Dining review: Racion is a feast for all the senses

From the first bite-sized hors d'oeuvres tothe final sip of exquisite “Don Nuno” sherry, Racion provides a sensory journey that is hard to replicate. Shaped by the chef's trip to San Sebastian, Spain, a culinary Mecca of sorts, each plate of tapas is more like a micro-meal.

Dining review: Jeremy's is an old-school breakfast spot with charm

Truth be told, the broken, faded sign had kept me away for years. But my husband and I love novelty almost as much as we love our Saturday morning breakfasts together, so despite the B rating card in the window, we ventured into Jeremy’s Restaurant. Am I glad we did. It’s “our&...

Dining review: Larkin's in Eagle Rock has a southern soul

Tucked on a corner in Eagle Rock, across a side street from a pink diner with its own towering billboard, the brown bungalow doesn't look like much. Its roof is beginning to tatter, there's nearly no parking, and the few tables outside are made from old doors painted and put on their sides in one...

Dining review: Follow the Golden Road to good beer

Sometimes a great restaurant experience is all about the venue. Certain settings encourage an easygoing, unhurried time. Such is the case at the Pub at Golden Road Brewing.

Dining review: Burbank's Prizzi's is food with a mom-and-pop heart

According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, independent restaurants are struggling. Since the start of the recession, American consumers increased their patronage of larger chain restaurants and decreased the number of meals at mom-and-pop businesses, forcing more than 7,000...

Dining review: Exotic fare for a fast-food price at Cafe Lanka

Watching and wondering for months, I was thrilled when the doors to the new Cafe Lanka finally opened last weekend. Could it be Sri Lankan food? Yes, it is, but with an American twist.

Dining review: Pasadena's StillRoom Seafood

The StillRoom gets its name from the so-called area in grand homes of yore where liquors, medicines, oils and the like were distilled, infused and brewed. It is a fitting name for this charming new addition to the Pasadena fine dining scene not only because it serves cocktails bordering on alchemy...

Dining Review: A dip into Argentine culture

Most Americans don't know much about Argentine culture. Our enduring image is of the gaucho, the cowboy of the pampas, wearing a bright scarf and a small version of a Stetson. It's an image cherished by the Argentines themselves, but it's about as representative of their culture as cowpokes are of...

New location, same flavor

Most aficionados of Indian food living in the Verdugo corridor know and love India's Flavor, a cozy restaurant in Sparr Heights near Montrose. The food at this family-run eatery is consistently delicious. Only problem is people are often bumping elbows with neighboring diners in the tiny dining...

Nothing fancy, but good fusion

When a menu ranges from Mediterranean to Mexican to seafood to burgers, you can usually expect at best mediocre food. It’s like going to a movie starring Jim Belushi, Eric Roberts and Carmen Electra. Gerlach’s Grille in Pasadena is the exception.

A near-perfect taste of Italy

Going to Briganti, I learned an important lesson: Don’t be fooled by first impressions. With so many charming restaurants in historic buildings in South Pasadena, why go to a place with prefab windows and faux distressed bricks? Because the food is incredible, that’s why.

Welcoming café offers simple, creative fare

Robert Downey Jr. stared at me all through my lunch. I was eating at Studio Café Magazzino, a tiny, home-spun café across from the massive Warner Bros. complex, enjoying the homemade soup and sandwiches, when I noticed that Sherlock Holmes himself was looking right through the window,...

'Dolphin Tale' a swimming success

When a film says “inspired by a true story” what you usually can expect is a diluted Hollywood version of a true story, and there is plenty of manipulated fiction in the new family film “Dolphin Tale.” But guess what? It doesn’t matter. The central crux of the story and...

This cheesecake is hard to beat

I can see her now, looking like Joan from “Mad Men.” It’s 1967, and my mother is bent over the oven, carefully extracting the cheesecake meant for dinner guests. She removes it gingerly from its water bath and inspects the heavy disc for cracks, dark spots or sinkholes. It’...

El Metate is hard to find, hard to forget

On a quiet, one-way Pasadena street, a few doors down from a comedy club and where you must take caution not to get run over by little old ladies trying to parallel park in front of a medical marijuana store, El Metate Café is a family-run Mexican restaurant that's not so easy to find, and...