The Over 30 Girly's Edit

Oh, Cafifornia, how do I begin?

Confession time: in my early 20s, I always wanted to avoid going to LA. And the reason was very dumb, maybe more self-righteous than anything. Born and raised in Vietnam, I came to Seattle to study, and most of my Vietnamese friends from school left for California, mostly LA or the OC. There is a huge Vietnamese community there, which explains why they all ended up moving. The “Seattle is depressing” mindset (compared to Vietnam), and LA is so much more vibrant (they’re not wrong), was something I wanted to be anything but. Also, let’s be honest here, I didn’t have the money to live the lifestyle of most of my Vietnamese friends who came to the States to study. I was “stuck” in Seattle, and I may have become resentful of the idea of California. I did travel to LA once to visit a couple of friends, then, and a few times to Irvine and SanFran for work, but that was the extent of it – I never wanted to move there, live there, or even use my time off from work there. (Except for Palm Springs, but that doesn’t count, ha!)

Until I met my husband. He was born in Newport Beach, which is why he has always had a love for California. He has toyed with the idea of moving back there many times. He is willing to compromise on the city where we would potentially move to: San Diego, Santa Barbara, or buy a second home in Palm Springs, as he knows I am not super keen on LA or Newport. But I know, deep down, he would love to live in LA or Newport Beach. That’s for another time – where or if we’d move out of WA state. But for today, I want to say that, maybe LA has grown on me … a little bit at a time.

Logistics

There isn’t much to say about the flight – it’s quick (2.5 hours), and we usually fly Delta. Their planes were old (very much so!), but they would be refitted in the next year or so, thankfully. For the avid geeks out there, we know American domestic first class is a joke (LOL). I have to say that seat was one of the most uncomfortable seats I’ve sat in (and we just flew ANA economy from Tokyo to Osaka a few months ago, so don’t come at me, please). The food was fine, though – short ribs with potatoes, a bread roll, and a chocolate dessert. I can’t rate anything on this plate besides the beef (which tasted better than it looked), and the bread (which was drier than my bleached hair). Overall: 2.5 hours of flying with food served, and we got from point A to B, with minor delays: no complaints (other than my long whining paragraph above).

As far as hotel – we came back to the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons hotel. We chose this one because a) this Four Seasons hotel has better location vs their other Four Seasons hotel, b) we love the Four Seasons, and c) we’ve stayed here once with amazing memories so why not. Well, I can’t believe these words are coming out of my keyboard but this time, it has to be one of the worst stays, especially with the Four Seasons standards, I’ve had in recent years. What has gone wrong?

Before you start reading this list of “wrongness”, please keep in mind, we’re talking about the Four Seasons hotels brand. They’re known for their impeccable customer service, and although some of their properties may be older than others, they have a very strong and loyal customer base who would choose them over any others. We’re one of their loyal customers. So, let’s see: No welcome note/ amenities, no replacement of tea mugs (for 3 out of 4 nights of our stay), cleaning rags and dirty cups left behind after the cleaning service (at least twice), and missed turndown service once. I may sound completely nuts here, but IYKYK – this is not the Four Seasons hotel’s standard, isn’t it?

Their room is quite spacious, though (for a suite, but also just coming back from Europe, maybe we were skewed in terms of room size), and the location cannot be beat, especially if shopping on Rodeo Drive is on the agenda. We also ran through the Flats one morning, and that was awesome!

The pool – no bueno. It’s tiny. Yes, it’s a city hotel, but I’ve seen other city hotels with much better pools than this. And their gym is also … meh? Why have two floors with the same thing on both? Weights, treadmills, Peloton bikes, and ellipticals are available on both. But none of them are optimized for space, or good/new machines for a good workout. Luckily, all I really needed this time was space to do a proper warmup before our runs (and race). This gym was a hard pass.

Oh, sorry – me complaining about a Four Seasons hotel? Who am I? But this is my genuine and honest opinion- I am not blinded by any particular brand, after all, huh?!

