Dive Into the Top 40!

When we last sang the praises of 40 restaurants three years ago, passionate readers wrote, phoned and faxed to tell us the places we overlooked (their favorites, of course) and those we overrated (our picks, natch). Well, get ready to pass the salt, everyone, because Southern California’s Top 40 is back. To compile it, I’ve feasted my way from Alhambra to Ventura, sampling the work of exciting new chefs and keeping tabs on oldies but goodies. That’s a lot of miles--not to mention calories--but who’s counting? Especially when it adds 16 newcomers to the hit parade. So here, in alphabetical order and with a few favorite dishes for good measure, are my picks for 1996.

Al Amir

To sample the full range of the Lebanese menu at Al Amir, come for dinner with lots of friends. You’ll want to order at least a dozen of the mezzeh, the Middle Eastern version of antipasti, enough to cover the table in a mosaic of little dishes, each one more enticing than the last. Start with slender stuffed grape leaves tart with lemon, smoky baba ghannouj and rich hummus, little flatbreads spread with tangy cheese or a fragrant carpet of dried thyme, sesame seeds and sumac. Then try kibbeh, delicious deep-fried ovoids of minced spiced lamb and bulgur, or crisp quails in roasted garlic sauce. The wine to drink is Cha^teau Musar, a lush red from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. You can stop with mezzeh or continue with a skewer of lamb, chicken or spicy lamb sausage. But go easy. You shouldn’t miss the crisp, freshly made baklava (walnut or pistachio) to enjoy with tiny cups of sludgy, sweet Middle Eastern coffee.

5750 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles; (213) 931-8740. Entrees, $11.95 to $17.95.

Alto Palato

Considering Alto Palato’s elegant setting and the authentic cooking, there’s not a better Italian restaurant in town for the price. The kitchen excels at thin-crusted, Roman-style pizzas cooked in a wood-burning oven, an array of hearty antipasti and, best of all, classic pastas. These are the kind you want to eat every day: penne alla puttanesca, linguine with seafood or, my new favorite, the lusty penne with venison sausage. Don’t forget to ask about specials, often homey dishes like a Jewish-Roman soup of skate wing, tomatoes and broken spaghetti or a roast chicken stuffed with potatoes, garlic and wild fennel. Wine lovers can drink better than ever now, too: Wine prices have been lowered up to 30%, making a good bottle quite affordable. The gelati, especially the chocolate hazelnut and pistachio, are the real thing. And no other local restaurant makes a more correct espresso or cappuccino.

755 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 657-9271. Entrees, $13.95 to $19.50.

Arnie Morton’s of Chicago

The only things to order at Arnie Morton’s are steak, steak and steak. And they are superb: prime, grain-fed Midwestern beef, well-aged and incredibly flavorful. Particularly worth the cholesterol splurge is the chain’s best steak, the 48-ounce Porterhouse for two. Cooked in a 1,000-degree broiler, your gorgeous hunk of meat will almost never be overdone. At Arnie Morton’s, rare means rare, that is, a “blue,” cool center; medium-rare means a red, warm center. Slide into one of the booths and head off the waiter’s frenzied recitation of the menu by saying you already know what you want: sliced tomato and onion salad, that Porterhouse for two--charred and medium-rare, an order of hash browns or potato skins and the steamed asparagus. The wine list is a compendium of top Bordeaux and California Cabernets at prices to match.

435 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 246-1501. Also at 1661 W. Sunflower Ave., South Coast Village, Santa Ana; (714) 444-4834. Entrees, $19.95 to $29.95.

Aubergine

The cooking by Tim Goodell and his wife, Liza, at this tiny, spare Newport Beach restaurant just keeps getting better and better. Aubergine’s French-California menu, which changes weekly, is gutsy and interesting, filled with dishes such as tartare of bigeye tuna with avocado and cucumber water and braised pigs trotter-and-oxtail ravioli with chanterelles and cabbage-wrapped foie gras in a faintly sweet Sauterne and thyme vinaigrette. When’s the last time you’ve seen braised veal cheeks with black truffle oil and root vegetables on a menu? Goodell, who smokes his own sturgeon and serves it in a Champagne sauce with morel mushrooms, has recently become obsessed with making bread, too. “He gets up in the middle of the night to tend his starter and his doughs, just like a new baby,” Liza laughs. Add $24 to the price of the six-course tasting menu, and a different wine will be paired with each course. Desserts are marvelous, especially the molten chocolate souffle cake with prune and Armagnac ice cream.

508 29th St., Newport Beach; (714) 723.4150. Entrees, $15.50 to $19.50; four-course tasting menu, $32; six-course tasting menu, $48.

