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Feasting: 3 Days of Eating in Los Angeles

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The best way to get to know a city is through its cuisine, which is why we wasted no time sitting down to eat when we arrived in Los Angeles for 72 hours last month. We covered a lot of ground in three days, starting off in West Hollywood with excursions to Malibu, Koreatown, Venice and more. If you find yourself in L.A. with only a few days to spare like us, do yourself a favor and hit as many of these places as possible. Though each is completely different in its own way, they all carry the spirit of this great SoCal city.

Pistola, los angeles
Photo by Max Schwartz Image used with permission by copyright holder

Pistola
Chef Vic Casanova and partner Seth Glassman pay homage to the iconic Italian establishments of 1950s NYC with Pistola, and it truly has some of the best homemade pastas we’ve had in this country. The rigatoni a la vodka is perfectly executed, and we had an orecchiette special with sausage and greens that reminded us of eating at our aunt’s house in Italy. Make sure to start with the meatballs and chopped salad, and don’t leave without having one of their excellent steaks like the 18 oz dry-aged Delmonico.

POT, los angeles
Photo by Max Schwartz Image used with permission by copyright holder

POT
Situated inside Koreatown’s Line Hotel, POT is not to be missed when visiting L.A. The space is energetic and laid-back, and Chef Roy Choi’s menu is full of his inventive Korean cuisine – we truly can’t get enough. Go with a group and order a pitcher of cocktails to get the party started and definitely try the crispy Korean rice cakes, fried rice and BBQ galbi to start. Get a hot pot for the table if you’re all fans of spice – they make it strong but not overwhelmingly so.

Neptune's Net
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Neptune’s Net
You may recognize this Malibu roadside seafood spot from movies like The Fast and the Furious and Point Break, but it’s also the perfect place to stop for lunch if you’re taking a ride up the Pacific Coast Highway (we recommend making that ride on a motorcycle, for the record). They serve tons of fresh seafood like steamed lobster and clams, fish tacos and crab cakes. Go for a good bite and even better view.

The Tasting Kitchen
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The Tasting Kitchen
The bar manager at Workshop Kitchen + Bar in Palm Springs recommended we come here during our stay in Venice, and it did not disappoint. Go early if you want a full pick from the menu as they were running out of dishes near the end of brunch, but anything you order will be excellent. The chicken and waffles was the perfect mix of sweet and savory, as was the grilled cheese and cured pear sandwich. Wash it all down with a cocktail like the French Tutor (Pernod, lemon, Chardonnay) or get a double buzz sipping the Night Shift (cold espresso, bourbon, milk).

Related: Micro Guide: 24 Hours in Palm Springs

Lemonade-620
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Lemonade
You’ll find this sunny chain all through California, and we can only hope it spreads to other states soon. The cafeteria-style marketplace serves seasonal comfort food with something for everyone from deliciously prepared veggies and grains, unique sandwiches and slow-simmered braises like short ribs. It’s quick and convenient too, so we suggest picking up a few things before the airport to make your plane ride a lot more pleasant.

Pizzanista
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Pizzanista!
Serving up New York-inspired thin crust pizza with an abundance of fresh California produce, Pizzanista’s pies are the perfect mix of old world and new. Founded in 2011 by Price Latimer and Salman Agah, the family-run business just opened another location in Long Beach where they serve up everything from a classic margarita to their famous macaroni and cheese pizza, available on Sundays only. And they cater to everyone with tons of vegan and gluten-free options.

Guest Room
Photo by Wonho Frank Lee Image used with permission by copyright holder

Guest Room
It’s only right to pay homage to the Prohibition era of Lucky Luciano and Al Capone when opening a speakeasy, and the team over at Guest Room does it damn well. Situated above Estate Restaurant + Bar in Santa Monica, mixologist Greg Bryson’s menu takes timeless classics and gives them imaginative twists. Go for his take on the traditional and have a Whiskey Sour or Tom Collins, or try something new like the Devils Candy, made with rye, sherry and sour cherry bitters. Grab a couple small plates so you can drink as many cocktails as possible.

