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Eater
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
The Best Dishes Eater Editors Ate This Week: July 28
The editors at Eater LA dine out several times a week, if not per day, which means we're always encountering standout dishes that deserve time in the limelight. Here's the very best of everything the team has eaten this week. Xiao long bao tortelloni from Kato's Summer Series with Funke in Downtown LA Xiao long bao tortelloni from Kato's summer series with Funke Rebecca Roland The latest installment of Kato's Summer Series, a dinner collaboration series bringing chefs from across LA to Row DTLA to collaborate with the restaurant, welcomed Evan Funke. On Sunday night, Funke could be spotted in the corner of the spacious tasting menu restaurant, clad in a denim shirt and apron, rolling out sheets of pasta by hand. Each dish channeled a bit of Funke and Yao, like chile crisp-topped burrata and tomatoes, and cacio e pepe tossed with zingy Taiwanese pepper. But the xiao long bao tortelloni stood out among the other dishes, with its carefully folded edges holding back rich broth. The outer was thinner than most pasta and slightly chewier than the usual xiao long bao, filled with pork and prawn. There was only one in the dish, but I would've been happy if the entire meal were just a steamer full of these. It's nice to see a fine dining restaurant let loose a little at collaborations, with hip-hop blaring over the speakers, and menus that read like a chef's fever dream. 777 S. Alameda Street, Building 1, Suite 114, Los Angeles, CA 90021. — Rebecca Roland, deputy editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Dry pepper fried tofu from Mala Class in Highland Park Dry pepper fried tofu from Mala Class in Highland Park. Rebecca Roland There is something about hot days that makes me crave spicy food, specifically Sichuan spice. On a recent afternoon when the sun was beating down on the city, I found myself in Highland Park looking for some heat. I tucked into jewel-boxed-sized Mala Class, a neighborhood Sichuan restaurant that punches well above its weight, and price point. The tight menu comprises mapo tofu, dumplings in chile oil, dan dan noodles, and a handful of other dishes. My favorite from the lineup was the dry pepper fried tofu, with crispy pieces of tofu dotted in numbing Sichuan peppers. The spice mix was flavorful, while still packing a punch, and the tofu cubes were fried until crispy on the outside with a still-soft interior. Each bite just made me want another, chased by bits of rice and dumplings every so often. 5816 York Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90042. — Rebecca Roland, deputy editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Smoked double-fried chicken wings from Happies Hand Made in the Arts District Smoked double-fried chicken wings from Happies Hand Made in the Arts District. Matthew Kang By now, the word on Joshua Skenes' Happies Hand Made has shown up on multiple social media accounts touting the fried chicken, like Hungry in LA's Eddie Sanchez declaring it his new favorite fried chicken in LA. While declaring anything comprised of chicken tenders (the least-interesting part of the bird) as the best fried chicken is initially suspect, Skenes does make a really delicious bird coated in a salsa macha and dried chile seasoning. Skenes quietly rolled out his double-fried cherrywood smoke chicken wings last week, served over a golden-brown waffle that he once topped with caviar at his temporarily closed Leopardo on La Brea Avenue. The wings are juicy and sweet with smoke flavor, cracker-like on the outside, and incredibly satisfying to eat. Skenes himself is often mixing drinks or prepping orders up front, with the line of customers not realizing the former chef of a three-Michelin-star restaurant (Saison) is making some of the best comfort food in Los Angeles right now. Or maybe they do realize that Skenes has poured so much energy into simple, reasonably priced food, and that's why they're willing to wait. 427 S. Hewitt Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90013. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Baja tuna tower at the Koast and Crossroads collaborative dinner in Hollywood Koast. Wonho Frank Lee It's always a delight when a dinner collaboration goes right; I always appreciate the effort brought about by chefs and operators preparing a meal together, but the meal is not always a great fit. But when Crossroads chef Tal Ronnen joined Koast chefs Kevin Meehan and Michael Kerner on July 24, everything hit. Ronnen created dishes that reinvented some of Koast's most memorable bites through a vegan lens, like a dreamy watermelon crudo, spectacular lobster mushroom cake, and citrusy rambutan ceviche. My crew nabbed a few Koast dishes a la carte, and all agreed that the Baja tuna tower filled with Baja bluefin tuna, avocado, and tons of tobiko fish eggs is worth returning for. It's as creamy as one would hope and bursting with roe. In short, it's a gorgeous bite of the ocean from the two Koast chefs served in a stunning and intimate room with an entry that's dramatic and fitting for the concept. I've been admiring Ronnen's menu at Crossroads for years, and now it's clearly time for me to make regular stops at Koast to try the rest of the menu. 6623 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90038 — Mona Holmes, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Eater LA All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
The 'other' Michelin award travellers should know
Long overshadowed by the coveted Michelin stars, the Bib Gourmand celebrates the world's best budget-friendly restaurants. When the latest Michelin Guide to California was published in June, most headlines focused on its starred restaurants, including Hollywood's seafood-focused Providence. At the awards ceremony, it joined a rarified global club of eateries with three stars, Michelin's highest honour – one reserved for lofty cuisine and prices to match. Multi-course menus at Providence start at $325 (£240). Even their poached egg, that humble breakfast staple, comes with sea urchin and Champagne beurre blanc. (For an extra $40 (£30), you can zhuzh it up with golden Kaluga caviar, too.) Sublime as it may be, such fare bears little resemblance to my most memorable meals in Los Angeles. Like the spicy, aromatic toothpick lamb at Chengdu Taste, a no-frills Szechuan eatery in an Alhambra strip mall. Or the chile relleno burritos from East LA stalwart La Azteca Tortilleria, its house-made flour wrappers spilling piquant salsa across my lap. Even if they swapped their paper napkins for starched linen and played soft piano in the background – rumoured to be among the criteria for earning a coveted Michelin star – neither eatery is likely to obtain one. "Stars are oriented towards a certain kind of restaurant… often it's white tablecloths and tasting menus," said food writer and Eater editor Rebecca Roland, who grew up in LA and covered the most recent Michelin rollout. "The guide still considers a traditional fine dining experience very heavily." However, both Chengdu Taste and La Azteca Tortilleria appear on Michelin's lesser-known list: the Bib Gourmand, which recognises budget-friendly restaurants around the world. Unlike starred places, many LA "Bibs" are low-key local favourites; Roland mentioned hefty pastrami sandwiches at Langer's Delicatessen as one unmissable example. "I can't imagine someone coming to LA and not telling them to go to Langer's," she said. Such places help explain why Bib Gourmands have become a go-to resource for many foodie travellers. But curiously, even three decades after its launch, the Bib Gourmand can still feel like an open secret. "When you go to a Bib Gourmand, it's like you're wrapped in the people, the culture, the ingredients," said Ben Beale, a frequent traveller from Los Angeles who has sought out Bibs in cities like London and Hanoi. The Vietnamese capital has an impressive 22 Bibs, including renowned pho shop Phở Bò Lâm, which is famous for its beef heel muscle soups and where diners crouch on flimsy plastic stools. Beale used to plan his trips around Michelin-starred restaurants, making reservations weeks in advance. But he began to feel the high-end spots lacked the strong sense of place he found at Bibs. Instead, he started using the Michelin Guide app to search out more impromptu meals. "With Bib Gourmands it's more like, 'we're going to bounce up to London, let's just open the app when we're hungry and see what's about'," he said. Bib Gourmands versus Michelin stars The Bibs are relatively recent additions to the storied guidebook. The first Michelin Guide came out in 1900, a marketing ploy by the eponymous French tyre manufacturers hoping to inspire drivers to hit the road. In 1926, Michelin established "stars" for stand-out spots. It wasn't until 1997 that the