ONLY THE BEST : An Opinionated Guide to Southern California’s Top 40 Restaurants

Three years is not a very long time. And yet, in the three years since our first Top 40 restaurant issue appeared, the Los Angeles restaurant scene has completely changed. More than half the original restaurants have fallen off the list: Six have closed; 16 no longer make the grade. * The past few years have been hard on the restaurants of Southern California. The high rollers aren’t rolling much anymore, and most of the restaurants they used to be seen in every night now sit half empty. Even in the best of times, old restaurants do get weary, but I was shocked to revisit some former favorites and discover how truly tired they had become. *But here’s the good news: Expensive restaurants--those special-occasion places we all save up to eat in--have improved dramatically. The survivors have done it the hard way. They’ve earned our business, and these days, when you decide to splurge on a really expensive meal, you can be pretty sure it will be worth it. *There’s more good news: This has become the best place in America for what was once called “ethnic food.” It’s not easy to define “ethnic” in a city as diverse as our own, but it’s easy to understand that as our tastes become more eclectic, our restaurants become more interesting. Three years ago, most of the Top 40 restaurants looked toward Europe. Not anymore. Welcome to the global table.

Around the Basin, moving east and south from Malibu:

GRANITA. Spago can be snooty. Chinois is always packed. If you have your heart set on a Wolfgang Puck experience, your best bet is Granita, the friendliest of the lot. Although this undersea fantasy of a room (replete with fish tanks, coral and enough mosaic tiles to fill six Olympic-sized pools) is as celebrity-studded as the other Puck places, the mood in Malibu is more relaxed. The stars saunter in wearing blue jeans to eat the same sort of food that they would at Spago--mixed in with a few hits from Chinois and a couple of dishes that are pure Granita. Among the latter are an antipasto plate, a fabulous fish soup with couscous and, of course, those granitas, the most memorable being coffee ice served in a chocolate bowl. If you do have to wait for a table (and usually you don’t), there’s a comfortable bar. And if it’s the middle of summer and you simply can’t get in, you can always console yourself by getting Granita to go. In a pinch, the restaurant will even send a chef to your house.

23725 W. Malibu Road, Malibu, (310) 456-0488; entrees, $21-$48.

OPUS. When Opus came to town, it intended to take over the fish franchise; it wanted to be the place in Southern California for an elegant seafood supper. So it set up as a near-clone of New York’s Le Bernardin (even the upscale wood-paneled decor is similar) and waited to reel in the diners. Then hard times hit, the chef left, and the menu took a turn toward meat. Now Opus isn’t copying anybody--it’s just a wonderful restaurant, the most grown-up place to open in Los Angeles in quite some time. It’s still the best if you’re going fishing--fabulous seafood soup, terrific tuna carpaccio, wonderful roasted monkfish--but now it’s equally appropriate for carnivores (the rabbit is particularly impressive). The restaurant is located in an unfortunate industrial park, complete with man-made lakes and fountains, but inside it’s a solid space, making you feel as if you’ve set off to sea in a particularly beautiful boat.

2425 W. Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 829-2112; entrees, $9-$24.

BIKINI. The great strength of American cooking in the last decade has been its ability to assimilate ideas from all over the globe. American chefs embraced the cuisine of every immigrant group, and restaurants became the true melting pot. Soy sauce, cilantro, chiles and sushi became as American as apple pie. No restaurant better reflects this than Bikini, which puts the map on your table; chef John Sedlar borrows from all over the globe. You can begin a meal with egg foo yong double happiness, which owes more to French haute cuisine than to Chinese cooking: It’s simply duck eggs scrambled with gingered duck confit , mushrooms, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots, then put back into the shell. Or lamb in green curry sauce, which owes a debt not only to France and India but Thailand as well. There’s a lot of Southwestern influence on the menu--Sedlar was one of the founders of the Southwest food movement--and a great deal from Latin America. Sedlar also borrows from Italy, from Japan, from Greece. The food is beautiful--the chef literally paints on the plate--and the room is one of the loveliest in the city. There’s a sheer wall of windows, lots of wood, art everywhere you look. And the seats, for once, are comfortable. If this isn’t the direction that American restaurants are going to take in the ‘90s, it should be.

1413 5th St., Santa Monica, (310) 395-8611; entrees, $16-$26.

MICHAEL’S. The garden at Michael’s was planted to grow and change, and it has. It is now an incredibly restful retreat where water splashes merrily across sculptures, flowers bloom, and the sky is always blue. (Should the weather dare to be inclement, there’s a retractable canvas roof.) Of course, some things don’t change at Michael’s: the California food is much the same as it was when the restaurant opened 12 years ago (there’s even the same old Chardonnay cream sauce on the spaghettini with lobster), the waiters are still wearing Calvin Klein, the service is still polished, and the wine list is still among the best in the city. But while the garden was growing bigger, the prices were growing smaller. In the ‘80s, Michael’s prided itself on being among the most expensive restaurants in the city, but since 1989, the prices have come down. Way down: There’s a three-course prix-fixe lunch at $16.50 that is surely one of the best bargains in the city, and the dinner at $26.50 (available only on weeknights) gives you three courses for the price of a single entree.