The Belvedere

Typical, hotel food is expensive and dull. But not at the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel. Afternoon tea is exquisitely presented in the “living room,” a haven of serenity in the middle of the city. And dinner or lunch at the hotel restaurant, the Belvedere, is a revelation. First of all, when the rest of Beverly Hills has retired for the night, this dining room has an intoxicating international buzz. And the food is elegant and light. The chef relies on rich stocks to infuse dishes with flavor and adapts his compositions to the season. Winter’s game consomme with miniature ravioli may give way to spring’s lobster consomme perfumed with lemongrass. Silky house-smoked salmon is garnished with crispy potato points and a delicate curry-lime sauce. And a juicy veal tenderloin might be paired with a chunky lobster and potato hash. Who knew hotel cuisine could be this interesting?

9882 Little Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 788-2306. Entrees, $18 to $28.

Boxer

One of the sleepers of the past year is Boxer, a small storefront restaurant that opened quietly on a trendy block of Beverly Boulevard. Some of the dishes on the menu sound overly complicated, but the young chef here, Neal Fraser, can cook. There’s a lovely chopped salad with a fluffy topknot of greens, a good roasted garlic Caesar and fanciful main dishes such as Numidian hen wrapped in pancetta, with a beret of garlic mashed potatoes. Pastry chef Angela Hunter is responsible for the splashy desserts, which can be anything from a tangerine flan with a pomegranate glaze to a bread pudding baked in a small pumpkin. At lunch, there are wonderful rustic sandwiches, tasty pizzas and salads. Weekend brunch is one of the best around. I especially like the variation on eggs Benedict, poached eggs and thinly sliced rare beef tenderloin on an English muffin with a gossamer Cabernet hollandaise. This is a place to watch.

7615 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; (213) 932-6178. Entrees, $10.75 to $17.50.

Buffalo Club

Patrick Healy has charmed us all with his seductive French country cooking at Xiomara in Pasadena, where he is still executive chef. But until the posh Buffalo Club went democratic recently, few of us had the chance to taste Healy’s American cooking. And in what a setting! It’s a small, clubby dining room with antique mirrors and luxurious leather booths and chairs. For starters, Healy features irresistibly spicy and crisp buffalo wings and a sumptuous fresh corn and crab pancake. Come hungry and dig into his tall pork chop with dreamy mashed potatoes, fabulous Maine lobster with crinkly morels or New York steak with pungent blue cheese butter. Sides include cornmeal-fried okra, creamy hush puppies, collard greens and finger-thick cheese-grit fries. After 11, sneak in for chicken pot pie or Black Forest ham and white Vermont cheddar on grilled walnut bread. Champagne prices are not for the faint of heart. And watch that bottled water: It’s $7 a pop.

1520 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 450-8600. Entrees, $17 to $28.

Campanile

After seven years, Campanile is still turning out earthy, immensely appealing California-Mediterranean cooking. One of the things that endears it to me is the way chef-owner Mark Peel and his nightly dinner menu follow the seasons, not the fashions. Nancy Silverton’s rustic, handcrafted breads and desserts are almost without peer. And the restaurant has a reasonably priced wine list of lesser-known treasures put together by someone who cares more about what’s in the bottle than on the label. Bravo! Plus, I ask you, where else can you find grilled sardines or such silky cedar-smoked sturgeon with poached egg and frisee salad? The grilled prime rib smeared with black olive tapenade makes a fine dinner, as does the stupendous aged Kansas City strip with buttery spinach and fried potato wedges. Campanile is also known for its breakfast and morning pastries. For lunch, it offers soothing soups and world-class sandwiches on La Brea Bakery bread.

624 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 938-1447. Entrees, $20 to $35.

Chinois on Main

This ongoing experiment in Franco-Chinese cooking has always been my favorite of Wolfgang Puck’s serious restaurants. And though it has inspired a number of knockoffs, none of them have managed to surpass Chinois’ extraordinary menu. Half of it consists of “Chinois Classics,” dishes that still astonish with their juxtaposition of flavors; the other half lists the chef’s seasonal specials. I can never eat here without ordering either the barbecued baby pork ribs in a delicious sticky honey-chile sauce or the rare ahi tuna, flash-fried in tempura batter and served in a sea urchin sauce that is a tour de force. Shanghai lobster in an intricately spiced curry and Mongolian lamb chops in a startling green cilantro vinaigrette are better than whole sizzling catfish. And Chef Makoto Tanaka has created some classics of his own: roasted venison in a crimson lake of Port and sun-dried cherries spiced with ginger. Service can sometimes be so swift that you feel rushed.

2709 Main St., Santa Monica; (310) 392-9025. Entrees, $23 to $29.

Citrus

Michel Richard is one of Los Angeles’ most imaginative and daring chefs, so while meals at Citrus might have their ups and downs, they are never dull. But catch Richard in good form, and the California-French food is absolutely thrilling. He has been known to slip mussels beneath a coverlet of mashed potatoes, garnish watercress soup with “crispy” escargots and sauce seared foie gras with black beans. And his presentation is stunning, too. At Citrus, the brightly lit open kitchen takes center stage: Behind the glass, cooks work side by side with Richard and chef de cuisine Alain Giraud. The other face of Citrus is the adjoining and much more casual Bar Bistro, where Richard serves up soulful updated bistro fare: platters of fragrant jambon de Bayonne, crisp whole roast chicken slathered in garlic, lemon and olive oil, and exemplary daube de veau. And come dessert, Richard’s exquisite French pastries are in a class of their own.

