If the continual think pieces about New Yorkers leaving their East Coast abodes for the sunnier skies of LA have been any indiction, the Big Apple has been pretty obsessed with our fair city lately. We can't blame them. In addition to the better weather, superior hiking and roomier apartments, our rising food scene is arguably the most talked-about in the country at the moment. Even the New York Times thinks so: their restaurant critic, Pete Wells, has taken his reviews on the road, starting with Los Angeles.
In a new move to take Times' star-ratings on the road, Wells recently reviewed Cassia, the Vietnamese-French eatery in Santa Monica. You can read the full review here, but to sum it up: Wells enjoyed his experience, appreciated chef Ng's balanced dishes (though he could do without the jellyfish salad) and while it's not his top LA choice at the moment, he admits that the kitchen is doing some fantastic things.
Cassia has been widely praised by the LA media since first opening. LA Times' critic Jonathan Gold has called one of the restaurant's signature dishes, the pot-au-feu, brilliant; while Besha Rodell at LA Weekly gave it four stars (a rarity). I also dropped four stars on Cassia when I reviewed it last year, and have been itching to get back for its chickpea curry and Vietnamese coffee pudding. Bon Appétit named it a finalist on their Best New Restaurants 2016 list, and James Beard gave it a semifinalist nod. So yeah, the restaurant has been doing pretty well.
There's no word yet on what city Wells is heading to next, though the Times mentioned this would be a regular occurrence. "The Times has published starred reviews of restaurants in the New York metropolitan area since 1963," stated an Editor's Note. "Starting today, we will occasionally offer such reviews of restaurants in other cities as well, applying the same standards that govern our reviews in New York: a minimum of three anonymous visits to the restaurant."
What do you think about outside reviewers weighing in on our dining scene? Let us know in the comments below!
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