1147 3rd St., Santa Monica, (310) 451-0843; entrees, $18-$26.50.

BORDER GRILL. It’s so loud you’re likely to have a headache when you leave. The decor is more young, hip and hard than cozy and comfortable. This is about as far as you can get from Taco Bell. When Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger of City restaurant decided to open a Mexican restaurant, they approached the task in much the same way as they went about learning to be chefs. In the beginning they went to France; this time they went to Mexico. They came back with recipes of amazing complexity, recipes that give each dish real depth and character. Nowhere else will you taste lighter, more delicious tamales, and few restaurants go to the trouble to make panuchos , platano empanadas or plantains filled with black beans, cheese and jalapenos. And if you must have chips, salsa and margaritas, the salsa’s terrific and the margaritas potent.

1445 4th St., Santa Monica, (310) 451-1655; entrees, $9.50-$17.50.

ROCKENWAGNER. The room and the food are strangely at odds: you find yourself sitting in a place that is all California casual and consuming rather formal food. Hans Rockenwagner trained in Switzerland, worked at Le Perroquet in Chicago and then came to California to open his own tiny restaurant. He served spectacular food: an individual crab souffle with a lobster sauce, a tian of lamb as intricate and lovely as a Florentine paperweight, an apple “pizza” on a wooden tray he had crafted himself. He’s still serving most of those dishes, but now that he’s moved into more imposing quarters, he’s stretched out and expanded the menu. The most interesting dishes are the ones that draw on his own Northern European background: he likes to garnish plates with spaetzle and, when it’s in season, he builds whole meals around white asparagus. There’s a bakery in the front of the restaurant, which means that there’s great toast at breakfast and great sandwiches at lunch.

2435 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 399-6504; entrees, $17.50-$24.50.

CHINOIS ON MAIN. When Wolfgang Puck opened Chinois, he knew very little about Chinese cooking: He just knew what he liked. And so he invented a whole new cuisine, one that owed a little to a lot of different cultures. From Thailand he took chiles and curries, from Japan he took tempura and sashimi, from China dumplings, ducks, noodles and spices. He added a little cream and a lot of butter, and ended up with Chinois food. Then his wife, designer Barbara Lazaroff, invented a room to go with the food--Asia meets L.A. with a bang. The result is something that other restaurateurs would like to copy if only they knew how. Chinois can be maddeningly crowded, annoyingly noisy and frighteningly expensive. But the food is always fabulous, and the place never stops feeling like a party. Which is why it is constantly packed with people eating dishes like tuna tempura sashimi with uni sauce, goose liver with mango-and-cinnamon sauce or, for lunch, lo mein noodles tossed with vegetables and a sauce made of soy, honey, black beans and butter. You won’t be hungry in an hour.

2709 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 392-9025; entrees, $21.50-$29.50.

DRAGO. Celestino Drago was one of the first Italian chefs to take California seriously, serving us the sort of wonderfully simple food he might have served in a trattoria in Italy. But when he opened Drago a couple of years ago, he went beyond that, folding dishes from his native Sicily into the usual Northern Italian blend. So, in addition to mushroom mousses and grilled fish and the usual pasta suspects, there are robust offerings such as pasta with bottarga (dried tuna eggs, the “poor man’s caviar” of Southern Italy) and rabbit intensified with black olives. For dessert, but forgo the ubiquitous tiramisu and opt for the extraordinary passion-fruit creme brulee. The room is cheerful and attractive, mildly elegant, and the service has the professional nonchalance that only real Italian waiters can pull off. At the moment, the restaurant is too noisy, but Drago is expanding; there is hope that a new, larger restaurant may be somewhat quieter.

2628 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 828-1585; entrees, $9-$22.

VALENTINO. Los Angeles restaurants are not known for their service. Valentino is the exception, and Piero is the reason. Twenty years ago, Piero Selvaggio opened a little restaurant in a former bar. There was no decor to speak of, and he served mediocre Italian food. Then the transformation began. First he taught himself about wine, building a cellar that has become one of the finest in the country. Then he learned about food; long before olive oil was sold in supermarkets, he was importing the very best extra-virgins from Italy. He brought in white truffles and aged cheese and spent so much time running to the airport to pick them up that soon people stopped looking at the menu and just started asking, “What’s good tonight?” When the food became too grand for the setting, he redecorated the room into its current splendor. The restaurant has rebuilt itself from the ground up, but one thing hasn’t changed: Piero is still Piero, sliding gracefully around the room, urging you to please, please, just try this wonderful new dish the kitchen has invented. Chef Angelo Auriana is cooking extraordinary food, but even if it were just the same old pasta you could get down the street, you’d swear it tasted better here.

3115 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 829-4313; entrees, $19.50-$25.