6703 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 857-0034. Entrees, $25 to $29.50. Bar Bistro: entrees, $9.50 to $17.50.

Cucina Paradiso

One of the brightest new restaurants of the year is Cucina Paradiso in Redondo Beach, opened by an enthusiastic foursome (two chefs, one manager, one waiter) who worked together at Drago in Santa Monica. The South Bay was a shrewd choice of location: The place has been packed since day one. But how could these partners miss? The two chefs are sending out rustic antipasti and Tuscan soups, classic pastas and creamy risotto. Inch-wide ribbons of pappardelle come in a rich duck ragu. And osso buco with saffron risotto, rabbit in Barolo and free-range chicken with potatoes are all outstanding. With almost every entree priced under $20, Cucina Paradiso is a good value, plus everyone’s having so much fun that it’s infectious.

1611 S. Catalina Ave., Redondo Beach; (310) 792-1972. Entrees, $8 to $19.50.

Fenix at the Argyle

Ken Frank is back. At the landmark Art Deco hotel once known as the St. James Club, he now has a beautiful room with a view and a first-rate staff to showcase his restrained French-California cooking. Like most classically trained chefs, Frank has a penchant for caviar, truffles, foie gras and lobster. These pop up to good effect in his signature rosti potatoes topped with caviar, delicate truffled scrambled egg in its shell and sea scallops in truffle and lobster sauce. Dating back to his 14 years at La Toque, he has also offered an annual black truffle menu and a wild mushroom menu. Frank is a gifted chef and saucier sometimes overly content with the tried-and-true. But fortunately for those already familiar with his repertoire, he does venture beyond the set seasonal menu nightly with a four-course menu “fantaisie.”

8358 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; (213) 848-6677. Entrees, $18 to $29; four-course menu “fantaisie,” $64.

Ginza Sushiko

Each time I eat at Ginza Sushiko, I have one of the best meals I’ve ever had in Los Angeles--or anywhere else. It’s also one of the most expensive, but only worth it if, like me, you eat anything and everything and you’re willing to put yourself in the hands of sushi master Masa Takayama. This is sushi as good as Tokyo’s best. Because of the intimacy of the setting, never more than a dozen guests and often only a handful, eating at Ginza Sushiko is like having a three-star chef prepare a private meal. The seafood is flown in from Japan three times a week, and the quality of familiar toro and uni is astounding. The same is true for delicacies you may have never encountered before--silvery needle fish, fugu (blowfish) and its liver, toro scraped with a spoon to make a kind of tartare. With Takayama across the counter--wielding his knife, rubbing fresh wasabi root across a shark skin grater, preparing everything right in front of me--I always learn a great deal about ingredients, aesthetics, my own tastes. From the first shock of cold sake to the last sip of frothy grass-green tea, dinner here is a completely absorbing experience.

218 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills; (310) 247-8939. By reservation only, $185 to $250 or more per person.

Granita

What a difference a chef makes. Now that 28-year-old Lee Hefter has taken over the kitchen at Granita, Wolfgang Puck’s sleepy Malibu restaurant has come raucously alive. There’s standing room only in the bar, both dining rooms are packed and Hefter is coolly in charge. The young chef, who did a stint with two-star chef Michel Bras in Laguiole, France, is not only technically skilled. He’s also whimsical enough to put his own spin on California cuisine. Appetizers, such as the gorgeous asparagus soup with Dungeness crab or lobster cakes with shaved fennel salad and a piquant mango vinaigrette, tend to be more compelling than main courses. Quick--before Hefter changes the menu--try the heavenly artichoke and goat cheese tortelloni in a white truffle oil. Slow-roasted wild striped bass with pearl pasta in a porcini and red wine broth shows he also has a way with fish. Not every dish works, but here is someone bursting with ideas and the talent to pull them off.

23725 W. Malibu Road, Malibu Colony Plaza, Malibu; (310) 456-0488. Entrees, $19.50 to $32; five-course prix fixe menu Monday through Thursday, $35.

The Grill on the Alley

The Grill on the Alley is such a soothing, civilized place. The martinis are very dry; the oysters, fabulously fresh; the frilly onion rings, as delicate as they come. And, oh, slipping into one of those inviting, high-sided booths gives such a sense of well-being. The Grill’s white-jacketed waiters are some of the best in town, tending to your every need. The Cobb salad and the Caesar are also among L.A.’s finest. And I always know that the shrimp cocktail will be perfect, the green bean and onion salad nicely chilled, the crab cake fried to a golden crisp, the steaks serious, the burgers juicy and delicious, and the double-cut lamb chops as tender as butter. And on Sunday nights in the spring and summer, the Grill holds a New England-style clambake ($35) for homesick East Coasters.

