Dining Outside at Juniper & Ivy, San Diego

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The hamachi tostada with pickled pumpkin at Juniper & Ivy.
The hamachi tostada with pickled pumpkin at Juniper & Ivy.

Richard Blais of “Top Chef” fame may no longer be affiliated with Juniper & Ivy, where he was the founding chef, but this San Diego establishment remains as popular as ever.

Opened in 2014 by owner Michael Rosen in an abandoned warehouse, it kick-started a new renaissance in the city’s Little Italy. The kitchen is now helmed by Chef Anthony Wells, a James Beard semi-finalist.

When my husband and I dined on a recent Saturday night while on a Southern California road trip, the place was hopping with the dining room and bar full, and a group of fashionably dressed women celebrating some sort of occasion in the private dining room.

The stylish restaurant was built in what was an old, abandoned warehouse.
The stylish restaurant was built in what was an old, abandoned warehouse.
The outdoor dining area.
The outdoor dining area.

We dined outside on the outdoor patio that has a living wall, as well as plenty of potted plants and a canopy awning overhead. One thing it doesn’t have, though, is heaters. So, be sure to dress in layers, especially if you tend to linger at dinner.

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Dining Outside at The Girl & The Goat, Los Angeles

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When at a restaurant named Girl & the Goat, the goat mousse is a must-order.
When at a restaurant named Girl & the Goat, the goat mousse is a must-order.

Of all the many victors through all the many seasons of “Top Chef,” arguably the most successful has been Stephanie Izard.

On Season 4, she not only triumphed but became the first woman to do so. Since then, she’s been off to the races, opening a slew of acclaimed restaurants including the Girl & the Goat in Chicago and then in Los Angeles; as well as the Little Goat Diner, the Chinese-American-influenced Duck Duck Goat, the rooftop Peruvian concept, Cabra, and the dessert shop, SugarGoat, all in Chicago.

Along the way, she nabbed the James Beard Award for “Best Chef: Great Lakes” in 2013 and was named a 2011 Food & Wine “Best New Chef.”

So, when my plans to travel to Chicago to dine at Girl & the Goat got foiled in 2020 — you can guess why — I did the next best thing: My husband and I dined at the Los Angeles locale instead on a recent road trip to Southern California.

How cute is this beer glass?
How cute is this beer glass?

The brick building is easily recognizable by the playful goat mascot sign on it. There’s a spacious outdoor seating area right outside, which is where my husband and I dined.

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Sink Your Teeth Into Chicken Banh Mi Burgers

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The chicken burger goes Vietnamese.
The chicken burger goes Vietnamese.

Take all the fresh and lively flavors of your favorite Vietnamese banh mi sandwich and transform it into a burger instead.

That’s just what “Chicken Banh Mi Burgers” is all about.

Easy enough to whip on a weeknight, this delectable recipe is from “Delicious Gatherings” (Shadow Mountain), of which I received a review copy.

The book is by Tara Bench, the founder of the perfectly named blog, TaraTeaspoon, as well as the former food editor at Martha Stewart Living and former food director at Ladies’ Home Journal.

With that kind of background, she definitely knows what home-cooks want — fuss-free recipes for everyday eating or holiday entertaining that deliver. This book delivers just that, with more than 120 recipes, most of which span only one page.

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Dining Outside at Birdie G’s, Santa Monica

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The "World Famous'' Rose Petal Pie at Birdie G's.
The “World Famous” Rose Petal Pie at Birdie G’s.

You can tell the impact a chef has made when even after departing Northern California years ago to decamp to Los Angeles, Bay Area diners still rhapsodize about the unforgettable meals they enjoyed at his hands.

Such is the case with Jeremy Fox, former chef de cuisine at Manresa in Los Gatos, who went on to head the groundbreaking Ubuntu, the Napa restaurant that became the world’s only Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurant.

Because the moment I posted a photo of a dish I relished recently at his Birdie G’s restaurant in Santa Monica, the comments started flooding in from folks about how much they miss and respected his cooking in the Bay Area.

Despite the torrent of praise for Ubuntu, diners didn’t consistently flock to this unique combination yoga studio/fine-dining restaurant at at time when the term “plant-based” had hardly become fashionable yet. That never-ending stress took its toll on Fox, who suffered through ADHD and depression. Finally, it became too much, and he left.

The plentiful outdoor seating at Birdie G's.
The plentiful outdoor seating at Birdie G’s.

He eventually made his way to Southern California, to become chef of Rustic Canyon in 2012, leading to acclaim again, plus a fresh start in life. In 2019, he added to that, opening Birdie G’s, also for the Rustic Canyon Family group of restaurants.

Named for his young daughter, Birdie, and for his grandmother Gladys, it couldn’t be a more of a personal project. As Fox describes, the casual, fun restaurant embodies exactly who he is: An Eastern-European Jew who grew up in the Midwest and the Deep South, and then settled in Southern California.”

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Dining Outside at Pizzeria Bianco, Los Angeles

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The "Salame'' New York-style slice at Pizzeria Bianco.
The “Salame” New York-style slice at Pizzeria Bianco.

It says it all that during our two days in Los Angeles recently, we high-tailed it to the new Pizzeria Bianco not once, but twice.

Arguably, Chris Bianco has been deemed the country’s best pizza maker, with devotees waiting as long as three hours at his original Phoenix restaurant just to get their fix.

Since opening in Los Angeles in June, this place has been mobbed. And since Los Angeles is a more convenient destination for yours truly, you know that my husband and I put Pizzeria Bianco on our must-stop list no matter what when we traveled to Southern California earlier this month.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to twiddle our thumbs for hours on end when we got to the Row DTLA, the massive 30-acre urban commercial district that was the former site of the American Apparel manufacturing facility, and that’s now home to not only Pizzeria Bianco, but a host of restaurants, boutiques, and offices.

Get ready to get in line here.
Get ready to get in line here.

Instead at 12:30 p.m. on a Saturday, we did have to wait in line for about 30 minutes before we made our way to the walk-up pizza window to place our orders.

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