JOE’S. Is it possible to serve really first-rate food at really reasonable prices? Ask Joe Miller, who has been doing it for a couple of years now in a pretty little storefront in Venice (former home of Rockenwagner). This may be the hardest weekend reservation in town; there are only 16 tables, and Miller’s California-French food is sophisticated, delicious, and served with a very generous hand. On top of that, the service is smooth. Miller seems to manage this miracle by doing most of the work himself--you can see him in the small open kitchen, rattling the pots and pans. Every once in a while he emerges to stroll around the room and make sure that everybody’s happy. Mostly, they are. Standout dishes include a gorgeously presented plate of scallops topped with a frizz of fried carrots, duck breast in a sauce of port and prunes, and roast pork on a bed of mashed potatoes. Desserts here are great: Don’t miss the tarte tatin.

1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, (310) 399-5811; entrees, $13-$16.

THE GRILL. You’ve seen restaurants that look just like The Grill all over America; it’s one of those rooms that seems to have started out to be a bank and then changed its mind halfway through the decorating process. And yet, despite its All-American look, you know the minute you set foot in the door that you’re in L.A.--It’s something about the buzz of the place. There are deals being done in the booths, and if you look carefully, there’s always some famous face. Still, this has none of the miserable qualities of the power places: The waiters have the cheerful gravity of people who respect themselves and want their customers to like the food. It’s almost impossible not to. This is American food at its simple best. The menu is encyclopedic, encompassing great shrimp cocktail and Caesar salad, chicken pot pie, meatloaf, short ribs, grilled fish and steaks. And when was the last time you saw real rice pudding on a menu?

9560 Dayton Way, Beverly Hills, (310) 276-0615; entrees, $14.50-$32.50.

THE IVY. “Good afternoon, what are you drinking?” asks the waiter, dazzling you with the whiteness of his teeth and the insincerity of his smile. All around are people wearing incredible tans and amazingly expensive clothes, discussing the important topics of the day. “Are you spiritual?” can be heard on one side, “Did you sleep with Jason?” on the other. “The Player” wasn’t shot here, but it should have been. The food fits right in--nothing’s complicated, nothing’s original, but it’s all so big and beautiful, it really ought to be in pictures. There’s food for the ladies--pretty salads, delicate pastas with very little sauce--and food for the guys--big chunks of meat cooked on the mesquite grill (they come with French fries). The hamburger is so huge you could have it for lunch and again for dinner. The drinks are potent. The desserts are beautiful. And the gossip is fresh. You probably won’t be treated very well (unless you’re famous), but don’t worry--you aren’t alone. Rudeness is generally considered to be part of the Ivy’s charm.

113 N. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 274-8303; entrees, $21.75-$29.75. .

ARNIE MORTON’S OF CHICAGO. What a show you get here at the home of the talking menu! The first thing you notice in this comfortably nondescript room is that the designer has strived (successfully) to make you feel you might be anywhere in America. The next thing you notice is the knives on the table--huge, black-handled things that say, more than anything, that this is a home for serious meat-eaters. If you have any doubts, your menu is about to arrive--on a cart. There’s a five-pound lobster on a platter, waving his tentacles for all he’s worth. There are various cuts of plastic-wrapped meat. There’s even a chicken under wraps. “This is our Porterhouse,” says your menu guide, holding up a hefty hunk of meat. “This is our strip steak,” she says, holding up another. And so on, through filets, veal chops, lamb chops, even a large brochette. Next there is the display of the asparagus (fat) and the potatoes (huge). And then it’s time to order. What will you have? Steak, of course. There’s not a better one in Southern California, and as you depart, doggie bag in hand, you know that you’ll have at least one more meal for which to give thanks to Arnie Morton.

435 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 246-1501; entrees, $15.95-$28.95.

L’ORANGERIE. A lot of local restaurants want to make you feel at home. The waiters go slouching about, telling you their names and serving you food that is not that different from what you might cook at home. L’Orangerie is different; it is the single Los Angeles restaurant that aspires to the luxury of a three-star French establishment. If you’re going to go out on someone else’s money, L’Orangerie is the restaurant to consider. The elegant room, which makes a deep and unabashed bow to the past, is so beautifully lit that everybody looks great. The food is formally French; there are a few simple conceits like lamb stew, but the things to order here are the difficult dishes--the feuillantine of langoustines, the warm lobster souffle, the scrambled eggs with caviar. Salmon comes cooked in clay, a whole daurade grise comes encrusted in salt. There are lots of fine desserts, among them a thin apple tart that is baked to order. This is definitely not home cooking.

903 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 652-9770; entrees, $24-$45.

MATSUHISA. Matsuhisa is not a sushi bar. It is not a tempura bar either. The secret of Nobuyuki Matsuhisa’s considerable success is that he has combined two of our favorite things--sushi and innovation--and created a unique restaurant. And so customers clamor for seats, paying big money to sit in a room of little charm and eat variations on the Japanese theme. The menu is enormous, and it is easier to put yourself in the master’s hands than to take the time to read the entire tome. Dishes you will want to try include the tenderest grade of sushi tuna served like a steak, the uni tempura, the “pasta” carved out of squid. There’s a large list of sakes, some quite pricey, and a small list of wines. And there’s good news for the bi-coastal crowd: Matsuhisa plans to open a restaurant with Robert De Niro in New York. 129 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 659-9639; entrees, $25-$150.

