Counter Intelligence: Plan Check Kitchen and Bar

Chef and part-owner Ernesto Uchimura, who also helped develop Umami Burger, works in the kitchen of his place in Sawtelle’s Little Osaka.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Part-owner Terry Heller, second from right, talks with customers at the restaurant and bar on Sawtelle Boulevard.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Oyster on the half shell is served with yuzu kosho cocktail sauce.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The slow-cooked then charred burgers are the main attraction, layered with fried cheese, fricco, a fudgy frost of house-made American cheese and a sheet of ketchup leather.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Very crispy fried chicken is made with Jidori chicken. Smoked milk gravy, yam preserves and spicy pickled okra round out the plate.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Mozzarella and melon salad is topped with prosciutto dust.   (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Beer nuts and cocktails, from left, the Tropic Thunder (jalapeno-infused Kanon vodka, mango, lemon juice and sugar), the Spaghetti Western (vida mezcal, Tapatio, red bell pepper, lime, agave and beer) and the Gamma Ray (Pisco Porton, Midori, Orgeat, lemon and lime).  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The “chef’s favorite” burger has cheese two ways, bacon two ways, ketchup leather, a sunny-side-up egg and hot sauce.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)