Bar Marmont - Reinvented

If you know me at all, you know that I love sharing food. I embrace restaurants with menus that allow me to taste multiple items without feeling like I am about to explode. Bar Marmont has a fabulous new menu from a chef who hails from the Spotted Pig in New York. Foodies will love the variety of items. The burger is insanely good and the crazy-big popovers are truly a wonder, though too bready for me. The B & T crowd made me a little nuts. I recommend hitting it up on a Monday or Tuesday to avoid them.

Akasha - Culver City Strikes Again

So, my fiance insists that Culver City reminds him too much of Rancho Cucamonga for his taste. I respectfully disagree. It is littered with fabulous places to dine, including newbie Akasha. The decor is a standout - industrial chic concrete floors, large windows, and soaring ceilings. The food is great, too. Sustainable cuisine with lots of meat and veggies for everyone. The Rustic Mushroom Tart was fantastic, as were the Heritage Country Pork Chop and the Asian Style Braised Short Ribs. Desserts were great, too. One of the best Creme Brulees I have ever had. I highly recommend taking a trip down to see what's cooking in Culver City.

The Loudest Restaurants in L.A.

I'm just going to pick three off the top of my head.

1. The Penthouse. Such a beautiful space and the worst acoustics ever set high atop the Huntley Hotel. The decor is pretty stunning so I will go in once in awhile for lunch or a meeting and it's much better. Once the evening rolls around you can hear everyone and anything. www.thehuntleyhotel.com.

2. Comme Ca. OK I love Comme Ca and everything Chef David Myers does, but it is very loud at dinner time here too. Brunch was better, but I want to go back for dinner. Can't they put sound absorbers under seats? I've seen that done before. But I love the cheese counter and am going back soon. www.commecarestaurant.com.

3. STK. The new steakhouse (in the old Bridge space on La Cienega) is quite the scene at the moment. We sat next to the loudest two women I've ever heard in my life, but the rest of the place was quite noisy as well. I'm not going back, but the decor is cool and the menu is good enough. Maybe wait till the scene dies down. The bistro room might be more mellow. www.stkla.com.

Foxy Lady

SBE is taking over the world. Not only do they own Katsuya (Hollywood and Brentwood), S Bar, Area, Hyde Lounge, The Abbey and god knows what else, they have revamped the space between Dan Tana's and The Troubadour. And am I the only one noticing that their corporate offices on Beverly keep getting bigger? I love them for giving me Katsuya's baked crab roll and robata corn within 100 yards of my front door, but I don't like the SBE logo on the coasters. Foxtail, a "supper club" (ironic since there's like six main entrees) and bottle service only lounge is worth checking out, but maybe just if you're going to a show next door. The decor melds opulent Art Deco with 1970s glam, which is sort of an odd mix. Expect lots of stained glass, glass tile walls, wing tip chairs and waitresses in Biba-designed striped dresses with patterned tights. The service is top-notch and they have unlimited bottled water for $3! I had a fantastic wild striped bass and Tim had tender Colorado lamb. The real star though was the chocolate bread pudding -- definitely in my top three of all time. www.sbe.com/foxtail

Murano on Melrose

I had been driving by this spot almost weekly and finally had the chance to go in for drinks and appetizers last night. The space is stunning -- stark white with punctuations of color in the form of 25-plus Murano glass chandeliers -- and the lounge is spacious with a full bar and plenty of seating. The main dining room has red chandeliers and sconces (my favorites), but the deep eggplant ones in the front room are custom made and one-of-a-kind. We had the roasted beet salad with Humboldt goat cheese and pistachios and the too-good-to-be-true risotto fries. Chef Kristi Ritchey is a 26-year-old wonder who hails from the Patina Group. In addition to nightly dinner, Murano does happy hour and Sunday brunch as well. www.murano9010.com.