9560 Dayton Way, Beverly Hills; (310) 276-0615. Entrees, $13.75 to $29.50.

Gustaf Anders

With Chet Baker’s horn playing in the background, an austerely elegant black-and-white decor brightened with vases of startling gold lilies and stark birch branches propped against the walls, Gustaf Anders is the epitome of cool. So is Ulf Anders Strandberg’s understated Swedish-inflected cooking. Every meal starts with an array of his wonderful breads: crisp flatbread, orange-scented limpa, soft yeasted dinner rolls flavored with anise or caraway. Strandberg is a masterful fish chef, never overcooking or over-saucing. He cures Icelandic herring three different ways and makes his own superb gravad lax. Even better is his salt- and sugar-cured salmon with creamed dill potatoes. In summer, you can feast on bright red crayfish boiled with handfuls of fresh dill. During the Christmas season, try the splendid Swedish smorgasbord. And don’t forget about Back Pocket, Gustaf Anders’ new casual offshoot next door.

1651 W. Sunflower Ave., South Coast Plaza Village (on Bear Street), Santa Ana; (714) 668-1737.Entrees, $18 to $30. Back Pocket: entrees, $9 to $17.

Hotel Bel-Air

This is my California dream: sitting outside on the Bel-Air’s romantic, bougainvillea-twined terrace, lingering over a breakfast of fresh-squeezed orange juice, pancakes strewn with wild berries and perfectly cooked eggs. Coffee is poured from a silver pot. And service is a lesson in pampering. The Bel-Air is also a fine place for a leisurely lunch. Choose the wonderful lobster club or grilled salmon sandwich or something from the spa menu. At dinner, the hotel is perfect for wowing anyone who will be impressed by the cozy bar, the aristocratic furnishings and the elaborately stacked and primped food. It all looks expensive. And it is. But it’s also beautifully crafted couture food for when the occasion demands it.

701 Stone Canyon Rd., Bel-Air; (310) 472-1211. Entrees, $18 to $36.

Il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi

Giorgio Baldi may have renamed his Santa Monica restaurant, but everybody still calls it Giorgio’s. The modest place near the beach, where Giorgio is in the kitchen and daughter Elena and son Edoardo are in the dining room, feels as laid-back as a family restaurant in Baldi’s hometown of Forte dei Marmi, along the Tuscan coast. It’s always crowded and exuberantly noisy. In its simplicity, Giorgio’s cooking captures the true taste of Italy, closer to great home cooking than the usual restaurant fare. He makes lovely warm seafood salads dressed in olive oil and lemon, tonno e fagioli (tuna and beans) with a handful of fresh ma^che, a soul-satisfying pasta e fagioli, soft-as-a-cloud gnocchi and beautifully modulated pasta dishes. Caciucco, a seafood soup with a light tomato broth, could hold its own against bouillabaisse any day. And when he gets his hands on a handsome piece of branzino, or sea bass, Giorgio has the good sense to simply grill it on the bone.

114 W. Channel Rd., Santa Monica; (310) 573-1660. Also Giorgio Malibu Ristorante, 21337 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu; (310) 317-0207. Entrees, $16.50 to $28.

Jacksons

Jacksons in West Hollywood is a comfortable, low-key place, quiet enough for conversation. The decor is vaguely Western--wagon-wheel light fixtures, bucolic landscape paintings, lots of dark wood and leather. The service has always been good, and now the cooking has taken a definite leap forward. Original chefs Raphael Lunetta and Josiah Citrin have left to open their own place in Santa Monica, and Govind Armstrong is now manning the stoves. There’s plenty to like on the upated menu: wintry butternut squash and celery root ravioli in brown butter, a slab of pan-roasted prime rib with foie gras butter and ragout of wild mushrooms, a juicy pork loin roast with charred chiles, mashed potatoes and caramelized onions. And I recently had one of the best fish dishes of the year here: a bar of crisp salmon with a dusky artichoke puree. Desserts, though, are too fussy and overly ambitious.

8908 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 550-8142. Entrees, $18 to $24.

Joe’s Restaurant

When you walk into Joe’s Restaurant in Venice, you never have to wonder who’s cooking. You can see Joe Miller through the kitchen window, reaching for saucepans, finishing a sauce, cooking fast and furious. The plates look terrific--smoked salmon draped over a warm onion tart, plump chicken ravioli in tomato coulis, rare roast beef on a bed of mashed potatoes garnished with deep-fried artichokes--and they all taste every bit as good as they look. So what if the place is tiny, with barely enough room for the good-natured waiters to squeeze between tables? Where else can you find such heartfelt, personal cooking? The patio with heat lamps is new this year. So is the sommelier, who has seeded the wine list with older bottles from his own cellar. Miller’s prix fixe menus are always interesting--and he actually offers two different cheese plates!

1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice; (310) 399-5811. Entrees, $15 to $17; four-course prix fixe menus, $30 and $38.

