The Fabulous 50 and more

Dungeness Crab and Lobster Bisque

Jean Franois Meteigner’s rust-colored seafood bisque can hold its own against the Riviera’s soupe des poissons any day. Thick and delicious, it tastes as if dozens of lobsters and Dungeness crabs went into just one bowl. The soup comes with garlic toast to smear with a classic rouille (basically, an aioli blushed with red chile and cayenne). Float it like a raft in the soup to soak up all the flavors. La Cachette, 10506 Little Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 470-4992. $8.50.

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Caribbean Cassoulet

At Oye, the classy little Cuban restaurant in the back room of Xiomara, the French bistro in Pasadena, Patrick Healy gives southwest France’s beloved casserole of white beans, duck and sausages a beguiling island twist. Substituting black beans for the flageolets, he simmers them with a spicy-sweet chorizo, smoked pork loin, rabbit and chunks of ripe plantain. Rich and redolent of smoky meats and gentle spices, his Caribbean cassoulet is one up on the origial. Savor it to the sultry voices of the hot new Cuban singer Albita or the great Celia Cruz. Finish off the evening with a glass of premium Caribbean sipping rum. Oye (in Xiomara), 69 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena; (818) 796-3286. $16.

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Chicken in Half-Mourning

This year, Ken Frank added a spectacular new item to his menu: chicken breast stuffed under the skin with a lavish amount of black truffles. It is wrapped in lacey caul fat, which melts away in the cooking and leaves behind its rich flavor, and then finished with chicken stock, a little creme fra’che and more truffles. Inspired by a ‘50s dish in Lyon called poulet en demi-deuil because the chicken was stuffed with so many truffles that it appeared to be wearing black, this dish is moist and intoxicatingly perfumed. Alas, it’s offered only during truffle season (generally mid-December through Valentine’s Day). fe-nix at the Argyle, 8358 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; (213) 848-6677. $25.

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Barbecued Baby Pork Ribs

Los Angeles has a lot of great barbecue, and while I love the down-home ‘cue at Phillips and Mom’s, I crave Chinois’ succulent baby back ribs. Coated in a sticky honey-chile sauce that’s as dark as crude oil and splashed on the plate like a Rorschach inkblot, they’re sweet and hot at the same time, with a finish that lingers in the mouth. The ribs, six to an order, have been on the menu since Day One and are now enshrined on the menu under Chinois Classics, along with tempura ahi tuna sashimi with fresh uni sauce and whole sizzling catfish with ginger and ponzu sauce. There’s just one problem. Since everything here is meant to be served family-style, if you’re polite, you’ll have to share them. Chinois on Main, 2709 Main St., Santa Monica; (310) 392-9025. $14.75.

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Risotto

Very few Italian restaurants in this country make risotto as well as Valentino. Executive chef Angelo Auriana cooks each grain of vialone nano rice from the Veneto until it’s al dente, then bathes it in rich stock, butter and aged Parmigiano. During white truffle season in late fall, he covers this plain classic with a blizzard of fragrant white truffle shavings. He also makes an elegant sweetbread risotto with saffron threads and a bit of vino rosso, usually Barbaresco. Sometimes there’s a lovely risotto stained violet with barbabietole (beets) and topped with livers and other innards from whatever game birds he has on hand that night. Valentino, 3115 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 829-4313. $17 to $21; $25 per portion white truffle supplement.

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Ty Cobb Salad

Fred Eric’s Ty Cobb salad looks more like an encyclopedia illustration of geological strata than salad as we know it: brightly colored, intricately layered noodles, crispy duck confit, wilted spinach, grated hard-boiled egg and diced fresh tomatoes. Whew! As quirky as the rest of the food at Eric’s Los Feliz restaurant, this salad has a Thai twist: the peanuts scattered on top and the blast of heat in the dressing. A terrific combination of flavors. Vida, 1930 Hillhurst Ave., Los Feliz; (213) 660-4446. $9.

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Little Dishes of Hunan

As soon as you sit down at Charming Garden, a waiter tempts you with a tray of little dishes, the Hunan equivalent of antipasti. Choose from silvery and salty inch-long dried fish tossed with slivered red and green chiles, crisp, grass-green snap peas, crunchy pickled cucumbers and pale bamboo shoots coated in reddish chile paste. Shredded beef tendon, translucent and chewy, is wonderful. So is the bean curd sheet, cut as fine as angel hair pasta and bathed in an aromatic brown sauce of pepper, star anise and musty herbs. Wash it all down with cold Chinese beer. Charming Garden, 111 N. Atlantic Blvd., Suite 351, Monterey Park; (818) 458-4508. $1.80 each.

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Cavatelli all’Amatriciana

Piedmontese chef Roberto Perotti takes cavatelli, an elongated oval pasta with curled edges, and sauces it all’amatriciana--in the style of Amatrice, a small town outside Rome. Made with plum tomatoes, guanciale (cured pork jowl), a touch of peperoncino (dried hot red pepper) and a grating of pungent pecorino Romano, it’s a lusty, completely satisfying dish, the kind of pasta I long to eat the minute I step off the plane in Rome. I like the gricia, too, which is all of the above, without the tomatoes, dominated by the sweet taste of the cured pork and the pecorino. Alto Palato, 755 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 657-9271. $11.50.

