Results tagged “dinelaoctober2009”

              

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.

       

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.

     

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.