La Cachette

On a Saturday night, La Cachette’s pretty dining room is jammed with so many large parties that it’s difficult to imagine it being much of a hideaway (which is what its name means in English). When French chef Jean Francois Meteigner, who cooked at L’Orangerie, opened this savvy bistro two years ago, he knew what would entice the crowds: French food that’s graceful and light, yet full of flavor. Much of his menu is inspired by the sunny flavors of Provence: a fragile tart of tomato and Nicoise olives embellished with bright green basil paste, a ruddy crab and lobster bisque of amazing intensity, grilled rib eye with a smear of Roquefort. Whole lamb shank redolent of sage and oregano and rack of lamb “painted” with Dijon are truly delicious. Meteigner flirts with a little fusion, too: Juicy grilled swordfish comes in a swirl of pugnacious wasabi sauce. His luscious tarte tatin is the best in town, and his chocolate souffle entrances.

10506 Little Santa Monica Blvd., Century City; (310) 470-4992. Entrees, $14 to $25.

La Serenata de Garibaldi

Fans of La Serenata de Garibaldi will drive clear across town for a taste of the Rodriguez family’s faultlessly fresh Mexican seafood. With its melon-colored walls hung with brightly painted Mexican folk art, the place is warm and inviting. Who can resist the lovely fish tacos embellished with avocado and cilantro, the fat griddled gorditas bursting with rosy shrimp or the salmon enchiladas in a fragrant fresh oregano sauce? Mexican sea bass Veracruzana is strewn with olives, capers and tomato in a clear, delicate sauce. Mix and match the day’s catch with various sauces: huge camarones with the brilliant green cilantro sauce or halibut with a smoldering chipotle sauce smoothed with cream. Sunday brunch includes a version of huevos rancheros that beats every other. Owners Jose and Aurora Rodriguez launched one of last year’s most successful spinoffs with their more casual and affordable Mexican cafe, La Serenata Gourmet in West Los Angeles.

1842 E. 1st St., Boyle Heights; (213) 265-2887. Entrees, $13.50 to $18.50.

L’Orangerie

The most romantic, formal and expensive French restaurant in town, L’Orangerie remains a special-occasion address. No one just drops in. This place demands raiding the jewel box and arriving in high style. But until young Parisian chef Gilles Epie came along last year and breathed new life into L’Orangerie’s staid menu, the restaurant was beginning to seem as dated as the residents of the La Brea tar pits. Now the vibrant Provencal-inspired cooking is reason to return. Think squab and foie gras terrine with green apple salad, daurade with clams and baby artichokes, filet of beef roasted under a layer of coarse salt and served with golden puffs of souffled potatoes. This is exciting cooking with bold use of unexpected spices and ingredients. And, oh, there’s a wonderful prix fixe menu--of potatoes! If the formality of the main dining room is inhibiting, retreat to the more relaxed glass-roofed garden room.

903 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 652-9770. Entrees, $26 to $45.

Lunaria Restaurant and Jazz Club

Lunaria may be better known as a jazz venue than a restaurant, but it is Jean-Pierre Bosc, once a chef at Fennel, who is the virtuoso in the kitchen. The dining room--an odd mix of leather and wicker chairs, garish light fixtures and charming watercolors of the South of France--becomes part of the club when the back wall slides open to reveal a jazz combo cranked up to maximum volume. The music makes conversation difficult, but it also draws an interesting crowd. The Provencal menu includes a paella, made with pearl-shaped pasta instead of rice, and an authentic-tasting St. Tropez fish soup, basically a soupe de poissons in which several kinds of fish flavor the broth. Bosc makes one of my favorite versions of steak frites, using a chewier, very flavorful “French butcher’s cut.” And he rounds out the menu with homey bistro dishes such as braised veal garnished with roasted peppers and roasted pork tenderloin with baby artichoke stew.

10351 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City; (310) 282-8870. Entrees, $15.50 to $26.

Matsuhisa

Sushi master and avant-garde Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa knows his fish. Seated at the bar of his nondescript Beverly Hills restaurant, you’ll be privy to some of the best traditional sushi in Los Angeles. But that’s not why it’s standing room only at the door. Matsuhisa, who worked in Peru before coming to L.A., has shrewdly broadened the austere palette of Japanese cuisine with garlic, fresh chile, special sauces, even butter. And, if you let him, he’ll garnish everything in sight with caviar. Matsuhisa is definitely on to something: He knows not everybody is crazy about eating straight raw fish, so he offers a jazzy ceviche, toro grilled like steak and crab broiled with chile-spiked mayonnaise and a dizzying array of “special dishes” that are explained in a thick bound menu. As intriguing as some of the specials are, though, I still prefer the sushi. The wine list includes high-end Champagnes, California Chardonnays and some very grand white Burgundies.

129 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 659-9639. Entrees, $12 to $20. Omakase (chef’s choice), $60 and up per person.