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Japanese Eggplant With Miso

Who would have thought that a dish with such an innocent-sounding name could taste so astonishingly good? Jozu’s sweet-salty miso seems to intensify the delicate flavor of the violet-skinned cushions of eggplant. Pair this dish with a char siu-style pork chop that’s brushed with a sweet, shoyu-based glaze, sliced over wrinkly nappa cabbage and served with a bowl of steamed white rice. Jozu, 8360 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 655-5600. $6.50.

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Crunchy Napoleon

Before Citrus, Citronelle and all the other restaurants in Michel Richard’s far-flung empire, there was Michel Richard, the ptissier. As talented (and erratic) a chef as he is, Richard is an even more brilliant pastry chef. Crunchy napoleon is one of his classics. And no matter how many times I’ve tasted someone else’s take on it, his confection remains peerless: delicately crisp sheets of praline layered with sumptuous creme brulee generously freckled with vanilla bean. To cap it off, he swirls a glorious butterscotch sauce beside it on the plate. Richard proves that desserts don’t have to be achingly sweet to make an impression. And I want to drag every young pastry chef in town to taste it. Citrus, 6703 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 857-0034. $7.

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Poached Eggs with Prosciutto on Toast

Breakfast at Campanile can lure me out of bed early--as soon as it opens at 8 a.m., in fact. The temptations are many: Viennese danish filled with barely sweetened cream cheese, crumbly oatmeal scones, tender sourdough doughnuts laced with cherries or pale blue and green Araucana eggs, soft-boiled and set on whimsical egg cups. But my favorite is rustic toasted whole-wheat bread blanketed with prosciutto di Parma and topped with two poached eggs and a drizzle of scallion oil. The green against the molten gold yolks is beautiful to behold. Campanile, 624 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 938-1447. $10 and served on weekends only.

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Pasta e Fagioli

Every region of Italy has its version of pasta e fagioli--the earthy pasta and bean soup. In the Veneto, it’s made with special maroon-and-white-marbled borlotti beans, vegetables and fresh pasta. In Calabria and Sardinia, it consists of dried fava beans and maccheroni, while cooks in Rome and Naples make it with chickpeas. In Forte dei Marmi, Giorgio Baldi’s hometown on the Tuscan coast, it’s a rich brown puree laced with borlotti beans and homemade tagliatelle. Here, seasoned at the table with a swirl of extra-virgin olive oil and coarsely ground black pepper, it is elemental and soulful, a soup I could eat every day. Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi, 114 W. Channel Road, Santa Monica; (310) 573-1660. $7.

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Mouclade

Whenever I think about Restaurant Devon, a charming little storefront restaurant in Monrovia, I see myself slurping plump mussels from their shells and mopping up the garlic- and shallot-scented broth with my bread. The mere thought of this mouclade makes me wish I could go back for a bowl right now. The dish alternates on Devon’s menu with steamed Manila clams or curried oysters with Champagne sauce. Both are excellent, but it’s the mussels I really long for. (Note: When the chef can’t get the small Prince Edward Island mussels, he’ll use New Zealand green-lipped ones, but they’re not nearly as good.) Restaurant Devon, 109 E. Lemon Ave., Monrovia; (818) 305-0013. $10.

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Grilled Marinated Trout

If you ask for fish in Los Angeles restaurants, you hear the same choices over and over: Chilean sea bass, ahi tuna and the much overrated fish of the moment, escolar. Whatever happened to trout? So it’s a nice surprise to find this elegant trout dish on Indochine’s French-Vietnamese menu. Presented on an oval platter lined with a brilliant green leaf, the grilled marinated trout is slightly charred, its flesh moist beneath the crispy skin and fragrant with Asian basil. Indochine, 8225 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; (213) 655-4777. $14.75.

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Braised Veal Cheeks

First, you have to find the veal cheeks. Then you have to have the patience to trim them and braise them slowly in a reduction of stock, wine and aromatic vegetables until the meat is soft as butter. In the end, it’s a wonderfully flavorful cut of meat, as homey and comforting as your grandmother’s pot roast. Aubergine’s Tim Goodell serves it with the clarified cooking juices and a smooth and very rich puree of potatoes. And if he’s done some shopping at Chino Ranch that day, he might dress the plate with pretty little caramelized turnips. Aubergine, 508 29th St., Newport Beach; (714) 723-4150. $19.

