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Naughty and Nice - Sarah's To-Dine List

list of lists

** NOTE ** I do my best to keep this list updated, but restaurants, as you know, rise and fall faster than a cheese souffle. As you browse this list, if you happen to see any restaurants that have closed, please let me know with a comment. Also, I LOVE RECOMMENDATIONS from you, so if you have one for me, please let me know on Your To Dine List over here. Thanks! xo

Back when I was in school, semi-normal people recounted the mundane details of their daily lives or poured out their heart’s emotions and feelings by writing a simple expository letter every night to some invisible friend named “Diary.” Presumably, “Diary” did not mind at all reading about every single inconsequential, boring detail of your pathetically uneventful life or yet again, *rolleyes* about how that fu--king a$$wipe ex-boyfriend totally wronged you into never trusting men or yourself again, just-finally-get-over-it-it's-been-six-years, okay? (Huh? Blog, what?) That’s semi-normal people who write to their invisible “Diary” friends. Normal people, of course, pay $175 an hour for a live friend named “Therapist.”

I, on the other hand, never had a diary. The therapist is another story, but don’t worry, I’m totally over that lying, cheating son-of-a...Instead, I had a book of lists. I had one of those annoyingly adorable notebooks from Artbox or some other Korean stationery/gift store that had a generic pudgy cute cartoon animal character that looked like Hello Kitty but wasn’t Hello Kitty, and what sounded like an English translation of a Korean haiku that made no sense whatsoever: “flower love make you pretty in my heart.” This notebook, with the pages in each section a different shade of the pastel rainbow from pink to peach to lavender, was my book of lists. On each new page, I would select some topic that captured my fancy and made an associated list. I even wrote the lists in full-blown technicolor with my eek!girlie! gel pens. Most of the time, it was some form of a To-do List or a ridiculous Top 10 Favorites list. Top 10 Songs I Love This Week. Top 10 Places I’d Go for My Honeymoon – was I stupid? Top 10 Characteristics in a Guy - omy, I was stupid! And yes, there were even many lists that were related to food. Top 10 Favorite Snacks. Top 10 Favorite Baked Potato Toppings. If ever I got really crazy, it would be a mad combination like Top 10 Favorite Things to Do with a Baked Potato. Whoa. I was so weird.

I was a weird, freaky freak about lists.

Was? I still am.

It doesn’t come out much on the final output to The Delicious Life, but I have an Excel workbook with more than a dozen worksheets filled with lists. Some of the lists are stand-alone, like an alphabetical list of every vegetable I can think of and a column to check off whether I have eaten it or not. Some of the lists cross-reference lists on other worksheets. Some of the lists are just so embarassingly nerdy to be lists that I will never disclose them. Didn’t I just mention the Lifetime Vegetable List? Crap.

One of the lists that I used to have in that pastel prissy pink princess book was a list of restaurants I wanted to try. The exact contents of that particular list, of course, have long since been outdated, but I still maintain a list of restaurants that I want to try. It’s my To-Dine List. Since one of my New Year’s resolutions was to make a few dents in my To-Dine List, putting the list here on The Delicious Life is a way to remind myself.

This is actually just a subset of highlights from the complete list (which is much longer and extends far beyond LA), and to be quite honest, I have no idea how some of the naughty restaurants even found their ways on to my list. I mean, come on, Bella is Geisha House's Italian step-sister. But they are there, so I will try them, and I suppose come back here every once in a while to update the list with dates (mm/dd/yy, not guys' names - LOL!). It would be pretty ambitious and very expensive to try all of these this year, but...who knows? It's only January, and yes, I have sent my resumé out a couple of times, too.

Sarah's Los Angeles To-Dine List, 2014

  1. Belcampo Meat Co., Santa Monica
  2. Blue Plate Oysterette, West 3rd
  3. Din Tai Fung, Glendale
  4. Faith & Flower, DTLA
  5. Ham Ji Park, Koreatown
  6. Mari Vanna, West Hollywood
  7. Marvin, Beverly/Grove
  8. Maude, Beverly Hills
  9. Night + Market Song
  10. Nobu, Malibu
  11. Nozawa Bar, Beverly Hills
  12. Pine & Crane, Silver Lake
  13. POT, Line Hotel, Koreatown
  14. Saint Martha, Koreatown
  15. Salt Air, Venice
  16. Scopa Italian Roots, Venice/Marina
  17. Shiki, beverly Hills
  18. Smoke.Oil.Salt, Melrose
  19. Superba Food + Bread, Venice
  20. Szechuan Impression, SGV
  21. Wexler's Deli, Grand Central Market, DTLA
  22. Zinque

Sarah's Orange County To-Dine List

  • Bluefin Sushi - check! post pending.
  • Charlie Palmer
  • Marche Moderne
  • Napa Rose
  • Pizzeria Ortica

Lists. I love lists. See? I've never been into writing long expository pieces every day about myself and my experiences in a stupid diary.

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Comments

  1. Jonah says

    Definitely hit Mao's (don't forget the zero-dollar corkage for beer/wine/booze).