guides introduced the modern Bib Gourmand symbol, a cartoon Michelin man licking his lips. (Bib is short for "Bibendum", the puffy mascot's official name.) "The Bib Gourmand award highlights restaurants that our inspectors consider to be the best value for money," explained the anonymous Chief Inspector for the Michelin Guide North America by email. Meals at Bibs generally include two courses and wine or dessert for under $50 (£37) and are more relaxed than starred meals. "There's no set formula for a Bib restaurant," the inspector added. "They are all unique." While the modern Bib Gourmand was launched in 1997, it lacks the stars' cultural status. "Not many people know the Bib Gourmand award… they see 'Michelin' and think it's a star," said Aylin Okutan Kurt, co-owner of Karaköy Lokantası, a Bib Gourmand restaurant in Istanbul's , waterfront Karaköy neighbourhood. Kurt sometimes has to explain the difference to tourists arriving at her restaurant. Among locals, Karaköy Lokantası is beloved for reverential renditions of traditional Turkish dishes, its kitchen wringing such depth of flavour from familiar recipes that it reminds diners why they attained "classic" status in the first place. At dinner, tables are crowded with small plates best accompanied by generous pours of the aniseed-scented spirit rakı. One Istanbul friend described it as "the kind of restaurant you visit if you live in Istanbul and really love living in Istanbul". On a spring visit last year, I joined the lunchtime crowd for plates of hünkar beğendi, meat-topped smoked aubergine that's pure Turkish comfort food. At the next table over, a trio of women shared fried mantı (meat-filled dumplings) doused in silky yoghurt. With its blue-tiled walls and well-heeled clientele, Karaköy Lokantası is undeniably elegant, but Kurt insists it isn't Michelin star material. The cooking is homier than what she called the "chef food" at Istanbul's starred restaurants. Those, like two-starred Turk Fatih Tutak, are more likely to feature deconstructed – rather than classic – versions of the recipes her own kitchen makes each day. Yet, traditional foods are one reason travellers seek out Bib Gourmands over Michelin stars in the first place. "When I'm going to a new country, I want to try authentic foods," said James Zhang, a traveller from Plano, Texas. "I'm not necessarily looking to try the most cutting-edge foods from chefs." Earlier this year, Zhang visited a series of Bib Gourmand restaurants in France with his family. At La Merenda in Nice, they savoured southern French classics including pistou pasta and stuffed and fried courgette blossoms. "It just really stood out to us," Zhang said. "There were a lot of locals there, and it felt like you really got to experience something unique." What Michelin stars miss Not all Bib Gourmand restaurants serve traditional regional cuisine. In fact, some argue they reflect the kind of culinary diversity that Michelin stars tend to miss. In a 2024 analysis, French data scientist Thomas Pernet found that French, Italian and Japanese cuisines are disproportionately represented among starred restaurants. He also noted that while Japanese food is widely celebrated, other non-Western cuisines can face bias and have historically been undervalued abroad. More like this:• How do restaurants actually get a Michelin star?• The ingenious story behind Michelin stars• A two-Michelin-star chef's guide to the best dining spots in Istanbul In Los Angeles County, home to more Asian American and Pacific Islanders than any other US county, just two non-Japanese Asian restaurants – Taiwanese-inspired Kato and Korean Restaurant Ki – have Michelin stars. Ki is a new addition. In the same area, the starred list includes two French and two Italian eateries. I thought of Pernet's research earlier this year when I covered the launch of the first Michelin Guide to Quebec. All three newly Michelin-starred restaurants in Montreal specialised in tasting menus of French cuisine. That raised eyebrows in a multicultural city that may be majority French-speaking but is certainly not French. (It was one of many online critiques, with one headline reading: "Michelin doesn't understand Montreal".) Yet the city's Bib Gourmand list was full of restaurants that felt more representative of the city's characteristic culinary style and diversity. There was the Syrian and Armenian cuisine of Le Petit Alep, where I've lingered over muhammara dip, its rich walnuts