Originally Posted by
PsiFighter37
Catching up on the California (e.g. everything ex-San Francisco) release...glad to see Providence stayed at 2 stars. I went to Kato last year and absolutely loved it - was a steal for $75/person. I have wanted to try n/naka for some time, but it's a really tough place to get a reservation at, and I don't think I will make it anytime soon, sadly. I will hit up Dialogue in a couple weeks - excited about that. One place that I really enjoyed - but I can see why Michelin reviewers, given their tendencies towards being snooty, wouldn't give a star to - was LSXO in Huntington Beach. I absolutely loved that spot when I went for dinner.
I highly recommend Somni—and I won’t be surprised if it or n/naka eventually hit 3 stars. I can see Vespertine potentially getting there, too. We are returning to Providence next month for the first time in several years to see what they got cookin.
We plan to try for n/naka once the summer craziness ends. We did Urasawa before it changed locations, and it was stupendous—but we can’t say we really love omakase for the most part.
In the meantime, since we live in OC, we’ve got Taco Maria next week and Hanare the following week; both are restaurants we love. We also loved LSXO but I can’t see it getting a star. Same with my other OC favorites, Basilic and Marche Moderne.