Michael’s

After 17 years, Michael’s, the Santa Monica restaurant that helped usher in California cuisine, is still going strong. And surprise! It doesn’t look so brash or eclectic--or even so expensive--anymore. In fact, it’s starting to look like a classic. Pizzas, especially the one blanketed with shiitake and oyster mushrooms and fontina, are great. Whatever’s in season at the farmer’s market appears on the table: a rich chowder of sweet corn and cream, luscious melon draped with thin slices of salty prosciutto, a salad strewn with chanterelles, pancetta and pine nuts. Through the years, Michael McCarty has developed great sources for meats and seafood. That’s why fat snowy scallops with watercress and bacon, and thick lamb Porterhouse chops taste better here than anywhere else. Drinking a steely Sancerre from the legendary wine list and feasting on oysters at a table in the lush, palm-shaded garden, we sincerely hope that McCarty brings back brunch soon.

1147 3rd St. (north of Wilshire Boulevard), Santa Monica; (310) 451-0843. Entrees, $22.50 to $29.75.

Nouveau Cafe Blanc

This tiny slip of a cafe, just 10 tables in all, stark white walls decorated with sculptures and a wine rack, is the minimalist setting for Tommy Harase’s meticulous French cooking. From a small kitchen at the back, the dedicated young chef produces breathtakingly beautiful plates. A tall crown of slender asparagus bound with a stalk of chive encircles fresh Dungeness crab salad. Barely smoked albacore is sliced like sashimi and showered with Parmesan chips and ribbons of shiso. A pretty Maine lobster tail is swathed in a rich lobster bisque. Harase has the vision and the technique to thrive in a bigger restaurant, but he obviously prefers a more intimate setting. At dinner, he offers two prix fixe menus that change seasonally. He’s also recently added a short a la carte menu. Lunch is a bargain, and wine prices are refreshingly low.

9777 Little Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 888-0108. Entrees, $16.50 to $18; four-course prix fixe menu, $33; five-course menu, $43.

Ocean Star Seafood

Chefs come and go at the sprawling Hong Kong-style restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley. But one restaurant that can always be counted on for great Cantonese seafood, regardless of who’s in the kitchen, is Ocean Star. The genius of Cantonese cuisine is in the product, simply cooked and so pristinely fresh that you can taste every nuance. Dungeness crabs and feisty lobsters, live black cod and prawns stock walls of aquariums. The huge prawns are steamed in the shell, succulent and sweet, every one loaded with sticky roe. Lobster, roasted in the shell with handfuls of ginger and green scallions, is superb. Black cod is steamed whole with slivers of ginger and scallion to play up its delicacy.

145 N. Atlantic Blvd., Monterey Park; (818) 308-2128. Also at 112 N. Chandler Ave., Monterey Park; (818) 308-2128. Entrees, $6 to $20.

Patina

Patina continues to coast along near the top as Joachim Splichal expands his restaurant empire with more spinoffs (this year in St. Helena and Pasadena) and takes a stab at fast food (Tacone). His chic Melrose Avenue restaurant runs like a well-oiled machine. But because this urbane restaurant is too cramped to be really comfortable, Splichal works all the harder to charm with his whimsical yet distinguished French food. He also offers an entertaining, quirkily worded menu. At Patina, you enter the kingdom of potatoes, which show up in many guises, as in his beloved Santa Barbara shrimp with impossibly rich mashed potatoes. And Splichal shares his affection for “odd things”; few other chefs would dare to put duck gizzards, bone marrow or calves’ brains on their menus. The restaurant may be at its finest during game season, when Splichal bases an entire menu on venison, grouse, wood pigeon and wild partridge. New sommelier Christopher Meeske has added more top Barolos and super Tuscans, as well as wonderful rare after-dinner options, to the extensive wine list.

5955 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 467-1108. Entrees, $24.50 to $27.

Pinot Bistro

Pinot Bistro has got the right look: wood-paneled walls, black-and-white tiled floor, black leather chairs, tightly orchestrated tables. At this, the first of Joachim Splichal’s many spinoffs, the food comes out on time. The wine service is correct. And the menu, created by Splichal and executive chef Octavio Becerra, is French bistro with a twist, served up in enormous portions. You can’t have a bistro without baked onion soup and duck liver mousse, farm chicken with French fries and classic duck confit. But there’s much more interesting fare here, too. How about warm octopus salad or lamb ravioli with Tunisian spices? Splichal trademarks are sprinkled throughout the menu: mashed potatoes, seared scallops, angel hair onion rings, horseradish. OK, he does balance the heartier bistro fare with a couple of spa or vegetarian dishes each night. But some of the most appealing dishes show up as plats du jour: suckling pig with homemade sauerkraut or braised veal short ribs with artichoke barley risotto. The execution of dishes from the everyday menu, however, can sometimes be lackluster.

12969 Ventura Blvd., Studio City; (818) 990-0500. Entrees, $14.95 to $19.95.

Posto

When Luciano Pellegrini, Posto’s young Italian chef, makes pasta, his dishes are so unequivocally Italian in taste and texture that they elicit groans of pleasure: handmade garganelli tossed with lobster and fresh dill, tender ravioli stuffed with rabbit and sauced with black truffles, and, that old Roman standby, spaghetti aglio e olio, preferably with a little bottarga (pressed and salted mullet roe from Sardegna) shaved over the top. This is the real thing. If you ask, Pellegrini will prepare a special three- or four-course pasta-tasting menu. Or you might start with one of his artful salads or request something as basic and satisfying as a platter of prosciutto, bresaola (air-dried beef), skinny salami and oil-slicked olives. Entrees are straightforward: veal piccata, lamb chops with balsamic vinegar, nicely cooked salmon and striped bass. Also worth watching for are the mixed grilled meats and the wild boar sausage served with soft grilled cabbage. Like Piero Selvaggio’s other restaurants, Valentino and Primi, Posto has a good list of Italian wines.

