Wanderlust Creamery - Venice

Sometimes you just want ice cream. Not the fancy, complicated flavors that push the envelope, just sweet and delicious ones that are creative and original but recognizable and relatable. 

Every Chinese person's childhood tastes like The White, a milk cream flavored with White Rabbit, the Snickers bars of the East. The Japanese Neapolitan is a minimally sweet triple threat of malty matcha, earthy hojicha, and robust black sesame. The Cuatro Leches is cream with more cream with interlacing cubes of sponge cake and dulce de leche chunks. 

All the ice creams have a super-cream quality that finishes like a dream. The waffle cones are a crunchy contrast, Ube on Ube Malted Crunch. The malt doesn't really crunch, but flavor itself is fantastic. 

No bad flavors here, all of them delicious. Unlimited samples, and half-scoop options so you can try them all. I love the travel theme and the tastes that encapsulate entire countries. Wanderlust is a passion that never gets old. 

Sapp Coffee Shop - Los Angeles

Try the coffee if you're in the mood, but this cafe is all about the nood. 

They make the classics like Som Tom, but salads are not their signature. It's a good papaya salad, but don't come here for just that.

The remaining menu is overwhelming, and it's best to eat by number. No Stranger Things here, but number 11 is still the best. Chewy Jade Noodles form fresh spirals of spinach topped with slurp-worthy slices of tender BBQ pork and duck. A pile of shredded real crab turns it into a carby surf n' turf. 

Number 18 is their other claim to fame, the Sen Chun Phad Pu. The stir-fried egg noodles are gelatinous al dente with a sweet finish offset by a potent chili garlic. The crab meat adds some extra savor, and the almost-omelet pulls it all together while holding in the moisture. 

They're also known for the boat noodle soup, but I couldn't eat any more that day. Their noodle dishes are hearty and filling, and if the soups are anything like the stir fry, I'll be back for another slurp.  

Bhan Knom Thai - Los Angeles

I've been here a dozen time, but never with good enough photos to share. 

I still don't have good photos, but the most delicious desserts are rarely the most photogenic. But the Sticky Rice with taro, supple and gooey bites with sweetened taro in the middle, fragrance lent and held by tightly wrapped banana leaf.

The Thai steamed cupcakes are spongy little puffs, but I prefer the Golden Flowers over the cakes. A dense and slightly grainy bud holds a floral scent of jasmine so strong you can taste it, and it concentrates into the sugar like honey.

The Crispy sweet Crepes; so simple and so easy to eat all of in one sitting, a thin and crispy sheet smeared with coconut cream and egg-yolk sugar. 

When in Thai Town, eat your entrees first. Leave your car where it is and walk off your most generous and most inexpensive meal on your way to Bhan Knom. They make best desserts; Just make sure you've saved some room.

Tocaya Organica - El Segundo

Locally sourced and all organic, Tocaya fits right in at The Point with the likes of find-your-zen Prana and yogi-haven Lululemon. 

It's easy to skip over for the richer sandwiches of Mendocino Farms and overlook it for the brimming pasta plates of North Italia, but they do have an affordable taco combo with a margarita and a menu that accommodates every imaginable dietary restriction/choice. 

I think the Margaritas are new, and they're the best addition yet. The passion fruit is awesome, and guava is just as great. They don't make them weak, but they won't floor you either so you can still drive home after a single glass. 

A "B" is an Asian F, but my tacos begin with B and they get a solid A. The Barrio, as recommended, is mildly feisty with slightly spicy beef chorizo and a kick of jalapeno jack. The Baja is worth getting the carne asada for a little extra, and the combo of chipotle crema and queso fresco is just right.

You also get a side, and I ate two of the Elote. It sets a small mouth-fire, but that’s what your margarita is for. Wash it down while you make good choices, though with the menu at Tocaya, I suspect all choices are good.

Jon & Vinny's Fairfax - Los Angeles

Michelin came back to Los Angeles, and I ate at Jon and Vinny’s less than a week before they made the Bib Gourmand. 

I think Michelin is BS, tbh, and if they think the people of LA don't care about eating well, they're welcome to take that elsewhere. Self-aggrandizing snobs be damned, I do still believe they are right more often than not, and they're not wrong about Jon & Vinny’s. 

They make Italian stuff. All the stuff you immediately associated with Italian cuisine. Marinara Braised Meatballs, for example. Soft, airy baseballs of juicy ground meat in a ripe and tangy tomato sauce that is to die for. There's a swab of the thickest and creamiest ricotta and chewy slabs of garlic bread with grill-stripes for dunking. 

Get at least one vegetable, and don't underestimate the simplistic description. The Grilled Broccolini is a veggie that wows. That char tho, mixed with these giant grilled grapes and dusted with chili vinaigrette that pours acid into your burn. It doesn't hurt - it just wakes up your palate for the pasta. 

Small but mighty is the Spicy Fusilli, a creamy orange-pink vodka sauce with swivels into the spirals that captures a coat of parmesan.

