Counter: Curtis Stone's tasting menu and/or East L.A. burritos

Celery root, chartreuse raisins and chervil at Maude.

Oct. 24, 2015 12:05 AM PT

When you consider the culinary mash-up that is Los Angeles, you tend to come back — repeatedly, as if to your favorite food truck — to the issue of high-end vs. low-end dining. Your tasting menu, my taqueria. But it's not, as L.A. chefs Roy Choi and Wes Avila can tell you, simply an either/or thing. Which is one of the many reasons why it's fun to read, as we do this week, Jonathan Gold discuss the pretty considerable merits of both ends of the spectrum. One day, the five best burritos in town; another, Curtis Stone's Beverly Hills restaurant Maude.

In other news and more food, Jenn Harris eats way too much bread at Craig's, a few tables over from Chelsea Handler and some other people, and considers the new food emoji on her iPhone. And I chat with Ludo Lefebvre about why he and Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo decided to open a brunch joint. Because the idea of Ludo making us all eggs for breakfast in another L.A. strip mall is almost too much to bear when you're hungry.

And be on the lookout for Wednesday's In the Kitchen newsletter, with cooking tips and news, including new recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen.

—Amy Scattergood

More fun with apples at Maude

In which Jonathan Gold considers Curtis Stone's beautiful Beverly Hills restaurant, Maude. Yes, it's taken him a while to review the Australian chef's L.A. place, but it's not exactly an easy reservation, even for recently invisible restaurant critics. Maude is a tasting menu conceit, with each month devoted to a particular ingredient (this month: apples!), and it should not surprise you that what's on your plate is as aesthetically appealing as both restaurant and chef.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Three guys cook brunch

Trois Familia, the brunch joint from Ludo Lefebvre, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, is about to open on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake. The three guys of Trois Mec and Petit Trois all have young kids now, which is maybe why they've decided to cook eggs for us all. Whatever the reason, the result is crepes, tortas and banana splits by two chefs who brought you Animal and one who used to cook at L'Orangerie and Bastide.

Jon Shook, Vinny Dotolo and Ludo Lefebvre, here sitting at their restaurant Trois Mec, are opening a brunch place in Silver Lake.

(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

More burritos for you

Why were the lines even longer at the Eastside burrito specialist La Azteca this week? Blame Jonathan's list of his five favorite burritos in town. Because while he will tell you that he likes Tito's Tacos well enough — "a proud bearer of California-Mexican tradition"; recently proclaimed the best burrito in the U.S. by the Daily Meal — there are plenty of burritos in this town that are better. This town, not San Francisco.

The Hollenbeck from El Tepeyac made Jonathan Gold's list of the five best burritos in L.A.

(Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

And your burrito emoji

Tired of actually spelling out "chile relleno burrito" on your phone? Apple is here to help: The new emojis with the iOS 9.1 update include those for burritos, tacos, movie theatre popcorn, Champagne and hot dogs. Jenn Harris gives us some helpful suggestions for how to use them. ("Hey, should we grab mimosas before archery today?")

A few of the new emojis included in the Apple iOS 9.1 update.

(Los Angeles Times)

The best table bread in WeHo?

Jenn also eats way too much bread at Craig's, the West Hollywood restaurant where you can get a wedge salad, a steak and a martini, and probably do your requisite star-watching if you're into that sort of thing. The table bread is a house-made flatbread smothered in butter, honey, cheese and fresh herbs, eliminating the need for a dipping sauce, any additional butter — or really even a dinner companion.

The Times' Jenn Harris sits down with a basket of delicious table bread to try to extract the recipe from executive chef Kursten Kizer of Craig’s restaurant in West Hollywood.

(Los Angeles Times)

Jonathan Gold's 101

The 101 is coming! The Los Angeles Times will publish Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants, the authoritative annual guide to local dining, on Nov. 4 at latimes.com/jgold101. The print edition will be delivered to Times’ Saturday subscribers on Nov. 7. For more information, go to latimes.com/getgold. Official hashtag #JGOLD101.

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