u/deskcord

After about 2 months of eating my way through SoCal, and now taking a break on some this (except for Hayato coming next month), figured I'd share a recap and some thoughts.

Pics in order are: Providence, Lilo, Corridor109, Kaneyoshi, Kato, Ki, Seline, and two photos at Pasta|Bar.

I've had a truly wonderful time across these series of restaurants and feel very excited about the state of the California fine dining scene right now. There's a lot of interesting work going on, particularly at some of the one stars, with clearly driven and hungry chefs helping to push this space forward. I'd love to see a fabulous Mexican fine dining establishment to more thoroughly reflect the Los Angeles scene, but feel these generally proudly represent LA.

I've posted about most of these before, but would just want to give my general thoughts. Ki and Lilo were complete knockouts and it feels like they really have the juice to push further. The 2026 Michelin ceremony for LA is in a few weeks, and not only would I expect them to both earn their 2nd star, I'd say both restaurants *not* earning their second star would be a disservice to the guide's readers. They're operating at a completely different level from everywhere else I've been, especially in the 1/2 star range.

My biggest surprises were Jeune et Jolie (positively), Seline (negatively, I found the meal quite bad), and Corridor109 (flashes of brilliance, otherwise underwhelmed).

This will be a shorter post because I am *tired* - but just returned from Jungsik, NYC's 3-star Korean stunner, and former restaurant of Ki Kim (who I've raved about elsewhere on this sub).

To be blunt, Jungsik is the best 3 star I've been to in the United States, and is the first 3-starred domestic restaurant I'm interested in revisiting, after letdowns at Le Bernardin, Providence, Singlethread, and Smyth.

I missed a few courses photos, but broadly speaking, it was a stellar meal and the service was absolutely impeccable. There must have been more staff tending to guests than there were guests themselves, and everyone was incredibly gracious, knowledgeable, and quick.

The meal starts off with a series of reimagined banchan, where every bite outshined the previous one, with an especially incredible bomb of flavor in what is effectively a Korean Squid Ink Arancini (the black ball). The wagyu tartlet was by far the best implementation of wagyu tartare I've had to date, served without overpowering other flavors, and without much fuss.

The biggest "misses" of the night are the second and an unpictured course - a cured striped jack with caviar and chive oil, where the chive oil was a bit too subtle and the sauce a bit too milky; second being the un-pictured galbi, which was a bit too sweet and could used a flake of salt, though that may be my western palate speaking. Would have liked a little more punch out of the Mandoo (photo 4), as well.

The yellowtail Kimbap is quite fun and absolutely loaded with flavor, as is the arctic char with smoked perilla and roe. Desserts landed incredibly well, with the sesame and hazelnut "statue", followed by a garden of chocolates.

It was hard for me to not compare the entire course to Restaurant Ki back in LA, as much of Ki's menu is so obviously inspired by Jungsik. I can see the influence of Jungsik's foie gras and pear tart in Ki's pear and liver mousse course; the octopus an obvious direct homage, etc. So where are the differentiators? I am honestly torn - Ki had a few more "holy shit" moments throughout the meal, less "misses", but an underwhelming dessert course. Jungsik's service is phenomenal and it's easily the best dessert course I've had at an Asian tasting menu thus far, where dessert can lean towards subtler and lighter.

So I'll punt and simply say that Ki and Jungsik are the two most impressive and delicious meals I've had in the past two years, and that Jungsik has encouraged me to not write off domestic 3 stars so quickly.