One of L.A.’s most exciting new Chinese restaurants lands in Mandarin Plaza
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- Plus, a Wagyu steakhouse expands (with one of the city’s best cheesesteaks)
- A trendy Chicago sandwich shop lands in L.A.
- Dine Latino Restaurant Week kicks off, and more.
In Chinatown’s newest restaurant, mapo tofu inspires steak tartare, pillowy gnudi are made with tofu (not ricotta) and medallions of table-side-sauced lamb saddle evoke Sichuan’s cumin-spiced lamb skewers. Firstborn fills the long-empty former Pok Pok space in Mandarin Plaza with subtle Chinese touches, including jade-green tiles and a window to the kitchen reminiscent of what one might spot in a Beijing neighborhood hutong, or alley.
Chef-owner Anthony Wang — who cooked at restaurants such as Destroyer, Auburn and Ink — is exploring the identity of Chinese American cuisine in a manner both true to history and to his own story.
“I’ve always wanted to explore Chinese cuisine, but I didn’t realize how little I understood until I really started this project,” Wang said. “For the first time in my career I can take a deep dive and look at the expansiveness and the history and culture of not just Chinese food [of mainland China], but also Chinese food in this country and how it’s grown and developed over the past 100-plus years.”
One of the first cuisines he began toexplore was Sichuan, traveling to Chengdu in 2018 and tracing the origins of its famous chiles and spice — and then researching even further, to a time before the spice trade reached the region.
But Firstborn is just as much a reflection of Wang growing up first-generation in Georgia. His sweetbreads in pig trotter ragu evoke his memories of eating pork knuckle at his grandmother’s house. The house-made chile crisp that tops the chef’s signature fried chicken carries a smoky heat and fruity note via the secret ingredient of Morita chiles, marrying the fragrance of Sichuan and Mexican cuisines in a nod to L.A.
His parents emigrated from Beijing in 1989 due to the protests and violence in Tiananmen Square. The family landed in Miami, then a desert of Chinese food and ingredients. Wang’s mother began to get creative, substituting American items to whip up the modernized Chinese cuisine that Wang and his sister, Lulu, ate through their childhood: dishes like a kind of beef Bourguignon with Sichuan peppercorn and star anise.
Wang thinks of it as “new Chinese American cooking,” which also makes its way to the bar. Beverage director Kenzo Han (Steep LA, the Varnish) built an “East meets West” menu that also lifts inspiration from the kitchen, with options such as an osmanthus and fermented rice sour, a sesame old-fashioned, a baiju-and-tea negroni, and a springy martini that involves house-made celery oil and carrot eau de vie. Nonalcoholic concoctions include hojicha orange milk punch and an adzuki swizzle.
For dessert, pastry chef Jaime Craten (formerly of Vespertine, Destroyer and Meteora) balances sweet and savory with lighter options like almond tofu with citrus, jujubee and osmanthus, or chamomile custard that’s topped with a refreshing apple-and-cucumber granita with a kinako shortbread cookie.
Wang calls it an honor to debut his restaurant in Chinatown — adding to the legacy of the area’s century of Chinese businesses — and to continue to explore what the cuisine means in the neighborhood, in the U.S. and in China.
“For me,” Wang said, “It’s a journey. This restaurant’s open now, but this is something that I think we’re just starting with, and it’s something that I really want to continue exploring not just throughout this restaurant but throughout my entire life.”
Firstborn is open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10:30 p.m.
978 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, (213) 537-0142, firstborn.la
Matu Kai
Beverly Hills’ steak-centric Matu now has a westward sibling in Matu Kai, which follows up the 2021 restaurant with some of its greatest hits and a slew of new dishes. Like Matu, Brentwood’s new Matu Kai specializes in Wagyu: Plancha-cooked filets, wood-fired rib-eyes, picanhas, New York strips and more are prepared in the semi-open kitchen, sparks and flames often flying. These steaks can be ordered a la carte or in a set menu, though many of the newer items can be found a la carte. Look for fresh Uovo maltagliati in a rib-eye ragu, Wagyu meatballs in pomodoro, crying tiger Wagyu tenderloin satay and more. Like its sibling restaurant, Matu Kai also offers the popular Wagyu cheesesteak sandwich, which is available only at the bar. Matu Kai is open Monday to Thursday from 5:30 to 10 p.m. and Friday to Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m.