SPAGO. Spago is 11 years old now--which should mean it’s a venerable institution. But it still has all the energy of a place that was born yesterday. You want to see celebrities? Come here. You want to eat the smallest vegetables, the trendiest animals and the hottest new concoctions on the planet? Come to the home of the designer pizza, the place that is always out in front on the latest food trend. Even the service is good--once you finally get a seat. Los Angeles may be famous for its fickle attention span, but it has been loyal to this restaurant, which repays the city with consistently fabulous food and continues to be the best scene in town. Novices should know two things: Eat early. That way you probably won’t have to suffer the indignity of watching Johnny Carson waltz right in and sit down at that table you’ve been waiting more than an hour for. And eat in the back room. While the tables by the window are considered prime, the newly decorated former patio is far more comfortable.

8795 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 652-4025; entrees, $22-$30.

LA TOQUE. After 13 years, Ken Frank has announced his intention to sell La Toque. Who can blame him? Unlike others, Frank is a chef you can always find: Lunch or dinner, he is in the kitchen, cooking some of California’s finest French food. And while the dining room may be charming and rustic, the kitchen is just plain rustic, a small space in which to spend so much time. Frank, plagued in the early years with bad luck and bad partners, worked his way out of bankruptcy, and the former Wunderkind (at 19 he was Southern California’s best-known chef) is ready for a change. But until the restaurant sells, we can still enjoy Frank’s wonderful rosti potatoes topped with caviar, his superb salads, his extraordinary fish. If we’re really lucky, we’ll still have this summer to eat the vegetables he grows in his own garden (just try to resist a tomato picked within the hour). And of course, until he goes, we’ll still be able to order Frank’s menu fantaisie-- six little courses that change each evening but always include a selection from one of L.A.’s few remaining cheese trays.

8171 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 656-7515; entrees, $15-$25.

‘CA BREA. First there was Locanda Veneta, one of the pioneer places in Southern California to combine the casual feel of a true trattoria with the homey kind of cooking Italians want even when they eat out. Then the owners opened the bigger, cheaper and better-looking ‘Ca Brea. Now ‘Ca Brea is not just bigger and prettier than the original, but it is also serving more satisfying food. Pasta’s not the main thing here--all of them tend to be oversauced--but almost everything else is delicious. There are baby ribs served with terrific beans, a clean version of egg-plant Parmigiana, great grilled fish and huge meaty plates of osso buco. And if pasta’s what you want, consider linguini with clams; you might even ask that the ragu from the gnocchi be sparingly spooned over spaghetti. Be prepared to shout--this is among the louder restaurants in town. And if you have trouble getting in--most people do--take heart: The partners plan to open a third restaurant in the fall.

346 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 938-2863; entrees, $16.95-$24.95.

CAMPANILE. “Where do you eat on your own money?” people frequently ask me. There are many answers to that, depending on my mood, the occasion, even the weather. But more often than not, the answer is Campanile, because it’s the restaurant that makes food that is most to my taste. You’ll find me here in the morning, standing in the (endless) line for the kind of breakfast pastries you wish your mother used to make--sticky buns and ginger scones and rich coffee cake. At lunchtime, there are terrific sandwiches and good pasta. At night, with the tables wearing cloths and the lights turned down, the room becomes a lot less casual, romantic even, despite the trendy open kitchen and the noise. And the food becomes more serious. This is peasant food for rich people; with its roots in California and its heart in Italy, it manages to be both simple and sophisticated at the same time. What you get is the rustic pleasure of potato gnocchi , tricked out with truffles, or warm mozzarella that is poached to order. Lamb grilled with rosemary and most other entrees come with a delicious plate of roasted vegetables. Nancy Silverton’s desserts are more than simply sweets; in her hands, dessert becomes real food.

624 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 938-1447; entrees, $15-$27.

CITRUS. “Is it too French?” is what Michel Richard went around asking his customers when he first opened Citrus. “Are you sure it’s not too French?” It’s as if he wanted to reinvent the French restaurant in America, make it more fun, more casual, easier to like. And he succeeded. From its sunny name to its open kitchen and umbrella-filled patio, Citrus has always owed more to Southern California than to France, more to the open American spirit than the formal French one. Richard has done all this without betraying his classical French roots; the dining room is easygoing, but the kitchen is serious. Of all the restaurants in Southern California, this one with its endlessly inventive spirit is the one in which the new generation of French chefs feels most comfortable. Richard reaches into the cuisines of many cultures for his ideas, and he has figured out how to substitute forceful flavors for fat and butter. He wraps shrimp in kataif (Middle Eastern pastry dough), creating crunch without calories, makes a shiitake crust for chicken and treats the French fish rouget more lovingly than any other chef. On top of that, this is the most beautiful food you’ll ever eat.

