The February Hit List: Tonchin, Blair’s, Cassia, and More

Winter is the perfect season for Los Angeles to welcome Tonchin, a ramen specialist with roots in Tokyo and a handful of locations in New York. Head to Larchmont for nourishing bowls of spicy tonkotsu and miso-ginger ramen and sculptural shaved ice in flavors like matcha with red bean and mango milk. Appetizers range from curry cheese wings to unagi rice balls and are worthy of attention, too, as is the natural wine list.

Chef Bryant Ng and Kim Luu-Ng’s Southeast Asian brasserie is a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s prestigious “Outstanding Restaurant” award this year. And while Cassia has been nominated before, it’s the first time the Santa Monica restaurant—which has been firing up an impressive variety of dishes, from seafood platters to grilled pig’s tail lettuce wraps, spicy minced duck dan dan noodles, and black cheese truffle fondue with clay oven bread since 2015–has leveled up to to the national category.

The chef Daniel Rose is a major name, helming the critically acclaimed La Bourse et La Vie in Paris and Le Coucou in New York. Cafe Basque is his first foray into L.A., in the Hoxton Hotel downtown.  The cuisine here is, true to its name, inspired by the French part of the Basque coast, which means lots of seafood and a helping of Spanish influence. Chorizo with Ossau-Iraty cheese, crab gratin, and traditional fish stew are some of the highlights.

Find more info here.

This rustic Pasadena restaurant takes Northern Italian cuisine and California ingredients seriously, making it an excellent choice for Valentine’s Day dinner. A lineup of handmade pasta serves as the menu’s focal point: think tonnarelli cacio e pepe, bucatini carbonara, white truffle fettuccine, squid ink lumace, and candele with wild boar ragu. And then there are top-tier meatballs, beautiful salads, dry-aged ribeye, and chocolate mousse crisp for dessert—a fittingly romantic end. 

Angler is back after a hiatus, with a revamped dining room and a brand-new chef. Saison Hospitality Culinary Director Chef Paul Chung is running point at this upscale seafood-centric, live-fire cooking restaurant in the Beverly Center, with plenty of new dishes to show off. For example: a bluefin tuna take on ‘nduja, made with Calabrian chiles and served with buttermilk bread, hot fried striped bass collar with cultured cream, and seaweed rice with cured yolk and trout roe. The renovation made room for an enclosed bar and lounge space, where you can grab drinks and share plates, in case you’re not in the market for a full meal. 

Call 424-332-4082 for more info.

Many of L.A.’s best sushi restaurants are omakase-only and cost a pretty penny to visit. So where to go when you have a hankering for nigiri but don’t want to break the bank? Consider Sushi Tama, in Beverly Hills no less. In this handsomely designed space, you can order Tsukiji-style sushi and sashimi a la carte from chef Hideyuki Yoshimoto (“Chef Yoshi” to regulars), plus maki and donburi, at relatively affordable prices.

Now that dry January is over, perhaps a visit to Dan Sung Sa is in order? The cult-favorite Korean drinking food den is notorious for its long wait times, so go on the early side or late-night (it’s open until 2 a.m. seven days a week). Or, take a cue from the DSS regulars’ playbook, and get a tallboy from the liquor store next door, and drink it disguised in a paper bag as you wait. Once inside, call for a kimchi pancake, the addictive corn cheese, and anything else that suits your fancy from a long menu of booze-friendly snacks.

Find more info here.

Pasta is always correct, but it feels particularly appropriate when it’s cold outside. For this, head to Blair’s, a Silver Lake standby (with another location in Eagle Rock) for Italian comfort food. Spaghetti several ways (pomodoro, Bolognese, puttanesca, guanciale) and gnochetti with sausage and kale are staples, along with crowd-pleasing bruschettas and a handful of pizzas served with ranch dressing for dipping. Perhaps for your next date night?

Tsubaki continues to fire on all cylinders. The sake program slays. The Japanese Caesar is maybe the best salad in the city. And otherwise, you really can’t go wrong: silken tofu with scallops and mushrooms, charcoal-grilled blue prawns with garlic-chive butter, slippery niku udon with thinly sliced wagyu brisket. The final dish, a hojicha soft serve parfait with golden sesame-black sugar burnt miso and candied K&K Ranch walnuts, is not to be missed.

Find more info here.

Marvin suits many moods. Pasta night? Try the rigatoni spicy vodka. A light dinner? Share a few salads and an order of fries. Something hearty yet simple? There’s branzino, roasted chicken, and a Porterhouse for two. This low-key but perpetually buzzing West Hollywood neighborhood staple is a back-pocket go-to for crosstown meetings, date nights, dinner with a group, and more.

Now that the rain has stopped and the trails have dried, it’s a wonderful time to go hiking in verdant L.A. Since Altadena has some of the city’s most beautiful terrain, here’s our suggestion: pick a hike off AllTrails, work up an appetite, then go to Side Pie for wood-fired pizza topped with local ingredients, plus a bottle of wine or a couple of beers.

Find more info here.