The Resy Guide to Splurge-Worthy Dining in Los Angeles

Wolfgang Puck’s flagship is quintessentially southern Californian — which is to say that its menu, while local and seasonal, is slick, fusion-oriented, and heavy on the seafood. A staple of the L.A. fine-dining scene since the ‘80s, the twinkling light-strewn patio at the Beverly Hills location (opened in 1997) feels like a blast from indulgent days past. Treat yourself to the famous spicy tuna tartare cones, Brentwood white corn pizza, or the splurgey Kaluga caviar “cannoli.” If you really want to ball out, there’s an eight-course, $225 chef’s tasting menu as well. Japanese whisky, Belgian craft beer, and an expansive European and Californian wine list round out the kind of unforgettable evening that only L.A.’s most fashionably-fabled neighborhood can provide. 

Food media darling Baroo returned this fall after five years away, with a multi-course $110 tasting menu from husband-and-wife chef team Kwang Uh and Mina Park. Known for their innovative approach to fermentation, the menu is now higher-end in tone, in a handsomely appointed dining room that’s a far cry from their strip mall beginnings. The offerings are inspired by the phases of life: tae (pre-birth), saeng (birth), etc. and the storytelling unfolds via artful dishes like a soy-braised wild black cod, or a Brandt beef short rib. Pairings will cost you a little more. But even on its own, the $110 price tag, all things considered, is a more approachable splurge.

What started as a pandemic-era food truck centered around local seafood is now a full-blown tasting menu experience. Located in a landmarked 1920s building, chef Junya Yamasaki, who worked extensively in London before relocating to L.A., offers a $110 tasting menu approach to what he calls “progressive Japanese” cuisine utilizing seasonal California produce. Focusing on fire-cooked fish and meat, previous dishes have included seared Stemple Creek tataki and grilled vermillion rockfish with shiso salsa verde. On Sundays, they offer a la carte option for lunch and dinner, but most days, you’ll be limited to the tasting menu with a choice of entree.

This uber-luxe restaurant brand, which has its origins in 1920s Paris, has proliferated around the world with outposts in New York, São Paulo, and London, and expanded to L.A. last fall, hosting a series of celeb-only parties. Now that it’s fully open to the public, save your best occasion for dishes like a baked potato topped with caviar, starting at $115 and running upwards of $1000 plus (depending on the type of caviar you select), or a caviar-stuffed grilled cheese for $95. Non-caviar dishes will also run you an arm and a leg, with ritzy options like smoked salmon tagliatelle, Dover sole meunière, and Wagyu tenderloin.

Justin Pichetrungsi’s 42-year-old family restaurant in Sherman Oaks went from neighborhood standby to culinary destination whose legend grew during the pandemic thanks to Taco Tuesdays: a one-night-a week celebration of Thai food prepared with Japanese and Mexican influences, served on folding plastic tables in the restaurant’s back alley. But the last weekend every month is perhaps the most exciting (and expensive) way to experience the best of what Anajak has to offer, when Pichetrungsi  goes all out on an omakase menu. Previous dishes have included dry-aged steelhead in panang sauce and coconut cream, but expect something different each month. The $195 per person multi-course tasting menu highlights seasonal produce for parties of 1, 2 or 4 only, served inside the restaurant. Known for its formidable natural wine selection, beverage pairings are additional.

If you can get a table here—emphasis on the word if—we can’t think of a more glamorous way to treat yourself than Evan Funke’s three-story, Beverly Hills ode to Roman cuisine. The third concept from the chef that brought you both Felix and Mother Wolf, Funke goes back to his roots here cooking for a bougie BH crowd (he spent years at Spago), and the menu is filled with greatest hits like cacio e pepe, pasta alla amatriciana, and margherita pizza, plus new dishes like the handmade agnolotti del plin. And of course, you can catch Funke himself in action hand-making pasting in the large viewing window behind the hostess stand. If you really want to live large, order one of the mains, including the tagliata di manzo, a prime ribeye cap, or the branzino alla brace—a whole fish cooked over embers and served with a raw artichoke salad.

Far from the flash and dazzle of Hollywood, this 17-year-old anchor of the Rustic Canyon family of restaurants is warm, refined, and heavy on the local sourcing. From the wood-inflected decor to the impeccable plating, this is a restaurant we dream of dining at four nights a week. The menu reads like the greatest hits from SoCal farms, as chef Jeremy Fox shows his respect for ingredients by letting their natural flavors shine, and enhancing them just a bit. Add a Penicillin cocktail and you’ll be a new human by the time you walk out the door.

If you can’t snag a spot at chef Josiah Citrin’s 14-seat, two-Michelin-starred Mélisse for its two-and-a-half-hour tasting menu, the next best thing is a seat at his eponymous restaurant next door. For special occasions, a sample tasting menu might begin with a soft-poached egg with cauliflower mousseline, and move into dishes like Santa Barbara spot prawn and truffle risotto with mascarpone. While the Snake River Farms and Hida A5 wagyu cuts Citrin serves are appealing, few chefs are as talented with seafood, sourced in this case from both near and far. Elegant dishes excel here, like the dover sole that’s famous for good reason, and a lobster Bolognese luxuriating in a brown butter truffle broth.

Curtis Stone is a beloved figure in L.A., and rightly so, with his reputation for excellent hospitality and well-crafted food and drink. His seasonal tasting menu restaurant, Maude, is a regionally-inspired restaurant that sources ingredients from renowned wine regions including Burgundy and Rioja, and boasts, naturally, a killer wine pairing. The restaurant returned after a two-year hiatus in early 2023 with a nine-course $195 tasting menu. Handmade pastas and seafood dishes shine here, and the kitchen thoughtfully offers pescatarian and vegetarian options to its tasting menu. Named after Stone’s grandmother, it’s no surprise Maude has a familial vibe that makes it a worthy stop for anyone seeking a night that manages to feel simultaneously upscale and cozy.

For all the Valley diners who don’t want to make the schlep to Santa Monica or even West Hollywood, there are plenty of options — but this Sherman Oaks sushi bar and robata offers just enough Hollywood glitz to feel glamorous. The vibe at this spaciously modern den is California-meets-Japan, with succulents, a bonsai tree, and a living wall over black and white tile. It’s a buzzing spot known for celebrations — don’t be surprised when the servers make a beeline toward the candles once you’ve finished your entree. Speaking of which, wagyu short ribs, salmon truffle rolls, lobster noodles, and kurobota fried rice are all solid bets, while on the robata side, cheesy grilled street corn gets a lovely char. Nothing here is trying too hard — so don’t hesitate to order the popcorn tempura shrimp and just enjoy the scene. 

No two visits are alike at n/naka, since chef Niki Nakayama, along with her partner and wife Carol Iida-Nakayama, keep notes on every single thing a guest eats during each meal. It’s possible in the tiny space, which offers a kaiseki-style tasting menu to just 26 guests a day, many of whom reserve months in advance. Courses are plated beautifully in unique sculptural vessels, and might feature heirloom Japanese vegetables the chefs grow in their own garden, or bonito they’ve dried and fermented in-house. The vivacity of the food is part of what’s sexiest about n/naka, despite its muted interior. You’ll be wondering when you can come back as soon as you leave.

Pro tip: Looking for something more casual? Don’t miss n/naka’s younger sibling, N/Soto.

Call 310-836-6252 or email reservations@n-naka.com for reservations.