On this episode of The LA Food Podcast, we welcome LA Times critic Bill Addison to go deep on his freshly dropped list of the 101 Best Restaurants in California . After years of dissecting his LA-only lists, we finally get to ask: what makes a spot one of the best in the state? Bill takes us behind the scenes of how the guide came together, shares the biggest surprises, and hints at who might quietly hold the crown for best restaurant in California. Then in Part 2, we recap Top Chef Season 22 wi...
Jun 27, 2025•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 132
🎧 Today on The LA Food Podcast, we break down the biggest moments and key takeaways from this week’s James Beard Awards — with a spotlight on Los Angeles’ own Jon Yao of Kato , who took home the coveted Best Chef: California award. What does his win mean for LA’s dining scene, and where does Kato fit into the larger conversation about California cuisine? Then, we sit down with Evan Algorri and Andrew Lawson , the duo behind Etra and Café Telegrama , two of the hottest restaurants reshaping Melr...
Jun 20, 2025•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 131
On this episode of The LA Food Podcast, we're heading south to explore San Diego’s rising food scene. Known for craft beer and beaches, San Diego is now a serious player in the California fine dining landscape. From creative tasting menus to casual neighborhood gems, we spent 48 hours eating our way through the city—and we're sharing every bite. Highlights include: 🍽️ A full San Diego restaurant guide with picks for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night bites 🍷 The best cocktail bar in San ...
Jun 13, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 130
This week on The LA Food Podcast , we dive into Pete Wells’ provocative New York Times piece on how some of the world’s top chefs are using artificial intelligence to reinvent fine dining. From crafting the perfect sausage to generating entire tasting menus, is AI the secret sauce of the future—or the recipe for a soulless, flavorless culinary dystopia? Luca and Father Sal break it all down. In Chef’s Kiss, Big Miss , we unpack: Evan Funke’s *ahem* sleek new Roman bar A spicy Bill Esparza take o...
Jun 06, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 129
This week on The LA Food Podcast , we're diving into a bold new plan to revive Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade: open-container entertainment zones. Think Bourbon Street meets beachside retail. LA Food Editor Karen Palmer of SFGate joins us to unpack the potential impact on local restaurants and bars, drawing on reporting from other California cities where these zones are already live. Could this be the key to revitalizing LA’s struggling dining corridors—or just another overhyped nothingbu...
May 30, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 128
This week on The LA Food Podcast , we dive into one of the wildest chef vs. critic stories in recent memory: Thomas Keller of The French Laundry allegedly asked SF Chronicle critic Mackenzie Chung Fegan to leave the restaurant . Was it a momentary lapse or a sign of a chef in crisis? Then: Chef Ari Kolender of LA seafood hotspot Found Oyster and Eagle Rock’s Queen’s Raw Bar & Grill joins us to talk about his gorgeous new cookbook How to Cook the Finest Things in the Sea , the rebrand of Quee...
May 23, 2025•1 hr 45 min•Ep. 127
This week on The LA Food Podcast, we’re joined by Claire Dinhut—aka Condiment Claire —cookbook author, flavor scientist, and social media sensation. Born and raised in Los Angeles but now based in Europe, Claire has taken TikTok by storm with her inventive approach to sauces, spreads, and the science of taste. Recorded at Venice’s iconic Roosterfish bar, this episode covers her global condiment obsessions, her viral rise to food fame, and the delicious details behind her new release, The Condime...
May 16, 2025•43 min•Ep. 126
This week on The LA Food Podcast, we dive into the results of a new survey from Substack favorite The Angel that asked Angelenos what they really want from restaurants. Hosts Luca and Father Sal break down what LA diners say matters most—vibe vs. food, great service, price, and originality—and reveal the surprising (and kind of maddening) contradictions in the data. In Part 2, we’re joined by Nancy DaSilva and Bits Nicholas from Compliments to the Chef for a Top Chef Season 22 midseason check-in...
May 09, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 125
Is Jordan Kahn's Meteora on track for a second Michelin star? On this episode of The LA Food Podcast , we dive deep into LA’s most ambitious fine-dining jungle—Meteora. After falling for Chef Jordan Kahn’s futuristic tasting menu at Vespertine, we head to his Melrose Avenue follow-up to see if the hype (and the hefty price tag) is justified. Is this lush, high-concept, nature-driven restaurant actually deserving of a second Michelin star? We break it down, course by course. Plus, it’s Part 4 of ...
May 02, 2025•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 124
Lele Dinner Club is the buzzy new supper club from Pizzana chef and master pizzaiolo Daniele Uditi, offering an exclusive 10-course Neapolitan tasting menu that’s quickly become Los Angeles’ hottest reservation. With only three seatings so far and a waitlist already topping 6,000 names, this underground culinary experience is redefining LA fine dining. On this episode of The LA Food Podcast, I take Father Sal behind the scenes of the entire Lele Dinner Club journey—how to get in, what’s on the m...
