SPECIAL ISSUE: Back to School S A N TA M O N I C A
REFLECTING THE CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY smmirror.com
Pages 7 – 14
INSIDE
Big Fun with a Big Band in the Park Page 4
August 3 – 9, 2018 Volume XXI, Issue 3
A TASTE OF JOHNATHAN GOLD
Remembering beloved L.A. food critic in a Santa Monica mural. By S am C atanzaro
Pulitzer-prize winning food-critic Johnathan Gold died on July 21 at the age of 57. Following Gold's passing, local muralist Jonas Never unveiled a mural at Margo’s in Santa Monica paying tribute to the legendary Jonathan Gold. Located on 16th and Montana, the mural depicts Gold holding a copy of the Los Angeles Times's Johnthan Gold's 101 Best Restaurants. The annual publication featured Gold's favorite restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area and over the years included many in Santa Monica. At Cassia, the Vietnamese and French-inspired restaurant on 7th Street in downtown Santa Monica, Gold wrote in high praise for chef Bryant Ng's creative dishes such as egg custard with sea urchin and escargot
Vietnamese style: Snails and lemongrass. "At Cassia, nominally Vietnamese, he is claiming the essence of French cooking as his own," Gold wrote in his 101 Best Restaurants review for the Los Angeles Times At Rustic Canyon - owned by Josh and Zoe Loeb, the owners of Cassia - Gold took to heart chef Jeremy Fox's use of seasonal vegetables, often from the Santa Monica Farmer's market. In addition, Gold made a bold claim about Rustic Canyon by writing in his review the "electric-green shellfish pozole is remarkable, conceivably the single best dish to be found in Santa Monica." Gold was known for bringing to light obscure restaurants throughout the city but also loved the classics such as Michael's, the longtime Santa Monica fixture on Third Street. In his review, Gold gave Michael's
credit for kickstarting the California cuisine movement and took to heart how the restaurant has evolved over the years. "Michael’s can credibly claim to be the birthplace of California cuisine, but current chef Miles Thompson takes things in a different direction, punctuated with dusky greens and splashes of citrus, whole grains and fermented things," Gold wrote in his review for the Los Angeles Times. Many gave Gold credit for popularizing street tacos in Los Angeles but the critic was also fond of Mélisse, the two-star Michelin hyperformal restaurant on 11th and Wilshire that is the antithesis of street food. In his review, Gold acknowledges that Mélisse fulfills stereotypes and cliches about fancy restaurants and this is exactly what makes the restaurant work. "You can’t hold ironed tablecloths, ro-
TAX
Aged duck and turnips at Mélisse.
9/3/2018
Photos: Facebook.
Photos: Courtesy Austin Perry.
mantic mood lighting and lobster Bolognese against a place whose appeal rests on exactly those things," Gold wrote in his review. "When you’re in the mood to be clobbered with truffles and drink good white Burgundy, Mélisse is an obvious place to go." Gold wrote a glowing review for the pressed duck at Dialogue, Dave Beran's tasting menu restaurant in Santa Monica, going as far to say that it was one of the best things he has eaten in his entire life.
GOLD, see page 3
Cassia’s escargot with flatbread.
Photos: Facebook.
Samuel Moses, CPA 100 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica
310.395.9922