Jessica Koslow

Steaks have been movie stars (John Travolta ordered one “bloody as hell” in “Pulp Fiction”) and used as weapons (one was hurled at John Heder’s face in “Napoleon Dynamite”). They have been devoured in eating challenges (John Candy in “The Great Outdoors”) and savored as comfort food (after dodging tornadoes in “Twister”). Whether celebrating or in the mood for a steak-out, Downtown Los Angeles offers quite a few options — with more opening every year. They range in style, including Brazilian and French and vibe. Reserve a spot at one of these top choices — and save an appetite.

This summer, Mastro’s, known for its steaks cooked 28 days, wet-aged in a 1,500-degree broiler, has rolled out its Summer of Luxury $100 prix fixe menu. Guests can choose an appetizer, entrée including a petite filet, fresh vegetables and potatoes and a dessert, including its signature warm butter cake.

“We feel that 28-day wet aging is the optimal time for flavor and for the beef to tenderize,” said Patrick Barrett, the divisional vice president of Mastro’s. “We use a house steak dry rub that’s proprietary and then put them on a broiler at 1,500 degrees, and those broilers get a nice sear on the steak, a nice crust, and lock in all the flavor.” . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

Ten million, 512,000 minutes: This is how long Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen has been serving the Santa Monica community and beyond with its casual, farmers market-driven approach to dining. During this time, co-owner Josh Loeb met his wife, Zoe Nathan, and had three kids. The kitchen launched the careers and provided a creative space for trailblazers including opening chef Samir Mohajir, Felix Trattoria’s Evan Funke, Birdie G’s Jeremy Fox and Beethoven Market’s Michael Leonard.

“It’s been a lot of everything,” said Loeb, who, along with his wife and business partner, grew up in Santa Monica. “My restaurant journey, it’s where I met so many friends — so much learning, so much success, so much failure. A lot has happened in the last 20 years, but I’m really grateful for it. It’s been an experience that shaped and changed my life in so many ways.”

Rustic Canyon received a Michelin star in 2019 and has been listed on the Los Angeles Times’ 101 Best Restaurants list. It was ranked No. 95 on Robb Report’s “100 Greatest Restaurants of the 21st Century” and was the first in the succession of the Rustic Canyon Family of Santa Monica restaurants: Huckleberry Bakery & Café (16 years), Sweet Rose Creamery (16 years), Milo & Olive (14 years), Cassia, Esters Wine Shop & Bar, Tallula’s, Milo SRO and Birdie G’s. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

There are quite a few things that stand out about Khan Saab Desi Craft Kitchen. It offers a zero-proof beverage program and a 100% halal (complying with Islamic dietary laws) menu. It is the first-ever Michelin-recognized Pakistani restaurant in Southern California and has received a Michelin Bib Gourmand every year since opening its first location in 2020 in Fullerton.

On July 16, chef-partner Imran Ali Mookhi opened the third location, following the second in Hawaiian Gardens, on Santa Monica Boulevard at 1st Street. It was formerly Tumbi Craft Indian Kitchen, and because the space was occupied by a restaurant, it only took about three to four months to transform it into Khan Saab Desi Craft Kitchen.

On the food menu are shareable, street-inspired dishes such as Pani Puri, goat cheese Kulcha with butter tomato sauce and the signature Sloppy Khan, a riff on a Sloppy Joe, filled with grass-fed wagyu beef. The beverage menu, curated by mixologist Ahmad Hosseini, offers refreshing mocktails such as the Basanti Ecstasy with lavender-infused molasses and lime and Devil’s Kiss with passion fruit, lime and jalapeño. . . .

Read the entire article in The Argonaut.

The nearly century-old yacht that hosted Sir Winston Churchill and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, appeared in the Netflix series “Griselda” about a Colombian cartel leader and possibly evacuated hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo in 1940 is now open to the public for dining, cocktails and music on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at California Yacht Club’s (CYC) F-100 Dock in Marina del Rey.

Named Northwind, the 135-foot yacht has a storied past. Last year, its former owner, cinematographer and entrepreneur Tom Jones, shared the rich details in a profile for Boat International.

