The Five: Restaurants owned by moms
Picks by Leslee-Komaiko
Know something we don't?
When I pulled up in front of the W hotel in Westwood recently, there was no long line of cars in front. Just us. And...
Fast forward three years. The hotel isn't quite as hot. The crowds have waned except during the weekends. And the furniture in the lobby is looking a little worse for the wear. Not the restaurant, though, which has kept its clubby good looks. It also has a new chef in Monique King, who, until this gig, ran Firefly Bistro in South Pasadena with Paul Rosenbluh, her husband and fellow chef. (He's still manning the stoves at Firefly, while she takes on this new position.) She's also been executive chef at Soul Kitchen in Chicago and Border Grill in Santa Monica.
King's menu for NineThirty injects a down-to-earth yet completely contemporary spirit into a hotel setting, which already makes it unusual. But while the ideas are terrific, the execution is occasionally less so. Still, with a focus on local ingredients and big, bold flavors, this is real food -- dishes you'd actually like to eat if you arrived at the W after a long flight or a grueling day of racing to appointments in L.A. traffic. These days, the crowd seems to be more the merely hungry than the spillover from Whiskey Blue.
S. Irene Virbila, Times Restaurant Critic, 12/17/08
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Last night, a group of about 6 of us decided to meet at Nine Thirty for appetizers & small bites at Nine Thirty to celebrate a friend's birthday. I guess...
Lovely setting on a sunny day. Tall trees, swimming pool, nestled on the edge of a hill... But the food is only so-so for your money. Burgers LOOKED good...
One of my favorite places to eat in my neighborhood. The food is excellent! But a little pricey... The service was always good. The staff is very...
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