The Food

There is positivity about this trip, though (YES!) – it’s the food. All the places we’ve eaten were a solid 4.5 or 5/5 in my books. This is where I question myself as a Washingtoner: why can’t we have the same thing? And, the funny thing is, some of the places we visited weren’t loved by their locals. Let’s run them down.

1. Croft Alley coffee

On Rodeo Drive, and this place slaps. I didn’t try their coffee or matcha, so no comment on that, but the food is 5/5. Toby had their avocado toasts with scrambled eggs three times, some tuna on crispy rice, and chicken sausages. I had harissa chicken with brown rice (twice) and their steak and eggs bowl with rice (once), along with Arnold Palmer and Iced Tea drinks. Honestly, their food flavors were on point. I don’t know what else to say. They’re consistently busy every time we were there (and it was late afternoon, lunchtime, and morning time), but never too crowded that there were no seats. If you’re in the area and are hungry, SKIP Erewhon and cross the street to go here. Promise!

2. NongLa – Vietnamese Restaurant in Le Brea

I’m 1000% Vietnamese, so I am critical of the food. (Don’t get me started on the Anchovies and Salt restaurant here in Renton!). So, when I say NongLa food is decent, it’s decent. It’s not the best Viet food I’ve ever had, but if I’m hungry and this is one of the options, most likely I’ll say to eat there. Toby devoured his lemongrass grilled chicken bowl; his only complaint was that the rice could have been broken rice. I had a grilled pork vermicelli bowl, and yes, it’s a hard dish to mess up, but they also did well with the grilled pork, with their nuoc mam, and with their egg roll. 3.5/5 for me. The servers were both friendly, there was AC, the door was open promptly at 11:30am (not like EVERYWHERE ELSE in LA OPENING THEIR RESTAURANTS AT NOON – what?!). The ONE thing that I would have noted is – what’s up with the name? What’s even Nongla? Nong La? Did they mean Non La (the Vietnamese conical hat)? Did they mean Nong LA (like, Hot LA)?

3. Matu Steakhouse

It was our second time at this place – a repeat! I have to say, they’ve come a long way. Two years ago, we went for dinner and easily found a reservation. At the time, the restaurant wasn’t very crowded. Fast forward to today, lines were outside at the door right before they were open, and every single table (including the bar) was filled at 5:30pm. I was glad to see it.

Their food was excellent – we were still full from a late lunch, so we didn’t order much: shrimp cocktails, a carpaccio, a grilled branzino for me, a NY strip steak for Toby, and fries, along with spicy margs. Every dish was truly delicious: the shrimp cocktail sauce was spicy; the fish and steak were both cooked well, with balanced flavors, and the drinks were good and spicy. The vibes were vibing – people were enjoying themselves, our server was friendly, and everything was good. I wouldn’t say it was exceptional, as nothing really blew our minds. Additionally, there was no bread service or more options for bread, except for garlic cheese bread, which we didn’t get due to my lactose intolerance. I was trying to keep up with my carb content because of my half-marathon race that weekend, so it was a bit disappointing. Nevertheless, 4/5 would recommend and would come back.

4. Motherwolf – or Mother of all Italian food in the states??

LA people, before you tell me that this restaurant ain’t it – well, it is to me, haha. I can’t comprehend the bad reviews for this place, for real. The location might be a little rough, but it’s inside an older building with amazing decor, and the place was popping that night we went. Food was, I don’t know, 5/5? Yes, it was. We got: their famous bread, their famous prawns (no, we didn’t get the butternut squash blossoms – although our server was adamant we had to), the ragu meatballs, the oxtail ragu pasta, and the branzino. Yes, it was quite a lot of food, and yes, we ate them all (maybe a bit of the branzino was left, but mostly the kale). Bread: DELICIOUS. Prawns: VERY VERY GOOD. Meatballs: NO NOTE. Oxtail Ragu: I WOULD FLY BACK JUST FOR THIS. Branzino was pretty decent, although I think I had overdone it with branzino at this point. Drinks were good, as well!

