Newsletter: Counter: Modernist cooking and time capsule cuisine

Let's not talk about the Dodgers, please, but instead about the downtown Los Angeles dining scene. Because the number of restaurants keeps growing: The second outpost of Little Sister is opening almost as we speak, across the street from B.S. Taqueria, whose chef, Ray Garcia, just won a swell award and whose more recent restaurant, Broken Spanish, is the subject of Jonathan Gold's review.

And next door to the new Little Sister is Q, the Edomae sushi restaurant whose chef we consider. It's a beautiful time machine of a place, a restaurant that's a lot more expensive than Mas Malo or Chipotle — also on Seventh Street — but that you'll remember for years longer.

Away from downtown, Jonathan checks out Hainan chicken in Old Town Pasadena, Jenn Harris gives a new Beverly Hills restaurant a first look and John Verive considers the corporate universe of beer, which is expanding like something you'd see through a JPL telescope rather than suds in a glass. 

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

—Amy Scattergood

Snouts for dinner

This week, Jonathan has a snout for dinner: specifically, chopped snout in sweet potato, with a little pigtail, at Broken Spanish, the latest restaurant from chef Ray Garcia and prolific restaurateur Bill Chait. Broken Spanish "is a kind of Guillermo del Toro movie of a restaurant," he says — and it's difficult not to conjure up the ghost of John Sedlar (who is currently alive and well and cooking in New Mexico), whose Rivera restaurant previously occupied the space. Still, there is the lamb's head, and tamales if that's too much for you. 

The blue corn tortillas with carnitas fat at Broken Spanish in downtown Los Angeles.

(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Ramen prison hacks

Ramen goulash? Jailhouse Hole Burritos? Check out a new cookbook called "Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars." Recipes and stories from ex-cons are included in the book. Former star inmates Shia LaBeouf, Taryn Manning and Danny Trejo all contributed. Presumably somebody is already working on the ramen-ya chain. 

There’s a new ramen cookbook featuring ramen recipes and stories from prison inmates, including Shia LaBeouf.

(Richard Shotwell / Invision/Associated Press)

(Richard Shotwell / Invision / Associated Press)

The fish museum

The world of traditional Edomae sushi, as practiced by chef Hiroyuki Naruke at Q, a newish restaurant in downtown L.A., is a rarefied one. Naruke practices his craft as if not much has happened since the 19th century. It's a gorgeous time machine, a museum that has a pretty hefty admission price but is well worth it. 

Hiroyuki Naruke, executive chef at Q restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, is a master of a rare form.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Green Zone

Jonathan has lunch at Green Zone, a new Hainan chicken place in Old Town (in Pasadena, where most of us here in the Food section live and where there are bafflingly few good restaurants), and finds it more than acceptable. In fact, the chicken rice, he finds "almost shockingly good." Guess it's time to go find something at the Sur la Table and get hungry.  

The Hainan chicken at the Green Zone restaurant in Old Town Pasadena.

(Green Zone)

(Green Zone)

Big beer gets bigger

Our beer writer, John Verive, reports that beer goliath AB InBev (Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois) and SABMiller (Miller, Coors, Molson and Peroni) are merging into one super-giant conglomerate that will brew nearly one-third of the world’s beer. What this means for the market, the materials and the rest of us probably requires more than a few beers to comprehend.

AB InBev, which controls brands such as Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois, and beer colossus SABMiller, parent company of Miller, Coors, Molson and Peroni, are merging.

(Scott Olson / Getty Images)

(Scott Olson / Getty Images)

Fashion forward food

Food inspired by designer Kelly Wearstler's style? We do live in L.A., in case you somehow forgot. Jenn Harris checks out Viviane, the new restaurant by Stephane Bombet of Bombet Hospitality Group and chef Michael Hung at the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills. Expect shellfish boudin blanc, chicken and dumplings — and a pool.

Grilled salmon is served over caramelized endive with a whole grain mustard vinaigrette and parsley pistou at Viviane at the Avalon Beverly Hills.

(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)

(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)

Jonathan Gold's 101

The 101 is coming! The Los Angeles Times will publish Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants, the authoritative annual guide to local dining, on Nov. 4 at latimes.com/jgold101. The print edition will be delivered to Times’ Saturday subscribers on Nov. 7. And in honor of this year’s best, Mr. Gold will host a 101 launch party at Union Station on Nov. 4. For more information, go to latimes.com/getgold. Official hashtag #JGOLD101.

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