Both places feature a changing array of cold salads (inky wood ear mushrooms, crunchy-soft braised peanuts) and serve lu rou fan, a classic comfort dish of nubbly, sweetly spiced pork over rice with tea egg and crisp pickled daikon. The subtle flavors and emphasis on vegetables have never been a play at oversimplifying the cuisine those traits specifically channel the cooking style of Ku’s maternal grandmother, Fang Chiu Chen, a constant muse in her approach to food. “Vivian Ku’s two restaurants, Pine & Crane in Silver Lake and Joy in Highland Park, have become neighborhood fixtures through their fast-casual airiness and the lightness of the Taiwanese dishes they serve. Taiwanese fare at Joy in Highland Park | Photo from Joy website End the night sipping on an amaro - maybe a citrusy one from Campania made with arugula.”ĥ916 ½ N. Hippo pulls the term “California-Mediterranean” into the most likable modern context. But once you’re eating at the restaurant, perhaps on its much-expanded patio, your appetite is likely to stray into all sorts of other territories: hamachi crudo surrounded by sliced plum, lime and mint shaved Brussels sprouts with almonds that amp the nuttiness of Parmigiano-Reggiano and a fire-kissed pork rib often served with fennel sausage and herbed, half-melted cranberry beans. And he delivers, especially with the ravioli variation called triangoli (filled with celery-root purée in a buttered shallot sauce) and the al dente fettuccine presented in a twirled snarl with pork ragù. Matt Molina is a Nancy Silverton protégé, after all, who won a James Beard Award a decade ago for his cooking at Osteria Mozza. “Hippo is the kind of place where you have pasta in mind when you make a reservation. Outdoor dining at Hippo in Highland Park | Ricardo DeAratanha / L.A. A sleeper favorite: Popo’s Wellness Soup, a delicious herbal broth that changes with the seasons but whose nutrients you can almost feel rippling through your bloodstream.”Ĥ374 Eagle Rock Blvd. The menu is most strongly informed by the deep influence of Chinese immigrants on Peruvian cuisine: sticky spare ribs caramelized in soy sauce and Shaoxing wine, zongzi (steamed sticky rice with meats, vegetables and duck egg yolk bundled in a bamboo leaf, also available in a vegan version), excellent prawns crusted with black peppercorns that pop hot and gritty against your teeth. “Food-wise, Chifa pays homage to his mother, Wendy Leon, who returns to the kitchen here, having run her own place in Lima, Peru, four decades ago. It’s the work of Humberto Leon, who co-founded the fashion brand Opening Ceremony, and his family. T-back velvet seats in deep emerald zebra stripes racing over one wall, seafoam-speckled tables with scalloped edges on brass legs: It looks like an ’80s set piece from a futuristic “Dynasty” dream sequence. You need to be standing in the space to fully absorb its details. “After a year of gazing into Chifa’s empty dining room like it’s an untouchable museum display, usually while picking up takeout or heading to a tented outdoor table behind the building, the restaurant is finally open for a meal inside. Here’s what the Times restaurant critic, Bill Addison, had to say: Chifa’s black pepper prawns | Photo courtesy Chifa in 2021: Chifa in Eagle Rock and Hippo and Joy in Highland Park. Three restaurants in Northeast Los Angeles have made the L.A. If you haven’t yet been, what are you waiting for?
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