If anyone thinks they’ve had better pasta than that oxtail ragu, please tell me where (besides Italy, please, c’mon). Sure, maybe Evan Funke is a bit overhyped (depends on who you ask) but if you’re at this level, people will be a lot more critical on his food. To me, Evan Funke, you’ve got me.

(Sorry, no pics of the pasta and branzino because they were THAT good).

5. KATO

Kato … I shed a tear for them, truly, because I was so proud to be an Asian while I was there, tasting these amazing dishes that honestly I was skeptical could be done in that way. Tasting menus, besides sushi omakase, aren’t really easy for an Asian menu. Similarly, with Vietnamese food, fine dining poses a significant challenge, and I’m not sure why, given that I am not a chef, but I haven’t seen it.. Ramie in Seattle serves exceptional Vietnamese food that is elevated, but not at the fine dining level, and I’m perfectly okay with that. An An in Saigon, the city’s first Michelin-starred restaurant, was honestly disappointing for a Michelin-star establishment promising fine dining. Their food is fine, good, but not at that level, at least in my opinion. I’ve heard of a few fine dining restaurants popping up in Vietnam, and I’m eager to try them now, especially after Kato.

Kato has one Michelin star, and Chef Kato was recognized as Best Chef in LA by the James Beard Foundation. It’s a big deal. It also does not come cheap. Our total bill was about $1,300 for two people, including food, extras, and drinks. But you know what, it was worth it.

The menu consists of eight tasting courses, with an additional two that can be added at an extra cost. We went ahead and added the lobster course, accompanied by a few cocktails ordered between the two of us. Guests also have the option to do a wine, cocktail, or non-alcoholic beverage pairing.

First things first: the cocktails. The drinks were strong and creative. Not the type of trying-too-hard creative (meaning too many flavors mixed up that end up tasting like everything but nothing at the same time), but thoughtfully creative. I’m not an expert in cocktails, but Toby is, and he knows a thing or two about a good cocktail, and according to him, their drinks all sounded interesting and tasted a) unexpected and b) quite tasty. From my POV, I was very impressed with their glassware collection (that they sourced themselves, vintage kind only), and they would leave no guests with a warm glass of cocktails at any time. They changed my glass to a new & nicely cold one when I took way too long to sip the martini. P/S: How could people drink a martini so fast? They’re basically just alcohol (a lot of it).

Now, onto the food. Asian fine dining is very new to me, sadly, but Kato delivers it. Every dish brought me back to these nostalgic childhood memories, and I am not even Taiwanese. From one Asian to another, we know Asian food is always flavorful. We’re not shy to add ingredients or seasonings that bring out the saltiness, sweetness, tartness, and bitterness of any dish. Kato does that very well, but with nods to their root and community. Take the “Soured Vegetable” course, as a Vietnamese, I immediately thought of “Canh Dua Chua” (a pickled mustard green soup with pork ribs). I even told Toby that if they’d given me a tub of that to take home, I would have happily drunk it. I was very happy with the meal.

This post isn’t supposed to be a detailed review of Kato, so I won’t go into every single dish we have. I will repeat it, I cried a happy tear. Even, and especially, the dessert courses. That melon, that mango. Darn it, I’m hungry typing this out.

If you have the budget for it, and want to support an Asian establishment in the wake of the ongoing Asian hate in America, or simply just want to enjoy good food but maybe in different/ uncommon flavors for you, or want to impress your date, or you visit LA and want to check out a well-rewarded restaurant (like us!), I don’t think you’d be disappointed with Kato.

All in all, I had a great time in Los Angeles – Toby got to visit his favorite city, and we got to do our trial races before heading to the official half-marathon in Washington state in the next couple of weeks. Bonus points were all of the delicious food and drinks we got to enjoy. Disppointed with the hotel situation, but a memorial trip nevetheless.

P/S: It may be time for me to revisit the 10-ranked Four Season hotels list!! Stay tuned as we do have a couple of new additions to that list!