Author
Bill EsparzaSecret Off-the-Menu Dishes in Los Angeles
Updated on July 20, 2015
In Barry Sonnenfeld’s fundamental LA tale, Get Shorty (1995), actor Martin Weir (played by Danny DeVito) orders off the menu at the storied celebrity sighting destination, the Ivy. At the time, the Food Network was only two years old, and ordering your meal like a Hollywood big shot seemed ultra-cool. Fast forward to 2013, and Los Angeles is teeming with restaurants offering secret menus and off-the-menu items for customers in the know. Here are some hearty insider eats to impress your friends, and you don’t even have to be Martin Weir to make it happen.
Celestino Ristorante and Bar
The Drago brothers are LA celebrities in their own right, with a reputation for fresh, local, and excellent service. Calogero Drago’s casual Pasadena location has a showstopper menu item - spaghetti alla bottarga - a simple pasta dish enlivened by shaved, dried fish roe that will have the rest of your party chiming in with copycat orders.
141 S. Lake Ave. Pasadena, CA 91106Jitlada
Blame it on the global food craze, but now you can even catch celebrities like Ryan Gosling and Elijah Wood at this popular southern Thai spot these days. No doubt they’ve tried Sarintip “Jazz” Singsanong’s sweet and spicy Thai burger, served “protein style” with sliced red onions, tomato, and basil. Only Jazz makes this, so check and see if she’s around before going off the 400+ item menu.
5223 W Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90027-5709La Dolce Vita
One of the legendary stops for the hard-partying Rat Pack has come back with a new menu, featuring house made pastas and a menu of updated classics like sand dabs and Steak Sinatra. If you really want to revive the old spirit of this haunt, order Jack Daniels on the rocks, and request the comforting spaghetti carbonara for a late night extravagance of pasta saturated with eggs, bacon, and Parmigiano cheese.
9785 Santa Monica Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90210-3120Petrossian Restaurant & Boutique
For a luxurious plate that seems modestly priced next to a 30g tin of Tsar Imperial Kaluga caviar ($305), executive chef, Giselle Wellman has created a caviar burger ($75) adorned with a fried egg and Papierusse (a caviar sheet )—there’s also a side of caviar aioli to go with your house made fries. This is the ultimate fifth taste (umami) burger.
321 North Roberston Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048
Sawtelle Japantown has exploded in the past few years with sharp restaurants like Plan Check, an American-style burger bar with some Asian touches by Chef Ernesto Uchimura. While there are a few off-menu burgers, nothing tastes more of Americana than Uchimura’s grilled cheese sandwich, consisting simply of a pair of cheeses and pickles in a panko crusted crunch bun.
Ordering off the menu at the latest iteration of Nguyen and Thi Tran’s infamous Pan-Asian restaurant seems unremarkable compared to the clandestine operation they ran not too long ago. These two LA characters are full of surprises, but rest assured that the aromatic pandan churros with kaya dipping sauce can be requested anytime.
Southern cooking with the advantage of California’s fine produce is one of the sudden trends of 2013, as embodied in this second project by Chef Govind Armstrong, recently opened in Venice. Most dishes are moderately priced, but for a splurge you can veer off the menu and inquire about the mouth-watering Southern Comfort and hickory smoked sirloin cap, and show Abbott Kinney what style is all about.
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