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Chinese Ravioli in Shiitake Mushroom Sauce

Shiro is one of Southern California’s most consistent restaurants because Shiro (short for chef-owner Hideo Yamashiro) himself cooks every night. Most customers would cite the sizzling catfish as their favorite dish, judging from the number of orders that sail out of the kitchen night after night. It’s good, all right, but he’s capable of much more: Each time I bite into one of his Chinese ravioli, I’m surprised all over again by these unassuming little twists of dough. Stuffed with a sumptuous shrimp and salmon mousse, they’re served in a silky white wine and shiitake mushroom cream sauce. Shiro, 1505 Mission St., South Pasadena; (818) 799-4774. $6.50.

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Warm Valrhona Chocolate Cake

Only one dessert is a constant on Angela Hunter’s menu: her warm Valrhona chocolate cake with pink peppermint-infused syrup and Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream. It took me a while to try it, I’ll admit--the idea of pink peppermint put me off. But it works brilliantly. The cake, the size of an ordinary cupcake, isn’t very dark and not very promising-looking at all. Yet it’s the most chocolate-y cake I can remember, liquid at the center like an elixir of exquisite dark chocolate. The puddle of pink syrup is just as much a surprise, penetrating but not too sweet. Boxer, 7615 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; (213) 932-6178. $6.

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Provenal Daube of Lamb

Provenal daube is not just any old stew. To make this sophisticated country dish, Patrick Healy layers three cuts of lamb (the shoulder, the shank and riblets) in a casserole with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, shallots, bay leaf and thyme. Then he pours red wine over everything and lets it sit for three days before cooking it ever so slowly. To finish it, he adds a garniture of button mushrooms, pearl onions and carrots and presses a salt bread dough along the lid to seal the casserole. When your waiter breaks that crust at the table, an enticing aroma envelops the room. Served over egg noodles, this dish is so good you’ll never think of poor stew the same way again. Xiomara, 69 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena; (818) 796-2520. $19.

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Sugar-and-Salt-Cured Salmon

For me, the definitive dish at Gustaf Anders is Ulf Strandberg’s traditional sugar-and-salt-cured salmon. Subtly sweet and salty, the marbled North Atlantic salmon is cut in fine slices and served with a lidded porcelain dish of creamed dill potatoes. The combination of cold salmon and steaming new potatoes is phenomenal. Eat it with some of Strandberg’s handcrafted flat bread, pumpernickel and Swedish limpa scented with orange peel. (And don’t leave without tasting the tall Swedish princess cake layered with whipped cream and strawberry jam, the whole thing veiled in a sheet of pale green marzipan.) Gustaf Anders, South Coast Plaza Village, Santa Ana; (714) 668-1737. $17.*

*

Kulfi

Ever since I watched Indian actress and cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey sit by the stove, patiently stirring milk until it had reduced to less than half its original volume and was infused with the taste of crushed cardamom seeds, I’ve been hooked on the peculiarly delicious ice cream called kulfi. Flavored with pistachios and cardamom, the kulfi at All India Cafe is every bit as good as Jaffrey’s was--and equally addictive. Owner-chef Santokh Singh also makes a potent fresh ginger ice cream from grated ginger root steeped in milk and a little cream. All India Cafe, 39 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena; (818) 440-0309. $2.50.

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Smoked Albacore

The fish dishes at Nouveau Cafe Blanc are always interesting and among the best choices on Tommy Harase’s two prix fixe menus. I especially like his albacore lightly smoked over cherrywood. Last season, he served it as carpaccio, very rare, cut like sashimi and garnished with generous flakes of good Parmesan and a cloud of grated daikon laced with shiso and Japanese cucumber. These days, Harase serves it in thick, plush slices with tiny greens from his home garden and a silky curry-saffron sauce. Nouveau Cafe Blanc, 9777 Little Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 888-0108. $9; or choose it as one of the five courses in $43 prix fixe menu.

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*Pork Pump

Shanghai cuisine is known for its hearty braised pork dishes, and the pork pump at Lake Spring comes as close to the classic braised leg of pork as I’ve had this side of the Pacific. Cloaked in a mahogany-brown sauce, the glistening mass of pork looks daunting until the waiter breaks it apart with two spoons, tossing the chunks in the dark sauce like a big salad. It’s stupendously good: The meat is supremely tender; the sauce, as complex as a long-simmered boeuf a la bourguignonne. Lake Spring Cuisine, 219 E. Garvey Ave., Monterey Park; (818) 280-3571. $16.95.

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Handmade Garganelli

Posto chef Luciano Pellegrini has a wonderful touch with pasta. His spaghetti al aglio e olio, dressed simply in garlic and olive oil and garnished with shaved bottarga, is terrific. So are his stuffed pastas. But I can’t resist his handmade garganelli, a tube-shaped pasta formed by wrapping squares of fresh dough around a stick and rolling them across a serrated wooden comb. It’s a shape that holds sauce well and offers an appealing variation in texture. Sometimes Pellegrini sauces garganelli with a quail and fava bean rag smoothed with cream. Or with lobster meat and a little butter, garlic and dill. In late fall, he shaves white truffles from Alba over the pasta. And right now, he’s making a bright green spinach version in a light saffron and smoked duck sauce. Mangia! Posto, 14928 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; (818) 784-4400. $12 to $15; $25 to $28 with truffles.

