The Exchange

Times) 53. The Exchange The menu at the Exchange is airily described on the restaurant’s website as a celebration of L.A.’s multicultural flavors refracted through an Israeli lens. I thought the conceit sounded unwieldy, but chef Alex Chang proved me

wrong at the Exchange, the stylish restaurant wedged into a corner of downtown’s Freehand L.A. hotel. Chang makes harissa with Mexican chiles, and grills sweet potatoes and drapes them in a creamy Chile morita-spackled almond sauce. For brunch, he cooks

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Yemenite cooking, and it is apparently popular in Saudi Arabia. It shows up sometimes in sabich, the hard-boiled egg sandwich that is one of the signature dishes in Israeli cooking. At the proto-Israeli restaurant the Exchange, amba is mixed into the

mayonnaise served with shoestring fries. Is amba aioli the new Thousand Island dressing? We should only be so lucky. The Exchange is wedged into a corner of the newish Freehand L.A hotel, under a 12-story vertical sign that is said to be the biggest downtown

-making. Rather than a grand whirl of servers, the staff numbers few. The hyperfocus underscores the quality of the ingredients and a skilled chef’s rigor. It’s a choreographed performance, and yet the exchange between shaping and eating nigiri also feels

. Pickups are in Mid-City, available 4 to 8 p.m. every day except Wednesday. brandoni-pepperoni.com Advertisement Bridgetown Roti After years on the line at restaurants such as Botanica, the Exchange at the Freehand L.A. and Rustic Canyon, Rashida Holmes is

exchange and the anticipation of what comes next. Nigiri from the omakase, on a plate from the selection of ceramics Onodera made himself. (Maggie Shannon / For The Times) During a grouping of fishes in the mackerel and herring families, Mori-san pointed

of me. I reached out to match his rhythm. We settled into the communion that hard-core sushi adherents live for: the cool (and sometimes gently warmed) seafood against fleshy rice, the tingling blaze of freshly grated wasabi, the intimacy of the

For the past 40 years, my parents have exchanged the same presents on their wedding anniversary. In addition to the concert tickets, jewelry, tennis rackets, coffee mugs and fridge magnets, the list always includes See’s Candies. The gift exchange

the earliest reservations at Broken Spanish (Ray Garcia’s modernist Mexican phenom), Rossoblu (definitely in my top five favorite L.A. pasta restaurants, maybe top three) or the Exchange in the Freehand hotel (come with a group and share the lamb

beverage. Prince talked Kool Aid, and Bludso reminisced about Nehi strawberry soda. Cleveland detailed the way red drink translates into cocktails at Post & Beam. The whole exchange is worth watching — for the illuminating thoughts on Juneteenth foods; for

restaurants such as Botanica, the Exchange at the Freehand L.A. and Rustic Canyon, Rashida Holmes had been recently catering and holding pop-ups serving the dishes of her Bajan heritage; her specialty is flaky rotis paired with chicken curry topped with lemony

-City, with a permanent location in the works for 2021. — B.A. brandoni-pepperoni.com Bridgetown Roti After years on the line at restaurants such as Botanica, the Exchange at the Freehand L.A. and Rustic Canyon, Rashida Holmes is headlining the dishes of