6703 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 857-0034; entrees, $20-$30.

MUSSO & FRANK GRILL. “Is Musso’s still good?” is a question people have been asking for 70 years. The answer has always been the same: Yes. Musso’s is everybody’s favorite Hollywood institution, a reminder that Hollywood used to be a legitimate tourist destination. A booth at Musso’s is still the coziest place to drink a martini, and a seat at Musso’s counter continues to be the best place in Southern California to be a single diner. The food, like much of the clientele and most of the waiters, makes very few concessions to the present. Where else are you going to get chicken a la king, Welsh rarebit and baked apples? The guys who cook here tend a mean grill, and the creamed spinach reminds you of what you always liked about the past. All this--and stars, too.

6667 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (213) 467-5123; entrees, $7-$33.50.

KATSU. Hillhurst Avenue is not exactly restaurant row. It is certainly not the sort of street on which you expect to walk into a little storefront sushi place and find signed works by Jonathan Borofsky hanging on the wall. You don’t expect an entrance that looks like an art gallery either, or fish that is served on handmade plates. But from the beginning, Katsu has been different. It has always made non-Japanese customers feel comfortable (there’s even a check-off list, printed in English, for those who prefer the ease of the written order). It has always arrayed the fish on the gorgeously minimal plates of Mineo Mizuno. And--most important--it has always served fish of such impeccable quality that, despite the remoteness of the location, there are always Japanese tourists and local chefs sitting at the counter. There would probably be more of them if the place weren’t so hard to find: There’s no name on the door. How do you know you’ve found it? If you look down, you’ll see the small, traditional Buddhist pyramids of salt sitting protectively on each side of the doorway. Go on in.

1972 N. Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 665-1891; entrees, $10-$25.

PATINA. When Joachim Splichal came to Los Angeles 12 years ago as chef at the Regency Club, he raised French cooking in Southern California to new heights. We had tasted the solid classicism of Jean Bertranou at L’Ermitage; now we had the excitement of Splichal, a man who was constantly rethinking old dishes. Then Splichal opened Max au Triangle and realized that he had to change more than the food: Although his cooking was inspired, the place was too formal and too expensive, and it quickly died. Splichal’s phoenix was Patina, a less imposing showcase for his cooking. The service is serious, and the food is inventive, playful, completely delicious. On top of that, this is probably L.A.’s most smoothly run restaurant. Splichal’s cooking is muscular French, but there is nothing so delicious as his California-inspired potato “lasagna” with mushrooms, his gratin of lamb or his black-pepper-roasted tuna. If you think you’ve lost your taste for French food, Splichal’s cooking will restore your faith.

5955 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 467-1108; entrees, $21.95-$55.

GINZA SUSHIKO. Ginza Sushiko is famous for being the most expensive restaurant in Southern California. It is even more famous for being in the middle of nowhere and having an unmarked doorway. “Reservations Only” is what the sign says. “Is there anything you don’t like?” is what the chef says before he simply starts cutting fish and serving food. Why do the rich and famous come to a restaurant in a shopping mall where they aren’t even allowed to order? Because this is sushi of a quality found nowhere else in America, sushi so extraordinarily subtle and delicious you’ll feel you’ve never tasted the real thing before. To obtain his fish, owner Masa Takayama makes monthly trips to Japan, where his father owns a fish business. He comes back with seasonal herbs not available here, fresh wasabi roots, special Japanese limes. But it is not only the food that makes this restaurant special. This is the most welcoming restaurant you’ve ever walked into, a place where the chef will remember you even if it’s been years since your last visit, a place so anxious to please that Takayama has been known to whip up a little pasta for a customer who didn’t like fish.

3959 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 487-2251; dinner, about $120-$150 per person.

REX IL RISTORANTE. In a city that has chosen casual fun over serious opulence, Rex il Ristorante is one of the last bastions of pure luxury. From the moment you pull open the Lalique doors and walk into this grand, dark, cool space, everything that you touch, see and eat will be first class. There’s not one false note. The seats are soft, the crystal thin, the silverware heavy in your hands. Each table swims in a sea of space; you couldn’t eavesdrop on your neighbors if you wanted to. But while the room is vintage Deco, the food is the very latest thing from Italy. This is not the robust Italian of the little pasta places but the high-blown elegance of cosmopolitan cooking, with salads made of squab, greens and raisins, and rich, tiny portions of handmade pasta. Main courses are elegant and earthy--wonderful breaded lamb chops or the surprising conjunction of white squid, black ink and carrots. The wine list, of course, is equally opulent.