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Rack of Lamb

Rack of lamb is a fixture on Claud Beltran’s immensely appealing menu at Dickenson West. And small wonder. Aged an extra week, the four double chops are sublimely flavorful, set off by a beautifully balanced veal reduction that shows off Beltran’s skills as a saucier. Sometimes the chops are embellished with buttery leeks wrapped in phyllo or a rough-textured chickpea puree. This season, he’s serving them with rosemary-scented hash browns and sauteed fennel with Nioise olives and tomatoes. Dickenson West, 181 E. Glenarm St., Pasadena; (818) 799-5252. $25 a la carte; or choose it as part of four-course $39 prix fixe menu.

*

Les Cinq Sorbets

Michael’s is lucky to be just a block from Santa Monica’s exuberant farmer’s market on Wednesdays. That’s where and when pastry chef Dorta Lambert susses out the fruit for her sorbets. The melons, berries and citrus she finds there have such intense flavor they don’t need much sweetening. Depending on the season, her five sorbets, which are served in pretty oval scoops, taste of fresh blood orange, blueberry, raspberry, lime, papaya, coconut or white peach. The painterly collection of pastel sorbets strewn with tiny wild strawberries and other berries comes with a plate of her fragile, cardamom-laced butter cookies, nut-laden wedding cookies, dainty tea cookies dabbed with jam and dark, seductively fudgy brownies. Michael’s, 1147 3rd St., Santa Monica; (310) 451-0843. $10.

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Marinated Barbecued Short Ribs

At Soot Bull Jeep, the popular Korean barbecue place on 8th Street, meats are grilled over hardwood charcoal, which gives them an ineffably smoky edge. A waitress will lay out marinated beef and pork over the grill set in the middle of the table and come back to turn the pieces from time to time, but basically you cook your own food. The best choice is the kalbi, or short ribs (on or off the bone). When the meat is charred and cooked through, wrap it up in red-leaf lettuce with a smear of fermented bean paste or some pickled daikon and kimchee. Slowly savored, the Korean barbecue here makes for a relaxed, convivial evening. Soot Bull Jeep, 3136 W. 8th St., Los Angeles; (213) 387-3865. $13.

*

Tea-Smoked Peking Duck

ObaChine’s ambrosial duck, with its lacquered brown skin and moist, rich flesh, is gently smoked over jasmine tea, black peppercorns and coriander seeds to produce a dish that never fails to satisfy. The sauce is thick and slightly sweet, one that chef Naoki Uchiyama varies with the seasons; currently it’s flavored with plum wine and kumquats. And, instead of the winter side of taro-root pancakes, he’s now serving fresh scallion pancakes for spring. ObaChine, 242 N. Beverly

Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 274-4440. $18.95.

*

Maine Lobster With Morel Mushrooms

After each meal at the Buffalo Club, I’m convinced that Patrick Healy’s American cooking just might be better than his French food, and so I had a particularly hard time choosing a dish from his menu here. But I finally decided on what has to be the best lobster dish in town: live Maine lobster, gently cooked in a classic bouillon, the delicate chunks of lobster set down on Healy’s divine sweet corn mashed potatoes in a glorious lobster butter sauce finished with light cream and fresh chives. It’s accompanied by crinkly morel mushrooms from Oregon and pencil-thin asparagus. Buffalo Club, 1520 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 450-8600. $28.

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Foie Gras With Apples

In the pantheon of foods, there’s duck liver and then there’s foie gras--duck liver that’s been transformed into something transcendent. In southwest France, the veritable kingdom of foie gras, scallops of fattened duck liver sauteed with apples appear on almost every menu. At Patina, Joachim Splichal plays off the idea, placing beautifully seared foie gras on a thick slice of caramelized apple and garnishing the plate with a fabulous, tart green apple sorbet and matchsticks of raw apple. Patina, 5955 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 467-1108. $15.75.

*

Steamed Live Shrimp

If I walk into Ocean Star and don’t see an aquarium filled with shrimp waving their tentacles, I’m heartsick. Either bad weather has kept the fishing boats from their appointed rounds or someone else has nabbed the last order of steamed prawns. Here you order shrimp by the piece, so calculate about three per person. The idea is to tear off the heads, pull away the shells and devour. The roe is sticky and delicious. The steamed meat is so sweet and enticing that the ginger dipping sauce is almost superfluous. Ocean Star Seafood, 145 N. Atlantic Blvd., Monterey Park; (818) 308-2128. $13 per pound.

*

Samosas

I could take or leave samosas until I tasted Neela Paniz’s Gujerati-style pastries at Bombay Cafe. Hers are made with a thinner, crisper wrapper than most. Filled with a savory mixture of potatoes and peas, they come with a dark, sweetly sour tamarind and date chutney. Paniz also takes samosa wrappers and deep-fries them, serving them like chips with a trio of chutneys that often includes a smoldering, garlic-laden pumpkin-tomato chutney, a fresh coconut one with black mustard seeds or a traditional Kashmiri walnut chutney made with yogurt and green chiles. Bombay Cafe, 12113 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles; (310) 820-2070. $5.

