Two Santa Monica restaurants are among Los Angeles Magazine’s 10 Best New Restaurants of 2019. They include Rustic Canyon chef Jeremy Fox’s new concept Birdie G’s on Michigan Ave.
Fox had said he wanted it to be a restaurant for everyone, and so it is, but the eclectic menu also manages to be “elevated diner fare (that) is seriously delicious”, and a “rare restaurant that can charm parents visiting from out of town, food snobs, and cranky toddlers.”
Allso making the list is Pasjoli on Main Street by Dialogue chef Dave Beran. The restaurant’s star dish for which you drop $165 is the whole roasted duck for two with gratin dauphinois prepared with a century-old duck press that’s wheeled to your table; Los Angeles Magazine describes it as “decadent and delicious”. Other winning items on the menu are a beef tartare with its unique kick from nasturtium pesto, and a truffled chicken liver in brioche that manages to taste like foie gras. The vibe is “Adult elegance on an otherwise fratty stretch of Santa Monica’s main street”.
Other Westside restaurants making the list include Dear John’s in Culver City in a former Sinatra hangout resurrected in Spring by Santa Monica chef Josiah Citrin in partnership with former Santa Monicans Hans Röckenwagner and wife Patti. Not to miss dishes include the caviar-topped Bougie Tots and spaghetti with clams based on a Sinatra recipe. The vibe is “cozy and delightfully dark”.
Also making the list is Yours Truly in Venice where Vartan Abgaryan, formerly at 71Above, is serving up crowd-pleasers. The vibe is “Venice pretty people looking to indulge in food that’s not from Erewhon.”
To celebrate the best new restaurants, Los Angeles Magazine is hosting its seventh annual Best New Restaurants tasting event on Tuesday January 28, 7 pm at Rolling Greens Nursery in DTLA.
Participating restaurants include Bar Restaurant, Yours Truly, Atrium, Bon Temps, Yang’s Kitchen, Pasjoli, Hippo, Freedman’s, The Bellwether, Birdie G’s, Drago Centro, and Love & Salt.
To wash down all the food will be brews from Stella Artois and creative cocktails from Maker’s Mark. Live tunes round out the celebration.
For more information and tickets, please visit https://www.lamag.com/bestnewrestaurants.