offset by the sharp tang of pomegranate molasses. Rotisserie chicken, a local staple that melds working-class Quebecois roots and foods brought by waves of Portuguese immigrants, was represented by Rôtisserie La Lune in the city's Little Italy. Would I eat at the city's three newly Michelin-starred dining rooms, with their French-inflected menus and impossible reservations? Sure; they're probably great. But as a traveller, I'm more inclined to seek out the affordable, diverse and vividly local thrills that Bibs offer. Perhaps I'll follow in the footsteps of fellow aficionado Beale. I'll wait until I'm hungry, look at the map and see if I can find a table at the closest Bib Gourmand. -- For more Travel stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
Eater
18-07-2025
- Eater
4 Restaurants to Try This Weekend in Los Angeles: July 18
The views from Kassi will be worth the price of admission this summer. Wish You Were Here Group Every Friday, our editors compile a trusty list of recommendations to answer the most pressing of questions: 'Where should I eat?' Here now are four places to check out this weekend in Los Angeles. And if you need some ideas on where to drink, here's our list of the hottest places to get cocktails in town. For Guatemalan flavors plus a solid music playlist: Ulew Coffee & Juice in Boyle Heights When venturing out for morning or afternoon coffee, go beyond the expected spots, especially ones with long lines and (oftentimes) much hype. Colorful and delicious alternatives await at Ulew Coffee & Juice, a Guatemalan cafe located blocks away from the popular Boyle Heights strip where seafood taco specialists Mariscos Jalisco and Mariscos 4 Vientos are situated. This is an ideal LA corridor for an afternoon hangout where inventive drinks hail from the owner's Guatemalan and LA roots, like the barrio latte with condensed milk, Mayan mocha, and an elegant latte balanced with the perfect amount of espresso and cardamom. If at Ulew for bites, opt for the flavorful tuna melt, breakfast sandwich with pesto, avocado, eggs, cheese, turkey, chili oil, and pickled jalapeños. Preparing fresh juice is how the family-operated cafe got its start before opening its brick-and-mortar in early 2024. Try a 12-ounce cup of fresh carrot juice, or the Sientete Bien made with pineapple, turmeric, orange, ginger, and lemon. The seating area is colorful and pleasant, with plenty of cozy nooks to sit and escape into. 1300 S. Soto Street, Unit 9, Los Angeles, CA 90023. — Mona Holmes, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For road trip pizza: Woodstock's in San Luis Obispo Woodstock's Pizza & Backyard. Rebecca Roland There are plenty of excellent stops on the road between Los Angeles and San Francisco, whether it be a breakfast burrito in Santa Barbara or a roadside snack in Paso Robles. But as someone who has done the drive up the 101 plenty of times, my go-to midpoint stop is in San Luis Obispo. On a recent trip up, I popped into Woodstock's, a local pizza parlor that's open fairly late. The room was abuzz even past 10 p.m., with groups sipping on IPAs and digging into slices. The pizza here is fluffier than the average New York-style slice, with a zesty red sauce folded into the crust. Classics like pepperoni, sausage, and vegetables are available, but Woodstock's also tops its pies with less traditional ingredients like carnitas and butter chicken. After a slice from here, the rest of the drive is a breeze. 1000 Higuera Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 — Rebecca Roland, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For a Venice rooftop view with Greek meze: Kassi Club in Venice Kassi Venice Beach. Wish You Were Here Group Venice's longtime rooftop destination at the Hotel Erwin just got flipped into Kassi Club, a Greekish restaurant with a creamy beige color palette that's sure to please the Instagram crowd. Here, find amorphous Mediterranean restaurant standards like hand-pulled flatbreads and meze; lamb meatballs swiped with something sweet, like pomegranate molasses; and, of course, Greek salad — but also less expected fare like spanakopita quesadillas crowned with green-chile yogurt, crispy saganaki, and zhoug orzo flanked by whipped feta. The food and drink are virtually just the price of admission for one of the most sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and humming Venice Beach Boardwalk you can find in this part of town. Grab a woven blanket from the