Although I was raised by Japanese people for a few years when I was a young boy, that doesn’t qualify me as a sushi expert in my family because our daughter-in-law was born and raised in Tokyo, and our second son (not the one married to her) has lived in Japan for about 12 years now.
It’s fun for a restaurant reviewer to find something special, that few people know about. Tiato Market Garden Café is one of those places. Hidden away in an office building on Colorado Avenue, it’s not your typical restaurant.
Do you have any idea of how many pizza places there are in and around Santa Monica? There’s no way that I could begin to try even half of them. On the other hand, in order to write this article I did visit about 50 of them, so I have some idea about it.
I was disappointed to see that Santa Monica Place’s The Market, which opened last month, is, in large part, just another high-end food court, competing with the other food court on the same level (that I love).
GENERAL COMMENT: In my way of looking at life, there are two kinds of taco joints, authentic and gringo. The best of the authentic ones usually have a regional aspect, and some special feature that draws in the Latino crowd.
When I was last in the Big Apple, three of the four high-end restaurants in Midtown where I ate specialized in seafood, the current restaurant craze. The first, Milos, where you can pick out your own fish from an ice table, is very reminiscent of restaurants in China, although there you can choose a
They say that when man lands on Mars, he will find a Starbucks on one corner and an Italian restaurant on the other. But, like in Los Angeles, no classical French food.
Gladstone’s is back. When Bobby Morris owned it, it was the hot spot on the beach, where you could wet your pallet and quench your hunger with a nice selection of seafood, while overlooking the Santa Monica Bay.
Second son Spencer lives in Japan, where he teaches Japanese literature and culture. About twice a year he comes home for vacation. As a special treat and to celebrate his visit we usually go to dinner (with other family members) to Sasabune, where Spencer kids around in Japanese with the owner and
GENERAL COMMENT: The new food court in the Santa Monica Place is a lot of fun. There are two Japanese restaurants, one taco place, a chicken and rib joint that needs improvement, a crepe place, one pizza place (and it was tasty), a typical Chinese, and best of all, Charlie’s Kabob.
We used to sail out of Marina del Rey. After a cold, rough sail, with Spencer seasick and Bonnie bored, we would return to the marina looking for a good dinner.
When Jean Francois Meteigner, one of the great French chefs in town, moved his restaurant from Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City to Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, many of his clients eagerly followed.
