Wednesday, May 09, 2007

LA Favorites #8: Lesley Balla of Eater LA

Erin's Kitchen is leaving LA! Before I go, I'm asking Angelenos to share their favorite food spots--east to west, high to low. Want to share your favorites? Email me: erinskitchen [at] gmail [dot] com.

LA Favorites #8: Lesley Balla, Editor of Eater LA, home of the juiciest LA restaurant news and gossip. Click here to check out previous LA Favorites, including Jonathan Gold, Russ Parsons and Evan Kleiman.

How long have you lived in LA?
May 2001.

What neighborhood do you call home?
The 'dena.

Quick--a favorite LA food memory. What's the first one that comes to mind?
In n Out. I wasn’t really eating fast food anymore when I moved here. I heard it was different. Friends in Portland (where I moved from) told me it was the first thing I had to have. It was, and it ruined me forever (Just had it today, actually). Zankou plays a close second. I liked that Beck sang about it. I was broke. It was goooood.

What food or drink does LA do best? And where can I find it?
Sushi and Mexican food. I’m still searching for my favorite sushi spot, but that place J Gold wrote about this week, Hiko, is one of the best I’ve had so far. Mexican food: I had some killer carnitas tacos at Tonny’s in Pasadena. I really got into fresh, rustic Italian here, too. Angeli Caffe, Angelini, Mozza, even All’ Angelo. All tops. Admittedly, I’m still discovering and haven’t even scratched the surface myself.

Top three spots (restaurants, taco stands, stores, bars, etc) I should visit before I leave LA? What should I order?
Some of those I mentioned above. Water Grill and Providence for high-end seafood. Father’s Office for that burger. Stock up on some Central Coast (Paso and Santa Barbara Co.) small production wines. One sip and you’re right back in CA. Silverlake Wine, Moe’s in Brentwood and BottleRock will all have good recommendations.

palm tree photo by Eric Richardson

2 comments:

glutster said...

no...not yet.

what is it about?

zaragoza said...

Oh my god, there's a lot of effective material in this post!