through the windows.

           

The Dakota is decorated in a style that harmonizes with the old Hollywood glamour of the Roosevelt Hotel, but without the creepiness. The rich chocolate tones keep the room hip and dark but much warmer than the usual black and white decor. The suede chairs are comfortable, although I am still pondering the leather tablecloths. The room is divided by large columns that break up the vastness and give each area a sense of privacy.

We might be a foodie nation these days, but we're also a nation on a budget, which is probably why many of the restaurants participating in this year's DineLA promotion have agreed to extend the event until February 28th. Several of the eateries will continue to offer fixed-price lunch and/or dinner menus at a discounted price for three weeks beyond the original event's scheduled dates.

      

The Water Grill in Downtown LA has a reputation for being a world-class seafood restaurant with accompanying prices to prove it. Since our budget runs more along the Red Lobster line, we jumped at the chance for the $44 DineLA* opportunity for a three-course Water Grill dinner. It’s practically a bargain, right?

      

Locanda del Lago sits on a prime piece of Santa Monica real estate, at the corner of 3rd and Arizona, with a patio and floor to ceiling windows looking into the heart of the eternally bustling Third Street Promenade. And just as shoppers and looky-loos alike keep the street humming with vibrancy, the atmosphere inside the cozy and inviting Locanda del Lago is just as vibrant, and even more welcoming. LAist was invited to try their DineLA menu a few days before the event began, and to experience their hospitality and the cuisine of Bellagio and the Northern Lakes region of Italy.