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Daily Dish

Zagat: ‘Where to Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em,’ a guide to dating and dumping

By Betty HallockDeputy Food Editor 
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Happy Valentine’s Day! On the most ‘romantic’ day of the year, you might refer to Zagat’s 2011 Los Angeles edition of ‘The Essential Dating & Dumping Guide’ (hopefully, for the dating and not the dumping), subtitled ‘Restaurants & Nightspots: Where to Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em.’

The guide includes Zagat’s dating survey (‘brains are the No. 1 attribute surveyors look for in a mate,’ nearly half think the guy should always pay for the first date, etc.) and a list of date- and break-up-appropriate restaurants.

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Categories under ‘where to date’ include raw bars (BP Oysterette, Water Grill), beachside dining (Cafe Del Rey, Mar’sel), celeb spotting (Cecconi’s, Polo Lounge) and hotel dining, ‘room optional’ (Asia de Cuba, the Belvedere).

Where to break up? People-watching places such as Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills, to provide distractions; restaurants with ‘cool loos’ such as at Pink Taco in Century City, because nobody wants to see you crying at the table; and dessert specialists such as Jin Patisserie -- ‘to end things on a sweet note.’ Awww.

-- Betty Hallock

Daily Dish
Betty Hallock

Betty Hallock is deputy Food editor at the Los Angeles Times. She has co-written four cookbooks, including “Bäco: Vivid Recipes from the Heart of Los Angeles,” “Amá: A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen” and “Baking at République.” She started her journalism career at the Wall Street Journal and Scientific American in New York, worked on the L.A. Times’ Business desk, and was interim food editor at Los Angeles Magazine. Hallock also helped launch a food and nutrition vertical for wellness app RoundGlass. She’s a graduate of UCLA and New York University.

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