Apr 25, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 123
Melissa Lopez is the James Beard semifinalist chef behind Barra Santos, one of the buzziest restaurants in recent memory to grace Los Angeles. Barra Santos is a tiny, sardine-tin of a restaurant in Cypress Park serving up thoughtful, super high-quality Portuguese fare. But as small as the restaurant’s footprint is, the noise it’s made since opening has been nothing short of deafening. After visiting the restaurant myself, I knew I wanted to get to know the mastermind behind the operation, and Ch...
Apr 18, 2025•46 min•Ep. 122
Tariffs, tariffs, tariffs. It’s the word on everybody’s lips this week and, as you’d expect, every food media outlet in the country published some sort of breakdown of what this means for restaurants and the food industry at large. Father Sal and I sift through the noise to distill what this means for LA restaurateurs and diners alike. Also on this episode, we issue a correction from last episode, we recap a beefy meal at the newly opened Matu Kai in Brentwood, and we dive deep on Meghan McCarro...
Apr 11, 2025•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 121
Controversy in Hollywood as news breaks that Elon Musk - yes, THAT Elon Musk - has tapped beloved LA chef Eric Greenspan to helm his upcoming Tesla-themed Diner on Santa Monica Blvd. Is Chef Greenspan’s choice to take the job in any way defensible, or is he just another DOGE bag? Father Sal and I dig into the news and the backlash to make sense of it all. Plus, the James Beard Awards announced their nominees including 5 So Cal establishments, LA Taco’s Taco Madness got underway with one notable ...
Apr 04, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 120
I (Luca) moderated the latest Family Meal panel discussion on how restaurants rose to the challenge during the January wildfires. This is the recording of that panel discussion, featuring four very impressive speakers who I introduce at the top of the recording. We discuss all matters of important topics including how restaurants can prepare for the next big crisis and what you and I can do to support them when shit inevitably hits the fan. We’ll be back Friday with our regularly scheduled progr...
Apr 01, 2025•48 min•Ep. 119
Ryan Sutton is the chief critic and editor at The LO Times, one of the absolute best sources of food writing Substack has to offer. He previously served as Eater New York’s chief food critic for almost a decade, and prior to that, the New York critic at Bloomberg News. He’s won a James Beard Award and been nominated for two more, and today he lets us into his mind to understand not just how one earns the title of “critic,” but what food criticism actually entails. After Father Sal and I discusse...
Mar 28, 2025•56 min•Ep. 118
It’s been five years since the pandemic forced us to wipe down our groceries, binge Tiger King, and pick up hobbies like basket weaving or, in my case, eating 100 pizzas in 365 days. Of course, COVID also notably sent shockwaves through the restaurant industry, and to this day, the labor market still hasn’t recovered. What’s behind the lag and what are industry pros doing about it? Father Sal is with us to discuss two excellent articles by Adam Reiner on this exact topic. Also on the episode tod...
Mar 21, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 117
It’s time for the 2025 Top Chef Fantasy Draft! Season 22 of Top Chef kicked off this week in Canada. As we do every year, Father Sal and I hosted a draft of the 15 competitors vying for the title of Top Chef. We’re joined by 2024 champion Jessie Evans (alias @Jessie_Eats on Instagram), and Nancy DaSilva and Bits Nicholas of the Compliments to the Chef podcast. Plus, an LA Times article on a one-man tasting menu in Downtown LA, and a New York Times feature on a, erm, controversial restaurant in L...
Mar 14, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 116
We’re joined today by Chef Johnny Lee, the mastermind behind Rasarumah, one of LA’s hottest new restaurants serving inventive Southeast Asian food with a heavy Malaysian bent. Chef Johnny joins us to talk about the new concept, but also about what it was like to say goodbye to his deeply personal project Pearl River Deli. We talk about Hainan chicken, the struggles of learning to be a business operator when you’ve mostly worked the line your entire career, and what it’s been like to partner with...
Mar 07, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 115
What is going on at The Original Pantry Cafe in downtown LA? Reports of a labor dispute threatening to close down the storied institution have been swirling all week. We try to make sense of the noise, and ask ourselves is there any hope for the house that Richard Riordan built? Secondly, Silver Lake lesbian bar The Ruby Fruit just added controversy to its menu. The bar has been fighting for survival since the wildfires took a massive hit to their bottom line. And while they’ve generally receive...
Feb 28, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 114
What’s the deal with the cease and desist letters going to Los Angeles pizzerias? Is OpenTable’s comeback slowly killing Resy? And was our visit to the LA Times 2024 Restaurant of the Year a Chef’s Kiss or a Big Miss? Father Sal’s with us today to discuss all of that and more, plus where you can try a $750 burger, what Molly Baz is doing to give back to wildfire victims, and an invitation I extended to Bill Esparza that can only be described as ill-advised and reckless. Helpful Links: NYT’s Kim ...
