Table Stakes: The Best of Los Angeles Food and Drink

Because every Angeleno loves to eat, even if he has to valet, we bring you Table Stakes: a series that answers man’s eternally recurring question (“Uh, what’s new?”), and recurs once every lunar cycle or so. Bon appétit.

Odys & Penelope

At Quinn and Karen Hatfield’s (Hatfield’s, Sycamore Kitchen) new restaurant Odys & Penelope, they’re using hickory wood to smoke a massive bone-in short-rib. Goes great with a Smoke Stack, their spicy tequila beverage. Finish it off with Chef Karen’s warm chocolate cake.

127 La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Reserve

Cassell’s

Regardless of how you like your burger — experimental (Plan Check), classic (In-N-Out; Apple Pan) or communist (Father’s Office) — you need to try Cassell’s Hamburgers in the newly remodeled Normandie Hotel, where they’re grilling ’50s classics (patty and tuna melts, burgers) with premium ingredients and refreshing cocktails. Pro tip: that banana chocolate pie in the display case is otherworldly.  

3600 West 6th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 387-5502

SALT

You need a place to eat on the water. And that place is SALT, now open in the newly remodeled Marina del Rey Hotel. This isn’t foodie food. Just well-made standards like roasted chicken and hamburgers. Perfect for brunch or afternoon drinks, assuming you’re game for sailboat-watching with a saison in hand. This will be a go-to for entertaining out-of-towners.

13534 Bali Way, Marina del Rey, CA 90292
(424) 289-8223

Prova

Those looking to lose weight this year be damned: Prova, a casual parlor from Zagat-winning pizzaiolo Chef Vito Iacopelli, is your new temptress. This pizza is hot. Seven-hundred fifty degrees hot. Think burnt ends, doughy insides and fresh-cut salted meats. Get the Vesuvio (lives up to its name), a bottle of Sangiovese and a Nutella pizza for dessert. Then head for the patio. And then the gym.  

8729 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 855-7285

Pez Cantina

At Pez Cantina in Downtown, the flavors are tasteful contradictions. The duck salad is oddly refreshing and light thanks to mache greens, crisp jicama and candied cashews. It’s on the dressier side of casual: ideal for business lunches and pre-theater dinners.

401 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 258-2280