Mercado - Manhattan Beach

I hate to be the hater, but Manhattan Village is dead. Lackluster chain stores featuring last season’s goods aren’t going to keep this generic parking nightmare alive, and extensive construction and the opening of boutiques trying to be cute will not resuscitate what is already lost...until Mercado dropped in. 

Mexican food. Elevated. Done with an air of class and all sorts of style and sass, Mercado may be the only reason I ever stop by aside from the convenience of a drive-thru bank. 

Classics like Guacamole come in generous portions, a silky dip with chunky avocados at just-right ripeness and about accent of hot peppers.

A thick Mushroom Choriqueso hits heavy as a melty mix. White wine adds an edge to a light-milk cotija and a buttery Oaxaca cheese. It’s hard to taste the chorizo notes, but it’s better this way. They highlight the robust flavors of the mushrooms and the earthy, peppery poblano rather than overwhelming the mixture. 

Camarones al Ajillo are super-sweet, facedown in clinging garlic butter. It’s all a great plate, but that butter, chewy-crispy hunk of sauce-scraping ciabatta is the best part.

Carnitas. Wow. Pork is always flavorful, and slow-cooked fat-shreds are a guaranteed savor-bomb, but just wow! This stuff saturates every sense. Wrap it up in their house made blue corn tortillas. They’re soft and to die for, and they use a little grain and a hint of nuttiness to cut the fat.

Enchiladas de Pollo come with pillowy pieces of chicken covered in a sweet Oaxacan mole. This mole is less all-engulfing dark-and-gritty compared to some others I’ve had, but the earthiness does shine through. You still get the whole enchilada with this dish.

Capirotada is a moist bread pudding full of sweet raisins sailing on a chocolate and caramel lake. Churro ice cream melts over the top and makes it just the right level of over-the-top.

The Flan is sweet and custardy, firm with none of that inferior rubbery quality. Creamy and spiced up with Rompope, this is a dessert worth saving room for. 

I didn’t think I could be wowed anymore, and I definitely didn’t think I could be wowed by anything from Manhattan Village, but there’s a reason even Michelin noticed Mercado. The food is simply  delicious, the best version of the great things we know with dashes of creativity thrown into the mix. The result is something satisfying, sometime then stunning, something I definitely want to see again.

Huge Tree Pastry - Monterey Park, CA

I’ve never met anything from Taiwan I didn’t like, and breakfast is no exception.  

They have my beloved basics, like those fluffy, golden sticks of You Tiao waiting to be soaked in silky soy milk or a more viscous peanut milk. 

More filling side dishes like the Tea Eggs are perfect for splitting or taking to go. Theirs are dark with salty marinade and almost too good to share. 

Try their claim-to-fame Fan Tuan or don’t bother coming. Their salty iteration is indescribably savory. The purple jasmine rice has a certain structure and fragrance that white rice often lacks, and a roll of paper-thin egg strikes a mouth-watering balance with crunchy pickles. 

If you’re really hungry, the Baked Sesame Bread with egg is a must. The bread splits into crispy pastry layers with each bite, and don’t underestimate the savory simplicity of a fluffy egg with dots of scallion. Just imagine the best Asian breakfast burrito.

They also have the lunch/brunch time classics like Green Onion Pancake. This one is dense and flat-fried, with alternating chewy and crispy layers.

Steamed Pork Dumplings are small juicy delights. They pack small pockets of sweet porky broth under thin skins. Unexpected quality in a place that doesn’t specialize in making them.

The menu is impressive for a small cafe. They specialize in baked goods, and in addition to hot breakfast, they also have more traditional pastries that are more suitable to go. Refreshing drinks like soy milk and plum juice wash down the carbs, and it’s impossibly to eat more than $20 of food even if you’re starving. Come-as-you-are casual and polite yet cut-to-the-chase service makes an ideal quicker bite before work or a mildly lingering catch-up with a friend. But it doesn’t matter why you come here, just be sure to make a trip.  

Roots & Rye - Pasadena, CA

When a midday garden walk leaves you hot and hungry but too hot to be hungry, nothing hits the spot like an ice-cold açaí bowl.

When you need something cold and wholesome in Pasadena, nothing hits the spot like Roots & Rye. Full of fresh fruits and tons of toppings, just the selection of granola alone makes the menu anything but granola.