*

Cobb Salad

No one makes a Cobb salad that comes close to the Grill’s distinguished version. It’s so good that whenever I’m supposed to share it, I end up eating most of my partner’s half, too. Part of its appeal is its texture: Not everything is cut the same size. Chilled, crisp lettuce is sliced into ribbons, chicken into large cubes. Chunks of avocado are just ripe; crumbled bacon is thick and smoky. And it’s all tossed in the perfect amount of dressing laced with blue cheese. The Grill, 9560 Dayton Way, Beverly Hills; (310) 276-0615. $15.75; $8.75 as an appetizer.

*

Bistela

Bistela, an intriguingly spiced chicken (or pigeon) pie, is one of the glories of Moroccan cuisine. And Koutoubia’s rendition is irresistible. The recipe is restaurateur Michel Ohayon’s mother’s: Chicken is first braised in a little liquid over a bed of onions, parsley and cilantro until the meat falls off the bone, then boned and simmered with beaten egg until the egg absorbs all the juices. Finally, the chicken is tucked into a flaky crust and dusted with cinnamon-scented confectioners’ sugar. Cooked to order and served blistering hot from the oven, this savory pie smells so inviting that I can never wait for it to cool and usually end up burning my fingers to get that first bite. Koutoubia, 2116 Westwood Blvd., West Los Angeles; (310) 475-0729. $12.50 per person; $6.50 per person as an appetizer.

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Pot Stickers

The original Mandarin Deli in Chinatown is a simple storefront where you can see the cooks rolling out dough for the dumpling and noodle specialties. I love the huge bowls of steaming soup filled with the handmade noodles, but the pot stickers are what keep me coming back. One order gets you eight crescent-shaped dumplings filled with sweet pork (or beef) and finely chopped onions, cabbage and vegetables spiked with fresh ginger. Fried a dark, crisp brown on their undersides and steamed on top, they’re wonderful dipped in chile paste mixed with a little vinegar. Mandarin Deli, 727 N. Broadway, Chinatown; (213) 623-6054. And 356 E. 2nd St., Little Tokyo; (213) 617-0231. $4.50.

*

Kibbeh Maqli

The selection of mezzeh at the upscale Lebanese restaurant Al Amir is daunting. They’re all so enticing that I’d much rather make an entire meal of these little dishes than move on to the main courses. I would never eat here without ordering the flat breads covered with a carpet of herbs, the rich smooth hummus or the smoky baba ghannouj, but the kibbeh maqli are prepared with exceptional skill. What they are is a bit hard to explain: basically, teardrop-shaped meatballs with a filling of minced lamb, onions and pine nuts and a shell of pounded lamb and bulgur fried golden brown. Al Amir, 5750 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles; (213) 931-8740. $7.95.*

*

French Fries

The trouble with most steakhouses is that you can’t eat anything except the steak. At the Hitching Post in Buellton, north of Santa Barbara, the steaks--choice beef, expertly grilled over oak--are fine. But the sides are even finer. The French fries, in fact, are the best around. Firm Kennebec potatoes (at the end of the season, local spuds) are thick-cut, blanched and then fried (twice) in beef fat. You might not want to ‘fess up to your personal trainer, but these long fries with plenty of crispy corners are worth the occasional indulgence. Try them with winemaker-owner Frank Ostini’s dipping sauce of choice: a special cru of catsup mixed with Pepper Plant, a vinegary local hot sauce. The Hitching Post, 406 E. Highway 246, Buellton; (805) 688-0676. $3.

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Spiced Whitefish

At JiRaffe, lifelong friends and co-chefs Josiah Citrin and Raphael Lunetta like to experiment with exotic spices and flavors, shuffling dishes on and off their menu with dizzying abandon. One dish that sticks in my memory from last year reappears on this season’s new menu: whitefish encrusted with a Moroccan spice mixture sharply aromatic with cumin, coriander, fennel seed and ginger. Set down in a carrot-ginger emulsion strewn with sugar snap peas, glazed carrots and young spinach, the fish is the very essence of spring. JiRaffe, 502 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 917-6671. $16.

*

Pizza

Peppe Miele slides his plate-sized rounds of dough into the wood-burning oven, where the pizzas cook in just minutes. The pies emerge blistered, the crushed-tomato sauce still bubbling around molten mozzarella strewn with a few leaves of sweet basil. Framed by a high rim of dough, the Margherita looks as studiously casual as a raku pot. Anchovy lovers may prefer the Napoletana, which replaces the basil with anchovy filets. But my favorite is the capricciosa, topped with fresh artichoke, mushrooms and ribbons of fragrant, salty prosciutto. L.A. Trattoria and Antica Pizzeria, 8022 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles; (213) 658-7607. Margherita, $7.25; Napoletana, $7.75; capricciosa, $8.75.

