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Modern Israeli Cuisine in West Hollywood at Jaffa

Jaffa, the oldest neighborhood of Tel-Aviv, has inspired Los Angeles' new modern Israeli restaurant Jaffa. Located on West 3rd Street in West Hollywood, Jaffa LA is a bright space that includes stone walls and reclaimed wood, serving up modern Israeli cuisine.

Chef Anne Conness, who's nuevo rancho cuisine I first tried at her El Segundo restaurant Sausal, fell in love with the cuisine of Israel after traveling there with business partner Nancy Vrankovic. At Jaffa LA, Chef Conness has taken the modern Israeli cuisine that she fell in love with and combined it with locally grown, fresh and seasonal ingredients, well-raised meat and sustainable seafood. On my first visit to Jaffa LA for their "friends and family" preview, we took a seat on the patio where baskets of blankets were nearby to wrap ourselves in as it got chilly. We started with drinks, choosing from an eclectic international wine list, which includes Israeli wine, cocktails and mocktails. A glass of sparkling pink Bailly-Papierre NV Cremant de Bourgogne, France was the way to start.

01 February, 2018

Dining in the ‘food city of the moment’: Los Angeles

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.

Editor’s note: Until my son moved to Los Angeles to go to medical school and then decided to stay there for his residency, I’d never thought of L.A. as a culinary destination. But since then, every time we visit him, he takes us to a new and fascinating place: a hole in the wall that serves fabulous ramen, or a seemingly ramshackle place on the beach the cooks up spicy wonderful Caribbean food, or the place that is reported to have the best burger in L.A., located down a hallway behind a butcher shop in Santa Monica. Who knew that an intern has so much time to eat? But it is turning out that L.A. has one of the most vibrant and diverse food scenes I’ve ever visited. With this in mind I asked our wine columnist Allison Levine, who lives in L.A., for a list of her favorites. —Sasha Paulsen

For years, when one thought of food, restaurants and must-eat-at destinations, Los Angeles was not a city that came to mind. But the city of 14 million has been gaining recognition for its food scene over the last five or so years.

Los Angeles Times Food Critic Jonathan Gold called Los Angeles the “food city of the moment” and restaurant critics from New York and San Francisco have agreed. In fact, Zagat named Los Angeles number one in their list of “30 Most Exciting Food Cities in America 2017.”

I spend much of my time traveling around the country and the world. It is always exciting to explore the food scene in a given city and enjoy wonderful meals. But every time I come home to Los Angeles, I am really blown away by the quality and diversity of the food scene, where chef-driven restaurants, exotic cuisine and innovative cooking are all celebrated. There is also the sheer quantity of restaurants.

New restaurants are opening on a weekly basis. Local celebrity chefs have opened additional locations, new young chefs have realized their visions and a handful of well-known out-of-town high-profile chefs have descended upon Los Angeles for their newest outposts. At times, it seems almost impossible to keep up, but I do my best. Here are some of my favorite restaurants where I had some of my more memorable meals of 2017.

11 January, 2018

Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Brunch at Good Measure

Good Measure has been on my list of restaurants to try since it opened this past summer. But between my travel schedule and availability to get across the city to Atwater Village, I had yet to go. But, for the very last day of 2017, I finally went to Good Measure for brunch and alas it is the Please The Palate pick of the week.

Good Measure is a wine-inspired restaurant. Opened by Matthew Kaner, one of Food & Wine's Sommeliers of the Year 2013 and wine director of Bar Covell and Augustine, the 75-seat Good Measure has more than 1000 bottles of wine from around the world. And chef Mike Garber, who previously worked at the now-closed BLD and at Ammo, has created a menu to pair with the wines.

06 January, 2018