    For mole, I would suggest Monte Alban over Lares, a couple blocks east of Bundy on Santa Monica.

    I'm with you on the "foodie" designation, I find it to be a snobby term that people use to try to elevate their status as a diner. From chowhound boards, it looks to me like a "foodie" eats where other people tell them too.

    Reply

  2. Eudaimo says

    My thots on your spots ;):

    Lares: Good Mexican, but I've had better. I had some just the other night, actually. The key dish is to the Camaron El Diablo (Shrimp wrapped in bacon), broiled in hot sauce. [Lie] And only 95 calories [/Lie]

    Wharo: I live around the corner, and it's delicious, but not phenomenal K-BBQ. There's much better to be had in K-Town, but this is a great west side option. A bit more "Datey" than most of the K-town Dives I frequented.

    Zankou Chicken - Cheap. Simple. Garlicky. Go.

    And ignore the haters who tell you you don't love food just because you haven't eaten here or there. Be it movies, books or restaurants, even the most passionate afficianado can't get to every supposed classic.

    Reply

  3. Maure says

    One more Zankou related tidbit:

    the Hollywood Zankou has menu items
    not found in its' sister locations.
    Plus Papa Zankou is frequently there to assure quality control.

    Reply

  4. PhilC says

    If you go to Lares, try the carnitas. Crispy on the outside and moist and tender on the inside.

    Reply

  5. MarcusH says

    I'd recommend you dump Taylor's off your list. I took a couple friends there based off the glowing reviews on Citysearch and we were VERY disappointed. The decor is retro, but unfortunately so was the waitress. She could have been Flo from Mel's Diner -- if you aged her to about 60. Needless to say, the service was horrid. But worst (and most unforgivable) of all, the steaks were pathetic. I kid you not to say that I've had better at Sizzler's. They were unseasoned, dry and vastly overpriced. Each of us ordered different cuts so we were pretty certain everything there was horrible. This was the K-Town location that we went to, just an FYI.

    Reply

  6. sarah says

    marcus h: did anyone try the burgers at taylor's? i think taylor's is on my list because i have heard only raves, but always about the burgers!

    Reply

  7. MarcusH says

    No, none of us tried the burgers. They might be worthwhile, and we just made the mistake of trying the steaks at a "steakhouse". ;)

    Reply

  8. Pasadena Foodie Now Living in Chainville says

    goodness! i saw your to-dine list and dining index and noticed PORTO'S (cuban bakery; glendale & burbank) is nowhere to be found!! there is food out in the burbs too, ya know!! ;)

    zankou is great! chicken that melts in ur mouth and the garlic sauce...mmmmmmmm. we used to frequent the one in pasadena a lot. it was one of those great bargain meal places, plenty of tasty food (half plate could fill up me and my hubby) at can't-beat prices. but we moved and didn't get to eat there as much. when we last visted we noticed the prices went up and it wasn't quite the deal it once was but it's still good stuff. worth a try if you haven't already.

    one last thing, my rec for eats in pasadena: SUSHIYA (spicy crunch and volcano!) and SALADANG (pad thai and green curry!)

    check em out here: http://www.pasadenacitycenter.com/dining/

    Reply

  9. Anonymous says

    You must check out the new bakery that just opened in Echo Park! Delilah on Echo Park Ave...try the coconut cake, it has a delicious marshmallowy frosting and so heavenly light one could easily eat 2 pieces! :)

    Reply

  10. Sheri says

    oh my god. i love a fellow listie when i find one. thanks for this post (really, all your posts) and the list and for putting life into list form for your fellow list lovers, like me!

    p.s. have you read "things to bring, s#it to do and other inventories of life" by karen rizzo? talk about fun with a life of listmaking.

    Reply

  11. Sheri says

    oh my god. i love a fellow listie when i find one. thanks for this post (really, all your posts) and the list and for putting life into list form for your fellow list lovers, like me!

    p.s. have you read "things to bring, s#it to do and other inventories of life" by karen rizzo? talk about fun with a life of listmaking.

    Reply

  12. Lesley says

    i love your blog... you always make me laugh!

    i would suggest trying:

    girasole on larchmont
    michelia
    michelangelo's in silver lake

    all three are small dining rooms, super cozy, and delicious--high quality ingredients and wonderful people behind the food. if you go to michelangelo's, be sure to ask if they have the burrata special. their burrata can turn my outlook on life around...

    Reply

  13. Lesley says

    i love your blog... you always make me laugh!

    i would suggest trying:

    girasole on larchmont
    michelia
    michelangelo's in silver lake

    all three are small dining rooms, super cozy, and delicious--high quality ingredients and wonderful people behind the food. if you go to michelangelo's, be sure to ask if they have the burrata special. their burrata can turn my outlook on life around...

    Reply

  14. andycat says

    I would love to see your thoughts on ApplePan!

    Reply

  15. beignet says

    i keep a list notebook too. and some of my lists are equally embarrassing. i feel you!

    Reply

  16. Daniel L says

    Ludobites! Hello... and i thought you were korean??

    Reply

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