14928 Ventura Blvd. (at Kester Avenue), Sherman Oaks; (818) 784-4400. Entrees, $17 to $25; tasting menu, $52 per person.

Rex il Ristorante

Rex il Ristorante, downtown Los Angeles’ elegant Art Deco restaurant, is one of the Southland’s temples of Italian cuisine. And its new chef, Gino Angelini, is an experienced hand from the Adriatic coast. Together with Rex’s owner, Mauro Vincenti, he has reworked the menu to reflect state-of-the-art Italian cuisine. Vincenti has recently installed a rotisserie and grill fired with olive wood. Though Angelini hasn’t explored everything it can do, he’s already turning out splendid spit-roasted filet of beef with pancetta and laurel, pigeon with grapes and toasted pine nuts, lamb perfumed with garlic. The beautifully grilled aged Porterhouse tastes more like bistecca al Fiorentina with that edge of wood smoke, terrific with an acciugata, a Tuscan sauce of pounded anchovies and capers in extra virgin olive oil. Rex’s pastas have always been outstanding, but now, along with more elaborate recipes, you can get lusty Roman classics such as spaghetti all’amatriciana. Rex has a fine wine list of superstars from Tuscany and Piedmont. Desserts? Let’s face it, they’ve never been Italy’s strongest suit.

617 S. Olive St., Los Angeles; (213) 627-2300. Entrees, $18 to $32.

Rockenwagner

More than a year after Hans Rockenwagner initiated Tuesday night stammtisch at his Santa Monica restaurant, it’s still going strong. Regulars and anyone else who drops in visit around a communal table, ordering flights of appetizers or weisswurst with pretzel rolls, drinking imported Bavarian wheat beer or wines by the glass. Sometimes Rockenwagner uses such evenings to test dishes. But mostly, they’re just good fun. That and every other night of the week, you can order his classics: airy crab souffle with lobster butter sauce, truffled duck liver mousse and the short stack of house-smoked salmon sandwiched between lacy potato chips, creme frai^che and caviar. Experiments in Asian-influenced or fusion cuisine, though, are rarely as appealing. The informal lunch menu includes an excellent “pretzel” burger with Swiss cheese and grilled onions and a grilled vegetable sandwich with baby artichokes. Brunch offers softly scrambled eggs with grilled Black Forest ham or a fluffy German apple pancake scented with vanilla. And very soon it should be time for Rockenwagner’s annual celebration of white asparagus.

2435 Main St., Santa Monica; (310) 399-6504. Entrees, $17.50 to $22.50.

Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

Instead of the expected dark and clubby room, Ruth’s Chris in Beverly Hills is a light, airy space with polished wood wainscoting, sleek leather booths and vases of orchids. Here, where handsome, well-aged steaks arrive in a sweet sizzle of butter, the real stars are the Porterhouse, the New York strip and, when it’s offered as a special, the richly marbled T-bone. While adhering to the traditional steakhouse format, the virtue of Ruth’s Chris menu is that most of the sides are actually edible: onion rings as big as bracelets, hearts of lettuce with the house mustard garlic dressing, good creamed spinach, sauteed button mushrooms, French fries as crispy as requested. If, after tucking into one of these enormous steaks, you’re still game for dessert, choose the tender bread pudding. An outpost is scheduled to open in Irvine in the fall.

224 S. Beverly Dr., Beverly Hills; (310) 859-8744. Entrees, $18 to $25, potatoes and sides a la carte.

Saddle Peak Lodge

Until the owners hired back Josie Le Balch as chef at the wildly romantic Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabasas, the kitchen had just been going through the motions. Presentation was lackluster, and the menu was, frankly, boring. But now Le Balch is bringing the kitchen up to date, seeking out new sources for ever-more-exotic game (rack of kangaroo, anyone?). And while she hasn’t totally rewritten the menu, her return is evident in the spiffed-up plates, the fresher execution of Saddle Peak classics and, most of all, specials such as the salad of sauteed Oregon wild mushrooms on arugula and blood oranges. While improving the game menu, Le Balch is also broadening the restaurant’s appeal, adding flavorful fish like Virginia wild striped bass and wild sturgeon. Her imaginative hand is evident at brunch: mesquite-broiled ham with eggs and pumpkin flapjacks, and the handmade sausages (spicy buffalo, rabbit and pork). And to rescue the moribund dessert situation, a pastry chef will be on board soon.

