Happy Valley Village - Hacienda Heights

It already feels like home but it's a home I've never known. The booth-benches and chairs are all eye-sores, upholstered or cushioned with the hideous flower-print that only Chinese grandmas can find. They surround shiny tables holding deep black wok-pots of culture-revolution cooks. 

With a name like that, the food has to be authentic, and the shared plates are fantastic. There's a platter of smoky Hong Kong Red Sausage to start, softly savory and a little bit sweet. 

Cucumber and Wood Ear is a cold dish, fresh veggies sprinkled with sesame and nuts. 

Liang Pi is a southern treasure, thick, wide cold noodle-like strips so impossibly chewy they put al dente to shame. 

The presentation is so pretty, but they taste much better than they look after they've been mixed at tableside. 

Don't skip the shared plates, but the Stew Goose why you're here. Cleaver-cut chunks of bony bird are covered with tender meat, and gnawing is the only way to get it. The soup itself is so savory, and you can choose green beans or Chinese sauerkraut for free. The sauerkraut adds minimal sour, and its acid amplifies the meaty stew. There's also an endless list of optional add-ons, all of which are awesome. Green beans go delightfully soft as they boil in the broth, potatoes and frozen tofu soak up so much soup, bean curd sheets and vermicelli add the texture.

The fresh cornmeal buns are not to be missed as they’re made to order, stuck to the side of the pot and steamed in the vapors of stew. Eat one of these but have a Steamed Bread Roll as well. Those green stripes are spinach, and the fragrance it adds is indescribable.  

This meal and this style of dining creates the feeling of family as young and old crowd around. Dig in and don't be shy - let the stew seal the generation gap that only grows with time. For some, it's just another bowl of soup, but for the culture-revolution generation, the nostalgia is strong. It's a memory from before their life got better, and it's a tangible sample of history for their children who want to understand them more.

Pane Bianco - Los Angeles

With all the buzz around the pizzeria, another Bianco can't be bad. 

Enter Pane Bianco across the way, a one-stop shop serving slices and sandwiches for those who have to go. 

I'll admit I was put-off at first. Usually the fine-dining comes after the casual cafe passes the test. But one slice of the daily special and I am fully sold. Beautiful greens of bitter broccoli spigarello stand up to sweet fennel sausage, crisped up with shallots and punctuated by olives and fresh sliced garlic bits.

Beautifully balanced sandwiches are sizeable, even the simple Burrata will make you a memory. The focaccia bread has an audible crunch, and the burrata is chewy-gooey with roast red pepper. 

Soft sheets of Mortadella are sliced so thin. The savors are subtle, but they go beautifully with a semi-sweet spread (I think it was apricot?) and sharp arugula on top. 

Eat your pickles - the shallots have a bite, the banana peppers make a sandwich pop, and the green beans are just so great. 

What I love about both Biancos is that they just serve good food. Not trying too hard to be weird or new, not trying to reinvent the wheel. Their wheel is still round when they're done; it's just the most polished wheel you've ever seen, and you can't help but sit in awe. Anyone can make a sandwich, but Bianco has this innate ability to pick the perfect ingredients, make them more perfect, and balance them so brilliantly that you'll never see them the same way again. 

Go Get Em Tiger - Los Angeles

To kill time before the Biancos come to life, there a couple of coffee shops at The Row. 

Cheesy name aside, they brew a lovely Cappuccino and there's ample seating at the counter and various tables, inside and out. 

Their own recipes are realized at Cadoro Bakery, and I just might go corporate spy to steal the one for this salted chocolate chip cookie. Thin, chewy but cooked, chocolate not too sweet, offset by a sprinkle of salt. 

I never used to consider coffee shops for anything other than work, but places like this have popped up more and more in my mind as well as in my landscape. I love my morning cup of coffee, and places like this only make me love it more. 

Prime Pizza - El Segundo

The name is lame but the pie is palatable. 

Floppy, almost-foldable slices of New York pizza in a portion you can eat at a price you can afford. This one is round with half cheese, half sausage. I like a little more cheese, but this amount isn't incorrect. For those who like the thicker crust, there's a Brooklyn square option as well. 