*

Duck Confit

Patina, as we all know, begat Pinot Bistro, Patinette at MOCA, Cafe Pinot, Pinot Hollywood and Pinot at the Chronicle in Pasadena (as well as Pinot Blanc in Napa Valley). And at all the Pinots, duck confit is something of a specialty. The one I like best is from the lunch menu at downtown’s Cafe Pinot, where you can enjoy it at tables under the trees of Maguire Garden next to the Central Library. The skin is crisp and the dark meat of the duck leg and thigh is properly moist. And it’s served in a beautiful spring vegetable ragout of baby carrots, tomato, red potatoes, peas and fava beans with a sweet onion broth. Cafe Pinot, 700 W. 5th St., Los Angeles; (213) 239-6500. $14.75 at lunch only.

*

Uni With Nori

The best sea urchin caught off the California coast goes to Japan, which pays top dollar for the delicacy. But Masa Takayama’s customers at exclusive Ginza Sushiko in Beverly Hills know that he serves the same top-quality product. If you have uni, he’ll serve you a small wooden box of the impeccably fresh roe, which looks like ochre-colored tongues in overlapping rows. It comes with a stack of crinkly black-green nori. Twist a sheet of the toasted seaweed into a small cone and place a skein or two of roe inside, dipping the roe in ponzu first and adding a dab of fresh wasabi. Ginza Sushiko, Two Rodeo, 218 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 247-8939. Part of a meal, which runs $250 to $300 a person.

*

German Apple Pancake

On weekends, Rockenwagner’s brunch features a splendid apple pancake baked in a high-sided pan. Crisp at the edges, the vanilla-scented batter enfolds fat slices of golden-skinned apples. The center, where it’s still just a bit custardy, is the best part. Never too sweet, this pancake is topped with luscious strawberries and creme fra’che. It doesn’t need syrup at all. As a bonus, you get a basket of Rockenwagner’s wonderful German-style breads, including a soft pretzel bread and a whole-grain roll sprinkled with oats. Rockenwagner, 2435 Main St., Santa Monica; (310) 399-6504. $7.50.

*

Oysters

I can eat a lot of oysters, but only if they’re very, very fresh. At most, I have them with a drop of lemon, ignoring the mignonette that usually accompanies them. Cocktail sauce is insulting to the pristine mollusks, clearly designed for people who want to pretend they’re not eating oysters at all. But Granita has come up with a delightful new twist: oysters served with a dab of, say, icy celery-and-green apple granita. Startling and original, it succeeds beautifully. Granita, 23725 W. Malibu Road, Malibu Colony Plaza, Malibu; (310) 456-0488. $12 for a half-dozen.

*

Pork Chop

Diego Velasco makes a mean pork chop. He uses the juicy center cut, rubs it with garlic and spices, then grills and serves it a slightly different way each season. The chop that won my heart was the first one Memphis Soul Cafe offered, with divine creamy grits, soft ribbons of braised red cabbage and a beguiling tart-sweet balsamic vinegar and dried cherry sauce. Right now, Velasco is serving his pork chop in a dried fig sauce, accompanied by sweet potato spoonbread and a cabbage ragu. Same idea, different flavors. Good news: He may bring back the original this summer. Memphis Soul Cafe, 2920 Bristol St., Costa Mesa; (714) 432-7685. $12.75.

*

Charcuterie Platter

There’s a reason French expatriates line the banquettes at Mimosa and local French chefs drop in here on their day off. Mimosa comes the closest in spirit to an authentic French bistro than any other Southland restaurant (though the menu does include a few Italian touches from co-owner Silvio de Mori). Order the charcuterie platter and you’ll see what I mean: rosette de Lyon (dried French salami), jambon de Bayonne (raw-cured ham) or prosciutto, garlic salami, air-dried beef, a generous slab of Jean Pierre Bosc’s chicken pte. Compared to pallid versions around town, the pte is very much like the real thing, robust in flavor and marbled with fat and lean. The charcuterie platter arrives with French canning jars filled with puckery dimpled cornichons and oil-cured dark olives. Mimosa, 8009 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; (213) 655-8895. $8.50.

*

Lamb Shank With Eggplant Gnocchi

The food that Joe Miller manages to turn out in his cramped kitchen never ceases to impress me. He’s clearly someone who loves to cook, which is rarer in the restaurant world than you’d think. One of his more soulful dishes is lamb shank braised on the bone until the meat is melting tender, rich and gelatinous. Unfortunately, it isn’t always available, but when it is, Miller pairs it with little pillows of eggplant gnocchi tossed with more of the purple-skinned vegetable and sweet, oven-dried tomatoes in an eggplant jus. A thoroughly modern dish with flavors as old as the Mediterranean. Joe’s, 1023 Abbot Kinney, Venice; (310) 399-5811. $9.

