Jitlada

“It’s so secret. So many secret things in there. I’ll never tell you.” This is Jazz Singsanong’s standard response when people ask what she puts in the off-menu Jazz burger at her Thai restaurant, Jitlada. The spicy patty served on leaves of crisp

Jitlada, where you can get one if and only if Singsanong is there — and if she feels like making it. It’s one of those great L.A. restaurant dishes that I often crave at 2 in the morning, when there’s no conceivable way of getting one. The last time I

This week, I’m making the case for salads. These will not help you achieve your ideal summer bod, but they will make the most of some very good produce. Morning glory salad at Jitlada My favorite salad in all of Los Angeles is deep-fried. This

should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with my predilection for food that is brown. Fried is my vibe. The morning glory salad at Jitlada is my go-to salad in the summer, winter, spring and fall. Chef and owner Sarintip “Jazz” Singsanong says she

jian bao-style dumpling with apple pie filling for Long, a sheng jian bao-style dumpling filled with albondigas for Flores, and for me, a pan-fried dumpling filled with the green curry mussels from Jitlada. What’s inside your dream dumpling? Stay tuned

used to coat the restaurant’s fried chicken) in the next four months. 5359 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 571-4999, altaadams.com Jitlada red and green hot sauces, 5 ounces, $10 each Green and red chile sauces made and sold at Jitlada Thai

restaurant. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Jazz Singsanong had been bringing her red and green hot sauces to food events for years before she ever thought about bottling and selling them. Now Singsanong, who co-owns the Jitlada Southern Thai

Even before Tui and Jazz, Jitlada was one of the most respected Thai restaurants in Los Angeles. Opened in the 1970s — a cozy Hollywood dining room known for well-made seafood, gentle curries and carved-vegetable garnishes that alluded to royal

visited Jitlada in 2007, not long after it was bought by chef Suthiporn “Tui” Sungkamee and his sister, Sarintip “Jazz” Singsanong, you might have thought you had wandered into a different place. The Thai wood carvings were still on the walls, but it

+ Market and Jitlada. The chile-triggered dot, she says, comes out at Jitlada. Our three plates of pasta drop all at once, eliciting an excited gasp. The ravioli are delicate, limp pockets filled with ricotta in a simple tomato sauce with basil. The piccola

, at Jitlada in Los Angeles and at an open-air restaurant in Bangkok called MahaNaga. Even in L.A.’s sprawling Thai Town, the beans are uncommon. Certainly I have never seen them on a menu in Orange County. So I return later in the week freshly excited

. “Where?” “At Jitlada in L.A.,” I say. Apparently I’ve said the magic word. Her eyes light up. “That was my dish,” she says. She launches into a story about how she and her family were the original owners of Jitlada before selling the restaurant more than

from this all-day charmer make weekend takeout feel special. 624 S. La Brea Ave., Hancock Park, republiquela.com. Oxtail soup at Jitlada Panumas Joe Sungkmaee Jitlada We recommend anything with crispy pork or oxtail from the Thai mainstay’s beautifully

hangs out with Jitlada’s Jazz Singsanong. (Cody Long / Los Angeles Times) In the inaugural episode of“Off Menu,” host Lucas Kwan Peterson and Jitlada owner Jazz Singsanong visit megastore LAX-C, nicknamed “Thai Costco.” On that note, Genevieve Ko put

downtown L.A. Over the course of one season and the start of a second, he’s eaten fiery pad krapow with comedian Tim Chantarangsu and chef Jazz Singsanong at Jitlada, sampled hot chicken with Kim Prince at Hotville Chicken and sipped freshly roasted pour