friendly service staff as the sun begins to set. Once it dips behind the mountains, the lingering summer warmth quickly turns cold. 1697 Pacific Avenue, Venice, CA 90291. — Nicole Adlman, Eater cities manager For a ''tasting menu'' that's not a tasting menu with inventive flavors: Baby Bistro in Echo Park/Victor Heights Raspberries, turnips, and tofu from Baby Bistro in Victor Heights. Matthew Kang Miles Thompson has come full service with his tasting menu in Victor Heights, essentially on the border of Echo Park, landing here 11 years after he closed Allumette on the other side of the neighborhood. Back then, Jonathan Gold called his food Etsy-style haute cuisine, and it seems the chef, who has since worked at Michael's in Santa Monica, has mostly retained this inventive streak of upscale dining at a reasonable price point. Baby Bistro isn't a technically tasting menu, it's fully a la carte with just a handful of options that change regularly (the onion bread has remained since its days as a pop-up in Koreatown's Hotel Normandie). A few apps have become mainstays as well, like the raspberry-tinted Meiji tofu with turnips or pickled cucumbers with squid, both of which can have a bracing tanginess before settling into their intended melange of sweet, crunchy, and creamy (the bigreef squid pieces kind of resemble a creamy richness after a few bites, while the artisanal tofu is as luxurious as mozzarella). The vinegary theme continues with a summer corn salad, pops of sweetness from grape slivers, and the sensation of green beans actually coming from cactus slices. Prawns in a puttanesca are satisfying and fun, deeply umami with rounded allium acid, while the chicken sausage atop a bed of crunchy Job's tears grains is a hefty way to finish the savory portion. I left the meal as intrigued as I would be at a wine bar in Paris or East Village, maybe wondering if I should have had more than two glasses of wine to really let the flavors soak in. The dishes are basically a shared exploration of Thompson's understated vision of modern LA/California cuisine, and worth trying at least once, especially to explore 2019 Eater Young Gun Kae Whalen's thrilling wine list (a lush orange wine from Les Bories Jeffries paired great with the first few courses). I'm curious how Thompson will take this venue, a beautiful cottage with charm for days, through the seasons. Will the menu expand or remain focused on a handful of courses? Will it eschew big entrees for wine-centric share plates? I guess Baby Bistro will have to stay true to its name — diminutive, impressionable, endearing, and adorable, or else it will wander into the restlessness of a toddler. And no one wants that. 1027 Alpine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Related The 38 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Eater LA All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Eater
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
The Best Dishes Eater Editors Ate This Week: July 14
The editors at Eater LA dine out several times a week, if not per day, which means we're always encountering standout dishes that deserve time in the limelight. Here's the very best of everything the team has eaten this week. Mapo tofu and minced pork on rice from Pine & Crane in Silver Lake Pine & Crane. Meals at Pine & Crane have been a constant in my life for longer than I can remember. I've spent numerous nights in the lively dining room, sipping on Taiwanese beer and splitting plates of fluffy buns. The no-reservations set up keeps the restaurant a flexible option for any kind of night, and minimal pre-planning is needed to swing by. Lately, Pine & Crane has become part of my go-to takeout rotation. The minced pork over rice and mapo tofu travel incredibly well (as does most of the menu), and the affordable prices and generous portions mean that there are usually leftovers in the refrigerator for the next day. 1521 Griffith Park Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90026. — Rebecca Roland, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Cinnamon roll from Badash Bakes in Pasadena Cinnamon roll from Badash Bakes in Pasadena. Mona Holmes In a city where cinnamon rolls from non-corporate operators are fairly easy to find, it's always fantastic to find one that suits my personal taste. For me, the requirements include a balance of frosting, layers of cinnamon, and sweetness that is not overpowering, plus a well-proofed dough that is good hot