Year in Review: Notable restaurant openings of 2008

This year's crop of new Los Angeles restaurants is as diverse as it is enjoyable.

Even when the food isn't perfect, the act of eating it, and discussing its merits with friends and family, is satisfying.

Here you'll find a breakdown of some of the most notable restaurants that opened in 2008, complete with pictures and links to Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila's Early Birds and reviews. The list is in no particular order of preference, and should not be confused with a "best of" list. That said, enjoy the feast!

Photo: Palate Food & Wine in Glendale. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

On the Scene: Silver Lake update

Silver Lake has some work to do to catch up with the flying coattails of Echo Park when it comes to restaurant news. Still, while strolling through the 'hood this weekend, I picked up some worthy bits and pieces:

• Malo is opening a second-story dining room and bar. It was supposed to open Dec. 1, but there have been a few setbacks (there always are) and the target opening is now for early January. Also, if you didn't know already, Malo now serves brunch. I tried it and was pleasantly surprised by my scrambler with soyrizo, green onion and queso fresco.
• Mongolian barbecue is coming to a storefront on Sunset Boulevard, about halfway between Andiamo Pizza and Pho Cafe. The name of the restaurant is Gobi, and the sign out front says "coming soon." That could mean in a week or six months -- I'll do some digging and report back.
• If you're a vegan, or have vegan friends, you've most likely lamented the loss of the Vegan Spot, a junk-food restaurant that burned brightly for far too short a time. The restaurant's Twinkies and roast beef and cheddar sandwiches were the closest most vegans will ever come to eating like red-blooded Americans. The Vegan Spot was owned by the same folks who own Flore, Sunset Junction's ever-popular vegan hang. Now the space has reopened (after a brief closure) as Cafe Flore. The new cafe functions like a little sister to Flore. On the menu, you'll find vegan coffee drinks, sweets and breakfast (served all day -- with or without real eggs). Also, you'll still be able to get those vegan Twinkies.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo of a vegan Twinkie: Ringo H.W. Chiu  / For The Times

Small Bites: Green Wednesdays at Il Capriccio, Rockenwagner treats, and the Deli at Little Dom's not quite open after all

Green Wednesdays at Il Capriccio: Christmas may be white, but you can still go green. Il Capriccio and Il Capriccio Pizzeria are offering meal discounts on Wednesdays to customers who arrive with either three recyclable objects, or show proof of green travel (there's a subway stop at Sunset and Vermont). Il Capriccio, 1757 N. Vermont Ave., L.A.; Il Capriccio Pizzeria, 4518 Hollywood Blvd., L.A. www.ilcapriccioonvermont.com.

Rockenwagner holiday offerings: If you're looking for traditional holiday treats, you might want to check out the fresh-baked goods at Rockenwagner. Of particular note is its Christmas stollen made from a family recipe from Dresden, Germany using almonds, rum-soaked raisins, fruit, nutmeg and vanilla ($8.50 for a one-pound loaf, $15.95 for two pounds). Also available--and new to the bakery--are Elisen lebkuchen (gingerbread) cookies filled with hazelnuts, almonds and marzipan (five-piece gift pack $13.50); and Swiss holiday cookies called Basler leckerli ($7.50 for a gift pack). Watch Hans Rockenwagner make lebkuchen in this Times Food section video. Rockenwagner Bakery, 311 Arizona Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 394-4267. www.rockenwagner.com.

The Deli at Little Dom's not open after all: Despite earlier indications that this Little Dom's-adjacent Old-World style deli was soft-opening today (and despite a neighborhood preview party it threw this afternoon), reps say that it won't really open until a week from Monday. 2128 Hillhurst Ave., L.A. (323) 661-0055.

Rank it: What's the best L.A. Times recipe of 2008?

What's your favorite L.A. Times recipe from 2008?

The Times food staff is mulling over its picks for the Top 10 recipes of the year, and the results will be published Dec. 31. But give us your top picks -- and we'll see how the two lists compare and contrast. (I continue to lobby heavily for this humble delight, which, like all Times recipes, has been tested and perfected before it is deemed fit for print.)

In the meantime, check out our Best of 2008 page.

We've compiled the biggest stories of the year, the most-searched topics on latimes.com, and the most jaw-dropping scandals. You'll also find blogs and columns that were the biggest traffic-getters of the year, as well as top-ranking stories, divided by category, including Food. (This much is clear: You  like rotisserie chicken.)

In addition, our photographers combed through countless food photos taken during the year, and compiled the best of the best of the best into this photo gallery.

-- Rene Lynch

Photo: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Bacon: Rumaki hits the spot

The #8 spot on our list of 1,001 things to do with bacon goes to Dorothy, who emails:

Can you really beat rumaki -- using chicken livers or water chestnuts? A soy sauce, brown sugar glaze makes these the perfect appetizer. Then take a Lipitor!

Sounds great. There's also the more recent take on rumaki using dates (and they're even better with a little wedge of blue cheese nestled in the date before it's wrapped). Thanks, Dorothy!

--Noelle Carter

Click below for the rest of the list, and let us know if you've got an idea that belongs on this list....

