Jonathan Gold, for those who don’t know who he is, non-Angelenos mainly, is the restaurant critic for the LA Weekly, among other fancier venues (Gourmet). An indefatigable explorer of the ever-spreading jungle of ethnic restaurants in Southern California, he has had more direct affect on my life than any other critic in any form (art, literature, film, etc.). I go where he tells me to go. [You mean you don't go where film critics tell you to go? You do it yourself on occasion. -ed. Stop me before I review again.]
I think Gold may have introduced more Caucasians to the mammoth Chinese community of the San Gabriel Valley than any known white man but, to my knowledge, does not speak a word of non-menu Mandarin, Cantonese or any other dialect (I have met him a few times, but never thought to ask. Anyway, then he would also have to know Tagalog, Urdu, etc., etc.)
It had been a while since Sheryl, Madeleine and I ventured forth to one of Gold’s picks – he has a Gold’s 99 of indispensable SoCal restaurants that is definitely vaut le detour – but last night we headed down to San Gabriel to try out the new Green Village, which Gold deemed “the fanciest Shanghainese restaurant in town.” Well, it wasn’t that fancy, just fancy for the type, meaning white table clothes and friendly waiters. It was clearly relaxed enough to be kid-friendly, not just for our kid but a healthy sprinkling of Chinese children as well, enjoying the Shanghainese cuisine with their families. And what cuisine! As usual there were a host of things on the menu you had never heard of before – but at this place they are all so inviting and well presented you want to try them all. We’ll be back. Meanwhile, if you’re near the San Gabriel Valley (probably now the best place outside China for Chinese food), stop at Green Village (it’s not very expensive either). Try the gee-tsai – a vegetable I had never tasted before and couldn’t get enough of – and the house spare ribs – off the bone in bits sprinkled with sesame… addictive.
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8 Comments
1. Mgmax:A longtime Chicagoan, I was out in LA last summer for the first time in a while and one of my main goals was to eat at some of the recommendations of Gold and some of the other LA food blogger/Chowhound types. What struck me, though, was just the sheer quantity of these places– both Koreatown and the SGV Chinese areas are at least five times the size of Chicago’s by no means insubstantial Koreatowns and Chinatowns, and so densely packed with places which even Gold et al. seem not to have managed to explore yet (not to in any way to denigrate the terrific work he and others have done– there’s just so much!) Anyway, I envy those who have the opportunity to dig into it more deeply than I did in a week’s visit (which anyone who cares can read about here– I especially recommend the Indonesian fair in Duarte:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=9256
Dec 3, 2006 - 9:10 am 2. jeyi:Considering how the Jews are getting whacked everywhere (except maybe in Hollywood), please Mr Simon, spare those of your readers who are making the first baby steps towards koshering up our acts, such glowing recommendations, by way of Jewish restaurant critics, no less, of the excellent pork dishes in the San Gabriel valley.
Dec 3, 2006 - 11:57 am 3. Roger:Sorry, jeyl, I’m too much of a hedonist to go for kosher… but then I’m not much of a theist either. (Of course, I’m willing to be convinced. The older I get the more I’d like to believe in an afterlife.)
Dec 3, 2006 - 12:26 pm 4. jeyi:Well, in refraining from pig meat for at least the time being (eight months cold turkey so far), just say I’m hedging my bets on the outcome of the Jihadis vs. Sons of Apes and Pigs war: either way I win.
In my case, it’s not the fear of divine retribution that motivates me (although one never know, do one?); its the patently addictive qualities of charcuterie, broadly defined. And I’d guess those qualities were apparent enough to Founding Fathers, as it were, that they thought the master script should cover that angle from the outset.
As for the gourmand (in the French sense) issue, jeesh! Even vegetarian cuisine can more than suffice.
Dec 3, 2006 - 12:53 pm 5. John Van Laer:Sorry, Roger, to be such a pedant but restaurants [plural] “valent le detour.”
Dec 3, 2006 - 11:13 pm 6. valjean:Roger,
Indeed, there are a zillion places (as Mgmax notes), but for Dim Sum I can provide a multi-visit recommendation for Din-Tai Fung on Baldwin in Arcadia. (In a mini-mall — where else?) I *think* it’s on one of Gold’s many lists.
A little pricey (though I rarely spend over $10/person) — and always packed — but imagine melt-in-your-mouth dumplings ordered via paper order form (!), rather than having a cart-pusher shout at you. Very civilized and insanely great. If memory serves their only other locations are Taipei and Tokyo.
Dec 4, 2006 - 1:15 pm 7. Roger:I have been to Din-Tai Fung a few times, valjean, and second your emotion – good place.
Dec 4, 2006 - 2:19 pm 8. Bob:I’ve not tried Din-Tai Fung (though it sounds fine); I can never get farther than the Empress Pavilion at the north edge of Chinatown. Why would I want to order dim sum via a paper order form rather than by seeing and smelling them on the carts? If carts are good enough for Hong Kong, they’re good enough for me — and the Empress is as close to a Hong Kong dim sum palace as anything I’ve seen outside of Hong Kong.
Dec 5, 2006 - 9:10 am