617 S. Olive St., Los Angeles, (213) 627-2300; entrees, $18-$28.

LA SERENATA DE GARIBALDI. La Serenata is a family enterprise looked on with deep suspicion by much of the family: The more politically correct branch is not pleased that the food here is so good that it attracts a yuppie crowd. They really needn’t worry; mixed in with the judges and politicians and artists who make their way to East L.A. is a loyal bunch of locals: grandmothers having birthdays and little girls in fluffy white dresses celebrating their First Communion. Some celebrants even bring their own mariachis, the players squeezing into the narrow spaces between the tables in this bare-bones restaurant. The room is a far cry from those dressed-up Mexican joints with loud music and big margaritas, but it serves the best Mexican seafood in Los Angeles--good, fresh fish topped with breathtaking sauces constructed with various kinds of chiles. Just about every dish here is special, but it would be a shame to miss the spectacular seafood enchiladas or the rich, complex, smoky chipotle sauce served on the fish, meat or fowl of your choice.

1842 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, (213) 265-2887; entrees, $8-$15 .

CHEZ MELANGE. Out-of-towners who have heard locals rave about their favorite place are surprised to find themselves pulling into a hotel parking lot (no valet parking here). They’re even more surprised to discover that the Spago of the South Bay has little in the way of decor to recommend it. And yet the tables are always at a premium, because the service is extraordinarily smooth and friendly, the wine list is impressive, and the eclectic menu is both polished and inventive. The name says it all: No food movement that’s blown through Southern California has been ignored on this mixed-up menu, which offers everything from pizza to Petrossian caviar. On any given night, you’re likely to find Cajun meatloaf, sweet-and-sour lobster, Caribbean pork, and a little lamb tapenade thrown in for good measure. And then, of course--this is a beach town after all--there are the healthy dishes, which promise to feed you well on very few calories and even less fat. Chez Melange is such an accommodating place it even turns out to be a decent place to diet.

1716 Pacific Coast Highway, Redondo Beach , (310) 540-1222 ; entrees, $ 12 .95-$22.95.

RAJDOOT INDIAN CUISINE. There may be more to Indian cuisine than curry, tandoor and dal , but if you’ve been eating at most Southern California Indian restaurants, you’d never know it. When the elegant Rajdoot first opened, the restaurant did serve some unusual dishes, but now it contents itself with doing a better job than anybody else with curry, tandoor, etc. This is a fancy restaurant (there’s live music on the weekends), and it does fancy work with the food, which simply tastes better here than in ordinary Indian restaurants: the papadums are crisper, the soups more refined, the tandoori meats tastier and more tender. Still, it’s the vegetarian dishes that really shine. Navratan korma-- cauliflower in a sauce of cream and cashews--is superb, and the dal is a real stand-up dish of beans. Among the huge array of desserts, there is not one that isn’t wonderful. If you have a hard time deciding, consider lunch, when there is a remarkable buffet for $6.95.

11833 E. Artesia Blvd., Artesia, (310) 860-6500; entrees, $7-$12.

Into the Orange

GUSTAF ANDERS. There’s been so little originality in restaurants lately that you sometimes think half of them get their food from the same kitchen. That’s one reason why Gustaf Anders stands out: Nobody in Southern California is paying this sort of meticulous attention to the foods of Scandinavia. Even so, when the restaurant first moved from its cozy La Jolla location four years ago, its many fans were disappointed. The restaurant, now housed in a cavernous shopping mall, seemed stark and unwelcoming to those who liked the intimacy of the earlier location. But the food is as good as ever, and as the restaurant settled into the space, it mellowed. The live jazz, played on most evenings and on Sunday afternoons, has helped soften the restaurant’s image, but it’s the food that continues to be the main draw. There are lots of wonderful meat dishes on the menu, but you can have those elsewhere; nowhere else, though, can you get cured fish of this quality. I am particularly addicted to the trio of pickled herring, which comes with new potatoes and Vasterbotten cheese, but the grilled sturgeon is superb and the gravad lax spectacular. They all make wonderful sandwiches when layered on the restaurant’s house-baked bread.

South Coast Plaza Village, 1651 Sunflower Ave., B-21, Santa Ana, (714) 668-1737; entrees, $16-$27.

BISTRO 201. Bistro 201 is the flagship of chef David Wilhelm’s empire, and it tells you all you need to know about the most interesting food movement in Orange County. The room is filled with clean, contemporary lines, and the menu is filled with clean, contemporary food; if you’ve been eating around, you’ll recognize a number of the dishes. But the food is beautifully served and beautifully executed, and a meal here can be a very satisfying experience. The service is sweet and swift, and the servers know their stuff; ask for suggestions, and the waitress will go down the menu appraising every dish. My favorite is the salmon--a fresh, fat slab wrapped in a thin, crisp crust of potato and served on a veritable garden of vegetables. There are also big salads, respectable pastas (without too many ingredients) and a burger topped with Roquefort cheese. Desserts are equally eclectic, running from a chocolate souffle to a red berry “soup” with mascarpone sorbet.