The sizes are pretty generous, and the prices are fair for how much you get, including unlimited toppings. My bowl has a base of vanilla granola for crunch over a cold and berrylicious açaí. A film of chia pudding adds a lighter sweetness and a texture like superfine poppy seeds. I keep the rest simple, with blueberries, strawberries, and banana. Creamy peanut butter glues it all together with strands of golden honey.

The variations are endless if you’re looking to explore. They have creative mixes like the tropical Blue Majik, which sings like a pina colada with pineapple, coconut, and a hint of mango. Tons of wholesome toppers ranging from toasted coconut to matcha powder to kale please purists, health nuts, and pleasure-eaters alike. 

I haven’t had a real açaí bowl since last year’s Oahu wedding, and I had doubts that anything in LA would come close. Roots & Rye got the job done, and I’ll be back for another bowl next time I’m in the neighborhood. 

Auburn - Los Angeles

Sorry every other restaurant, I think I’ve found the most beautiful in LA. It is undoubtedly Auburn, where sculpted, slanting white ceilings illuminate shades of light wood and beige for an aesthetic simultaneously classic and chic, a minimalist dream in a maximalist city.

The menu is one that is approachable, neither minimal nor max but just enough, full of familiar fine dining ingredients so it’s comfortable with creative combinations to keep it exciting.

The Amuse Bouche starts things off as a palate primer, a tartlet of gorgeous cream. It’s a clean parsnip purée, a smooth and uplifting cloud with a whisper of white carrot flowers and sorrel cream. 

A Crispy Pig Ear is airy and fried, fatty yet lightened by a sprinkling of pepper and salt. You’ll never settle for just a chicharron after a bite of this.

A steaming loaf of House-made Bread is supposed to last a little longer, but spread on an herby emulsion of avocado butter, it disappears bite by crispy-crust, chewy-middle bite. 

The meal officially starts with Persimmons, sweet and gooey chunks of sugary silk cut by coal-char. Creamy cheese curds offset the sugar with a pinch of salt, and oxalis adds some bitter acid to make all the flavors pop. 

Where the persimmons are bold and heavy-hitting, the Japanese Sea Bream is a wet whisper. The slices are pure butter, and they melt in your mouth with a citrus breeze and a hot pinch of espelette pepper.

A block of tender Black Cod sits on a delicate plate of glass. A dark spinach releases a puff of smoke from the eel and highlights the briny clams.

Meaty Beets are bold and carry a heart-of-the-fire smoke. The sweet and salty blood-red mirrors the sweet and salted plums, and toasted seeds with red cabbage essence add an earthy quality against an uplift of shiso.

Veal Sweetbreads have the texture of almost foie gras as they give in to a brown butter base. Foldable discs of wild mushrooms draw attention with their aromatics, and a base of starchy celery root anchors an assertive trotter ragout.

A bleeding slice of Sonoma Duck floods its juices in a palatial burst. An amazing piece of meat but almost overshadowed by a boldly roasted kohlrabi with peppery seeds of mustard.

A Snake River Farms Ribeye sleeps under a cover of nori in a bed of rosy red wine. A side of oxtail is cooled by turnips, and charred grapes lend  some sugary smoke. 

A pungent cheese course transitions away from the mains. The Epoisses bubbles and gurgles over a nutty floor of sunchokes and seeds.

A dessert of Pichuberry sounds like something you’d catch on Pokémon Go,  but rest assured, it is a catch. Seedier than a cherry tomato, more sour than a wild-bush cherry, this course finishes light and tart with a cold sorbet.

A signature dessert of Yogurt with mushroom caramel showcases the incredible talent of their pastry chef. The mushrooms climb through the caramel ooze to permeate a smooth and sour yogurt. This combination is as indescribable as the flavors are unforgettable.

The meal ends on a high note as a sandwich of instant-melt meringue refreshes the palate and signals a calm conclusion to a masterful meal.

I’ve done a lot of fine dining now, but few places have the wow factor of Auburn. Auburn has done what precious few can; they’ve mastered the subtleties of balance and harmony, and their menu reflects an understanding of flavors and their unique effects on each other. Their dishes are bold with the right application of restraint to make the flavors fly. They are creative and innovative but they don’t skew so far from the righteous path that their combinations become unclear. I barely noticed when Auburn opened, but this menu will make you look. I’ll be looking at you, Auburn,  and I can’t wait to  find out what else I’ll see.