11777 San Vicente Blvd., Suite 134, Los Angeles, (310) 810-2501, matusteak.com/matu-kai
All Too Well
A Chicago sandwich shop rife with cultural and familial inspiration recently debuted at the base of the Platform complex in Culver City, with panini-pressed stacks that can include tabouleh, chile crunch, harissa mayonnaise and more.
Chef-owner Mitchell Jamra blends his Lebanese roots into some of the flavors of All Too Well, a quick-casual sandwich offshoot of his Mexican-Lebanese restaurant in Chicago, Evette’s. All Too Well, while named for the Taylor Swift song, is inspired not by the singer-songwriter but Jamra’s family and his long lineage of Chicago deli owners that traces back to the 1920s.
The chef’s first Los Angeles restaurant offers the Chicago location’s most popular items such as the Bombay Chulet, which layers turkey, prosciutto garlic mayo, arugula, stracciatella, fried onion, chile crunch and fig jam, as well as the L.A.-only secret-menu Tunaverse, which tops tuna salad with a red pepper spread that blends ajvar with muhammara. All Too Well debuted as a one-year pop-up within Platform, but Jamra tells The Times that he has plans to stay in Los Angeles far beyond that. “I’m bonded with the city now,” he said via email, ”and we are in for the long haul!” All Too Well is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
8850 W. Washington Blvd., Suite 101, Culver City, alltoowellchi.com
Kismet Rotisserie Pasadena
The popular chicken-focused offshoot of Los Feliz mainstay Kismet can now be found in Pasadena.
At the latest outpost of Kismet Rotisserie, which sits at the border of Altadena, the whole pasture-raised, non-GMO chickens spin slowly behind the counter, the seasonal vegetables come primarily sourced from local farmers markets, and everything is made in-house. Chef-owners Sarah Hymanson and Sara Kramer offer rotisserie-chicken plates with sides such as roasted vegetables in tahini; smashed cucumbers in caraway vinaigrette; schmaltzy roasted potatoes; and hummus with freshly baked pita, along with salads, fresh-squeezed juice, bone broth, kids’ meals, cookies and pudding cups.
Unique to the Pasadena menu is a new, collaborative monthly sandwich special, where proceeds benefit the local chapter of education nonprofit Families Forward. This month find a spicy Ni?oise pita sandwich made with Fishwife; in June look for an Italian sandwich from local chef and “The Bear” culinary producer Courtney Storer. Kismet Rotisserie’s newest outpost offers catering, a quick-and-casual format, and indoor and outdoor seating. Kismet Rotisserie is open in Pasadena daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
1974 Lincoln Ave., Pasadena, (323) 412-4400, kismetrotisserie.com
Colossus San Pedro
Kristin Colazas Rodriguez began Colossus out of her home in 2018. Now she operates four outposts spread across San Pedro and Long Beach, and the latest features a full cafe menu, a bakery case flush with croissants and pastries, and an evening-only pizza program just off the San Pedro harbor. The newest Colossus recently debuted at the base of the Vivo Apartments complex, serving morning items such as the signature croissant breakfast sandwich with house-made sweet potato hot sauce, lunch and lighter bites like salad Lyonnaise with fresh croutons, and dinner such as meatballs in gravy, sourdough gnocchi and a range of daily pizzas (in Long Beach, the pizzas are available on weekends only). Whole loaves of bread and pantry goods such as tinned fish, dried heirloom beans and jars of jam are also on offer, and beer and wine are in the works. Colossus is open off of the San Pedro harbor Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
511 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro, (213) 444-0077, colossusbread.com
Dine Latino Restaurant Week
A weeklong celebration of Latin cuisine kicked off Tuesday with hundreds of participating restaurants — and many offering special items and set menus. Dine Latino Restaurant Week, an initiative spearheaded by the national Latino Restaurant Assn., runs through May 18 and includes more than 200 restaurants spread from Camarillo through L.A. County, as far east as San Bernardino and Riverside, and as far south as Costa Mesa; even a few San Diego restaurants are joining the event, as is one operation in San Jose. The event aims to support Latino-owned restaurants reflecting a range of nationalities and cuisines, including Mexican, Brazilian, Ecuadorian, Colombian, Salvadoran, Peruvian and beyond. Find a map of participating restaurants here, with more businesses to be added.
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