Main image by Max Schwartz

Amanda Gabriele
Amanda Gabriele
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Amanda Gabriele is a food and travel writer at The Manual and the former senior editor at Supercall. She can’t live without…
What is a gruit, and where can you find one?
Gruit, the beer made without hops that you need to try
Beer snifter chalice glass

Most beers you know and love today have four primary ingredients: water, barley, hops, and yeast. That’s largely due to the centuries-old German beer purity law, or reinheitsgebot, which demanded that beer be made exclusively using these ingredients and set the standard for today’s brews. 
But beer is an ancient beverage — historians believe its story stretches back to 5th millennium BC in Iran and went on to be enjoyed by the likes of Egyptian pharaohs and the Greek philosophers. However, if Socrates or Tutankhamun ever enjoyed a pint in their days, the beer was likely missing one of those four critical ingredients: the hop.
In today’s hop-hungry climate of India pale ales (and hazy IPAs, New England IPAs, as well as milkshake IPAs, and others), it seems impossible that beer could exist without hops. The fact is that many other natural ingredients can serve as substitutes for the bittering, aromatic, and flavoring characteristics of hops. Today, if a beer relies on other herbs to fill the "hops" role, the beverage is classified as a gruit.

Gruit is the German word for herb. Instead of depending on hops, these brews use exotic additives like bog myrtle, horehound, elderflowers, and yarrow to offset the sweetness of the malts and create a more complex beverage.
Thanks to the creativity of modern breweries, you don’t have to travel back to the Middle Ages to find a gruit (though if you can, please let us in on your time travel technology). You can try them right now, but you will have to do some detective work.
“Authentic” gruits can be tough to find in the mainstream marketplace. That’s because some laws require hops to be present for a product to be sold as beer. Not having the “beer” title would limit distribution and sales channels for some breweries.  To illustrate how rare gruits are in the current marketplace, there are currently 32,576 American IPAs listed on the Beer Advocate database and only 380 gruits.
But don’t despair — this list will help you get started on the path toward discovering modern versions of the ancient ale. Start your gruit journey here:

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Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul’s competing recipes for National Michelada Day
Smokey, fruity, or spicy - there's a Michelada recipe for every taste
national michelada day modelo x dos hombres hero image 1

Today, July 12, is National Michelada Day, so that's the ideal excuse to kick back with this classic Mexican beer cocktail. Beer cocktails aren't the easiest thing to create as beer has such a low alcohol percentage and high amount of water compared to spirits -- but when you get it right, there are few things more refreshing. As the beloved combination of Mexican lager, lime, and tomato juice proves, there's a great way to mix almost any ingredient.

Another fun aspect of the Michelada is its flexibility. You can use clamato juice in place of the tomato juice, pour in an extra shot of spirit, and add whatever combination of hot sauces or umami sauces that your heart desires. As the drink is traditionally served in a glass with a salt rim, you can also add bonus flavors here like making a chili salt or using salt and pepper. And of course you can garnish with anything from fruit to pickles.

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Make a party punch in a snap with this Fancy Long Island Iced Tea recipe
Julianna McIntosh's Fancy Long Island Iced Tea with Boozy Ice Cubes
fancy long island iced tea unnamed 5

Here at The Manual, we love a big bowl of punch for a summer party when you have a bunch of friends coming round and you want to serve tasty drinks to everyone without any fuss. And with a few extra flourishes, like fresh fruit and fancy ice cubes, you can turn any simple punch recipe into something really special.

A new recipe from Julianna McIntosh, aka join_jules, makes use of ready to drink cans of Cutwater Long Island Iced Tea to make creating a punch even easier. McIntosh shows off her punch recipe in a new Instagram Reel, which includes making boozy ice cubes with edible flowers ahead of time. These cool the drink but don't water it down as they melt, which is a genius hack especially for hot summer parties.

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