The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles L.A. Live

With only one seating per night, this exclusive destination is a treat for a mere handful of lucky diners. Indeed, securing a reservation is no small feat, but the reward is a culinary spectacle with few equals. All eyes are on Chef Brandon Hayato Go, who handles and arranges every ingredient with care and explains every course in great detail. Seasonality is everything, as thoughtfully sourced ingredients are sliced, fried, grilled or steamed to exacting standards. The likes of abalone, snow crab, onions and corn are presented on prized Japanese pottery and porcelain collected by the chef him

There's tucked away and then there's Sushi Kaneyoshi. This clandestine (read: difficult to find) sushi counter is in the most unexpected of places and has been a difficult reservation to score since the very beginning. However, once inside, the serene, minimalist dining room is a vision to behold. Great care is taken with every detail, whether it's the quality of ingredients, the precise knife cuts, the careful forming of nigiri or the gorgeous pottery, some of which are handmade by Chef Yoshiyuki Inoue himself. From golden lobes of uni to rich monkfish liver, product and preparation are held

You'll need to read the instructions sent ahead of time to find the entrance to Chef Ki Kim's restaurant, but any navigation woes are quickly put to rest once you're inside this ten-seat spot. The contemporary Korean tasting menu pulls in global influences, and meals begin with a few bites such as shirako gimbap, a shell filled with truffle rice and diced kimchi, or crispy, tender octopus in a creamy sauce with octopus head and gochujang. Charred sugar snap peas with steelhead trout roe and tuna or creamy pasta made with perilla seed and topped with fresh winter truffle display a creative flai

This beloved institution has been ladling matzoh ball soup since 1947 and started out as a humble operation with just a 12-seat counter. The restaurant today has grown considerably, now decked out with booths as well as a loyal fanbase that extends far beyond Los Angeles and across the entire country. Equally ample is the menu, with all the requisite standards such as latkes, blintzes and chopped liver. Breakfast is served all day. But if you’re here for the first time, there's only one way to go: the No. 19 hot pastrami sandwich with Swiss cheese, coleslaw and Russian dressing.

Chef Seigo Tamura's 715 doesn't offer the typical hushed omakase. Instead, music plays in the background here, where an eight-seat counter is wonderfully spacious, and chef mostly keeps to himself as he assembles each bite with quiet efficiency. Start the meal with a number of kitchen dishes like excellent monkfish liver, or charcoal-grilled beltfish served with a scattering of sansho pepper. All of the seafood comes from Japan, and larger fish like tuna are aged in-house. Rice for the nigiri is on the firmer side with a touch of sugar added as a nod to his Osaka roots. Their sake list feature

With its tall mirrors, tiled walls and tin ceilings, this rustic Italian eatery is every inch the classic trattoria. Hidden in plain sight just across from Grand Central Market, it is a known quantity with the local crowd, who fill these tables at all times of day. A few bites, and you'll be ready to pledge allegiance to the Republic, too.The array of excellent handmade pastas is seemingly endless, like long, tubular strands of bigoli della nonna, headlinng an impeccably balanced angus-and-sausage ragout. Then, try to pry yourself away from the noodle nexus and savory tomato-based sauces to sa

A longtime fixture in LA's sushi culture, Chef Morihiro Onodera now operates from a more expansive, contemporary space that reflects both his history and his ambitions. Along with an à la carte menu, the restaurant offers an omakase experience that blends traditional sushi counter dining with subtle references to cha-kaiseki, beginning with a sequence of composed dishes before moving into nigiri. Seafood is primarily sourced from Japan, and the rice is milled in-house, underscoring a focus on ingredient integrity and control. Handmade ceramics crafted by the chef himself remain part of the pre