*

Pasta and Sardines With Wild Fennel

In Los Angeles, the cooking of Tuscany and northern Italy rules and, as a result, the vibrant cuisine of southern Italy gets short shrift. Except at Santa Monica’s stylish Drago, where Celestino Drago reserves a corner of his menu for the Sicilian dishes he grew up with. I have a penchant for the pasta with fennel and sardines, here, spaghetti in a light tomato sauce tossed with fennel, plumped-up golden raisins, pine nuts and fresh sardines. It’s lusty and terrific. Drago, 2628 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 828-1585. $13.

*

Chinese Polenta With Shrimp and Honey Mushrooms

Yujean Kang is demanding about his raw materials, always on the lookout for ingredients that most closely approximate the taste and texture of their Chinese equivalents. Unlike most Chinese chefs, who use Smithfield ham as a stand-in for Yunnan’s famous hams, he substitutes prosciutto di Parma. And when a recipe calls for shrimp, Kang prefers white shrimp from Louisiana to anything else. They’re especially good in the dish he makes with golden-crusted diamonds of polenta and fine-textured, subtly delicious honey mushrooms. Yujean Kang’s, 67 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena; (818) 585-0855. And 8826 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood; (310) 288-0806. $14.

*

Nicoise Salad

L’Orangerie’s former chef, Gilles Epie, who took over Chez Helene in March, has made good on his promise to put an authentic Nicoise salad on the menu. When you order, the waiter warns: “It comes with real French olives--with the pits.” But of course. Served in a bowl lined with butter lettuce, Epie’s Nicoise includes slices of potato and hard-boiled egg, lots of haricots verts and more than a few anchovy filets. (Finally, somebody who’s not afraid of anchovies!) The crumbled dark tuna actually has some flavor. Strewn throughout are roasted garlic and the tiny Nioise olives that give the dish its name. The dressing, however, couldn’t be more untraditional: It’s a sweet, caramelized aceto balsamico that works. Chez Helene, 267 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 276-1558. $9.50.

*

Heirloom Tomato Salad

As soon as tomato season starts in earnest, David Wolfe heads for the Santa Monica farmer’s market to buy heirloom tomatoes. Golden-skinned, striped green and gold, deep red, streaked with rose or yellow, they come in all sizes and shapes. Wolfe knows enough to present these luscious tomatoes simply sliced on a bed of greens, seasoned only with cracked black peppercorns and a drizzle of aged aceto balsamico to let the marvelously distinctive flavors of Cherokee, Brandywine, Zebra and Pineapple tomatoes shine through. 2424 Pico, 2424 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica; (310) 581-1124. $10. *

Antipasti Plate

I can’t think of a more satisfying way to start a meal at Cucina Paradiso than with the generous antipasti plate. Its composition varies, depending on what’s available: a splendid selection of cured mountain ham, bresaola (air-dried beef), chewy caccicatorini (hunters’ sausages), a rustic salame studded with black peppercorns, sometimes sliced roasted cotechino sausage or porchetta (roasted pig). These meats are accompanied by glistening roasted red peppers, braised endive, grilled radicchio or zucchini and roasted tomatoes either in spunky anchovy or garlic balsamic vinaigrette. Cucina Paradiso, 1611 S. Catalina Ave., Redondo Beach; (310) 792-1972. $7.50 per person.

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QUICK BITES

Dining out doesn’t have to break the bank. Nor does it mean settling for the bland or the familiar. Here, Times reviewers Charles Perry, Barbara Hansen and Max Jacobson and restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila share some affordable favorites.

*

Burrito al Pastor

There’s many a fine, fiery burrito al pastor, but this one--a flour tortilla stuffed with chewy broiled pork from a gyro-style vertical rotisserie, mixed with rice, beans, semi-blackened bits of onion and a faintly vinegary hot pepper sauce--packs a wallop. Rincon Taurino #1, 14551 Nordhoff St., Panorama City; (818) 893-5927. $2.60.--C.P.

*

Thai Hot Wings

Sweet, tangy and devilishly hot, these wings are deep-fried, then cooked again in a mixture of heady Sriracha sauce, sugar and vinegar. Chao Krung, 111 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 939-8361. $4.95.--B.H.

*

Bigos

Bigos is a Polish peasant dish made from scraps of pork and sausage simmered in a ruddy, paprika-laced sauerkraut. Here, the mammoth portion comes with black bread and a dish of sour cream. Krakus, 16226 Parthenia St., North Hills; (818) 893-9122. $3.50.--M.J.

*

Carrot Halwa

Long, slow cooking with ground pistachios, cardamom, milk and sugar turns the lowly carrot into a princely pudding called gajjar ka halwa. Here, the dessert is garnished with raisins, cashews and extra pistachios. Chicken Madras, 4850 W. Rosecrans Ave., Hawthorne; (310) 675-5533. $2.95.--B.H.

*

Chocolate Doughnut

The glazed crullers at this classic coffee shop are sugary and light, and the dense, crumbly cake doughnuts are laced with nutmeg. But best of all is a crusty chocolate cake doughnut lavished with dark, fudgy frosting. Dunking is optional. Dupar’s, 12036 Ventura Blvd., Studio City; (818) 766-4437. 81 cents, tax included.--M.J.