Drinking without shame: It's your right (on Repeal Day)

Friday, Dec. 5, is, allegedly, Repeal Day. We've been unable to track down the exact genesis of the venerable holiday, but it's a liquor company's wet-bar dream, with one company in particular -- Dewar's -- cashing in big time on brand recognition. It has run full-page ads in the L.A. Weekly and elsewhere trumpeting the date that marks the ratification of the 21st Amendment, which ended Prohibition for good in 1933. And Dewar's is hoping to make it impossible for anyone sound of mind (and flush with booze-impaired judgment) to order anything but Dewar's on Repeal Day by offering the beverage (mixed or straight up) for 75 cents at a slew of L.A. bars.

Times staff writer Charlie Amter was good enough to round up the best of Repeal Day's offerings for The Guide, here.

On another Dewar's-related note: I keep thinking that there is some sort of beard-stroking essay to be written on Dewar's spirited campaign to effectively change its image from a classy, shirt-and-tie, man's-moment Scotch to the libation of choice for the young and impossibly hip. About a year ago the company deployed reps to place bar signs and coupons offering $3 Dewar's at just about every hot and happening bar in town. A year later broke friends are casually ordering Dewar's like it's the most natural thing in the world to them. In that way Dewar's has become to Scotch what Pabst is to beer. What a journey!   

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo credit: Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times

Oenophile's delight: No corking Uruguay's rising status as wine country

Uruguay is emerging as a wine tourism destination and exporter of fine wines: Since the late 1980s, vintners in that nation of more than 3 million people -- a population far outnumbered by cows -- have been replacing Muscat and Labrusca grapes used for locally consumed jug wines with the more worldly Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet, Merlot and their best-kept secret, Tannat. Read more here.

Can't just jet off to Uruguay to try these wines for yourself?

Here's a look at local merchants that specialize.

Photo: Claudia Capos / For The Times

Small Bites: Fondue, top restaurant trends, Huckleberry bakery, Drago Centro

 

It's cheesy: Sommelier Erik Kelley and cheese expert Talia Wabnig from the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills host the first in a series of Fondue + Flight Nights at Breadbar in Century City on Dec. 5. Fondues featured include traditional Swiss, Italian and French-style. Of course, lots of Breadbar bread will be served. Kelley will review fondue styles and history, and he and Wabnig will walk through the wine flights they picked to pair with the fondue. Dec. 5, 7 to 9 p.m., $35 per person (plus $15 for wine flights). Reservations required. Century City Westfield Shopping Center, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 277-3770; www.breadbar.net.

Trendiness: Restaurant consulting firm Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Co. predict the top restaurant trends for 2009. Here are some of them: yet more bistros (or are they late catching onto that trend?); breakfast all day; diners will get better treatment; yet more underground restaurants; noodle-based comfort food (across all cuisines -- Asian, Italian, etc.); offal; turkey legs; maple syrup; duck eggs; pickles; and Dutch gin. "Salt will be the new trans-fat."   

Huckleberry bakery update: Rustic Canyon owner Josh Loeb and pastry chef Zoe Nathan have settled on a name for their new Santa Monica bakery -- Huckleberry. Zoe says they are in the middle of construction and hope to open the bakery on Feb. 15. Meanwhile, she's been hard at work testing recipes. "Over the last month I have probably made 25 to 30 chocolate cakes in search of the best chocolate chocolate birthday cake, and I think I may have found one that we like," Nathan says.

Downtown Drago: Drago Centro says it will open this weekend. Partners Celestino Drago (of Drago Ristorante, Enoteca Drago and Il Pastaio Ristorante) and general manager Matteo Ferdinandi had intended to open earlier this month in the City National Bank space but were delayed by construction problems. See more at Eater LA. 525 S. Flower St., Los Angeles, (213) 228-8998; www.dragocentro.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Damon Winter / Los Angeles Times

Santa's Little Helper: Gifts for kids who cook

 

If your holiday list includes a kid who likes to cook, Times food writer Amy Scattergood suggests some gifts to tuck under the tree -- or to stuff inside a stocking.

Photo: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Katy Perry loves Dusty's in Silver Lake.Why don't you?

Yesterday in the Guide section of latimes.com, my colleague Charlie Amter (who just spent, like, 20 hours waiting in line to see Jane's Addiction at El Cid) posted a list that featured Katy Perry's top eight places to hang out in L.A.

The list isn't exactly earth shattering: Perry likes a lot of popular L.A. bars and restaurants, including Dusty's in Silver Lake, Alcove Cafe and Bakery in Los Feliz, and the Little Door in the Fairfax district. Lists on The Guide are formatted so that readers can click on a thumbs up or a thumbs down to indicate whether they approve of a particular list. Perry's list went up a little before noon yesterday and by midnight it had already generated an astounding 2,321 thumbs down, compared with only 1,290 thumbs up.

OK, these places aren't new, but as far as I know, they're also not loathed. So why all the negativity surrounding her picks? Fess up L.A., are you just mad that Perry didn't actually kiss a girl in her "I Kissed a Girl" video?

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: Katy Perry. Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times