la.foodblogging

I’ll tell you what, I have no idea how The Los Angeles Times and LA City Beat go about scheduling their restaurant guides and special dining issues. But the fact that both LAT and LACB recently published blowout food issues, just days in advance of LA Weekly’s faithfully scheduled summer dining guide, suggests to me that Jonathan Gold is the 800-pound gorilla in the room. In my mind the other local food issues are merely warm-up recitals before my favorite one-man band takes the stage.

This year he put together Jonathan Gold’s 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants. I’ve skimmed past a few entries, some of which are not completely up-to-date, i.e., Amuse Cafe is closed right now “for remodelling” but no reference is made to its transitory state in the guide. Whatever, menus change on a dime, chefs storm out in their clogs and check-pants, and some favorites are sure to be missing given the 99-entry limit, but the fact is, I’m like an interpretive dancer in a metallic leotard and headband for JGold’s reviews.

This week’s issue also contains a separate guide to sushi, Raw Power. And there’s a food-related photospread of snaps culled from Snake Bites called Snack Bites, by Mark ‘the cobrasnake’ Hunter. …*pause*… Now I’m at an awkward juncture. Does one reference Sean Bonner’s cobrasnake parody site Shit Snake at this point… on a food blog? Whoops, shield the eyes, apologies.

So, it’s Solid Gold’s Top 99 this week, cue the dancers.