Wolfgang Puck Cafe

feels like the center of our dining universe. Spago Wolfgang Puck’s flagship pioneered casual fine dining in Los Angeles. But is the restaurant still relevant? Designer pizza forever. (Silvia Razgova / For The Times) LOCATION 176 N. Canon Drive, Beverly

— really transmit any electricity. The famous smoked salmon pizza isn’t listed on the menu but is always available on request. Puck’s long-ago reimagining of lox and bagels — the smoky crust spread with herbed crème fraîche, overlaid with house-cured Alaska

Wolfgang Puck’s famous Chinese chicken salad. The Kennebec “fries,” razor-thin potato slices layered to form thick wedges, are a thing of beauty. Even the Detroit-inspired square pies hit every note, with crispy-bottomed fluffy pizza dough laced with

inside the Bee-rito (a breakfast burrito with JUST plant-based eggs). After years as a plant-based pastry wholesaler to a range of L.A. coffee shops, Justine Hernandez’s homey bakery operation has a bricks-and-mortar cafe in Frogtown. Just What I Kneaded

and Encino, came of age perfecting her pastry skills in some of L.A.’s most storied kitchens (namely Michael’s and Spago, where she was under the tutelage of Jonathan Waxman and Wolfgang Puck, respectively). When she began experimenting with flours and

, Silverton changed the dessert game by throwing over slice-and-serve pastries in favor of composed plates. PHOTO VIA GEORGE ROSE/GETTY IMAGES; And yet you managed to land gigs working under Jonathan Waxman at Michael’s and Wolfgang Puck at Spago. How did you

Chinese hangouts, recommends reservations on Christmas Day. If you can snag a table, keep in mind that their most requested dishes are their strawberry shrimp and lemon chicken. 8386 Beverly Blvd., Beverly Grove; (323) 655-6115. WP24 Wolfgang Puck’s

exclusive first look at Wolfgang Puck's two new restaurants. Also from Jenn: What happens when restaurant owners cut costs, cut staff, receive Paycheck Protection Program money and still can’t pay the rent? She breaks down the heartbreaking reality for many

annually, with the idea of honoring culinary excellence and expanding the notion of Southern California cooking. The award, which last year was given to Wolfgang Puck, celebrates intelligence, innovation and brilliance as well as sensitivity to aesthetics

recommendations for Sonoran restaurants around Los Angeles. Patricia and I think and eat our way through Spago, asking ourselves: Is Wolfgang Puck’s flagship restaurant still relevant? Is the food worth the splurge? Soleil Ho, restaurant critic at the San

unimaginable diversity. What it has been lacking is the kind of swank, ultra-expensive dining rooms that tend to land on world’s-best lists or win three Michelin stars. This is changing: The small, exclusive Dialogue, Vespertine and Wolfgang Puck’s Rogue

Pizzana. Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times The perfume of smoke has characterized local restaurant cooking at least since Wolfgang Puck put the grill at the center of the first Spago kitchen 35 years ago. Still, it seems as if two-thirds of new Los Angeles

at a fast-food joint or perhaps in the actual South. You need not drench it with the spicy honey that comes on the side, but if you do, you’ll reap the rewards. I should also note that the smoky bacon-braised greens here are more Wolfgang Puck than

glass of rosé or a local craft beer. Lights are low. The restaurant seems custom-designed for third dates. Bone Kettle noodles and broth with beef ribs. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Tjahyadi, a veteran of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant at the Hotel

came up with the notorious “phorrito.” He opened a couple of cafes. It may be reductive to imply that he was working in the mode of an Indonesian Roy Choi, mixing Asian and Mexican flavors for a stunningly diverse clientele, but the idea is close enough