Great Find in Little Little Tokyo

Japanese BBQ is all the rage these days and Manpuku is where it's at. The Sawtelle flagship (there's another location in Costa Mesa) in West L.A. serves Korean food prepared Japanese style. The meats are almost unseasoned (unlike the soy-marinated versions at other places) and come with a sweet, light dipping sauce. The grill sits in the middle of your table and everything from the mushrooms to the shrimp to the skirt steak cook fairly quickly. Oh and I had an amazing order of garlic rice (I usually skip rice altogether, but my friend insisted) and it was insanely good. There's also Korean favorites like kalbi, bi bim bap and kimchi and the crowd is mostly Asian, which is always a good sign.

www.manpuku.us

Taix One to Know One

Los Angeles is notorious for being a city of extremes. And one of the most interesting in my book is the difference between "new money" Angelinos and "old money" Angelinos. New moneyed Angelinos dump their CL500 as soon as the new CL550 comes out. Old moneyed Angelinos just keep driving their 500 SEC. New moneyed Angelinos buy a diamond studded Breitling Bentley. Old moneyed Angelinos wear the Patek they received from their parents. New moneyed Angelinos tear down in Manhattan Beach. Old moneyed Angelinos restore in Hancock Park. New moneyed Angelinos swill Cristal. Old moneyed Angelinos sip Chateau Margeaux. New moneyed Angelinos party with Ron Jeremy. Old moneyed Angelinos mingle with Francis Ford. Admittedly, most of Los Angeles seems to be teeming with new moneyed Angelinos (read the west side) and restaurants for new moneyed Angelinos to lavishly and ostentatiously spend their home equity line of credit. Luckily, there are still a few places where the fiscally secure, those that obtained it the old fashioned way (they earned it) may dine in relative obscurity. Taix, I am happy to say, is one of those places.

Taix has been serving French food to old moneyed Angelinos since 1927; a time when the forefathers of most of them were just striking out to make the family fortune. And it has been at its present location on Sunset Boulevard near Echo Park since 1962. Looking at the menu the prices appear to be from 1962. Most appetizers can be had for less than $10.00 and most entrées for no more than $20.00. Appetizers include escargot, calamari and French onion soup (which can be ordered with a salad for a whopping $10.95) and entrées include New York steak, chop sirloin, trout, short ribs, salmon and roast chicken. For the princely sum of $20.95 one can have a prix fix dinner, which includes a daily special such as "Filet Mignon Grille Béarnaise" (Monday), "Paella Mediterranean" (Friday) or "Canard A L'Orange" (Saturday) and soup, salad and sherbet. Also, besides the obligatory basket of bread, Taix provides a complementary plate of carrots and celery. That's value!

The blinged-out Prada loafer wearing yellow Lamborghini driving new moneyed Angelino seeking to dine in an environ of concrete, bamboo, soft woods and abstract art (see Katsuya) will be sorely disappointed when arriving at Taix. As with the pricing scheme, the decor is also from 1962. The walls are brick and arched in the entrance and the adjacent lounge is lined with rich mahogany panels (a la Ron Burgundy's office). Prominently displayed are black and white pictures of Taix over the years that generally feature celebrities and political figures who are long dead. How we miss you former Los Angeles Mayor Noris Poulson (1953-1961)! The main dining room has floral printed high-backed booths, pastoral paintings of the sublime and an embossed ceiling of the type seen in old buildings in New York (a city noted for its old money set).

Given the prices, the food is surprisingly good. I had the sautéed boneless trout while my dining companions had the duck and the braised short ribs. All were cooked in the traditional French style with plenty of butter and flavor. The service is equally compelling. Our waitress was prompt, efficient and cordial. One could expect no more from thier private banker or director of their family office. Thus, upon completion of our meal, we made a blood pact that we would return. Note that Taix is no Orotolan (which screams new money, it's on third street for God's sake), but it's no Melting Pot either (which leads to screaming, its on Colorado in Pasadena for God's sake).

For those Angelinos with old money or those with no money, I recommend dining at Taix. It will make you feel like a Rockefeller.

Taix. 1911 Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90026. www.taixfrench.com