*

Rillettes de Porc

At LaFayette, the cognoscenti favor rustic specials like jarret de veau (veal knuckle), seven-hour lamb and the shredded pork spread called rillettes de porc. Cooked slowly in pork fat, these rillettes are rich and deliciously fatty, perfect on a crusty baguette with puckery homemade cornichons. LaFayette, 12532 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove; (714) 537-5011. $7.--M.J.

*

Strawberry Shortcake

Everything at this Orange County landmark is gigantic, including the sublime strawberry shortcake--made with sweet, totally ripe, locally grown strawberries and heaped in a one-quart coupe like a big scarlet bowling ball. Belisle’s, 12001 Harbor Blvd., Garden Grove; (714) 750-6560. $7.95.--C.P.

*

Huitlacoche Quesadilla

Huitlacoche, a fungus that grows on corncobs, looks and sounds unpromising. But this Aztec delicacy has a rich flavor, something like a corn-infused truffle. The least expensive way in town to try it is in a huitlacoche quesadilla. Tacos Clarita, 3049 E. 4th St., Los Angeles; (213) 262-3620. $2.50.--C.P.

*

Olluquito con Carne

Olluquito con carne features tiny, finger-shaped yellow potatoes stir-fried Chinese-style with spiced shredded beef. No ordinary tuber, these tasty potatoes from the Andes lend the dish a unique flavor reminiscent of turnips. Korikancha, 1714 E. McFadden Ave., Suite A, Santa Ana; (714) 543-3600. $8.50.--M.J.

*

Gumbo

The best gumbo should be a happy marriage of shrimp, crab meat and spicy sausage thick enough to stand a spoon in. New Orleans-born chef Marc Antione Foster succeeds with a version that’s sneaky hot, relentlessly rich and a shade darker than caffe latte. Cafe N’Awlins, 122 N. San Fernando Blvd., Burbank; (818) 563-3569. $4.--M.J.

*

Kitfo

Kitfo is exactly what your doctor is afraid you’re eating, so just keep quiet about it. Served with injera, a cross between a pancake and a tortilla, this Ethiopian specialty is a smooth puree of raw beef mixed with melted butter and spiced with cardamom, garlic and a little more red pepper than you might expect. Ibex Ethiopian Restaurant, 119 W. Green St., Pasadena; (818) 793-3822. $10.95.--C.P.

*

Alu Tikki

Before settling in for curry and rice, try alu tikki, the seminal snack of Hindu cuisine. Imagine a crunchy, pan-fried patty fashioned from mashed potato and peas. Try it with chutney or a peppery condiment. Samata, 12321 Ventura Blvd., Studio City; (818) 761-7696. $2.50.--M.J.

*

Poulet M’chermel

Poulet m’chermel, exquisitely perfumed chicken roasted with pungent green olives and preserved lemon, is more than a Moroccan tradition. Served with couscous or rice and eaten with the fingers, it’s completely sensuous. Casablanca Bistro, 1520 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach; (714) 646-1420. $9.95.--M.J.

*

Korean Barbecue

Barbecued beef may be quintessentially Korean, but I’ll take barbecued pork any day. Succulent and spicy-hot with red pepper paste, these thin strips of meat are delicious when grilled until charred at the edges. Dong Il Jang, 3455 W. 8th St., Los Angeles; (213) 383-5757. $12.50 with soup, rice and other side dishes.--B.H.

*

Tarte la Tomate

Italy has pizza; the French make quiche-like pies that have a richer crust and don’t contain tomatoes . . . usually, that is. Pastis serves a luscious tarte a la tomate, its shallot, garlic and thyme filling sweetened by tomato confit and topped with fresh tomato slices. Pastis, 8114 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; (213) 655-8822. $7.--C.P.

*

Miso Steak

What could be better with sake than miso steak, a prime filet mignon marinated in fermented soy paste, blackened on a charcoal grill and artfully presented in thin slices? Outside, the meat is fragrant with wood smoke; inside, as buttery as fine sashimi. Kappo Sui, 20070 Santa Ana Ave., Santa Ana Heights; (714) 429-0141. $7.--M.J.

*

Guisado de Provincia

Of all fusion cuisines, Franco-Mexican has to be the least likely. But this Mexican interpretation of beef stewed in red wine is more interesting than the Provenal original. Full of tomatoes, onions and potatoes, it gets an earthy abrasiveness from fresh poblano peppers. Mi Familia Gourmet, 822 1/2 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles; (213) 653-2121. $9.75.--C.P.

*

Thai Barbecued Sausage

Fresh ginger, lemon grass and fiery chiles give this Northeast-style cured pork sausage its appealing flavor. Grilled and cut in inch-thick slices, the sausage is as chewy as pepperoni and packs plenty of heat. Eat it as an appetizer, wrapping each piece in a leaf of fresh cabbage. Thai Nakorn, 8674 Stanton Ave., Buena Park; (714) 952-4954. $6.95.--S.I.V.