Just don't get the Buffalo Wings. They're slimy rubber dipped in sauce. 

Grimaldi's was better, and it's a letdown after Pizzeria Bianco, but their concepts were higher end and much more pricey. Prime Pizza brings an accessible assortment of affordable slices to El Segundo, perfect for a friendly stay-in or easy family night.  

Quan Hy Restaurant - Westminster, CA

Quan Hy may be the fanciest casual restaurant I've ever seen. The decor is modern, space-creating crossbeams, shiny tables, bright and cheery. There's a real koi pond on the way in and you can eat your meal next to the most beautiful tank of fish. 

Even more beautiful is this tray of Banh Beo. Softly-steamed little finger-food rice cakes topped with crumbles of shredded shrimp. Dunk deeply in fish sauce, eat, repeat. 

I'll always try the Bun Bo Hue, especially in Westminster. The broth has layers of flavors and holds so much depth. Gnaw on the pork knuckle while you enjoy tender slices of beef.

The Mi Quang is a great dish - wide yellow noodles with whole shrimp and slices of pork, savory and simultaneously on the lighter side. 

The Goi Mit is the real deal - it's worth the one-hour drive. A cold jackfruit salad is so refreshing, a shredded texture mixed with shrimp and strips of pork. 

If I ever did a food crawl through Little Saigon, the jackfruit salad would be first on the list...Then I might skip every other spot because everything here is good enough if not better. 

The Vintage 1979 - Garden Grove, CA

Oh this is cute. SO cute. No sarcasm - I am genuinely enchanted.

Super Instagramable space with comfy chairs conducive to conversation and the prettiest drinks.  The vibe is retro and the posse of plants with all the mix n' match chairs really make the colors pop. The colors are unreal in this sea-breeze thing, and my Ube Latte is gorgeous. It's an amazing alternative to regular coffee shops and perfect for people who want to talk without the pressure to drink something stronger. Why not pay a little more for a nicer drink - it's already so much just for the garbage at Starbucks. Beware - these drinks are very filling - mine is an entire potato with milk. 

Each drink makes an ample dessert, but they make some pretty pastries as well. This Earl Grey Mousse is judiciously sweetened, fragrant like the tea with a texture like pure silk. 

Oh my, this is all so pretty. I can't get over the modern-princess vibe, and I'm a little bit appalled at how much my usually-cynical self wants to come back just to sit here again. Truly give it a try - this may be the sweetest place I've ever seen. 

Canaan Cafe - Lomita

This spot is cursed. Kotosh is king in this plaza, and no other restaurant has been able to hang on. Muodu came and went in a blaze of glory, doling out steamers full of the best soup dumplings SoCal has ever seen. I’m willing to bet even San Gabriel felt the threat. 

But food that good isn’t profitable, I guess, because ownership changed hands and the same crew made the switch to small-batch dim sum. Service was slow but everything was heated to order so it did turn out much nicer than what the rest of the South Bay had. Bad timing, though, there was no way to they could tread water when Michelin-marked Lunasia moved into Rolling Hills. 

So now we have Canaan Cafe, bringing traditional Chinese-Taiwanese classics to the South Bay from their Artesia and West Covina roots. 

Straightforward dishes like this spicy peanut-and-hoisin Dan Dan Noodle will hit the spot when you want them, though the sauce is good but nothing special and the noodles themselves are meh.

You can't get excited about the Steam Shanghai Dumplings after Muodu, but these will do well. They're not DTF, but they're a lot cheaper too. 

Everything else is fried. The Canaan Special Fish Fillet is fish that could be fresher, but the frying is perfect and so is the salt and pepper. 

Salt & Pepper Pork Chop is always a favorite, and theirs is solid. 

Orange Chicken is a decent option as well. Made correctly, good flavor. 

Stir-Fried String Bean with Garlic is just that. It's the right vegetable to offset all the fried stuff. 

Alright, I tried. I really wanted to love Canaan but it wasn't at all exciting. The food is good, make no mistake, but I needed it to be better.