Luckytown

We're so lucky to live in L.A. Whatever high-end dining rooms Michelin decides to sanctify with stars (which will become clear next week, when the first L.A. and Las Vegas guides will be published), it's hard to understand this town as a food lover unless you live here. There's deliciousness around every corner, from the carnitas on the taco truck to the big bowl of pho in the strip mall.

Take lunch, if you work downtown. Corie Brown and I decided to grab a quick bite of dim sum at Ocean Seafood -- just a quick bite.

Here's what we got. A big plate of the most beautiful baby-baby bok choy. Delicate scallop dumplings with transparent pink skin. A bowl of soup that was almost completely taken up with a ruffled dumpling filled with seafood and vegetables. Fantastic BBQ duck. I won't even tell you what else because there were just the two of us. (OK, we brought plenty of stuff back to the office.)

So what if Michelin decides nothing here is worthy of three stars. We can eat like royalty here, every day of the week.

Ocean Seafood, 750 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, (213) 687-3088.

-- Leslie Brenner

Photos by Leslie Brenner

Comments

[mason]

You read my mind, When I read the story about the new ratings, I thought that the listings ignored our wonderful Chinese restaurants.

[Ji Young]

A glitch on Michelin's website? http://la.eater.com/archives/2007/11/09/breaking_michelin_stars_are_out.php#more

The list....

[Ji Young]

"it's hard to understand this town as a food lover unless you live here. "

Agreed. I'm terribly curious about what Michelin hopes to accomplish with their L.A. guide. Their decidedly francocentric standards have been criticized in other European countries. And "high end" in the Western European sense is much more casual here than in Manhattan or even the Bay area.

It's very francocentric to not even recognize diversity within France and L.A.'s culinary strength is diversity; I can't help but suspect that Michelin just might not get it.