or cold. Badash Bakes prepares one of LA's best cinnamon rolls that hits each of these perfectly, and it is easy to understand why entering Ashley Cunningham's Pasadena bakery is so popular. The display case is packed with cookies, brownies, lemon loaves, and two types of rolls (matcha and traditional), and more. Of all the delicious baked goods, the cinnamon rolls are replenished by staff the most often. Though the buzz surrounding Badash Bakes has definitely slowed down, it remains busy. If hanging out long enough, one will witness another patron bite into one of her celebrated cinnamon rolls with a reaction that's best described as euphoric. Actually, that was my response. As someone who isn't always attracted to sweets or dessert, Cunningham's cinnamon rolls are actually that good. As are her s'mores cookies and ceremonial grade matcha drinks. 247 E. Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, CA, 91101. — Mona Holmes, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Heirloom melon salad at Diner Antonette in Santa Monica In the height of summer, nothing is better than in-season melons. Diner Antonette's charming space in Santa Monica occupies the former Ingo's Tasty Diner, and feels like a kind of Musso & Frank west, though instead of pure silence at the old Hollywood haunt, it's booming bebop jazz played on a hi-fi system. The food is also much more contemporary, and this melon salad is proof positive. Chef Jordan Lynn takes delicate, even slices of melon with salty prosciutto, mache, and almond oil, which would feel appropriate in Italy right about now, except that he sprinkles on chile flakes for a Tajin-esque punch. The balanced assemblage felt so thoughtful and fun for a weekday dinner — an appetizer that doesn't fill you up before the mains. By the way, the crispy fried chicken with rowdy greens, the crust tinted with turmeric and juicy to the bone, is a stunning shareable entree to enjoy after this melon salad. 1213 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90403. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Sweet and sour mushroom at Men & Beasts in Echo Park Sweet and sour mushroom at Men & Beasts in Echo Park. Matthew Kang It's wild how quickly a new space can turn over in Los Angeles. The former Cosa Buona has been morphed into Men & Beasts (a reference to a Confucius quote), a modern Chinese restaurant that eschews meat, replacing everything with plant-based proteins. For the most part, the meat won't feel like it's really missing, and that is best illustrated in the sweet & sour mushroom, typically pork or chicken, but here breaded, fried, and seasoned to an appealing ruddy color. Each bite popped with tangy sauce and a gentle interior of what seemed like oyster mushrooms. Bites of cashew, garlic, and bell pepper bring in textural contrast. It's still fairly early in the Minty Zhu and Alex Falco's foray into the LA market (they were previously in Miami), but with their sleek patio and indoor tea lounge, it's clear Echo Park denizens have already bought into their plant-based approach to Chinese cuisine. 2100 W. Sunset Boulevard, Echo Park, CA, 90026. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Eater LA All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Eater
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Best Dishes New York Editors Ate This Week: July 14
With Eater editors dining out sometimes several times a day, we come across lots of standout dishes, and we don't want to keep any secrets. Check back for the best things we ate this week. Vodka slice at Jonny's Pizza After drinks in the neighborhood, I stopped into downtown pizzeria Jonny's Pizza for a vodka slice and an ice-cold drink to cut through the mid-July humidity. On a Monday night, the pizzeria was fairly quiet, with just a handful of people bent over the tall stainless steel counters with slices in front of them. After scanning the menu and peering into the open kitchen, the vodka slice ($5.25) caught my eye, dotted with moon-shaped globs of melted fior di latte. The vodka sauce was well-portioned on the slice, with enough of the flavor coming through without it feeling too wet. A light, but still puffy crust held it all together, keeping the slice foldable until the last bite. I only regret not ordering another. 