18201 Von Karman Ave., Irvine, (714) 553-9201; entrees, $7.95-$18.95.

PASCAL. The thing that often strikes you about good restaurants in the French countryside is that while they may not be much to look at, they manage to make you feel, almost from the moment you walk in the door, that you have come to the right place. Pascal has that quality: You can’t believe that you are so happy to find yourself in this bright, casual restaurant in a nondescript strip mall. That is a tribute to Mimi Olhats, who fusses over her customers, anxious for their comfort, eager to make sure they order what her husband cooks best. She shakes her head, almost imperceptibly, as a diner orders duck breast with grapes and Cognac, and says, “the Dover sole tonight is really special.” And so, despite the simplicity of the setting, you are not surprised to discover that the food set before you is both beautiful and delicious. The tiny Provencal ravioles in a stock flavored with confit of duck and foie gras should not be missed. The cheese tray is arguably the best in Southern California, and the desserts are delicious. More than that though, this is a restaurant that understands that you haven’t come to eat, you’ve come to be taken care of. And you will be.

1000 N. Bristol St., Newport Beach, (714) 752-0107; entrees, $17.50-$21.95.

SORRENTO GRILLE. In a part of the world remarkable for the stuffiness of its best restaurants, Sorrento Grille is refreshing. The room is beautifully spare, with bare terra-cotta walls, tiles on the floor, a bustling open kitchen. The high ceilings give the room a certain majesty, but it’s a welcoming place. The food is welcoming, too--straightforward, pared down, reduced to its simplest elements. Rosanne Ruiz cooks fresh California cuisine with a Mediterranean influence. Instead of butter, there are olive oil and balsamic vinegar to pour over the homemade foccacia, and appetizers include a deceptively simple antipasto. Pastas are dressed down rather than up; for a special one night, Ruiz simply steamed fresh Vancouver pink scallops in a broth of wine, garlic, parsley and chiles and tossed them with pasta. The best of the entrees are the plain, grilled fish and meats--including a superb pork chop. If this restaurant were on the Westside, it would be considered a great neighborhood place, but it’s such an anomaly here that it draws people from all over Orange County.

370 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach, (714) 494-8686; entrees, $12.95-$23.

The parallel universe: Area Code 818

SADDLE PEAK LODGE. There are few restaurants harder to get into on the weekends than the Saddle Peak Lodge. And it’s easy to see why: The lodge offers the possibility of getting away from it all without really having to leave home. The drive itself, through the back roads of the Santa Monica Mountains, is lovely, and when you turn off your car lights, the night is really black. Then you reach your destination and find yourself in some Ralph Lauren fantasy of a hunter’s lodge, replete with animal heads and horns on every possible piece of furniture. It’s romantic, in a Hemingwayesque way. The food, as you might expect, is also a throwback: This is ‘50s fare, right down to the pheasant under glass. To my taste, the best things here are the least pretentious--pork chops, salmon, a good big bowl of chili (with all the fixings). At dessert, there is, occasionally, a fine apple pie. This restaurant is a reminder of a time when men ate meat and women didn’t count calories, and since you’ve come all the way out here to rough it in Calabasas, you might as well indulge.

419 Cold Canyon Road, Calabasas, (818) 222-3888; entrees, $17.50-$27.50.

POSTO. When Piero Selvaggio opened a restaurant in the Valley, he decided not to clone one of his other restaurants, Valentino and Primi, but to create something different. What he came up with was a trattoria tailored to its location: pasta with plenty of sauce, grilled meats and lots of potatoes, fish served with copious amounts of vegetables, desserts you can sink your teeth into. The emphasis here is on size (you get a lot of food) and on value (for Selvaggio, this is a reasonable restaurant). But the quality does not suffer: Sausages are handmade, the pasta is perfect, and nobody makes a better beef stew. The roasted tuna, it should be noted, is served with the world’s best (and biggest) capers. Nobody in Southern California knows more about Italian wine than Selvaggio, and he’s assembled a wonderful list. There is one big problem with the restaurant: It is crowded and very, very noisy.

14928 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 784-4400; entrees, $16.50-$18.50.

TALESAI. Southern California has three kinds of Thai restaurants. There are storefront restaurants catering to a Thai clientele, where the food is generally very hot and very wonderful and the hours are generally very late (many stay open until 4 in the morning). There are the restaurants catering to an American clientele, where the food is not very hot but the waitresses are very beautiful. And then there is Talesai. In Thailand, most chefs of note are women, and Talesai honors this tradition. Vilai Yenbumroong uses classic recipes as a starting point and then veers off in her own direction. Her best dishes are the ones she has stripped down, steaming huge shrimp with chiles and serving them naked with nothing but a squirt of lime. Her upscale curries are terrific, and there are a couple of wonderful desserts, notably banana fritters with homemade coconut ice cream. There’s even a fine wine list. The original Sunset Strip Talesai is a pretty place, but the new Studio City restaurant is a knockout--an elegant, art-filled modern room.

11744 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 753-1001; also 9043 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 275-9724; entrees, $7.95-$15.95.