Feb 21, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 113
Today we’re joined by LA Times food reporter Stephanie Breijo to discuss a brand new petition LA restaurateurs are bringing to city and state lawmakers. Stephanie has been on the frontlines of covering the tough time restaurants have been having over the last couple of years, and she actually joined the restaurateurs as they ventured to City Hall to meet with lawmakers and make their requests known. But the million dollar questions are - what are they asking for, and will it actually help? Liste...
Feb 14, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 112
Nonalcoholic cocktails. Are they something to endure during months like Dry January? Or are they legitimately impressive feats of mixology that deserve respect any month of the year? I visited Philip Ross, Beverage Director of The Lonely Oyster Group, at The Lonely Oyster to discuss how he goes about conceptualizing an NA program that doesn’t just appease those who’d rather forego alcohol but delivers an entirely unique experience that’s worth checking out in and of itself. Look, I’m gonna be ho...
Feb 11, 2025•42 min•Ep. 111
We finally made it to Jordan Kahn’s Vespertine in Culver City, which reopened after a hiatus in the Spring of 2024, and earned not one but two Michelin Stars just a few months later. If you’ve heard people talk about VesperVespertineine, then you know that it elicits strong reactions. Some people can’t get enough of Chef Kahn’s otherworldly creations, with Michelin describing his food as “visually stunning” and “daringly inventive.” Others, however, walk away deeply confounded, scratching their ...
Feb 07, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 110
We’re joined by Brad Metzger, President of hospitality recruitment firm Brad Metzger Restaurant Solutions, and Ryan O’Melveny WIlson, the CEO of legendary Los Angeles restaurant group Lawry’s, to hear about Chefs Love LA, an unforgettable evening of food and wine, celebrating LA heroes and supporting the restaurant community impacted by the fires. World-famous chefs including Curtis Stone, Jonathan Waxman, Daniel Bouloud, Nyesha Harrington, Jordan Kahn and many many more are all uniting on Febru...
Jan 31, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 109
After a dark start to the New Year, a little light at the end of the tunnel this week as 18 Los Angeles chefs, bars and restaurants were named James Beard semifinalists. With Angelenos earning spots in the categories of Outstanding Chef, Outstanding Restaurant and Best Chef: California, Father Sal is with us today for one of our trademark, frankly psychotic dissections of what it all means. We attempt to answer questions like, is this a downward or upward trending year for LA? What are Angelenos...
Jan 24, 2025•1 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 108
The Palisades and Eaton fires have been raging for more than a week now. Restaurants and food vendors have played a huge role in the relief efforts, stepping up in a big way to feed first responders and evacuees. Father Sal and I discuss a couple of excellent articles on restaurants in the midst of the wildfires, and we speak with three people who’ve experienced the fires from different perspectives: First is Matthew Schodorf, the co-owner of Cafe De Leche whose Altadena location was completely ...
Jan 17, 2025•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 107
No episode this week. Just three ways you can help restaurants as we navigate the devastating wildfires, and a bunch of helpful links. Side Pie fundraiser https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuild-side-pie-support-your-favorite-local-pizzeria?attribution_id=sl:86fa7075-75b8-4da8-8f92-b082665dda14&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link LA Times team on L.A. restaurants offering shelter, discounts, and food to fire evacuees and first responders https://www.latimes...
Jan 10, 2025•3 min
What does the year of our Lord 2025 have in store for LA restaurants? According to The LA Times, a whole lot more struggle. Father Sal is with us to break down a couple of fascinating pieces by Stephanie Breijo and Cindy Carcamo on the restaurants we lost in 2024, and what the landscape of challenges looks like for the year ahead. On a lighter note, we recap our holidays, including Father Sal’s first American Christmas and my continuing plight to force-feed my family the Feast of the Seven Fishe...
Jan 03, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 106
Joining us on the podcast are The Infatuation’s Brant Cox and Sylvio Martins. They’re going to walk us through their list of the Best New Restaurants of 2024, as well as the good and not-so-good trends that defined this year of dining in LA. We finish off with some predictions for what dining in 2025 will look like, and chat a little bit about our respective restaurant-related New Year’s Resolutions. Helpful Links: Infatuation LA Best New Restaurants 2024 https://www.theinfatuation.com/los-angel...
Dec 27, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 105
I’d like to cordially welcome you to the second annual LA Food Pod Holiday Party! Father Sal and I are joined by our favorite New York-based podcast ho ho hosts, Nancy DaSilva and Bits Nicholas of Compliments to the Chef, for a jolly ole time discussing what’s hot in the Big Apple, what we make of the premature closure of Frog Club, the quixotic restaurant helmed by Liz Johnson of Horses on Sunset fame, and we each bring a holiday cocktail to the table to hopefully inspire you to do some festive...
Dec 20, 2024•1 hr 53 min•Season 1Ep. 104
