There’s nothing like remembering the best meals you had this year.
Welcome to the Year in Eater 2024 — our annual tradition that looks back at the highs, lows, and in-betweens of Los Angeles’s restaurant scene. Today, LA’s finest food writers, editors, reporters, and a few select others with strong opinions share their best restaurant meals of the year.
Farley Elliott, SFGATE SoCal Bureau Chief
The Kato x Chris Bianco meal was a ton of fun, but it’s hard to beat any weeknight meal at Dunsmoor right now.
Bill Esparza, Writer, Eater
Kato in Los Angeles. It’s always great to see a chef in the restaurant during that chef’s peak performance era, and there’s no one more driven in LA than chef Jon Yao. What an experience.
Gary Baum, Senior Writer, The Hollywood Reporter
Lunch at the newly-opened Origin BBQ in Koreatown. It was already dialed-in. Particularly the corn cheese as well as the brisket soybean paste hotpot. Midday, order the house-made rice punch.
Cathy Chaplin, GastronomyBlog.com
Happy Together inside the Holiday Inn in El Monte for dim sum.
Elina Shatkin, producer, Good Food
Tomat
Julia Hess, Temp Associate Producer, Eater Video Team
Cobi’s African Curry, roti, and curry puffs!
Nicole Adlman, Eater cities manager
I unapologetically love my first-time experience at Baroo, whose tasting menu feels deeply intentional. The idea of the courses moving diners through the cycles of life, from the primordial pre-birth phase to afterlife and rebirth, was also very resonant for me.
Karen Palmer, Contributing Los Angeles Food Editor, SFGATE
Bar Le Cote in Los Olivos. Brad Mathews’s food is so dialed-in. I went a few times this year, and every visit was outstanding. And the savory Basque cheesecake topped with caviar and scallions is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, period.
Jean Trinh, freelance food reporter
Getting to visit N/Naka after its remodel this year was such a memorable experience.
Hadley Tomicki, Co-Founder, L.A. TACO
An especially tough call this year, but the omakase at Sushi by Scratch at the SLS Hotel was a singularly memorable night out from beginning to end. It showcases so many novel preparations of sushi, while never drawing attention away from the natural flavors of the fish, which was among the best I’ve ever had. The atmosphere was spellbinding, and everyone working there was so warm and cool.
Joshua Lurie, FoodGPS.com founder
In March, Sonagi Chef Daniel Son and his wife Janet were warm and welcoming at their seven-seat sushi bar in Gardena. Daniel was a forerunner for dry-aging fish in L.A., sources fantastic seasonal seafood, and clearly knows what to do with it. Sonagi’s atmosphere is also fun, which isn’t a given at sushi bars. In September, Baroo was similarly spectacular for some of the same reasons — creative, delicious, and fun - while featuring modern Korean cuisine deeply rooted in the country’s culinary traditions. Soy-braised wild black cod, Wagyu flatiron steak “au poivre” and peach snow ice dessert stood out.
Lesley Suter, Special Projects Director, Eater
I had a meal with some old friends at Antico Nuovo early in the year that was just one of those epic all-out assaults of pasta and bread and wine and gelato that went late into the night. It was jolly, indulgent, long, and memorable. I can’t say I remember any one dish more than any other, but the cumulative experience was one of the year’s happiest.
Patricia Kelly Yeo, Food and Drink Editor, Time Out Los Angeles
Meals are as much about the company you keep and the particular season of one’s life. I’ve had many great meals this year (not difficult for someone who visited 475+ unique L.A. bars and eateries in 2024). The one that stands out to me the most, if I parse through all my dining memories, is the Baroo Sunday Summer Series meal I had at Kato. I was with my partner celebrating his new job offer. The last-minute nature of the news meant that we ate ridiculously early. The cocktails were fantastic as always, but what really sealed the deal was the soy-marinated crab.
Mona Holmes, Editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest
Budonoki. I dine regularly with a selective vegetarian husband who usually chooses from the menu’s side dishes. But with Budonoki, we both marveled at the options in a festive room that makes you want to come back soon. I also made a trip to the Central Coast, where the meal from Norman at the Skyview absolutely stood out. I’ve been lucky enough to try two sit-down omakase meals at Loreto, where chef Paco Moran embarks on ambitious experimentation with seafood.
Matthew Kang, Lead Editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest
An epic, decadent meal in February at République where chef Walter Manzke pulled out all the stops — caviar, truffles, and uni galore. Funny enough, I joined Walter and Margarita Manzke at a surprise preview lunch of a Basque-style Asador Alfonso in the Philippines, a short drive from Tagaytay, which ended up being really great. It felt like a Filipino version of Extebarri from chef Chele Gonzalez. My two meals at Mori Nozomi were really lovely. My meals at Leopardo were epic. I had a phenomenal work anniversary dinner with Burgette and Bar Monette on a chilly, quiet Santa Monica evening with my colleagues fueled by decadent food and stellar wine. But nothing surpassed my 40th birthday this month at Carlitos Gardel, a feast for family and friends that ended with a whole rib-eye cap, Malbec, postre Gardel, and one of the most coveted Cuban cigars in the world (a Cohiba Behike 56, in case you’re interested). It’s hard to top that.