How L.A.’s culinary greatness makes it the ‘best’ food city

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Saturday, Sept. 23. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:

• Why Los Angeles is the “best” food city
• Another wet winter could be headed for California (Thanks, El Niño)
• Could a three-way proposal end a relationship for good?
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

How L.A.’s culinary greatness makes it the ‘best’ food city

After living in Los Angeles for four years, I’ve learned to accept a few things. Horrible traffic will always exist, parking spots will be scarce and food options will be plentiful. If you don’t like one restaurant, there’s always another to try.

From rectangular Detroit-style pies to wide triangular New York slices, it’s possible to find nearly every regional American variation of pizza in L.A. The city is in the midst of a golden pizza moment. And there’s nothing mediocre about it — just ask Times restaurant critic Bill Addison.

While nothing can compare to my hometown of New Orleans’ beloved po’boy, L.A.’s sandwich scene also is something to brag about. There’s no shortage of excellent versions of the Italian sub, as The Times’ Jenn Harris writes. She also wrote about a Santa Monica restaurant that makes the best grilled cheese in the universe. That might sound like hyperbole, but if Jenn is throwing her weight behind that statement, it’s definitely worth a try.

California’s most populous city also has an abundance of vegetarian and vegan eateries — from a seasonally minded restaurant in Fairfax where veggies are front and center to a vegan fast-food spot in Venice.

Of course, Mexican food will always be at the top of the list. It’s an essential part of L.A.’s cultural landscape. Longtime L.A. institutions like Guelaguetza emphasize a single region — Oaxaca — with its variation of moles. Say what you want about “Cal-Mex” restaurants — “heavy on tomatoes and meat and light on spice” — but they’re an important part of the city’s culinary identity too, so much so that The Times’ food team gave them their due last fall.

With so much culinary greatness, it’s no wonder Bill considers Los Angeles the best food city. As a biased native New Orleanian, I’d argue that title belongs to New Orleans. (Sorry, not sorry.)

But I want to hear from you: What do you think is the best restaurant in L.A.? We might feature some of your responses in a future newsletter.

The week’s biggest stories

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

• California home insurers plan return to fire zones under a new deal.
• El Niño is getting stronger, and odds are tilting toward another wet winter for California.
• How Biden plans to counter Trump and the GOP debate.
• Much-needed nurses are flocking to California — for some of the same reasons others are fleeing.
• What’s the current status of DACA? Here’s what you need to know.
• Hefty cigarette taxes cut smoking big-time. But there’s a downside for children.
• Hollywood assistants aren’t in the writers guild. They’re still hit hard by the strike.
• Times columnist Mark Z. Barabak traveled to Kevin McCarthy’s congressional district. Here’s what voters say about impeaching Biden.
• An invasive New Zealand mud snail has been discovered in Lake Tahoe.
• A celebrity-studded L.A. water district has a very big drought idea: Seafloor desalination.
• The scientific reason why you can’t stop going to Disneyland.
• California orders a bottled water company to stop ‘unauthorized’ piping from springs.
• The late-summer itch: Ankle-biting mosquitoes are in extra full force in L.A. Why?
• International tourism to L.A. still lags behind the pre-COVID era. There’s a push to court more visitors.
  

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The week’s great reads

(Mariah Tauger/Los Angeles Times)

Facing eviction, a beloved Little Tokyo cafe charts its survival in a gentrifying city. After more than half a century serving Little Tokyo — and more than 35 years in its iconic location — family-run Japanese restaurant Suehiro Cafe has moved to downtown’s Historic Core as it faces an eviction lawsuit. The suit and the cafe’s relocation are spurring community discussions over the future of legacy businesses in the historic Japanese American neighborhood.

More great reads

• How L.A. Ballet’s artistic director will make L.A. a force in the dance world.
• Immigrant Dreams: Our landmark poll surveys the lives of one-sixth of the nation.
• Not your mom’s speed dating: From tantra to BDSM, there’s something for everyone in L.A.
• HBCUs brace for flood of applications after Supreme Court affirmative action decision.
• If this is Clayton Kershaw’s last run with Dodgers, he’s at peace with it.
• Do you call it Cal or Berkeley? UC school may rebrand to Cal Berkeley for sports.
  

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your weekend

(Samuel Rodriguez / For The Times)

Going out

• 🎾 Spend your Sunday like Jeff Probst: Hike through the canyon, play doubles tennis with friends or peruse the vinyl at a local record shop.
• 📽️ Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month tonight with a special screening of the 1997 biopic “Selena” at the Ford amphitheater.
• ☕ A pop-up coffee omakase from Blue Bottle’s founder? Here’s the secret location.
• 🎸Two of Argentina’s most popular and long-running Latin rock bands are hitting the stage at the Hollywood Bowl tonight.

Staying in

• 🎥 In ‘The Origin of Evil,’ secrets and lies (and taxidermy) on the Côte d’Azur.
• 🏈 USC vs. Arizona State four things to watch: Trojans embrace ‘villain’ mode.
• 🎦 Metaphors cut deeper than scares in the supernatural teen horror ‘It Lives Inside.’
• 📺 Dante Moore’s poise under pressure is among five things to watch for in the UCLA vs. Utah game.
• 🍣 Here’s a recipe for sushi and sashimi.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

L.A. Affairs

(Sam Alden / For The Times)

Our relationship was broken. Would a three-way proposal end it for good? Trey knew the relationship was over the night he and his boyfriend met. His boyfriend was charming and attentive but intensely motivated by the possibility of scoring sex. “My voice told me everything I needed to know, but I ignored it,” Trey said. After a three-way proposition, he finally got the courage to leave.

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Elvia Limón, multiplatform editor
Laura Blasey, assistant editor

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