Joomak Banjum 312 5th Ave, New York, NY 10001 212-268-7888 www.joomakbanjum.com Sun 01/28/2024, 04:30p-07:20p [4/15 Update: As of February 18th, the restaurant is temporarily closed, due to an unexpected rent hike. Chef Kim is apparently looking for a new location to re-open, and in the meantime, Joomak Banjum is popping up at DDOBAR.] For the final meal of this abbreviated NYC trip, I made my way to Koreatown to visit Joomak Banjum (주막 반점). The place has been around since June 2021, and ostensibly serves a modern interpretation of Korean Chinese fare, which immediately caught my interes ..read more

Bom Restaurant 17 W 19th St, New York, NY 10011 212-256-1368 www.bom-nyc.com Sat 01/27/2024, 05:30p-08:35p If you've read my last post, you'll know that I just visited Brian Kim and Max Soh's Oiji Mi in NYC's Flatiron District. Given the strength of that meal, I was curious to check out Bōm (봄, or "spring," but also an acronym for "Back of Oiji Mi"), their even higher-end dining experience located inside a room at the back of the restaurant. The place grand-opened on January 31st last year as a tasting menu-only modern Korean spot with a distinct focus on gogigui, one that achieved a Mich ..read more

Oiji Mi Restaurant 17 W 19th St, New York, NY 10011 212-256-1259 www.oijimi.com Fri 01/26/2024, 08:50p-11:55p If you've read my last couple of posts, you'll know that I was in DC for work recently. Now given that I was going to be there for two weeks, I decided to take a side trip up to NYC over the weekend. I've been on a bit of a modern Korean kick as of late, so after I landed at LGA, I immediately made my way to the Flatiron District for dinner at Oiji Mi (오이지 미). Named after oiji (a type of pickled cucumber) and mi ("beauty" or "taste"), the place comes to us from Chef Brian Kim (a.k ..read more

The Green Zone Bar 2226 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20009 202-579-9606 www.thegreenzonedc.com Thu 01/25/2024, 08:00p-10:30p You might recall that during my last trip to DC, I enjoyed a great Mideast cuisine meal at Michael Rafidi's Albi. Now the cocktails there were also quite delicious, and it turns out they were originally the creation of Chris Francke, so I decided to pay his cocktail bar The Green Zone (المنطقة الخضراء) a visit on my latest outing to the District. About the Bartender: Chris Hassaan Francke is a Washington area native of Iraqi-German descent, and graduated from Johns H ..read more

Pasjoli Restaurant 2732 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405 424-330-0020 www.pasjoli.com Fri 01/19/2024, 08:15p-10:55p If we're talking about iconic duck dishes in LA, the canard à la rouennaise at Pasjoli is definitely one that comes to mind. Unfortunately, Dave Beran's pressed duck has long eluded me, as it's a dish that must be ordered in advance, so one can't just drop in to the bistro and enjoy it. However, some friends and I recently made a concerted effort to rectify this situation. Shown above is Pasjoli's menu, which comprises Beran's take on elevated bistrot fare. There's also ..read more

Viaje Restaurant 5224 2nd St, Long Beach, CA 90803 562-833-9299 www.viajerestaurant.com Sun 01/14/2024, 07:20p-10:15p I was recently searching for a place to eat around the LBC, and decided to check out Viaje ("journey"), a contemporary Mexican spot in Belmont Shore. The restaurant comes to us from Jalisciense Julio Gutierrez, who actually co-founded Baja Fish Tacos back in 1996. The mini-chain grew slowly throughout the years, eventually expanding to Long Beach at the end of 2013. However, the location didn't perform as well as expected, and was thus shuttered in February 2019. Gutierrez ..read more

Kinjiro Restaurant 424 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 213-229-8200 www.kinjiro-la.com Thu 01/04/2024, 07:30p-11:05p If we're talking about izakaya-style spots in LA, then Nomiya Kinjiro (飲屋 金次郎) unquestionably has to be considered among the cream of the crop. Situated in Little Tokyo's Honda Plaza, the restaurant opened in November 2014, and comes to us from Jun Isogai and Tina Kuo, in concert with Chef Yoshikazu Kondo. I'm quite the fan of the place, and returned recently for a birthday dinner. The food served at Kinjiro comprises both more traditional and more modern interpretatio ..read more

De La Nonna Restaurant 710 E 4th Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90013 / 312 S Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013 213-221-1268 www.delanonna.com Fri 12/29/2023, 04:00p-05:40p Some friends and I recently attended the Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition held at The Grand LA, and needed somewhere to have an early dinner afterward. We ended up walking over to the Arts District to dine at De La Nonna, a pizza-focused spot centered on Detroit-slash-Sicilian-style pies. The place opened back in November 2021, and comes to us from principals Patrick Costa, Jose L. Cordon, and Lee Zaremba. And if you're curiou ..read more

Hibi by Kabuki 3121 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90006 213-674-7244 www.madebyhibi.com Wed 12/27/2023, 07:15p-09:30p One of the spots that I wanted to check out by the end of the year was Hibi, and I made it with days to spare. The food here is Korean-inflected Japanese, and just seemed rather interesting, hence my prioritized visit. Curiously, the place is part of Kaizen Dining Group, a company that's not exactly known for its ambitious cuisine. KDG traces its roots to Kabuki, the middling Japanese-ish chain of restaurants that was started back in 1991 by Korean-American restaurateur ..read more

Majordōmo Restaurant 1725 Naud St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 323-545-4880 www.majordomo.la Tue 12/26/2023, 08:40p-11:40p David Chang's Majordomo opened back at the start of 2018 to sizeable anticipation and considerable fanfare. The place was pretty difficult to get into during those early years, but the hype has since died down, and the restaurant has grown into a reliable Chinatown dining stalwart, and thus was the perfect choice for a recent late-ish, post-Christmas dinner. Somewhat surprisingly, Chang has kept a relatively low profile in LA over the past few years. There was supposed to ..read more