173 Orchard Street, at Stanton Street, Lower East Side — Rebecca Roland, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest The spumoni adventure at L&B Spumoni Gardens. Nadia Chaudhury/Eater Northeast Spumoni ice cream mountain at L&B Spumoni Gardens Moving back to New York for this job is a nice, legitimate excuse to go to longtime restaurants that I've never been to, such as this 86-year-old pizzeria in South Brooklyn. My husband and I went on a double-date with friends, and ordered the Sicilian pie with half mushrooms and the other half plain. The crust was nice and fluffy, with a bit of sweetness in the tomato sauce that I balanced out with a ton of chile flakes. But the star was the dessert. Obviously, we had to get the namesake spumoni, an Italian icy, creamy concoction with pistachio, almonds, and chocolate hazelnut. We decided to get two orders among the four of us ($17). Gleefully, we were presented with this epically ginormous mountain of spumoni, surrounded by sectioned-up ice cream scoops with chocolate shells, along with all the sweet sauces, sprinkles, whipped cream, and cherries a person could want. There were four sugar cones, so we could each build our ice cream adventure. It was truly magical. 2725 86th Street, between West 10th and 11th streets, Gravesend — Nadia Chaudhury, editor, Northeast The rigatoni in a corn ragu at Cafe Spaghetti. Terri Ciccone/Eater Rigatoni in a corn ragu at Cafe Spaghetti This past weekend, summer was fully realized for me through a single dish at Cafe Spaghetti in Cobble Hill. After scoring a last-minute reservation to sit under an orange-and-white striped umbrella next to the blue Vespa stationed as the centerpiece of the restaurant's backyard, it was extremely easy to pretend I was sipping a particularly herbaceous spritz on a summery evening on the Amalfi Coast. Even if the atmosphere was just half as vibey, the perfectly cooked short rigatoni in a creamy and slightly sweet corn ragu ($24) tasted like the best summer has to offer every bite. The next day, as I was perusing the Prospect Park farmers market, I was reminded of the dish over and over again as corn, cherry tomatoes, and scallions burst literally and aromatically out of every stall, truly marking the dish as the perfect summer pasta. 126 Union Street, between Hicks and Columbia streets, Carroll Gardens — Terri Ciccone, deputy director of audience development The gambas at Frijoleros. Jaya Saxena/Eater Gambas at Frijoleros Some friends and I stopped into Greenpoint newcomer Frijoleros and found ourselves extremely pleasantly surprised by just about everything we ordered. The cocktails were bright and complex, and the food was already deeply compelling, for still being in soft-open mode. One standout was a plate of gambas, roast head-on shrimp in a mole-tinged sauce and beurre blanc we were all desperately trying to sop up with our remaining tortilla chips. 131 Greenpoint Avenue, near Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint — Jaya Saxena, Correspondent The fish sandwich at Greenpoint Fish & Lobster Co. Nat Belkov/Eater Fish sandwich at Greenpoint Fish & Lobster Co. Driving home from college in Massachusetts at the end of the school year with summer just around the corner, I took up an annual ritual of stopping at a seafood shack along the Connecticut coast to break up the trip. Nowadays, my life doesn't revolve around semesters, but the craving for a crispy fried fish sandwich ($20) blanketed in tartar sauce and slid into a squishy bun most definitely still hits. And this is where I go to satisfy it. 114 Nassau Avenue, at Eckford Street, Greenpoint — Nat Belkov, associate creative director A pint of Betty Jo's Ice Cream. Stephanie Wu/Eater Betty Jo's Ice Cream at Pop Up Grocer I've been trying to get my hands on Betty Jo's since they exploded onto the scene last summer with their pie crust lattice-topped pints. They've just landed at Pop Up Grocer, a mini-market near Washington Square Park filled with the buzzy direct-to-consumer brands you can't escape on Instagram. There are three flavors available: the Sweet Cherry Pie that they're known for, a Millionaire's Shortbread with caramel ice cream and shortbread, and Coney Island Queen with sprinkles and bits of ice cream cone. I went with the Sweet Cherry Pie ($13), and was delighted by the cherry and vanilla flavor of the ice cream, as well as the hefty amount of buttery pie crust chunks mixed within. Pro tip: If you don't see the flavor you want on the freezer shelf, ask if there are any more being stored downstairs. 205 Bleecker Street, at Sixth Avenue, Greenwich Village — Stephanie Wu, editor-in-chief