PINOT. More low-priced Patina than earthy bistro, Pinot is a restaurant still finding itself. Despite its decor, which is about as French as it is possible to be on this side of the Atlantic, Joachim Splichal’s new restaurant isn’t quite the bistro it wants to be. It’stoo hip, too chic, too downright Californian. When Pinot opened on the site that once held La Serre, it instantly became the hottest spot in the Valley, and everybody in The Industry rushed to judge escargots, cote de boeuf and ravioli of Nice. They liked them, but this being California, they came back for lighter fare--salads, grilled fish, roasted chicken. Too bad for them if they miss the cochon de lait, the suckling pig served as a special on Thursday. Unlike the entrees, the desserts have no bistro pretensions--they are rich and sophisticated, and there’s not a piece of fruit or cheese in sight. The wine list is inventive, and the service, once you finally get a table, is swell.

12969 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 990-0500; entrees, $15.50-$18.50.

OCEAN STAR. Imagine a restaurant so enormous that the hostesses have to communicate with each other via walkie-talkie. Imagine a room so cold that the customers all wear coats. Imagine seafood so fresh that the walls are lined with fish tanks, and the waiters scoop the creatures out as they are ordered, bringing them dripping to the table for the customer’s inspection. You have just visualized any number of restaurants in Hong Kong--or Ocean Star in Monterey Park, which is as close to a great Hong Kong seafood palace as anyplace in Southern California. The service, as befits a seafood palace, is extremely efficient. The menu is irrelevant: The waiter will materialize as you are still getting settled and begin a discussion of your meal. No matter what else you order--and there is a lot to choose from, including rather wonderful fried chicken--be sure to have some of the live shrimp, simply steamed, with a bowl of soy sauce and chiles. These sweet, tender shrimp will change forever your notion of the way shrimp should taste. Have some steamed vegetables too, and if you’re feeling flush, a crab. This may not be a trip to Hong Kong, but it’s as close as you can come without crossing the ocean.

145 N. Atlantic Blvd., Monterey Park, (818) 308-2128; entrees, $15-$20.

XIOMARA. L.A.’s loss was Pasadena’s gain: When Patrick Healy left Champagne to his former wife, he went to Xiomara as consulting chef, transforming what had been an uneven restaurant into a really good one. While Xiomara Ardolina runs the front of the house with charm and style, Healy is cooking the finest food of his career. Healy’s passion for rustic French cooking means that the best bistro dishes in town can be found here (don’t miss the daube of lamb), and his love of haute cuisine is evident in his classic pates. He also has the knack for removing fat without removing flavor, and his low-calorie cooking is superb. Best of all, though, is when all of this comes together in a single dish, as in the elegant shellfish penne in bouillabaisse broth with potato rouille. There’s a three-course bistro menu ($25) and good French country wines to drink with it.

69 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, (818) 796-2520; entrees, $15-$19.

YUJEAN KANG. You notice two things right away about Yujean Kang: The menu, with its veal and caviar, looks like no Chinese menu you’ve ever seen before. And the wine list, with its serious hard-to-find bottles, doesn’t either. What other Chinese restaurant serves wine-tasting dinners featuring bottles from the personal cellars of California’s best vintners?Kang, whose food is Chinese traditional filtered through the California marketplace, uses no cream or butter in his cooking. Where his cuisine diverges from that served in other California-Chinese restaurants is in his use of innovative substitutes for traditional ingredients. He hates canned bamboo shoots, so he uses artichoke hearts instead. Kang’s best dishes--such as the lobster with chiles, mushrooms, fava beans and caviar--have the elegance of the food in Hong Kong’s finest restaurants and the punch of California’s best cooking. The dining room is just a storefront, but with its crimson walls and rosewood chopsticks, it has its own low-key elegance.

67 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, (818) 585-0855; entrees, $10.95-$30.

SEAFOOD STRIP. There is a mall in San Gabriel that is, all by itself, an introduction to the multitude of Chinese cuisines. At Sunny Dragon, you can eat rich Shanghainese dishes, at the Nice Time Deli you can sample Chiu Chow noodles, and Sam Woo cooks Cantonese barbecue of extraordinary crispness. At Vegetarian Delight, you’ll find the exotic fakery of the Buddhist kitchen, which makes “meat” out of vegetable matter, and at Tung Lai Shan you can taste the cuisine of Islamic China (lots of lamb and a multilayered bread). At Chu’s Mandarin, noodles are pulled by hand and covered with a sauce of amazing intensity. There is even more of Asia here: Sushi at Natori and terrific Vietnamese noodles at Pho Hoa. But if I have to choose a single restaurant at San Gabriel Square, I’ll take the Taiwanese seafood restaurant, Seafood Strip. Live shrimp are plunked into a pot of rice wine at your table and quickly cooked; when you pull them out of their bath, they have a sweet, pungent flavor quite different from that of simply boiled shrimp. Eels are broiled and served with a kind of sticky brown rice that is the perfect foil for the sweet richness of the meat, and whole fish are painted with soybean paste before they’re broiled. There are other things to like about Seafood Strip, too: The waiters wear tuxedos, the room is attractive, and even non-Chinese diners are received with warmth.

140 W. Valley Blvd., 212, San Gabriel, (818) 288-9899; entrees, $8-$28.