The underrated Cavatelli is less popular but no less accomplished, and it's probably the prettiest of the pastas. Cavatelli roll-ups wrap around the cream sauce, and the fennel sausage lends salty fragrance. Cavolo nero is a tolerable kind of kale, and its darker, earthier quality elevates the dish. 

You'll never make it look as pretty as it tastes, but Nonna’s Lemon Ricotta Cookie harmonizes sweet and citrus. Subtle and worth exploring. 

The cookie won't ruin your appetite and it preps you up for this decadent Chocolate Budino. Custard married pot de creme and spawned a chocolate masterpiece. Ribbons of caramel contrast with sprinkles of sea salt, and olive oil is lightening and as enriching as it is enlightening.

Jon & Vinny's is not fancy, and that makes me like it better. They don't try to make it more than it is, and they make Italian staples that taste incredible. There is absolutely no reason not to try them - there’s nothing not to like and no way you won’t find something you more-than-like. 

Red Rock - Torrance

Simply put, it's roast beef over rice. 

An oversimplification for sure. It's not the brown slices of sandwich meat you're used to, The American Slice Beef Don is super-rare, super-thin, super-juicy slices of scarlet beef, topped with a raw, adhesive Jidori egg to bring out the sweeter notes and add a layer of savor. I detect a little horseradish in the creamy yogurt sauce, and the bed of rice catches all the drippings. Goes best with beer. 

Try the Beef Omu-Rice as well, or come back after a night of drinks. This omelette is the size of your face, and its fluffy folds encase the best hangover cure I can imagine. The ketchup rice is some the most delicious and addicting fried rice I've ever eaten despite hating ketchup. The soy-gravy-crack sauce is so much better with a layer of gooey cheese on top. Get the gooey cheese. Pay the extra for the gooey cheese. Come back for the gooey cheese. 

Humble Potato - Los Angeles

Whether you're starving on your way to the airport or starving on the way back, the Humble Potato won't let you down.

Tons of creative Asian-fusion burgers borrowed from the many culture of SoCal, get any of these thick creations, bursting with beef patties loaded with ingredients ranging from avocado to pork belly to spam. 

I wasn't feeling the burger than day, and the Obaasan was perfect. It's "grandma's" KFC, a scrumptious fried chicken sando full of dark meat and damp with spices. A single slice of cheese adds some contrast, and the citrus slaw has a cooling effect on the spices. 

The Kare Fries are the best fries, and they get better with an oozing fried egg on top. The curry is rich and thick and finishes on a sweeter note.

Give this place a try if you're craving In n' Out but a little different. Everything is better with a little Asian added, and the Humble Potato is no exception. 

Bae - Los Angeles

Bae. Little Tokyo's best not-kept secret. 

Soft serve in creative flavors and chromatic swirls, Bae can't help but attract attention, and their signature Mixed Feelings should be on everyone's bucket list. The charcoal pineapple is fruity and a little tart, refreshing against a backdrop of sweet vanilla. No mixed feelings about this one - it's love at first bite. 

The Earl Coco is a literally-named, but it sounds like the newest scent from Chanel. The colors are as sophisticated, with cool stripes of earl grey and a creamy embellishment of coco puffs that channels cereal milk. Sorry Milkbar, I hated yours but I love this. And I'll be back for a matcha or red velvet cone.

This stuff is legit, and their cream and sugar ratio is on point. They say the activated charcoal will whiten your teeth and purge your body of toxins, as if you needed extra motivation to stop for the most perfect soft serve in LA. 

Lacha Somtum UPDATE - Los Angeles

My favorite restaurant in Thai Town, tied with Jitlada for first. I love that they're casual, and their giant menu varies from heavy to light, from mild to burn-your-face-off.

You can enjoy any of the Thai classics here, but the papaya salad is what they've truly mastered. I don't know how they grind so much flavor into each perfectly-even julienne strip, but the ample squeeze of lime juice gives the garlic a boost and brightens the chili burn. Get the Thai Papaya Salad with Crispy Grounded Catfish - the threads of fried fish are fluffy like a pillow and dissolve like a cloud.

There's a Mixed Fruits Salad made just like the somtum, sweet on sour on tangy with layers of apples, berries, and grapes. I never though these summer fruits could mix with garlic, beans, and dried-shrimp seafoam-brine but the combination is invigorating.

I love the savory-sour notes of the Esaan Sausage - I have this sausage on repeat.

Same goes for the Jungle Curry, where the flavor, savor, and spice will go clear down to your toes. Choose the crispy pork - they make the best crispy pork.

Thai Iced Coffee soothes the burn, and both the coffee and the burn are worth it. 

Lacha Somtum, master of the "soup and salad". There's no doubt about their somtum and curry, and they continue to prove themselves with a legit bowl of steaming Thai Boat Noodles. The broth is savory and dense, with floating grains of beef bits and fat. The flat noodles are the best for texture.

I'm so in love Lacha, this inexpensive, casual cafe. The spice is real and the papaya salads are sublime.