The short story of Northwind starts in Wisconsin in May 1930 at the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, which only built two yachts — the bulk of its output being commercial vessels. It has room for eight guests and 12 crew members. Over the years, Churchill supposedly painted landscapes on the aft deck and Onassis joined Greek shipping family magnate Marcos Nomikos on holiday in June 1961. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

This summer has been spectacular for Chef Jon Yao and Kato, the Downtown LA Taiwanese American restaurant co-owned by its wine director, Ryan Bailey. Kato has been named the winner of the 2026 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program, marking its second consecutive James Beard Foundation Award after Yao received the Best Chef: California award in 2025.

Kato also received its second Michelin star, becoming one of only four two-star restaurants in Los Angeles. It received its first in 2019, three years after opening in its original location in West LA.

“I think it’s always been a personal goal of ours to take a fine-dining restaurant to that level of accolade,” said Yao. “But at the end of the day, we stay open and are open because of our diners and the people that support us. It’s a great validation for our staff and the hard work and the intensity they put into their day-to-day and their passion, but it’s also for our diners who have stuck with us for so long. I’ve met so many incredible people and friends throughout the decade we’ve been operating.” . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

What a difference a year (or a little more) makes. Since March 2025, Westchester’s beloved Californian farm-to-table restaurant Tomat was added to the California Michelin Guide, received a 2026 Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence and was named one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America and added to the LA Times 101 Best Restaurants list.

It is almost too good to be true — but not when the chef is Harry Posner, who is of Persian heritage and has worked at The Clove Club in London and INUA in Tokyo, and your general manager is Miley Aryucharoen, who was named one of Punch’s Best New Bartenders of 2026. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

Summer at Artelice Patisserie is special. Its three locations — West LA, Burbank and Studio City — are now serving mini fruit pastries and fruit Pavlovas made with produce sourced from farmers markets. Think peach, mango and strawberry — or peanut and pistachio.

Although the summer brings seasonal sweets, the pastry case at Artelice Patisserie is a sight to behold all year. 

“In our culture, whenever anything happens — you have a child, you go to anybody’s house, you buy a car, you marry someone — it’s a cultural thing that you buy pastries,” said Artelice co-owner Farid Azarang. “It has to visually look great, and it also has to taste great.” . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

Level 8 is like the board game Candy Land but for adults. Instead of Lollipop Woods and Peanut Acres, guests can visit Japanese eatery Lucky Mizu and Mr. Wanderlust piano bar and jazz lounge. This first-of-its-kind dining, drinking and entertainment experience, which spans 30,000 square feet indoors and outdoors, occupies the entire eighth floor of the Moxy and AC Hotel Downtown Los Angeles. It includes eight establishments, ranging from The Brown Sheep food truck serving street food favorites to Sinners y Santos, a cathedral-inspired nightlife playground. 

Inspired by their travels around the world, twin brothers Mark and Jonnie Houston of Houston Hospitality partnered with Lightstone to debut Level 8 in 2023. 

Celebrated L.A. chef Ray Garcia helms both The Brown Sheep and Qué Bárbaro, a steak and seafood live fire grill restaurant. He was drawn to the opportunity to create a concept that could bring live-fire cooking and a strong point of view into a larger hospitality experience. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

Mastro’s opened its first location in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1999. Today, it has 20 locations across 15 major markets. Yet, there are a few things that have remained the same: The seafood tower arrives over a cloud of dry ice. The butter cake arrives warm. The steaks are cooked 28 days, wet-aged in a 1,500-degree broiler.

“We feel that 28-day wet aging is the optimal time for flavor and for the beef to tenderize,” said Patrick Barrett, the Divisional VP of Mastro’s. “We use a house steak dry rub that’s proprietary and then put them on a broiler at 1,500 degrees, and those broilers get a nice sear on the steak, a nice crust, and lock in all the flavor.”

Mastro’s is a place to celebrate special occasions, indulge before or after a game at Crypto.com Arena or Dodgers Stadium or dine after a long day at the Los Angeles Convention Center. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

Last week, Camélia celebrated its second birthday with a week of by-the-glass pours featuring some of the wine world’s most coveted producers.

“We opened a bunch of bottles of wine that are meaningful to us and that are sort of rare and in some cases fancy,” said Camélia’s beverage director and co-owner Courtney Kaplan. “Things that normally we would not be pouring by the glass, but we decided to open them up and share with our guests coming in as sort of a celebratory gesture.”

This week, from July 13-15, Camélia is offering Bastille Day (which is actually on July 14) specials, including plateau de fruits de mer, steak frites au poivre and bubbly (both wine and sake) available by the glass. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.