El Caserio Silver Lake has pan-Latin charm

THE pork chop on my plate is twice as thick as the Michelin Guide. Lightly seared and faintly rosy at the center, it has the heft and juiciness you'd expect of a chop served at Jar or BLD. It's accompanied by a silky sauce redolent of cream and roasted nuts, its roots solidly in Latin America but with inspiration from French technique. Right now the only place to find this dish is at El Caserio Silver Lake, the dramatically enhanced sibling of William Velasco's 25-year-old restaurant known for its raved-about Ecuadorean and Italian food and a notoriously obscure Virgil Avenue location in Los Angeles. The original is so entrenched in the neighborhood that many regulars order without looking at a menu.

By Linda Burum

February 20, 2008