419 Cold Canyon Rd. (at Piuma Road), Calabasas; (818) 222-3888. Entrees, $15.50 to $27.50; weekend brunch, $22.50.

Shiro

Who would guess that this modest storefront restaurant in South Pasadena is one of the toughest weekend reservations? Hideo Yamashiro’s customers are passionately devoted to his sizzling catfish with ponzu sauce and his plush salmon mousse and shrimp ravioli in a rich shiitake sauce, so much so that they resist any changes to his one-page menu. Come back in six months or a year, and you’ll find basically the same dishes, all perfectly and consistently executed. Try the tuna sashimi or carpaccio with shaved Parmesan and fresh arugula or the lightly peppered tuna steak in Champagne sauce. And for dessert, don’t pass up deep-fried won tons layered with poached pear and raspberry sauce or a fresh peach baked in Grand Marnier with strawberries, vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

1505 Mission St., South Pasadena; (818) 799-4774. Entrees, $14 to $18.

Spago

Spago may soon trade its longtime locale, overlooking the Sunset Strip, for the Bistro Garden’s tony digs. Imagine eating Wolfgang Puck’s casual California cuisine in a courtyard garden in Beverly Hills. It would be, well, very California. Meanwhile, Spago is still packed every night. Drop in (if you can get a reservation) for one of Puck’s uptown pizzas covered with duck sausage and shiitake mushrooms or the famous off-the-menu smoked salmon and creme frai^che version. The ebullient Austrian-born chef knows exactly what will please his customers: crispy Mandarin quail in a sweet orange-ginger sauce, lobster spring rolls, roasted duck with cracked black pepper sauce and sauteed pears. And with Eric Karpf and Francois Kwaku-Dongo back, the kitchen is running like clockwork. But if you really want to see what Puck’s flagship restaurant can do, ask the kitchen to create a special menu for your table.

1114 Horn Ave., West Hollywood; (310) 652-4025. Entrees, $18.50 to $28.

Valentino

Piero Selvaggio makes each of his three Italian restaurants a personal statement, but none is closer to his heart than Valentino, where he greets every guest warmly at the door. The service is exceptionally gracious, and the wine list, particularly rich in Italian varieties from up-and-coming producers, is phenomenal for its breadth of selection and fair prices. And Angelo Auriana’s menu of superb, understated Italian cooking has something for every taste: classic beef carpaccio, big plates of pasta, meaty veal chops or sweetbreads in Marsala. But I’m convinced the best experience here is the chef’s “extravaganza” or Selvaggio’s made-to-order series of small courses. The latter might begin with miniature sweetbread profiteroles and little bundles of field greens bound with an anchovy filet. After that, maybe a taste of chalky sheep’s milk ricotta just arrived from Italy that morning, then heavenly gnocchi sauced with truffle butter, followed by fusilli Norma in a light tomato sauce and an elegant mixed grill of quail, lamb and venison.

3115 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 829-4313. Entrees, $21 to $27; extravaganza menu, $58; special menus may be more.

Xiomara

Around the corner from Old Town’s restaurant row, Xiomara is a stylish Pasadena bistro. Chef Patrick Healy expresses his affection for French regional cooking in sublime grandmotherly dishes: wild pheasant and wood squab pa^te served from a porcelain terrine, rustic veal and sweetbread sausages, and cassoulet laden with duck, lamb and pork ribs under its coverlet of bread crumbs. There’s also a mosaic of cold vegetable salads, comforting soups and a dynamite sweet corn pancake with nuggets of lobster, so light it’s like eating bites of cloud. And prime rib chop for two in a red wine and marrow sauce is magnificent. But Healy’s tour de force may be his lamb daube, simmered in an iron casserole and sealed with a ring of dough to hold in all its fragrance. This is sensual food, grounded in tradition. In mid-June, owner Xiomara Ardolina will celebrate her Cuban roots by transforming the back room into “Club Cubana,” featuring a Caribbean menu by Healy, cigars (after 10 p.m.), island rums and Latin music. I can’t wait to see what Healy will do with plaintain-crusted sea bass or Caribbean cassoulet!

69 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena; (818) 796-2520. Entrees, $18 to $24; three-course country bistro menu, $25.

Yujean Kang’s

Next door to Xiomara, Yujean Kang offers his particular take on East-West cuisine. Only instead of a Western chef incorporating ingredients and techniques from Asian cuisines into his cooking, Kang works in the opposite direction, introducing Dijon honey-mustard, fava beans, hazelnuts and caviar into his basically Chinese dishes. His food is very spare, delicate in its flavors but complex enough to team well with wines from an outstanding wine list, particularly strong in German wines. He sautees beautiful fresh Louisiana shrimp with hazelnuts, taro root powder and fresh mustard greens. And updates sweet and sour sauce by making it with kumquats and passion fruit, and tossing it with slivers of sauteed Chilean sea bass. One of his signature--and most expensive ($45)--dishes is Maine lobster with several kinds of mushrooms, fresh fava beans and caviar. A larger West Hollywood branch is slated to open in May on Melrose Avenue.

67 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena; (818) 585-0855. Entrees, $10.95 to $45.